Buyers replying to Make an offer

[fixercraig]

Ive had 2 bad experiences with "make an offer"  Id like Ebay to explain to me this.  How come when i make an offer (as a buyer) i get a big popup.  The popup says your are entering a binding sale or whatever  bla bla -   if the seller accepts your offer.  Yep i know that.  How come the seller is not obligated to reply at all???  I waited the 48 hours - no reply - not yes - not no - not NOTHING.  It timed out.  In the meantime i missed my planB if seller didnt accept my offer cause someone else bought it.  So why am i legaly obligated to buy - yet seller isn't even obligated to even friggin respond???  I called Ebay - they fluffed me off.  That was the day i discovered Amazon.

Other one - seller has the make an offer option.  I offered within 5% of his asking price.  Seller replied no.  Not even a counter offer.  Nothing - no.  So why does Ebay even have this friggin thing??  I never bought it in the end for spite. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@fixercraig 

One other possibility for you. The seller may not have seen the offer. It happens for various reasons. Not at their computer for a certain time...Holidays, Family Emergency,.... Incorrect email settings in eBay. Computer problems. Seller gets bombarded with Offer mail. The list goes on.

Also with Best Offers if the item is about to end and relist (They're called GTC - Good Til Cancelled) the meter can end before the 48 hour time limit expires and the listing relists automatically. Poofing (the offer basically expires before its time.)

If you like you can always send a side message to the seller expressing your serious interest in their item. It never hurts to ask.

-Lotz

PS. For dot com sellers they have options  the length of time for accepting best offers. With dot ca sellers the only option is 48 hours or until the listing expires and automagically relists.

[femmefan1946]

The seller can agree to your offer, decline your offer, make a counter-offer, or .... ignore the offer.

It is very likely he felt the offer was offensive in some way.

I've seen offers as low as 10% of the asking price.

And of course, some people have no manners, on either side of the transaction.

About the "legal".

What eBay is saying is,"You made this offer. Your seller is going to close down his listing for you and possibly lose another buyer who would pay full price. In addition, while you dither about actually paying, we here at eBay will be collecting a fee on the price you offered and did not pay for. If the seller is not paid, and opens an Unpaid Item Dispute, having waited four days for payment, he cannot relist for another four days."

Basically, you can make offers and if they are declined or ignored, there is nothing harmful that will come to you except perhaps hurt feelings.

But the seller loses potential sales and has to work to get back the fees eBay took.  

Still, it is rude not to respond at all.

[marnotom!]

Not trying to be snarky, but if you knew the seller had up to 48 hours to respond to your offer, why didn’t your Plan A take this into consideration?