eBay make an offer bs

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I've been getting lots of offers lately, on stuff I DON'T have "Best Offer" on.

Auctions AND Buy It Nows.

I usually politely decline, but it does get annoying sometimes and I don't always respond.

I understand if you put "Best Offer" in your listings you should respond, or at least set a ceiling to automatically decline an offer.

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

IMHO if you are not using the OBO feature you are indicating that you are not interested in offers and unsolicited offers are the equivalent of spam and may be ignored. I state in the listing itself that I don't want offers and am not interested in ending the auction early, so don't bother. Yet yesterday I got an email offering me a lower price on a card I was selling with a BIN. I ignored it and relisted the card.

If you are using the OBO feature and you don't want to bother with the bottom feeders and grinders, set the automatic decline option with a floor below which you don't want to be bothered. If you don't want to hear a $800 offer on a $1500 item, set the floor where you will hear an offer.

If you are using the OBO function and you do not set a floor on the item via the auto-decline mechanism you are indicating that you will consider any offer and the proper etiquette is to respond to them all. You are not under any obligation to counter an offer, especially a lowball one, but you should respond.

You also have to consider the raw numbers. I completely understand the give and take on an expensive card but if you are going to grind on a $10 card you're an ass-clown and as a seller I don't want to deal with you.

Now as to the OP, any offer of less than 50% of the BIN is not realistic if the real value of the item is closer to 75% or more of the BIN. What you are telling the seller is that you are either:

--A bottom feeder looking for a stupid seller;
--A tire kicker who never makes a deal unless it is as a bottom feeder; or
--A grinder who loves to negotiate and will do so endlessly.

Sellers do not like dealing with any of those characters. I am not saying the OP is one, just that if you make offers like one, you will be treated as one. I have a love-hate relationship with the 3 strike limit on the OBO function. Sometimes it would be nice to have 5 options to offer but I also understand how a seller doesn't want to spend an inordinate amount of time on a negotiation.

Another category of offeror I don't care for is the guy who waits until the listing is over then makes the offer. Make the damned offer while the item is posted, not once it is already gone. Once the listing is over the offer is spam and it should be treated as such.

Needless to say, none of the above pertains to people I know, just to the anonymous eBay troll.

[Snapolit1]

Adam: I hear you. Every case is different. It's always been my assumption that when someone lists a card to take offers they are basically conceding that their asking price is not realistic. In many cases a 50% offer out of the box is highly unrealistic. But not if the seller is asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer.

All depends.

Always cracks me up when I see an item on eBay for $9999 that sold 4 weeks ago at Memory Lane or LOTG or Goldin for $5000. News flash: if you were the high bidder the last week in Thanksgiving that means no one out there was willing to pay as much as you did. The idea that there is someone in the weeds who is now going to pay 50% higher than you paid 10 weeks ago seems, well, a tad hopeful.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Adam: I hear you. Every case is different. It's always been my assumption that when someone lists a card to take offers they are basically conceding that their asking price is not realistic. In many cases a 50% offer out of the box is highly unrealistic. But not if the seller is asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer.

All depends.

Always cracks me up when I see an item on eBay for $9999 that sold 4 weeks ago at Memory Lane or LOTG or Goldin for $5000. News flash: if you were the high bidder the last week in Thanksgiving that means no one out there was willing to pay as much as you did. The idea that there is someone in the weeds who is now going to pay 50% higher than you paid 10 weeks ago seems, well, a tad hopeful.

Sometimes people can pay on ebay cause they can use credit card but dont have cash to pay an auction house that doesnt take credit card, so they can offer more than what a card just sold for...all depends... 4 weeks made a world a difference on some 1951 Bowman psa 4-5 Mantle rookies a few months ago as well.

what is also funny is in the example you cited

" asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer"

If that card was listed for $4500.00, people would be offering $3000.00 and not conceding that $4500 is already super reasonable (which you agree would just be a starting point of your offer) due to the past sales price and not worth risking losing the card to another person who could offer that same $4500 during the back and forth.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Sometimes people can pay on ebay cause they can use credit card but dont have cash to pay an auction house that doesnt take credit card, so they can offer more than what a card just sold for...all depends

what is also funny is in the example you cited

" asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer"

If that card was listed for $4500.00, people would be offering $3000.00 and not conceding that $4500 is already super reasonable (which you agree would just be a starting point of your offer) due to the past sales price and not worth risking losing the card to another person who could offer that same $4500 during the back and forth.

If there was a REALLY good starting price, believe me I'd grab it in a minute at the ask and not risk losing it to someone else. Have done that many many times. Have bought a few cards in the last year really quickly after they were listed bc Iknew someone else would. (Particularly when something has been listed 15 minutes and there are 10 watchers already.)

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

If there was a REALLY good starting price, believe me I'd grab it in a minute at the ask and not risk losing it to someone else. Have done that many many times. Have bought a few cards in the last year really quickly after they were listed bc Iknew someone else would. (Particularly when something has been listed 15 minutes and there are 10 watchers already.)

I missed out a few deals by now just clicking buy it now.

however, what about cards that seem fairly priced as a BIN also have the .99 cent auction option.. I can seem a 1953 topps psa 5 mantle for example be listed at $2500 or .99 option..and there may be 10 watchers all considering buying the card, maybe even sending out messages for a direct deal..

then there is that one guy that clicks .99s and maybe bids the card up to 5 dollars never to be heard from again and then the card sells in the auction for $3000...

[scotgreb]

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

I only sell by BIN and sometimes will send an offer back using eBay's "Reply with an Offer" process (I think that's how the button reads)

More often than not, I simply respond; "I appreciate your interest but believe the card is fairly priced"

Scott

[RedsFan1941]

Man ... Lots and lots of assumptions being made.

[nat]

Low-ball offers are a waste of everybody's time, just like high BINs are. If a card has an absurd list price and a OBO option, just ignore it. An absurd list price means that no reasonable offer will be accepted, so you might as well consider it to be part of the eBay Museum and move on.

|An aside. How do folks who post things at absurd BIN prices pay their rent? I'm sure it's great when you get someone to bite on one, but in order to live you need a predictable income. The landlord isn't going to wait for your next sale. I would speculate that they only sell part-time on the side, and don't depend on baseball card sales to survive. But then there's Deans, which looks like a full-time operation. So I dunno.|

[Exhibitman]

Nat: an 'absurd' price may be a seller signalling that he is not interested in selling unless the offer is so right that he'd be a fool to reject it. I do that sometimes. I know Dan McKee (hi Dan) is unabashed about his doing so.

As much as I hate to agree with Jake on anything, he's right about the credit card thing. I made a sale recently to someone who was willing to meet my price because he could use a CC to fund it. Not everyone has even cash flow.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

LOL as I typed the above I was offered $15 apiece for 3 t206's that I had at $25, $30, and $30. I countered with the information that my counter is my best price. $20, $24, $24. He then offered $17, $20, $20. I declined. text book case for me. maybe he'll come back at my price, maybe not, but no sleep lost.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by nat

Low-ball offers are a waste of everybody's time, just like high BINs are. If a card has an absurd list price and a OBO option, just ignore it. An absurd list price means that no reasonable offer will be accepted, so you might as well consider it to be part of the eBay Museum and move on.

|An aside. How do folks who post things at absurd BIN prices pay their rent? I'm sure it's great when you get someone to bite on one, but in order to live you need a predictable income. The landlord isn't going to wait for your next sale. I would speculate that they only sell part-time on the side, and don't depend on baseball card sales to survive. But then there's Deans, which looks like a full-time operation. So I dunno.|

You know, I often follow this recommendation also, and avoid the absurd list price w/ BO listings. However, every now and then I see that the seller actually accepted the incredibly lowball offer that I would have been happy to pay also. So sometimes, I still think it's fine to go ahead and shoot that lowball offer even if you know you'll probably get rejected or ignored.

[PhillipAbbott79]

Originally Posted by RedsFan1941

Man ... Lots and lots of assumptions being made.

It is not assumptions. It is scenario play. Just like it is not a negotiation.

[RedsFan1941]

Originally Posted by PhillipAbbott79

It is not assumptions. It is scenario play.

.....

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Always cracks me up when I see an item on eBay for $9999 that sold 4 weeks ago at Memory Lane or LOTG or Goldin for $5000. News flash: if you were the high bidder the last week in Thanksgiving that means no one out there was willing to pay as much as you did. The idea that there is someone in the weeds who is now going to pay 50% higher than you paid 10 weeks ago seems, well, a tad hopeful.

I understand (and for the most part agree) with what you're saying here, but there are people that might have missed the auction the first time. I used to sell pre-owned vehicles on eBay. I can't tell you how many times I would list a vehicle on eBay, it failed to meet reserve, re-list it with the same reserve and the second time around it sold for more than the reserve. Then, when I compared the bidding history of both listings, some of the bidders were the same, but some were not. In most cases, the winner of the second listing wasn't a bidder in the first listing. My conclusion was that he/she did not see it the first time. Point is, maybe the seller is hoping that the card he bought in ML, LOTG or Goldin for $5000 10 weeks ago (using your example) was missed by someone who wants it and will see it on eBay and buy it? Just a thought.