Correct me if I am wrong....
 

I have a few cards on ebay. I normally list my cards at BIN and higher than what I expect to sell for, and then have the Best Offer option. That leaves me wiggle room.

Well, I have a T206 EPDG PSA 2 listed and asking 50 bucks. A rather fair price I would think on that back.

I get an offer for $27.50, and quickly decline.

Then another guy offers $35. So I counter with $45. Still a decent deal to me. In my comments I said " It's a PSA 2 EPDG back...so. Thanks."

He counters with a $40 offer and says "You are welcome?"

I declined right there.

I based my pricing on closed auctions/BIN prices. I add a little for a fudge factor. Then, get low-balled about it.

I am doing something wrong? Or is this people looking for a bargain to flip?

I am a big boy, so let it rip, 'tator chip. :D

I know I can set parameters on the BIN and will in the future.

So, just venting and open to comments from you guys.

-Jimmy

I hate the "best offer" option! As a seller, anyways. I once had a card listed for 90 dollars and a guy offered 2 dollars. Maybe he was hoping I would quickly accept without thinking or hit the wrong button?

I would think that if a seller wants 50 with a BIN option, he should list it for 70. Then when the cheapskates roll in, you can counter closer to what you actually want, and you are both winners!

:confused:

I get low balled a lot. Most of the time less than half of my BIN price. I don't even bother to counter on those offers.

Just set the auto accept/decline at what you are comfortable with and stop interacting with the low ballers.

I actually like the best offer feature as it lets me negotiate the price (as buyer and seller) based on various factors. As a seller I don't get upset or offended at lowball offers as it can be the start of a successful sale. I think sellers often forget that they might have to do a little "selling" and give buyers some education on why you've priced the item at that amount.

Don't see anything wrong with anything you did. Everyone wants to make a little scratch in flipping something. What I do have a bit of an issue with is a guy who buys a card at an auction house for $800 in December and then lists in January for $3500 BIN a week later. Then again, its a free market and no one needs buy anything they don't want to buy.

I was in discussion with a pretty well know ebay seller last year for a group for a group of cards that I could have had for about $2500. They were not graded. He/she sends them off and gets grades pretty much what I expected. Fair to good. All of a sudden two months later the same exact 3 cards are being listed by an entirely different seller for a combined BIN of over $8,000. Stuff like that really makes me scratch my head.

I wouldn't be offended by a very low BIN. Didn't cost you anything. Just blow it off. If you have a $1000 card and someone's offering you $80 that only exposes them as someone who really doesn't understand the market they are operating in. Or they are just taking a shot to see if you are a complete rube.

Everyone has their own preferences whether they are buying or selling on Ebay.

As a buyer/seller, I prefer the Buy It Now/Best Offer option.

I've won numerous auctions offering 30% of the Buy It Now price.

As as seller, I have my "Automatically Decline Offers Less Than" set at a certain price.

If you don't have that option checked, then it's part of the territory to respond to those so-called low-ball offers.

As a seller, I think it's a bit ridiculous to have a Buy It Now/Best Offer on a $50.00 item and only accept offers of $45.00 or more. If that's the minimum you're going to accept, then just have a "Buy It Now" of $45.00.

I don't think it's for a flip. After fees what could they expect to make. They simply want to pay less than u are willing to take. There are a lot of cards for sale and why pay more than u have to. I wouldnt worry about it, it's a $5.00 difference who cares.

Christopher, I do understand what you are saying, but I set it at 50 to have wiggle room. 45 is probably the lowest I would go. So, with your reasoning, I should just set it at 45 with no offers.

And I understand the parameters on BIN that I will now use.

I just thought the were both way off on their offer. Not near real market value.

Anyway, thanks for the post so far. I will set the BIN parameters on current cards and future listings.

I am pretty much a buyer, and I think I have only sold once. Too much of a pain for me.

I love the buy it now/make offer options. But I try not to offer some stupid price, because (in my opinion) of course that is not fair to the seller.

That said, I start as low as I feel is reasonable, and if they decline, I use it as a good opportunity to open a discussion with them. Some of the best deals I have ever made were done that way, and a lot of the cases, we end up doing lots of business together.

Don't try and figure it out. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it. Just do what your comfortable with (or not)...:)...

You sounds like Don West from years ago. :D

"Kenny (Goldin), is this price right? You are kidding me! Folks, don't try to figure this one out. Get on the phone now. ORDER more than one......... ORDER more than one."

But I understand what you are saying. It just struck me that way.

I guess I don't really see the point of even accepting best offers if you are only willing to knock $5.00 off a $50.00 card.

In my opinion the time spent going back-and-forth in emails as well as posting frustrations on the deal add up to more than $5.00.

But I understand your frustrations and not every card has the same "wiggle" room either. Either way you should not have trouble getting what you want for it as it is a fair price.

I think 40 seems reasonable for a card priced at 50 OBO. As a buyer I would not be pleased if a seller was only willing to go down 5 bucks.

As a seller I would started a little higher if 45 was my minimum. 60 or 70.

There was a time before all of the current BIN/Best Offer nonsense when, as a seller, you had to run auctions on eBay. And everything was okay, because there were a lot of motivated buyers that didn't let stuff go for cheap.

eBay destroyed this by pushing sellers to the fixed price format. Sellers throw inventory on the site and can re-list it forever with no fees. If eBay can ever remember the differences between commodities and collectables and act on it, the hobby would be in much better shape.

Bill

After I burned my best offers on a card today listed at 325 OBO, which were auto declined even though I wasn't that far away, I emailed the seller and asked him what he was looking for. He said 325. I responded why do you have a best offer then? He didn't explain.

I start with low offers quite a bit. You never know, sometimes they're accepted. I hate it when a seller doesn't respond at all. Just send a "sorry, I can't budge" or "this is my bottom dollar" note so I know where you stand.

As a seller I always set the auto accept/decline options so I don't have to fool with it. As a buyer I prefer that as well so I don't have to wait for a response.

There are TONS of cards on ebay that are way overpriced! As a buyer it gets old seeing the same stuff over and over and over...... I hardly ever pay the BIN price because of all the overpriced cards(unless it's something I feel I got to have!)If something has a best offer option I will make an offer of what I'm willing to pay. If they accept all is good. If I get a counter offer I usually decline.

Need more auctions and less overpriced BIN prices!

Wish ebay had an option delete each item (once I've seen it and don't want it) out of my search. So I only see it when it's first listed and keep it out of my search once it is relisted also.

When you pointed out that it was a EPDG and said thanks the guy probably took it as you being an a**. When he said your welcome you might have thought the same. In my opinion accept or decline would be best.

I like using the OBO option on items where the value is less precise or where the market is not quite as active. In some circumstances, sellers are not entirely sure if the price they want on an item is realistic, so they can set the price but invite offers to attempt to gauge the market. T206, though, is such a well-defined and active market that there is very little variance or room for negotiating on lower-end stuff. As you say, it's a PSA 2 EPDG which implies you expect the buyer to know what that's worth. If everyone has the same knowledge of values, or is expected to, why bother with negotiating? $35 for a EPDG / 2 would have been a great deal for the second guy who offered, but his throwing that out as an initial bid is hardly an insult.

Has anyone ever tried to offer a price on a 707 card? In my experience, it's pretty frustrating. They rarely accept a price even a couple percentage points below the BIN. As others have said, they should just offer the price they're willing to accept so both parties don't waste time. Per the rules, Sam Swartz.

707
 

One of my favorite sellers....and I like his hat

They have a business model that obviously works extremely well for them. Nothing to be gained by complaining about it IMO.

I can't possibly imagine what you think I'd try to gain with my comment, Peter. Just stating an opinion on the Make an Offer approach; not attacking the business model. I've actually bought cards from Levi and the other dude at shows. Definitely more flexible live.

Shoot, man, Comcast has a business model that apparently works for them, but that doesn't put them beyond reproach.

I don't bother with them anymore they're right next to mikedeniro or whatever the name is. They have the "illusion" of a best offer but will only take about a dollar less than the BIN price.

Great marketing Jimmy !!! :)

So I have to ask what's the card???

With all due respect, these types of topics are always one-sided.
I hear terms used for buyers like "cheapskates" and "lowballers"...
How about " greedy" for some sellers..

This is nothing personal toward the OP, but where do you sellers get your merchandise?
Do you not try to find and buy it as CHEAP as possible?? Shouldn't collectors be allowed to do the same??
Let's be honest, MOST dealers aren't going to find a deal on an item and than offer the seller more. If an item is found for say $50, and the dealer knows he could resell the item for say $400... Does he than offer to pay a fairer amount of say $200 to the seller?? OF COURSE NOT!
Let's be big boys here, if you sellers get an offer you don't like... Just move on.
It's not life and death, let's keep things in proper perspective.

Just my 2 cents.
Have a great day.

Brent

The struggle is real . As a seller I'm never bothered by a offer . It's like going fishing and hooking a fish . You don't know if it's a keeper until its all said and done . Really nobody should use a bin if your not willing to go for less. I hate when I put a offer in and they don't respond . Are you not trying to make a sale ? Do you not know how this dance goes ?

I just went through this last week and it's becoming a problem . I made a going price offer on a card . It gets declined, long story short the seller wanted full price . Wtf is wrong with you ? All day I was making offers and sending messages !

That also gets on my nerves!

Set the automatic decline at your minimum and you never even see the low offers.

I don't post an item with best offer unless I am willing to drop at least 10% from the price. That's about the fair threshold. So I don't think the OP was out of line with a floor of 90% of BIN.

I know there is some scoffing at small dollar haggling but It does add up. If I am working a set and I can knock off 10% of every card that could be like getting 70 cards for free. As a seller if I can eke out an extra 10% on every card from buyers who will buy a BIN at 90% if I set the floor there instead of lower I can pay for my National trip with the extra 10%.

Sometimes it makes sense to offer a very low % of BIN. Recently I saw a card listed at $1000 that might fetch $200 in auction. I offered $200 for it. Declined of course. I will now watch the card relist forever. One well known dealer has a card I watched for years. Tough card but not 1/1 and way overpriced as compared to similar items at auction. I offered a fair price and was rejected. A few years ago one surfaced at auction and I got it for about my offer. dealer still has the other card. I was the market and I'm out. So long as it is priced where he wants it the card will never sell. Has to be about seven or eight years since I offered on it.

I don't understand the business model of holding inventory for years but to each his own.

ETA: This thread is an example of the damage Mastro and Allen did. I am convinced that some of the prices we see on eBay are the spawn of shill bidding setting unrealistic price expectations.

I read all comments and found them all interesting perspectives. Each of us have our own and they are all right. I help out in an antique shop where we have a basement where everything is half price. Dealers can put items they have had in their booths for awhile and want to reduce inventory down there marked 1/2 off. I can not tell you how many times people have come up and asked to reduce the price even more. My point? I think we are looking at todays economy and the box stores reducing inventory by offering up to 75% off. People think that extends to all facets of the world, including EBay. I always am looking for a deal and, when I run across a card I want and it says OBO - I will counter once with what I am willing to pay. If accepted, fine, if not, fine. Just my opinion and we all have them.

Bin
 

I have a lot of BIN's with best offer. A $40 offer for a $50 card is very reasonable and I would accept it every time.

Rick

There are always people looking to get a steal and unfortunately, that means low ball offers. Whenever I list BIN's with BO, usually half of the listings that get activity, I get some ridiculous offers...it comes with the territory of giving people an option to make your own price up. I will say that some people do get steals this way, so my advice is not to let it bother you and just respectfully decline and move on. And no, you're not missing anything or doing anything wrong :)

I agree with this. I think you should have just accepted $40. Otherwise, why bother with the best offer. That is probably what the buyer was thinking. Why even bother w/ B.O. if you're not going to budge much? Basically, as a buyer, when I see a best offer for a card that I am interested in, I start off by trying 50% off the current price. Basically, I'm trying to get to around 80% of so of the current price, but set the first offer to low to be prepared for the counter. He will counter, I will counter and so forth. Sometimes the seller will get straight to the point and stated this is my lowest price that I can do, and we can stop the dance. Basically, that is the price that I am trying to figure out. What's the lowest price from the seller and is that something that I think is a fair price?

And why lowball Best Offers? Frankly, I have seen a number of cards that I have been interested that have sold for really low prices that I could not believe the seller accepted. The seller would have a huge, overpriced card with Best Offer, so huge, I would figure that I shouldn't even bother sending a best offer. Then the seller actually accepted a really low and reasonable price that I would have given a higher offer for. I think this is what a lot of low ball buyers see also.

Buy it Now
 

I always use the decline if offer is below x and accept if above x. Between the 2 should be the sweet spot. buy it now with best offer. I agree that a $40 offer for a $50 BIN is pretty damn good. $45 offers to little wiggle room.

This bothers me as well. I have also seen sellers turn down 90-95% of there asking price. If you won't accept an offer of 90%, why have that option? Very frustrating.

Typically, when I first list something it's as a BIN. If it doesn't sell after thirty days I add an OBO. Sometimes I get really low offers for things I sell and my response is always the same, I counter offer at full price. If they were serious they'd send you a serious offer. Selling an item for $200 and offering me $80 is not a serious offer; same as offering $20 on a $50 item. If you want it, act like it and offer accordingly. Don't expect a handout, you don't deserve what I have. You have to buy it at a fair price. That $200 item I had? Sold it for $170.

Bin
 

I find nothing wrong with submitting a low ball offer on a card, and if its rejected..come up a little on next offer

Like someone said....you ever walk around a card show with a complete 60s set your looking to sell...the prices people offer you are also low ball....you say no..and move on

Buying/Selling
 

This is coming strictly from a personal perspective as a buyer, not a seller, since all of my dealings on eBay have been just that as a buyer. First, there are so many scenarios, but I'll list two; the seller has a ridiculous price for something w/a BO (tons of those out there at least for what I collect) and I don't even bother negotiating or placing an offer and/or the seller has an item that is high, but not terribly unreasonable in which I will place an offer. Typically in this scenario I'll offer a price lower than I'd ultimately pay and if they accept fine and if not I can go higher, but I will not buy an item for more than I feel the item is worth.

Ultimately there are all types, both good and bad, in regard to sellers and buyers. I don't think there is a one fit answer for these type of questions. I would think that the buyer always wants to get an item for the least amount possible and the buyer wants to get as high as possible; don't think this will ever change.

That has happened to me multiple times.

Just recently I offered $380.00 on a $440.00 BIN; the seller countered with "$430.00 is the lowest I can accept."

Ridiculous.

Yea I just don't get it. Even if I was willing to pay 430 for that card I would not buy it from that seller out of principle. I don't like dealing with unreasonable people. I would pay more elsewhere for peace of mind.

2 cents
 

Hey Jimmy, I don't think you necessarily did anything wrong - but speculating he took the "it's a PSA2 EPDG back, thanks" (or however you responded in similar) as a bit snarky. Thus the counter and "...you're welcome".

Just a thought here - take the high road. "Thank you for your bid and interest, I'm into it a bit more than that - can go to $45 if that works for you" .. Or something to that effect. If he counters lower than that, thank him again, can't do that as it would be selling at a loss, but appreciate his interest and concern. Again, something along that line.

You don't have to be overly flowery, but in general - think about how you'd respond to someone as a bidder on the above vs. something like "it's an EPDG, thanks". People buy from people they like and respect, want to do business with. It's so easy to get offended so I try at least to take a higher road and create some sense of want to work with you/buy from me type of dialog.

I can't comment on what a fair price is, but if the lowest you would go is $45 then I would have put it out at $55 at least.

As a previous poster mentioned I think he took your comment as a snide remark, which may have not been your intent. That is the problem with electronic communications, all subtlety is lost. In general think its always a good idea to give the other person the benefit of the doubt, maybe their comment which seems rude to you, was not their intent. For example if you have somethings at $200 and get offered $50, rather than dismiss the guy as a jerk, give a polite response, you've nothing to lose.

thanks

Bob