07-13-2016 05:27 PM
I recently revised all my listings to include Make An Offer so that local buyers had an easy way of letting me know they wanted to do a Cash Payment for Local Pickup. This move was part of my lockout-strike readiness plan.
I don't normally enable Make An Offer since I instead utilize Markdowns, or revise listings to alter pricing. Also, I did it with the Bulk Editor so there was no simply way to create the rule where you auto-reject or auto-accept offers of a certain amount. Or at least no simple way I could see at the time.
Consequently, I have been flooded with insultingly low offers. Like offers that are five per cent of the asking price.
Is this normal? Or is it just me?
I'm curious. And a little offended.
07-14-2016 04:44 PM
07-14-2016 04:51 PM - edited 07-14-2016 04:54 PM
I know, right?
Like continually for me, especially around the holidays.
It's one thing for the Fixed Price BIN to elicit a Message like, "Pardon me, I know you don't have Best Offer available on this item but I hoped you might consider an offer of XX? It's not my intention to offend you but this is something my kid really wants and I hope you will consider my offer to purchase it" and not a flat-out, "Give you five bucks, okay" when it's a sixty-dollar item and without Make an Offer enabled on it.
In the latter case, having OBO enabled is actually a blessing because you can set it to auto-reject without ever having to speak to that person. I'm always polite, and if the offer is a kick in the pants, it takes more time and effort than it's worth to craft a mindful response.
07-14-2016 04:55 PM
"I have to leave my desk for a few hours but I'll send you a Private Message about this when I return, let's talk. I'm always happy to meet fellow Winnipeggers".
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
O.K, sounds good, let me know how you want to proceed... Best Regards.
07-14-2016 05:29 PM
07-14-2016 08:19 PM
when someone tells you that your art is worth about the same as a cup of Starbucks coffee, it hurts!
Having no craft skills at all, I am constantly surprised at how low some crafters price their handmade items.
At a guess, it's a combination of not understanding how much their time is worth and comparing their custom products to items churned out by teenage labourers in a Thai factory.
And of course, it doesn't help that many brand name items are churned out in the same factories. The 'value added' there is some quality control beyond what the unbranded stuff offers and a lot of advertising about how wonderful the brand is.
07-14-2016 09:53 PM
07-14-2016 10:22 PM
Well, as I've said elsewhere before, you cannot feed your kids on principle.
07-15-2016 01:54 AM
07-16-2016 12:51 AM
07-17-2016 03:31 PM
And another one that rankles: Item is $35 and includes free shipping so I received an offer for $7.51 CAD. Not only is it five times lower than the asking price (which is already marked down on sale) but the offer price would cover less than half the cost of the included postage.
I'm revising all listings as the too-low offers come to auto-reject anything below the break-even point. After I decline, of course.
This would be so much simpler as part of a Bulk Edit.
07-17-2016 04:59 PM - edited 07-17-2016 05:02 PM
You can't bulk edit for all different numbers, If your minimums were all the same, you could.
You could however bulk edit to remove best offer and just fix them 1 at a time at your leisure.
07-17-2016 05:10 PM
07-17-2016 06:00 PM - edited 07-17-2016 06:01 PM
You can't bulk edit offer min or max like that. You can I belive bulk edit by putting in the same $ amount for each minimum offer amount. Offer is totally different than the actual price.
07-17-2016 06:02 PM - edited 07-17-2016 06:05 PM
Or you could sort by price and do a batch at once that are within a certain range.
Turbo Lister gives a lot of bulk edit options and they are reasonably fast, then just synchronize and all your live listings are done
07-19-2016 07:45 PM
I did a batch edit, alright. Removed OBO from all listings but a select few.
All I'm getting is lowball offers that I cannot entertain and, without immediate threat of lockout-strike, the Make an Offer function is not serving my Local Pickup purpose. In fact, I think it's killing business. Normally, people would just buy the stuff (or move on) but now they're trying to nickel and dime me to death.
07-20-2016 12:29 AM
I list BIN with BO and I don't get why people get offended. When someone makes a lowball offer, I don't decline right away. I believe these can actually help your sale and profits.
Maybe I'm wrong in my line of thinking, but if I'm interested in something and I see 3 other pending offers, I may be more inclined to just use the BIN if I REALLY want the item.
07-20-2016 12:59 AM
07-20-2016 11:25 AM
@mjwl2006 wrote:I did a batch edit, alright. Removed OBO from all listings but a select few.
All I'm getting is lowball offers that I cannot entertain and, without immediate threat of lockout-strike, the Make an Offer function is not serving my Local Pickup purpose. In fact, I think it's killing business. Normally, people would just buy the stuff (or move on) but now they're trying to nickel and dime me to death.
This is what I was trying to point out earlier. I think you're wise to remove B.O. from most of your listings if the main reason for it was as a substitute message system. That really isn't its best role. Using it across the board will just continue to attract a whole lot of the worst kind of bargain-hunters.
In my experience B.O. works most effectively if used strategically, mainly on higher-priced items. I also believe it's not good to mix discounts with B.O. in the same item. You want to attract offers that are actually worth considering (and in the process draw in buyers who see offers pending, as the earlier poster noted). Sometimes on a higher-priced and desirable item I will leave an offer pending until close to expiration, and occasionally it will attract a BIN purchase -- or a better offer.
As I suggested earlier, why not customize your automated FAQ list to help filter a lot of local pickup requests? Then deal with the rest on an individual basis as you sell.
07-20-2016 03:33 PM
I have only BIN listings but still receive offers. Most recently, I was made an offer for a $15.00 item of $3.00 for the item AND $3.00 for the shipping to the USA!!! Considering that Small Packet to the US is $8.36, I passed on the "generous" offer and added the buyer to my blocked bidder list. That is my solution to dealing with those kind of idiots! I block them!
07-20-2016 05:24 PM
@cooltoycars wrote:I have only BIN listings but still receive offers. Most recently, I was made an offer for a $15.00 item of $3.00 for the item AND $3.00 for the shipping to the USA!!! Considering that Small Packet to the US is $8.36, I passed on the "generous" offer and added the buyer to my blocked bidder list. That is my solution to dealing with those kind of idiots! I block them!
Yes, I think we all get those sort of people from time to time. EBay is full of them. I would imagine toy sellers have more than their share to deal with. My point was that adding Best Offer to listings that may already be susceptible to that kind of foolishness is like announcing open season to what some sellers like to refer to as "bottom feeders".