Interesting article on eBay offer negotiations

[Vintagedeputy]

This post and article are timely for me. I am a reseller on eBay and was just today laughing about a best offer that I received.

I have an unusual item with no comps listed for $49.95. The item has been listed for less than 24 hours and I’ve had five views. Today someone offered me $25. That’s a 50% offer. I countered with $35 and a nice message saying thank you for your offer, I’ll be happy to meet you in the middle at $35. Now that’s really not in the middle and it’s giving more for the buyer and less for me but I was willing to take $35.

They countered my offer of $35 and went up three bucks to $28. I have a hard time believing they think that three dollar bump is really going to win the item for them when their initial offer was at 50% of my asking price. Lowballers really seem to not want to win the item sometimes.

ETA - 5 minutes after I posted this someone offered me $45 for the item and I took it.

[vintagerookies51]

I must be getting offers from different people than y’all. I routinely get offers that are just ridiculous, like sub-$3000 for a decent 1933 Goudey Ruth. When I see that notification on my phone, I don’t even bother going into the app to reject it. I always list mine at quite a bit more than I’m willing to take for it since I know people will haggle no matter how fair the starting price is, so I usually have a pretty sizable percentage I’m willing to go down. But when I get goofy offers like that, I don’t bother acknowledging them. I suppose I could set up automatic rejections, but sometimes it’s entertaining seeing what people will offer.

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

I must be getting offers from different people than y’all. I routinely get offers that are just ridiculous, like sub-$3000 for a decent 1933 Goudey Ruth. When I see that notification on my phone, I don’t even bother going into the app to reject it. I always list mine at quite a bit more than I’m willing to take for it since I know people will haggle no matter how fair the starting price is, so I usually have a pretty sizable percentage I’m willing to go down. But when I get goofy offers like that, I don’t bother acknowledging them. I suppose I could set up automatic rejections, but sometimes it’s entertaining seeing what people will offer.

Or counter back with a # you will accept…. You admit you over priced it yet there is an issue with a low offer. It cuts both ways.

[vintagerookies51]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

Or counter back with a # you will accept…. You admit you over priced it yet there is an issue with a low offer. It cuts both ways.

Big difference between listing it at $6750 with the anticipation of negotiating down to a fairish market price of $6000, and getting offers for less than half of that.

[bnorth]

Just noticed a weird one on eBay. Yesterday I was searching for Wade Boggs bats and found one I don't have. At this point that is a fairly rare occurrence. The bat was a little more than I wanted to pay and didn't have an OBO so I bookmarked it hoping the seller would send me an offer.

I just logged into eBay and sure enough the owner of the bat sent me an offer and it was an amount I would pay. So I hit the Review Offer link to buy it. Turns out the seller sent me the offer(12% discount) and then within minutes somehow ended the listing and relisted the bat so the offer was no good now.

So F them I will wait and buy the same model the next time it shows up for sale from someone else. I don't care enough about my collection to buy from low level trash. I guess they could be one of those people that if you don't accept their offer in 5 minutes they can't mentally handle it and have to withdraw their offer.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Just noticed a weird one on eBay. Yesterday I was searching for Wade Boggs bats and found one I don't have. At this point that is a fairly rare occurrence. The bat was a little more than I wanted to pay and didn't have an OBO so I bookmarked it hoping the seller would send me an offer.

I just logged into eBay and sure enough the owner of the bat sent me an offer and it was an amount I would pay. So I hit the Review Offer link to buy it. Turns out the seller sent me the offer(12% discount) and then within minutes somehow ended the listing and relisted the bat so the offer was no good now.

So F them I will wait and buy the same model the next time it shows up for sale from someone else. I don't care enough about my collection to buy from low level trash. I guess they could be one of those people that if you don't accept their offer in 5 minutes they can't mentally handle it and have to withdraw their offer.

I completely agree with you. To Hell with that seller. Total BS.

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

Big difference between listing it at $6750 with the anticipation of negotiating down to a fairish market price of $6000, and getting offers for less than half of that.

Or it’s not worth $6,000.

A card I wanted hit ebay yesterday. $70. It’s worth $30. Many sales to justify that price too. In fact the RC doesn’t sell as high as this particular 2nd year card. As expected, seller is ignoring my offer and it expires shortly. When it does I won’t ever make another offer. Had he responded with a counter and a simple note saying “sorry I can’t go that low” I may have offered $40 and then let it sit for a couple months before offering again.

[raulus]

Reading some of the comments here, I don’t think I appreciated just how much of a blood sport offers can be on eBay. I can certainly understand the challenges with unreasonable offers or astronomical asking prices. The solution seems pretty simple - move on.

But I guess I don’t understand why it has to devolve into such tragic calamity that the counterparty is now dead to you based on one interaction.

Now, if they had insulted you personally, called you names, accused you of listening to country music, or questioned your paternity and integrity, then by all means, get your dander up and block them.

Life is just way too short to get this agitated over something as quotidian as a failed eBay negotiation over piffle such as cardboard.

[ClementeFanOh]

This is a topic that has boggled my mind for years. In the first place, eBay built its empire on auctions, not flat sales. I have submitted offers for collectibles for one of two basic reasons. First is that the item has gone unsold month after month, which should tell the seller something about his item. The second is that the item is not realistically priced, and I’m trying to get it there. I have met both reasonable and unreasonable sellers this way. I deal with reasonable ones and jettison the others…Someone above mentioned negotiating a lower price and wondering why this happens with collectibles. That’s easy- nobody needs an extravagant collectible, nobody. Buyers also know that sellers often invest much less in an extravagant collectible than their selling price. As a buyer, there’s nothing wrong with testing the waters to see what a seller’s floor is- especially if the seller is cooperative and the floor actually matches the ongoing value of the item. Sellers who receive offers and don’t bother to acknowledge them are often hurting their own interest (with collectibles). After all, the potential buyer on the other side is at least intrigued enough to offer. For the truly unrealistic or rude seller, I usually default to daring them to take their item off eBay autopilot- month after month of not selling and keeping the same price despite this- and to actually auction the darn thing. The responses are often straight from The Chuckle Hut. Trent King

[raulus]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

I must be getting offers from different people than y’all. I routinely get offers that are just ridiculous, like sub-$3000 for a decent 1933 Goudey Ruth. When I see that notification on my phone, I don’t even bother going into the app to reject it. I always list mine at quite a bit more than I’m willing to take for it since I know people will haggle no matter how fair the starting price is, so I usually have a pretty sizable percentage I’m willing to go down. But when I get goofy offers like that, I don’t bother acknowledging them. I suppose I could set up automatic rejections, but sometimes it’s entertaining seeing what people will offer.

I’d definitely go with autorejections. Either that or be okay with getting notifications for every silly offer.

I also don’t have any Ruth playing days cards for sale. The last Ruth I sold went for $25 a few months ago.