stringfellow Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I saw this on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/112039747253?_trksid=p2062857.m570.l6006&boolp=1&_trkparms=gh1g%3DI112039747253.N43.S2.R3.TR16 and thought the price was high so I offered $40. I know it was probably a bit low but I have had luck in the past with low offers and figured maybe I would get a more reasonable counter offer. Instead I get declined and blocked with a message stating "that offer just got you blocked, good day sir" Before the block took affect I offered $50 with the following message "I thought it was a starting point. I don't see many of these with the box but don't feel it is worth 199". Seller quickly declined with stating "I said good day, sir" Never in my many years on ebay have I encountered such a thing. True maybe I low balled a bit but was this a reasonable response? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbai Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 It has happened to me (different sellers) twice on eBay in the past four years. There are certain individuals who are offended when a prospective buyer comes along and sees "Make an Offer" and does just that. Rather than take it as an opportunity to negotiate, they block you (with or without a nasty comment). This is particularly puzzling, given that eBay provides sellers with the ability to auto-decline offer amounts below an arbitrary value set by the seller, without sellers so much as even being notified or having to review this automated process. Blocking individuals simply because they take a seller up on the offer to make an offer is also counterproductive in that it removes those bidders from the pool for other listings they might be interested in. So, no, this is far from a reasonable response. It only hurts the seller by costing them business. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennybrooks Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 (edited) There is some possibly some reasoning to this. Some sellers feel if you make a low offer that is not accepted, you may attempt to buy another item (cheaper) and then leave bad feedback or star ratings since the seller did not accept the low offer. I have had a buyer make 3 offers on the same item, I finally did accept the third offer, but the buyer was offended and left bad feedback for not accepting the two other offers. I no longer accept the third offer on any item for this reason. Edited July 20, 2016 by kennybrooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Let it hurt them. Their loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbai Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Some sellers feel if you make a low offer that is not accepted, you may attempt to buy another item (cheaper) and then leave bad feedback or star ratings since the seller did not accept the low offer. I have had a buyer make 3 offers on the same item, I finally did accept the third offer, but the buyer was offended and left bad feedback for not accepting the two other offers. I no longer accept the third offer on any item for this reason. This behavior is equally absurd (on the part of the bidder in question) and I can only imagine far less likely than any other outcome, as it borders on pathological behavior. It's also a bidder action that one cannot anticipate or plan for, so I don't see how blocking bidders outright for making offers when invited to do so by the seller is wise when weighing the benefits of not against the outlier occurrence of the revenge-bidder. I do hope you presented a case to eBay to have the feedback you received cleared off your account in the above case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringfellow Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 There is some possibly some reasoning to this. Some sellers feel if you make a low offer that is not accepted, you may attempt to buy another item (cheaper) and then leave bad feedback or star ratings since the seller did not accept the low offer. I have had a buyer make 3 offers on the same item, I finally did accept the third offer, but the buyer was offended and left bad feedback for not accepting the two other offers. I no longer accept the third offer on any item for this reason. Hmm sounds crazy to me. I figure if someone accepts any offer of mine then there is nothing to complain about. If an offer is just declined then oh well move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+grips03 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I find its best to block people with low offers for the reason kennybrooks list above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbai Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I find its best to block people with low offers for the reason kennybrooks list above. Why don't you just set an auto-decline threshold? It takes two seconds. Are there really that many sellers who fear negative feedback in this situation or distrust the mechanisms to have it removed in the rare case it occurs? Wow. Runs completely counter to my experience with eBay and other marketplaces with feedback systems going back for longer than I can recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 There are a lot of fish in the sea. The buyer wants a lot of money It only takes one sucker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D. Head Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Geez, I would just ignore a lowball offer. I try to not have it enabled on my auctions, but I have to remember to click it away each time, so sometimes I miss it. I will say that I have never got an offer that was reasonable, i.e., never more than 50% of buy it now price. I know the tool is there to set an auto decline, but since I don't intentionally enable the make offer, I don't think to set that up. I just set most of my stuff as a buy it now and lower the prices each week until it sells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+grips03 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Why don't you just set an auto-decline threshold? It takes two seconds. Are there really that many sellers who fear negative feedback in this situation or distrust the mechanisms to have it removed in the rare case it occurs? Wow. Runs completely counter to my experience with eBay and other marketplaces with feedback systems going back for longer than I can recall. I just don't bother with offer anymore. I'm not sure of value of item being bid on here, but I know bad offers are just that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I usually don't play the offer-counteroffer game beyond one step. Item is BIN at 30 or BO. I offer 20. The seller says 25. Done. I got a $5 break. The seller made a sale. Both are happy. But I always like to test the seller to see how knowledgeable they are and how well they respond. It's served me pretty well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I saw this on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/112039747253?_trksid=p2062857.m570.l6006&boolp=1&_trkparms=gh1g%3DI112039747253.N43.S2.R3.TR16 and thought the price was high so I offered $40. I know it was probably a bit low Seriously! You offered CART ONLY price for complete. That is worth the $199 asking price all day. Summer is the worst time to sell and you have a hard time getting people to fork out money. I generally never put make offer, but I can totally see why he blocked you. You are basically saying. I know NOTHING about vintage games and if I were to buy this odds are I will complain because I can't get the cart to play. By completely offering such an absurdly lowball offer you are showing seller you are not an "informed" collector or buyer and you are a high risk buyer for problems and chargebacks. Honestly just for the pure offending part I might block you as well. My thoughts are your not going to buy anything from me anyhow since you don't want to pay even remotely close to what items are worth. I would just rather you lowball other sellers rather than waste my time. That's probably his mindset as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbai Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 (edited) You are basically saying. I know NOTHING about vintage games and if I were to buy this odds are I will complain because I can't get the cart to play. By completely offering such an absurdly lowball offer you are showing seller you are not an "informed" collector or buyer and you are a high risk buyer for problems and chargebacks. Honestly just for the pure offending part I might block you as well. My thoughts are your not going to buy anything from me anyhow since you don't want to pay even remotely close to what items are worth. I would just rather you lowball other sellers rather than waste my time. Again, wow. I have never encountered a seller whose mindset is that he/she will only sell to informed buyers. Good to know that I was wrong. I hope I'm not in the minority for not sharing the above sentiment in the least. And again, if this is truly a concern for sellers, either don't futz with "Make an Offer" at all or set a minimum threshold. Why would anyone want to be bothered with replying to offers they know in advance they won't consider, unless he/she is entertained by the process or on a crusade to punish the stray bidder for taking a seller up on an open offer? ETA: Typos. Those damn typos. Edited July 20, 2016 by mumbai 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhcocker Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Sellers that get offended by offers shouldn't be sellers on eBay. Otherwise, you are in for a lot of frustration and disappointment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I've run into the sellers who get offended over offers a few times myself. I was puzzled at first, but then I remembered that a lot of broken people use eBay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Again, wow. I have never encountered a seller whose mindset is that he/she will only sell to informed buyers. You are missing the point. It all has to do with chargebacks, returns, and feedback. It's not that I would NOT sell to uniformed buyers, it is just I would rather avoid problems and hassles. When someone makes it quite clear they are a risk for problems I don't want to deal with them. Sorry but trying to explain to someone through email how to get a 30 year of game working is not my idea of fun. When someone basically makes it clear they have done little to no research on what they are interested in buying that is a high risk for problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D. Head Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I usually don't play the offer-counteroffer game beyond one step. Item is BIN at 30 or BO. I offer 20. The seller says 25. Done. I got a $5 break. The seller made a sale. Both are happy. But I always like to test the seller to see how knowledgeable they are and how well they respond. It's served me pretty well. That is pretty much how I feel the feature should be used. Congratulations on being reasonable, it is usually the first step in being successful and happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbai Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 You are missing the point. It all has to do with chargebacks, returns, and feedback. It's not that I would NOT sell to uniformed buyers, it is just I would rather avoid problems and hassles. When someone makes it quite clear they are a risk for problems I don't want to deal with them. Sorry but trying to explain to someone through email how to get a 30 year of game working is not my idea of fun. When someone basically makes it clear they have done little to no research on what they are interested in buying that is a high risk for problems. I don't believe I'm missing the point. My perspective, which you may of course disagree with, is that reading between the lines in an antagonistic fashion such as this when confronted with what are deemed low offers, when the seller takes no precaution to limit exposure to them, is a problem in and of itself. That second part above is unrelated, as again, this happens whether or not "Make an Offer" is involved. I wish I had the time to peer into the minds of previously un-encountered bidders to divine which are going to be problems and which are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 That second part above is unrelated, as again, this happens whether or not "Make an Offer" is involved. I wish I had the time to peer into the minds of previously un-encountered bidders to divine which are going to be problems and which are not. Whether make an offer is involved or not the principles are the same It is fully relevant. From a business standpoint. Time is money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbai Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 It is fully relevant. From a business standpoint. Time is money. Look, I don't mean to pick on you in the least, but you can't know with any certainty in advance which buyer is going to engage you post-auction to discuss why something doesn't work (as stated or otherwise). It happens. If there were a foolproof way to do away with nuisance communications, someone would have patented it by now. If time is money, which you seem to believe, I can only urge sellers to do their homework on acceptable pricing before bothering to list anything for sale and abstain from usage of "Make an Offer", or at the very least, use the tools eBay provides to set a minimum threshold for incoming offers that will be rejected in an automated fashion. I don't see how those precautions run contrary to your view of eBay bidders and the pitfalls associated with selling there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I've had sellers counteroffer just 50 cents or $1 lessand i had sellers not respond to offers of $5 or $6 less on a $12 or $13 item What's the point of having a best offer if your not willing to budge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringfellow Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Seriously! You offered CART ONLY price for complete. That is worth the $199 asking price all day. Summer is the worst time to sell and you have a hard time getting people to fork out money. I generally never put make offer, but I can totally see why he blocked you. You are basically saying. I know NOTHING about vintage games and if I were to buy this odds are I will complain because I can't get the cart to play. By completely offering such an absurdly lowball offer you are showing seller you are not an "informed" collector or buyer and you are a high risk buyer for problems and chargebacks. Honestly just for the pure offending part I might block you as well. My thoughts are your not going to buy anything from me anyhow since you don't want to pay even remotely close to what items are worth. I would just rather you lowball other sellers rather than waste my time. That's probably his mindset as well. I honestly don't or didn't know what it was worth. Not everyone knows the value of what they are looking at on ebay which is why we see so many listings with absurdly high prices. One purchase I made on ebay was for my ram air hood that I have on my mustang. It is typically $700 new and this one was unpainted and never installed with a $500 buy it now or best offer. I offered $300 and the seller accepted. So offering low isn't always bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Ok listen this is the absolute bottom line truth of my mindset, I was trying to be polite. If someone offers me $40 for an item that is selling for over $200, what goes through my mind is this person is a complete idiot and I do not want to deal with them any further. I also feel buyers shouldn't make completely absurd rude offers as well. That to me can imply the buyer is purposely being an asshole for some unknown reason and I am better off to just not deal with them at all, whether now or the future. I agree sellers should put in place measures to automatically decline offers less than you are willing to take. I have occasionally sold items with make offer and I always automatically decline less than I am willing to accept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 (edited) I honestly don't or didn't know what it was worth. Not everyone knows the value of what they are looking at on ebay which is why we see so many listings with absurdly high prices. Really? So do you make a habit of buying stuff you have no idea of it's value? edit: Thanks for the selling tip. I am going to list a $20 item for $200 bin and accept anything over $20 and see if someone just offers me $40 for it as they don't know what they are buying. I didn't know people bought stuff like this w/out researching value... Now all those absurdly high Bins make sense to me. Edited July 20, 2016 by icemanxp300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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