Quote:
Originally Posted by Exhibitman
Mark, I don't generally use best offers but will send offers when eBay informs me that I can send an offer to watchers. Converts to a sale maybe 5% of the time.
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When there's something I want with an OBO, that tells me the seller will take a lower price. I decide what I'm willing to pay, submit that offer, and if it's rejected or countered, I walk.
I agree with you that this study makes assumptions on why a seller might delay responding. Among the reasons you mention having to do with different time zones, family activities and so on, I would add that all sellers do not approach the process the same. For example, several times when I've made my offer, the seller never replies. The study might suggest he was considering the offer, but the other explanation would be that he rejected it and letting it expire was his way of declining.
People go to Best Buy and never haggle over the sticker price of a TV or computer. The same people go to a car dealership and haggle over the sticker price of a new car. It's an oddity of our culture I suppose. In some situations, haggling is nonexistent; in others, it's a game that's always expected to be played.