Juggling offers / counteroffers / messages

[kitty-kat-kollection]

So, there's a buyer who firstly offered $15 for an item I had listed for $30. I counteroffered $25. They counteroffered $18. I felt annoyed so ignored that.

Then the next day I received a message from the buyer saying they would pay $20 and could I send an invoice.

SIGH. Firstly, I didn't want to accept $20 and secondly, I couldn't send an invoice for an item the person hadn't bought or even submitted an offer (that I accepted) yet!

I did not respond for a few hours as...you know...I was annoyed and my brain didn't want to bother with this.

The buyer messaged again, and seemed annoyed that I had not sent them an invoice yet. I replied, advising that I cannot issue an invoice for an un-purchased item.

They then messaged again, saying they could not submit another offer as their offers had expired so they could only buy the item via message.

I said I cannot process a sale via message.

They then asked me to make a time / date to alter my listing price down to $20, and they would buy it.

For goodness sake. I never even said I'd accept $20 in the first place, and if it's this much trouble to BUY the item, are they going to be difficult later, lodging the infamous "item not as described" claim just because they can?

Ugh.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

if the item doesn't sell you should relist it at $40 asking price.

What you could also do is set 'auto accept/decline' at $25. That way you won't even have to deal with them unless they offer $25.

If you don't want them to make an offer you could put them on your Blocked Buyer List.

[heihachi_73]

Offer them $24.99 instead of $25, people who do lowball like this aren't worth the time or the sale, just put them on your block list and move on.

[springyzone]

Firstly, it is not your fault or responsibility to 'fix' anything, just because they have used up their 3 offers.

I do believe that buyers have the right to 'make an offer' where that is available on a listing and sometimes it might be a bit of a low ball offer to try their luck. However, you replied with a counteroffer of $25 and ignored the next offer, so that should have sent a message to this person.

The bit that would be annoying me (as a seller) would be this person's assumption that you 'must' accept $20. I think it annoyed you too, but I also think your replies after that may have left the buyer with the impression you would accept $20 if you could. 

You gave 2 reasons why you couldn't proceed but neither of those reasons was about the offered price and that I think was a mistake. If your lowest acceptable offer is $25, you need to re-state that.

The buyer is a bit of the pushy type. I don't know that it necessarily means they would be difficult later but I do think it means there is no way on earth they will pay full price of $30 now they know it is negotiable.

If the ad times out, just relist again at $30/make an offer. I am not sure-are they able to make 3 new offers if it is a new listing? I am assuming possibly. But if he does, just a short reply of "I will accept $25, that price is firm.' should send the message you want.

[brerrabbit585]

Perhaps my eyes aren't what they used to be but I can't see where the buyer has used up their three offers.

If you're going to invite offers you need to toughen up and learn to deal with the consequences. If you know what you're prepared to accept then just tell them the price, and if they continue to hassle you just put them on your blocked list.

Frankly, I don't know why people don't just list at a lower price if they're prepared to sell for less anyway, especially if there's not much chance of it selling at the higher price. All you're doing is inviting the type of buyers who like to play games, which is often asking for trouble.

If your listed price is too dear, all the conservative buyers who don't play games will walk away so you've just halved your chance of the item selling, and you've exponentially increased the chance of it selling to a troublemaker or dishonest buyer. Even if the listed price isn't too dear, if you have make an offer enabled ALL buyers will know you're prepared to accept less, which devalues the item in their eyes, and conservative people who hate haggling will probably walk away rather than buy because you've created a negative impression in their mind.

The ones who really want to play games will take up a lot more of your time and are more likely to spell trouble later on, so it's them you want to discourage, not the others. Replying to offers alone will waste a fair amount of your time so aren't you better to lower your prices and remove offers, and put your time into developing better customers and a higher turnover because of the lower prices.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@k1ooo-slr-sales wrote:

if the item doesn't sell you should relist it at $40 asking price.

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I call this strategy the "4chan conspiracy" . . . a seller increasing the asking price if a potential buyer expresses interest or asks a question.

[imastawka]

[kitty-kat-kollection]

Yes, you're right, I should have been more firm that I was never going to accept $20! I got distracted with all the other stuff going on.

I always invite offers because MOSTLY they're ok and I'll accept them.

Also, often if I do get low ball offers and they don't work out through counter-offeers, soon after another buyer will appear and pay full price.

I've got no issue with offers, low or otherwise. What just baffled me was the manner of this odd person. lol. And also, on the same day I got another message from a different buyer on another item that said "Will you give this to me for $15?" Firstly, why not OFFER it (not that I'd accept it anyway), and secondly, "give" them the item?? I responded and said I would consider $25.

Then 2 days later, they messaged again, simply saying "$15 please". HA!!! Weirdo!

[kitty-kat-kollection]

Oh, and on some items I lower my price, but mostly I'm loathe to do so as many times a buyer will pay the listed price, or make an offer close to it. So I don't want to lower my prices to match the lowball offer buyers.

[countessalmirena]

@kitty-kat,

There are some excellent replies on this thread. You can avoid a great deal of stress by writing your own policies - including how to handle low offers, repeated low offers, etc.

Once you have that policy in place, even if it's just in your head, you have a firm basis from which to respond. For example, you may decide on something like this:

LOW OFFERS

If a buyer makes an offer that is lower than x% of the listed price, reply as follows: "This is to acknowledge your offer of $x.xx. Unfortunately that is not a price that we can accept, but you are welcome to place another offer that better reflects this item's value. Best regards, [name]." Reject the offer.

If a buyer makes a second low offer, reject the offer without further explanation, and add the buyer's username to Blocked Buyer List.

                ... or ...

LOW OFFERS

Set up automatic rejection of any bids lower than x% of the listed price.

If a buyer makes an offer that is over x% but less than y% of the listed price, reply as follows: "This is to acknowledge your offer of $x.xx. While this is not a price we can accept, we can propose a counter-offer of $x.xx. If you are interested in purchasing at that price, please accept this offer to proceed. Best regards, [name]." Reject the offer while making the counter-offer.

Once a week, go through the list of automatically rejected offers. For those buyers who made three low offers for the same item, add their username to the Blocked Buyer List.

         ... or ...

... whatever suits the way in which you can most effectively handle your business without involving you overmuch in effort and activity for nothing. (Interacting with, thinking about, or communicating with eBayers who repeatedly make ridiculously low offers is activity that wastes your time without giving you any profit at all. You shouldn't feel pressured to dance to the strings of such people. You're here to sell, and your primary attention and effort must be financially worth it.)