How do you handle buyers who want "deals"?

[westernstargifts]

Hi everyone,
I have a buyer who asked if I would give him a deal if he bought 2 items. They are low priced to begin with and lots of people buy more than one. I thanked him for his interest and told him that is my best price. It is listed as auction and B.I.N. Now he has sent another message asking if I will sell him 5 at the starting bid price and just the actual shipping cost with no handling fee. He is already saving $13 in S/H with the combined purchase, not to mention that he wants the starting price, not the B.I.N. price for all. (B.I.N. price is $2 more per item). His is also a seller. It really goes against the grain for me to give special treatment to a new customer and I AM trying to make some money on them.
What would you do?
Judy

[3jcc14]

Hi, provided you are making enough of a profit to keep you happy and at least breaking even on shipping and handling, then his requested might be worth considering. Your other option is to be firm and advise that the auction terms are the auction terms. Personally, I would have to at least turn a small profit after all my fees if I were to consider such an offer. You may also want to restrict his payment to non-Paypal (ie. Money Order) so that you don't lose an additional portion on the Paypal transaction. Hope this helps.

[jakeeangel]

Be a broken record. Repeat what you told him the first time for each email. Thank you for your interest in our items. As I previously stated......

You don't have to explain your costs to anyone. Your price is your price. If he keeps emailing with low offers, I had someone do that, put him on your BBL. By the fifth email from my guy my words got shorter and I skipped the niceties "thank you for...". No sorry.

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[sunshine2426]

Sometimes I give deals if they purchase 2 or 3 bikini's. If you are not making much profit just be honest and tell him.I've told people before if I'm losing it's not worth it and they usually understand.

[zarzuella]

eBay is only one of several sites I sell on, but it cetainly attracts all the bottom feeders.
Only you can determine if there is enough profit in the deal; don't forget that your sales descriptions and selling prices will now be out there for all to see on your feedback page. That would certainly be enough to discourage me from making 'deals' for new customers.

[westernstargifts]

Thanks to everyone. It is great to get different views on things to help make a decision that is right for me. I know with other places than eBay that I sell, I do not give them deals unless they buy a large quantity or have bought repeatedly in the past. And I have thought of that too, Ann, that buyers would see that deal and then nobody would be willing to pay more. I hope this doesn't become a trend on eBay. I am going to stick with my original fees. After all, I didn't list a Best Offer feature.
Judy

[sunshine2426]

where else do you guys sell if you are allowed to tell me 🙂

[westernstargifts]

I have been selling at craft shows and events as well as space rented in various stores for about 15 years. I am also working on building a website with other products than what I presently sell on eBay.

[kpwood2003]

a little late, but just a thought...
if you are wanting to consider a lower priced deal for a customer and you do not want anyone else to know the price, submit a new auction for the buyer and keep it a private listing. the price and and listing details will not be visible in your feedback section.

[westernstargifts]

That sounds like a great idea. First I have to figure out how to do a private listing though. I haven't gone there yet. Thanks!

[whoscloset]

How do you handle buyers who want "deals"?

Depending upon the request I give them a deal. I'm in the business of making money. 😉

[westernstargifts]

I would give them a deal if they gave me a decent offer.

[saanderson18]

If they make a decent offer I give a deal, if they make an offer that is unreasonable I explain I cannot accept the offer or offer an alternative, if their offer is absurd/inane/makes me think they smoked something I ignore it altogether (e.g., $50 for a new ipod).

[westernstargifts]

I won't be giving deals now because other buyers will see it on my feedback and want it for the same or less. Ebay has decided to disallow private auctions so everyone will see the selling price in the feedback.

[tobyshitzu]

I get a lot of ridiculous offers that are ignored, but doing quantity deals has been quite lucrative (some overseas turned into an ongoing deal 🙂 ). They don't reflect in ,my fb, never had one propose such a deal who wanted it listed just so they could get a fb.

[westernstargifts]

The jewellery that I sell is not very expensive and I find people want to buy 5 items at wholesale prices. When I buy wholesale I generally spend several hundred dollars at a time even when the minimum order can be less. Buying 5 items on which the bidding starts at $9.99 does not warrant lower prices. If they bought a LARGE quantity of them, then I would consider giving them the discount because most other buyers would not buy in that quantity and could not justify asking for the lower price too.

[bestshowtime]

Just ignore this buyer!
You will not lose any thing!

[tek-xpress]

In my line of business. I often get these messages not only from new customers but old customers as well.

Problem is that it does not matter even if I give them a discount on the second or third item, they still want more discounts. They even complain when the I do not discount shipping.

My items are large and heavy to ship across the USA. Most buyers complain of this and they think that the cost of shipping should be alot less than the actual cost of the purchase. For example, a guy from Lousiana bought an a dvd case of 100 pieces for $14.00. Good deal, but when I told him the flat rate shipp was $19.99, he freaked b/c he said it was too much. Tried telling him the shipp cost I was offering was alot less than actual shipping cost but that I would still honor it. He left me a negative feedback even though it cost me $38.00 to ship this 7 kilo box.

[cello10]

I agree with Monique. If the deal is worth it to us, we go for it. If it isn't, we politely decline. Simple as that.

Marcello

[ddc*stuff]

I won't do it.. I find the ones who want the deals are more trouble & time consuming.. I had a buyer contact me about shipping rates and I said I would combine x number of items for a certain rate so he made an offer on 1 item and I accepted.. it was fair.. then he wanted to make an offer on an item that was a BIN not best offer.. so I just cancelled and blocked him.. its really not worth the time and effort