@amcdc79wrote:
.... If I may ask you and all the other learned posters who use the Best Offer format. When you counter offer, do you leave any message such as "thanks for the interest", or "what are you, nuts?" Just kidding, as I did put BO on my Dreamcast banner($109.99) to see what would happen, and I just got an offer($54.00), and I countered with $89.99.
I had priced it at $99.99 plus $20 shipping, I changed it to $109.99 plus $10 shipping, so not really a change in total price. Does the BO change the shipping in the listing? I have heard on other threads that some of the offers made, wanted to include the shipping. Actual shipping cost for the banners is $22-24, Canada and USA....
Sorry for the tardiness of my response, I read your reply in the middle of the night but this is my first opportunity to sit down and think.
When submitting to and replying to a Best Offer, until very recently, there used to be a little section that said something about how Best Offers are supposed to exclude any discussion of postage. That small section of text is gone so I assume it is okay to negotiate free shipping as part of your Terms of Offer. But yes, I agree that adding dollars to your item to offset the cost of postage makes the overall purchase seem like a better deal since the higher dollar value on the item adds value whereas the postage paid is perceived as a throwaway expense the moment it has been delivered.
But adding new terms on postage to the Best Offer doesn't affect the setup of the listing itself, so if your Counter Offer included free postage to sweeten the deal, you'd have to manually fix that when you go to Send Invoice. Most of the editable sections of a listing are greyed-out to prevent alterations while a Best Offer is being considered by either party. This is to prevent the seller from pulling some sort of fast one where they consider an offer, change a bunch of stuff, and then accept it so that the buyer won't get what they think they should get. ebay makes it impossible fr that to do.
Like with pending Best Offers or Counteroffers right now, I might want to edit the listing to eliminate the Make an Offer function but if an offer is pending, I cannot do that. Nor can I take a multi-quantity listing where some items have already sold (whether by Best Offer or not) and remove the Make an Offer feature. I have to end and relist which is a shame if there are multiple watchers on it.
Did that answer the question adequately? I'm not sure I understood completely the situation you posed in it.
Oh, as to what I include in the Terms when I'm countering a message, sometimes I include a few words and sometimes I don't. When I'd like to reply with a 'You're joking, right?' instead I say,
"Thank you for your offer. As this item is already on markdown, lower pricing is available only to buyers making multi-item purchases. Questions? Please ask. We look forward to serving you. Thanks." or " Thank you for your offer. We are pleased to counter at XX.XX but this is the lowest we can accept given the cost of included postage to your location. Questions? Please ask. We look forward to serving you. Thanks."
I make it particularly clear when I'm countering the first offer with my lowest acceptable so that the buyers know I'm not here to play and back-and-forth game of 78 cents. If they counter lower, I stick to my established price. If I have multiples of the item, I might move a dollar or two. If there is ample competition for that item on ebay, I might wiggle a dollar or two. With something like this item that led to the 78-cent standoff, I do not.
I used to always counter high at first to leave room for the song and dance and that reliably failed. Not one counteroffer was accepted for the sixth solid months I did this. When I changed my tactic to more often than not counter the first offer with my lowest I would accept while saying, 'This is my lowest' from the start, my counters were accepted well more often than before.
With this particular 78-cent problem, I replied to the counter offer from my mobile device while standing in the hallway at school waiting for my kids so I was rushed and I did not make clear it was the lowest from the start. However, I countered with the same amount at the first four times in a row (or maybe one was a straight decline) so it should have been clear, I really do think.
As to this buyer and this item, no, I'm blocking and allowing to expire. Or maybe I'll decline. I'm not going to accept. The hydro bill can wait another week! It's higher than $46 anyway, ahahah.
