Happy Festivus! Airing of Grievances 2023 Edition

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

People who make (usually lowball) offers on eBay items with no OBO option. If I wanted to hear how much less you feel like paying, the OBO option would have been part of the listing. Get lost!

[Lobo Aullando]

Even with OBO, one can set the auto-reject threshold.

Check it for laughs every so often. I had one item that sold for the asking price (which was already at market price) get a ton of offers that were 1/3 to 1/2 the value.

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

People who make (usually lowball) offers on eBay items with no OBO option. If I wanted to hear how much less you feel like paying, the OBO option would have been part of the listing. Get lost!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

People who make (usually lowball) offers on eBay items with no OBO option. If I wanted to hear how much less you feel like paying, the OBO option would have been part of the listing. Get lost!

I am guilty of this just without the lowballing part. I have around a 75% success rate making offers on items without the make offer option in the listing. I don't sell much so I rarely receive them.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

People who make (usually lowball) offers on eBay items with no OBO option. If I wanted to hear how much less you feel like paying, the OBO option would have been part of the listing. Get lost!

If they ask nicely, this doesn't bother me. However, they typically don't ask nicely.

Me:
List item at $99 with no OBO option.

Message from eBay user:
fourty $$$$ bucks shiped??????????

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

You have that right, Eric. Still, I'm just not a fan of offers in general.

When I think of bartering, I'm more prone to conjure up images of some bazaar halfway around the world. In most retail settings in western civilization, if I offered a fraction of the listed price, I'd be either laughed out the door or yelled at. Why shouldn't this apply to my profession as well? And yes, my saying this does prove me a hypocrite, as I've certainly made offers in my life! Although, in relation to this particular eBay scenario, I do try my best to work with a listed price if there's no OBO or simply move on. I assume the seller has their reasons for no OBO as I have for my items. I remember making far more offers on eBay many years back, before the implementation of the OBO option, but we all did, ergo eBay's introduction of OBO.

[jsfriedm]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

In most retail settings in western civilization, if I offered a fraction of the listed price, I'd be either laughed out the door or yelled at.

A reporter once asked Gandhi what he thought of western civilization. He replied, "I think it would be a good idea."

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by Eric72

If they ask nicely, this doesn't bother me. However, they typically don't ask nicely.

Me:
List item at $99 with no OBO option.

Message from eBay user:
fourty $$$$ bucks shiped??????????

That or my personal favorite from some mouth breather: "HOWMUCH."

[jchcollins]

The OBO on eBay anymore I see as mainly a gesture of goodwill. People like to feel like they are getting some type of discount; it's part of the psychology of buying. So I know what I want to sell something for, I'll list it for a small percentage higher. I can come down to that price on an offer, and the buyer feels like they are winning, or sometimes they just hit the BIN regardless and I sell it for my starting price. That works too...

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

The OBO on eBay anymore I see as mainly a gesture of goodwill. People like to feel like they are getting some type of discount; it's part of the psychology of buying. So I know what I want to sell something for, I'll list it for a small percentage higher. I can come down to that price on an offer, and the buyer feels like they are winning, or sometimes they just hit the BIN regardless and I sell it for my starting price. That works too...

Yeah, like an "offer" of $70 off a card priced at $1,029 (which comps at $800). Then there's $10 shipping AND sales tax. Pass.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

Yeah, like an "offer" of $70 off a card priced at $1,029 (which comps at $800). Then there's $10 shipping AND sales tax. Pass.

The proactive seller offers are different. Would agree I've rarely been on the receiving end of any bargains there.

[Exhibitman]

Just put an auto-reject on the floor price and all of the tire kickers and bottom feeders will be shut out automatically.