Can buyers contact sellers if an item doesn't sell to see if they can get a lower price?

[weyr]

If an item doesn't sell on eBay. Can I contact the seller anyway to see if I can get a lower price?

[leb17 · Accepted solution]

Hi....well that is a tough one, this is what ebay says:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/account/unwanted-email.html

[weyr]

I've had it happen to me once as a seller and it sounded "against policy" so I said no but I couldn't find anything about it.

[scifan57]

If it in any way solicits an off-eBay sale then,yes,it is against eBay policy.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'weyr',

You can always ask.  Were you watching a listing but for whatever reason did not buy it before it ended?  I think if it were me I would gently inquire with the seller if a suchandsuch he had for sale is still available, and see how he responds.  I've had sellers reslist things for me but I've never asked for a lower cost. 

If the listing did not include the 'make an offer' option the seller might not want to consider reducing the price.  If it was an auction that got no bids, usually that starting bid is about as low as a seller is willing to go.  Still, if you are kind and polite about it, - no harm in asking.

[reallynicestamps]

You can contact the seller after the listing ends, but if he did not have a Best Offer option, don't ask for a lower price. That is likely to get you Blocked by the seller.

Ask for a private listing. The seller can use your name as the title to keep it unfound by the bottomfeeders who Search "private auction" listings.

[ok_so_im_50]

You can ask the seller to relist the item for an agreed upon price but you cannot/should not try to do a transaction outside of ebay. You might end up on the losing end of the transaction with no ebay protection.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/rfe-spam-non-ebay-sale.html

"If the Make Offer button doesn't appear in the listing, the seller isn't interested in receiving offers and you shouldn't try to contact this seller to negotiate price or terms. Doing so violates our offers to buy or sell outside of eBay policy."

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/best-offer.html