Help using Best Offer

[vintagenorth]

First time I have used Best Offer on an item as a seller. I responded to the offer with a counter offer but no response yet from buyer. Can I also just accept the original offer or do I have to wait for a response or for it to time out?

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

You may want to check their past history as a buyer and if they have used best offer for a majority of their purchases and feedback history. May give you a better idea of if or if not you will hear back. Some buyers are flexible, others not so much. Also depends if you are willing to stick to your guns with your price.

-Lotz

[femmefan1946]

Both buyers and sellers have options for Best Offers:

• Accept
• Refuse
• Ignore
• Counter-offer.

I think an Offer or counter-offer is good for 48 hours, but if another buyer turns up in the meantime, the seller is free to take the sale.

And the advice to check the customer's Feedback , in particular the FB Left for Others, can make a difference.

It is also possible to set a lower limit under which the Seller will not consider the offer, which sends an automatic refusal to the customer, without the Seller even having to see it.

[vintagenorth]

Thanks, I think I just found the answer to my question. The original offer from the buyer ends as soon as I send a counter offer. The counter offer then stays open for 48 hours (or until answered).

[nostalgicaftertaste]

As a tip: If a buyer sends you an offer/counter-offer that you don't want to accept/counter, let it expire gradually.

I've had it happen before where a buyer made an offer but because I didn't respond right away, they ended up changing their mind and purchasing the item at full price. I've also had it happen where one buyer made an offer, and during the time that their offer was active, someone else came along and bought the item full price.

Something to keep in mind if you decide to use Best Offer again.

[brettjet38]

"I've also had it happen where one buyer made an offer, and during the time that their offer was active, someone else came along and bought the item full price."

This happens more often than you think, I recently recived an offer on an item that only had two left for sale out of 14 originally offered.

I recived the offer on one item, sent back a counter-offer $2.00 more than the original offer, but $2.00 less than the asking price. I get it back with the same original offer, this time I send it back at the original price, ten minutes later the two last items sell at the regular price to two different individuals in two different countries and the haggler did not get anything.... and the original asking price was already a good deal.

A side note to fellow Sellers stick to your guns when you know your pricing is "Fair Market" because in most cases the items will sell eventually, sometimes right away, sometimes 16 months later or more GTC listings are good, its the only listing format I have used for years, apart from a few Auctions.

Listing info

152861091009

Page views:1437

Duration:Good 'till cancelled

Start time:Jan 10, 2018 15:22:19 EST

Last one sold May 1st 2019

[teenytrinkets]

I have sooo many stories about using best offer!

In over 50% of my best offers, I accept right away, because the offer is generally 70% or over my BIN price. I'm pretty happy about that.

I used to get hideous low-ball offers, so I started putting minimums in listings, so those would auto-decline.  Avoids the human confrontation.  But then they'd start to message me to accept their low-ball offer, with their reasons why I should accept it (I live close by!  I'm poor!  I tried to find it at my local store but they were sold out! ).  Sometimes I'd have to explain that I would LOSE money, because the shipping alone was more than what they were offering (are some people REALLY that dense!?).

I've had some offer wars on some items - those were fun!  I've also had some buyers that just seem to want to be mean....My BIN was $60.  Buyer offers $40.  I counter at $50 (usually this when it sells).  Buyer then counters with $41.  I decline.  Buyer than comes back and offers $42.  I decline.  Buyer then comes back at $43.  Then I block! LOL!  There's been variations of this (including times when a buyer messages me to apologize and wants to accept my original counteroffer).

But it's true - stick to your guns - especially with new listings, or an item you know will eventually sell!  I've sold items at full price (or near full price) on the same day I've been low-balled!  It pays to stick it out!

[nostalgicaftertaste]

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@brettjet38 wrote:

This happens more often than you think, I recently recived an offer on an item that only had two left for sale out of 14 originally offered.

I recived the offer on one item, sent back a counter-offer $2.00 more than the original offer, but $2.00 less than the asking price. I get it back with the same original offer, this time I send it back at the original price, ten minutes later the two last items sell at the regular price to two different individuals in two different countries and the haggler did not get anything.... and the original asking price was already a good deal.

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Oh, I believe it. That's actually why I was reluctant to start using the auto-decline feature for the longest time. But once I did, I never went back. I'd imagine this reduces the possibility of the above scenarios happening, but I got tired of getting alerts about insultingly low offers (e.g., $3 on a $30+ item and so on). Helps me focus on serious buyers.

[travis7s]

I played the best offer game when I first started a couple years ago but I found the lowball too frustrating. I had a few good experiences though, one guy paid my overinflated BIN to compensate for the offers, that was a bonus $100. also this one guy sent a very detailed message with a link showing the cheapest retail price he could find, and that he would offer me 10% less than that. Can't really argue with that logic and it was still a good deal for me.

Lately I'm working on boosting my number of transactions so I've opened up to offers on a bunch of my cheaper listings, so we'll see how it goes.