So who

[prewarsports]

The only thing that bothers me is not that a person ends an auction early, its when they do so and completely get ripped off. I have seen things worth thousands of dollars with questions and answers posted on the auction where people are offering $50 or $25 or even $10! At least treat people within the realm of fairness and its a no lose situation. If they take the offer, you both win, if they dont, at least you know you treated them fairly and can sleep at night.

Rhys

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

The only thing that bothers me is not that a person ends an auction early, its when they do so and completely get ripped off. I have seen things worth thousands of dollars with questions and answers posted on the auction where people are offering $50 or $25 or even $10! At least treat people within the realm of fairness and its a no lose situation. If they take the offer, you both win, if they dont, at least you know you treated them fairly and can sleep at night.

Rhys

Rhys, if a seller accepts your offer, then they probably paid less for the item and are happy with their profit, just as you will be if/when you re-sell it. But I think it's different if they are selling personal items and simply don't know the value. Tough call.

[HRBAKER]

I think the adage about treating people as you would hope to be treated applies here. To me a person who would offer $50 for a $1000 item has no standing to complain about card doctoring, auction house fraud, etc. Just my opinion and I am sure others will disagree.

[Rob D.]

What I think is shameful is when a person will make multiple offers to a seller, trying to pressure him or her to directly sell an item or cards that were listed. Then, after the person is successful and persuades the seller, won't acknowledge what he did. It's like he knows what he did wasn't exactly right. Hey, if you thought it was OK to convince the seller of something, then it ought to be OK to man up and admit it after the deal is done.

It's like Jeff said: Treat others as you'd like to be treated. And if you're not willing to admit how you treated someone, the guess here is it wasn't something to be proud of.

[Leon]

I literally spend hours almost every day scouring ebay for good deals. I readily admit to offering 25% or so, sometimes, on cards and stuff but usually it's about 50% and sometimes they accept. Best yet is when the searching pays off and the auction runs it course. I would have easily paid 5x-10x this amount for this card, but the auction ran it's course...I personally don't have a problem with folks offering whatever they want to for something. I am a greedy basta** though .


http://www.ebay.com/itm/160912022935...84.m1439.l2648


.

[Exhibitman]

At least you're candid, Leon. Sign me up on the greedhead express too!

[thecatspajamas]

To give a seller's perspective, I personally get annoyed with offers on AUCTION items mainly because at any given time I have several thousand FIXED PRICE / BEST OFFER listings and obviously know how to use the Best Offer function. If I wanted to take offers, or add a Buy It Now price to the listing, I would.

Personal annoyance aside though, when I get offers or requests for a Buy It Now price on an Auction item, I send back a "thank you for your interest, but no" message and politely explain that I have a policy to never end an Auction early to sell the item outright.

When it comes to taking Best Offers on Fixed Price items, the offers of 10% of my asking price are somewhat annoying, but I typically respond to those with what I feel to be a reasonable counteroffer. I feel there is a bit of etiquette with making Best Offers, but realize that everyone may not feel the same way. The ones that really push my buttons though are when the offerer makes a lowball offer and also includes an explanation along the lines of 1) I really don't need it, but will take it off your hands for this amount 2) it's a gift for whoever, so please take my offer 3) make a big deal about the condition of the item but that they could use a filler copy until they can find one in decent condition, etc. 4) I'm going to be making (lowball) offers on a lot of your items so hopefully you will take them all.

My favorite was a buyer who offered $5 for some small toys that I had priced at $50. I countered something like $40 or $45, and they sent back the same $5 offer saying "Take the offer. I'm just going to put them in a candy dish on my coffee table." I declined and informed them that what they did with the items didn't enter into the equation. I also asked if, by their logic, if they intended to throw the items in the trash upon receipt, should I just give the toys to them for free?

My philosophy is that sure, lowball offers are annoying, but I don't have to take them. Don't insult my intelligence and expect me to still do business with you though.