Low best offer bidders

[expanded_perceptions]

Hi all,

Just wondering what you guys consider to be either a fair or insulting bid on best offer prices?

I have recently had a couple of offers at 50% of the buy it now price, which frankly i fend insulting, maybe I should toughen up, but frankly I cannot help feeling very peaved at such low offers. I have read people saying 10% off is a fair price, I would say 20% is a decent starting point, but half price is just horrific. I just blocked a couple of buyers because of the offers, as I would rather not deal with them, but what do all you seasoned veterans think?

[peri-landlubber]

Bargain Hunt is a English TV show, it's on channel 72 in Victoria at 6.30 pm.

U have to take their prices with a 'grain of salt', mostly U can't get anything like the price they get.

Sometimes the host gets a few of the name of things wrong.  I remember him saying a certain thing, which I as an ex-farmer know as 'bulldogs', he called something it else (can't remember what now) & I know it is used on the bull's nose for drenching or even leading, but he said it was used on the other end of the bull's anatomy (U can guess where).

That reminds me I might still have a pair in the shed, maybe I should sell them.

[curraone]

I am probably not a "seasoned veteran"  but for what its worth, I have set the auto decline on my best offer items at the lowest possible amount I would accept.      You could set it without a middle parameter, for instance $900 item - set best offer at $790, set auto decline at $789.99, but I find it more fun to have a wider margin sometimes, you can always make a counter-offer.     And we need all the fun we can get!

And I would not put silly bidders on my BBL just for making silly offers, I just make a counter-offer - a few dollars under my starting price - and let them wear themselves out, they only get 3 goes.

[aps1080]

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@peri-landlubber wrote:

Bargain Hunt is a English TV show, it's on channel 72 in Victoria at 6.30 pm.

U have to take their prices with a 'grain of salt', mostly U can't get anything like the price they get.

Sometimes the host gets a few of the name of things wrong.  I remember him saying a certain thing, which I as an ex-farmer know as 'bulldogs', he called something it else (can't remember what now) & I know it is used on the bull's nose for drenching or even leading, but he said it was used on the other end of the bull's anatomy (U can guess where).

That reminds me I might still have a pair in the shed, maybe I should sell them.

---

Why not see if the presenter was correct and see if they fit on the " other end"

I'm laughing just at the thought of you trying !

[springyzone]

I don't know I would ever block a buyer just because they put in a low offer, after all, it is up to you whether you accept it or not.

Just say no.

They can only put in 3 offers max, so if they keep going too low they will block themselves.

I am afraid though that i find offers of 50% on the insulting side.

I strike it constantly on gumtree. I will have people email a message-I can pick up that bookshelf today, will you take $30 for it? (advertised as $65, my sister ended up selling it on ebay a day or so ago for $77 )

I felt very snappy with the low offer and the casual way they seemed to think it was a fair thing.

In fact, making an offer is so common on gumtree that I do it myself now, but I always start by saying the item looks nice, is the price at all negotiable. That leaves it in the seller's court, but if I did make an offer, I would probably make it more ball park. For example, I did have one man offer $55 for the bookshelf and i accepted but then he messaged back he had measured up and it was too big for the space he had. fair enough, but the point is, for a $65 item, at $55 I was not insulted, at $40 I was.

I think 5-10 % off might be more the ebay range of seller discount, although some may go to 20%. I would say that 50% would be unlikely and I would never type that in as it would feel like a waste of an offer.

If you only have 3 chances you want your first offer to be maybe possible, not clearly out.

[phorum_junkie*]

How is it insulting if you allow it? If you find somebody trying to get a bargain insulting use the auto reject and accept options and then you can happily go on your merry way insult free.

[misty_blue_treasures]

If you don't want to get ridicoulous offers, just dont turn on Best offer,  thats what it is there for, to give the buyer the chance to make their best offer.  If you dont want them, just list a BIN at your lowest acceptable price

[ausbargainbasement]

Hi,

i use auto reject accept for best offer, but occasionly check to see how many offers have been made on listings, yes some are riducously low, but often after 3 goes, they do buy it at the asking BIN price, so definetly would not block buyers due to overly low offers, also the more offers on a item, even if way to low, increases that items visibily to others, and increases chances of selling that item, also if there are no offers on a item, usually means no interest in that item.

[twyngwyn]

I don't understand why anyone would use 'best offer' unless it's for a car/house etc

[pennyforum14]

I have a bit of a theory about that.  I think some buyers see MAO as the new preferred option to auctions, it can be quicker, they can put forward their own "opening bid" and the BN price doesn't disappear while they are negotiating.  I get quite  a few offers that are below what I can afford to accept, I usually counter and about 60% of the time the counter offer is accepted.  However, about 20% of the time, the buyer ends up buying at the BN price anyway.  I have quite a few MAO items and approx half of them sell at the BN price without offers being made.

[aps1080]

Penny

I think you might be right there.

Best of both worlds.