How much do you discount when you "make an offer" on E*bay?

[Llewellyn]

Presumably you have an idea of the final amount that you're prepared to pay for an item that has a "make an offer" option, but it's all part of the game to see if you can offer a lower price that the seller might accept without being downright insulting. What sort of discount do you deduct for your first offer - 10%, 20%.....50%?

[Cicli]

Depends on the asking price. I offer what I am willing to pay minus about 10%. I will counter with that 10% added back if needed. At that point I will decline any counter offer recieved with an explination to the seller. Sometimes I will leave it open to further negotiations but not usually. I just move on.

[velotrack]

Depends on the asking price. I offer what I am willing to pay minus about 10%. I will counter with that 10% added back if needed. At that point I will decline any counter offer recieved with an explination to the seller. Sometimes I will leave it open to further negotiations but not usually. I just move on.

About the same here.

[oliver1850]

Depends on what it is and what the asking price is. I don't usually bother to make an offer if I don't want to pay at least 75% of the asking price. Last night I was looking for stems and made an $11 offer on a $15 stem, which was instantly accepted.

[oldpotatoe]

Presumably you have an idea of the final amount that you're prepared to pay for an item that has a "make an offer" option, but it's all part of the game to see if you can offer a lower price that the seller might accept without being downright insulting. What sort of discount do you deduct for your first offer - 10%, 20%.....50%?

Why is a low offer 'insulting'? So it's low, the guy says no, you don't know the guy..you move on. Confused.

BUT I offer something low, assuming the seller will counter offer something in the middle. If it isn't what you want to pay, don't.

What irks me is when I have a 'make offer' sale, somebody does 'make an offer', and I accept, then they back out.

[Bentley]

if im going to make an offer, even on an item that does not offer that option i generally contact the seller directly and make the offer based on what i think is fair and I am willing to pay. I would offer that it could be 10% or even as much as 25% lower than the asking price. I generally look at the price plus shipping, most of the time the problem is the pad in the shipping so that gives some flex.

i also find that sending the email before the offer generally results in a good dialogue and a final result as opposed to just making blind offers.

I can offer that i have had some folks make offers to me that were insulting. The issue was never the price but the way the offer was tended, I think a little dialogue helps when you are making an offer that is lowef than the seller is asking.

My 2 cents

Ray

[AngryScientist]

absolutely depends.

if it's an item that has been sitting on ebay for months unsold with an unrealistically high BIN price, i may make an offer that is 50% or less of the BIN;

on the other hand if it's something that it priced right that i want, or know is likely to sell quickly, i'll disregard the offer and just buy at asking price.

and anywhere in between.

[Hilltopperny]

If the item has been sitting for a while I will open up the conversation with a complement of the item and then an explanation as to what it's worth to me and why. This usually gets the seller thinking. If they are receptive I make an honest offer and we negotiate from there. I find the more positive dialogue the better the result.

If it's a fresh listing, the item is in large demand and the price is under the perceived value I will just buy it now. No sense in dickering in these cases as they almost always end up gone before you come to the realization that you should have just bought it.

[tuscanyswe]

I dont sell alot but usually i sell with best offer option.

If someone offers me 50% of buy it now i dont respond with a counteroffer. I just decline. So i think possibly you ruin your chances of getting say 20% off on an item if you start out with to low an offer.

I could ofc send offers to the "low bidders" as well but i just figure they are more out to make a deal than they want the actual item so why bother with them, my time is more valuable than that. To me at least.. :)

[chiasticon]

Depends on the asking price. I offer what I am willing to pay minus about 10%. I will counter with that 10% added back if needed. At that point I will decline any counter offer recieved with an explination to the seller. Sometimes I will leave it open to further negotiations but not usually. I just move on.yeah, about the same for me as well.

What irks me is when I have a 'make offer' sale, somebody does 'make an offer', and I accept, then they back out.that's about as annoying as when people hit "Buy It Now", or have a bidding war with someone at auction closing, but then take a week to pay. it's like, dude, you wanted it enough to fight hard for it, but not enough to pay immediately and get it quickly? (yes, I get that some people use the eBay payment grace period to wait for a paycheck to come in or something. but in my opinion if you're not ready to pay, don't bid. but I digress...)

[wallymann]

absolutely depends.

if it's an item that has been sitting on ebay for months unsold with an unrealistically high BIN price, i may make an offer that is 50% or less of the BIN;

on the other hand if it's something that it priced right that i want, or know is likely to sell quickly, i'll disregard the offer and just buy at asking price.

and anywhere in between.

this. i've likewise made crazy-low offers that were accepted, simply because the seller was trying to move inventory (liquidation) and any reasonable $$$ would be well received.

if something is priced appropriately there isnt room for a low offer, as it'll sell. but if there are complicating factors affecting an items market price or sell-ability, then its a whole 'nuther ballgame -- it's very situation dependent.

[CampyorBust]

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/y23Q27K.gif

Whatever I feel like!

It is a business transaction not a courtship worthy of thought and delicacy, though some may treat it that way. Like my offer great, no likey very much fine make a counter, I may except or I may say nah and look else wheres.

Once had a bad xperience with a very popular ebay seller, I would wager most of us have bought something from. Bought from said seller many times with great results and feed back both ways. I like utilizing the best offer feature, and had done so in the past with the seller with little success. Made another best offer on a item with a question attached. In hind sight this is a bad idear never again. Seller accepted without answering the question. Sent me the wrong spec. Seller refused to pay for shipping. Lots of back and forth, bad vibes a plenty, tried to give the seller many chances to do the right thing. Finally opened up a claim against the seller and had to apply egg to face, the correct spec was noted in the original ad and my question simply double checking was warranted. In the end I got my refund, and yet another lesson in the passive aggressive vindictive doosh baggery that is so prevalent amongst the mouth breathers. :D

[ultraman6970]

What i do (when i have money that pretty much never) if its something I like and is expensive I send an email to guy asking whats the lowest he can go, in that way I dont waste my time even sending an offer or wasting that 3 times chance ebay gives you, obviously if still too high i let the stuff go, usually those items sit there for months, even years in some cases.

[R3awak3n]

another one that goes with depends. My offer is a combination of what I think it should cost mixed with maybe he will take it.

Low offers are fine on ebay imo.


I have got some sweet deals, got a brand new pair of giro empire AAC that were marked at like 180 and offered 100, the guy took it.

[jtbadge]

Best offer on eBay is weird. Usually it will be no problem, and easy to negotiate a middle ground between where the buyer and seller want. Other times the seller has a hard line, and that's cool - but why not just make that your listing price?

Recently I tried to buy a used crank with best offer, and the seller refused to go lower than new UK price. Good luck, dude!

[notsew]

What i do (when i have money that pretty much never) if its something I like and is expensive I send an email to guy asking whats the lowest he can go, in that way I dont waste my time even sending an offer or wasting that 3 times chance ebay gives you, obviously if still too high i let the stuff go, usually those items sit there for months, even years in some cases.

That works? Whenever I get asked what the lowest I can go is, I send the asking price or ask the highest they can go. Why would I tell you the lowest I could go?

But maybe I'm just a jerk. If people actually respond to these things, I'm going to start trying it. :beer:

[Mzilliox]

most recent example. bike was listed at 1500BIN or BO. offer made of 1100. seller counters with 1200. deal is done.

[mhespenheide]

So many variables. If it's been listed for a long time, relisted a couple of times, I might make a low ball offer and see where that goes. If the seller is asking a ludicrously high price, I might send an email first explaining where I'm coming from, then offer what I think is reasonable.

As a seller, though, I freaking hate the question "how low will you go"? If you're going to try to negotiate, don't open with that. It shows that you're a customer that I probably don't want to deal with. I like the idea of asking back "what's the most you'll pay?" and flipping the script.

[unterhausen]

I offer what I want to pay. If they don't like it, that's fine. I have a bike part on auto-decline on ebay right now. No harm in making an offer. I'm not going to pay more than I want just because the seller wants more

I had a funny experience where I wanted something on ebay and the seller had it listed for the published retail price. I offered 50 percent, which seems about right for this object. Later, I noticed it had been sold for the retail price. Then, even later, I figured out it was sold by someone I knew from online. I was going to ask him if he bothered to look up the price of a new one, but you can't argue with success.

Which brings to mind the time I listed something for $250, $350 BIN. A guy messaged me, saying it was too much, wasn't worth it, he could get it for $200 from a local dealer, would I take $150. Thing was, I had already sold it for the $350. I also knew him from online. I should have posted the story to the email list we both participated on, he was a jerk

That works? Whenever I get asked what the lowest I can go is, I send the asking price or ask the highest they can go. Why would I tell you the lowest I could go? I kinda agree with you. Make an offer. Most people won't go down too far from their asking price. There was a local CL listing where the guy put a price in the title, but then said what his lowest price would be in the text of the ad. I should have nominated it for best of CL

[ultraman6970]

Well it depends of the situation, one day I called a seller (was a store) and asked them straight forward is they could do x for 2 units + shipping, they took it w/o even flinch.

I know sellers take offers aswell so you waste nothing asking, hey I can do x if the bike doesnt sell. Sometimes they agree, but again it depends of the situation and the item they are selling and for how much they got the item for aswell.

For example cleearly you are not going to put something in ebay to lose money (sometimes it happens tho) but thats not the idea. In my particular case I like asking because my resources aren't vast at all and at least will know whats the numbers the sellers are managing, since im broke and I know from the start that I wont make it I will lose nothing but like in the example when I called that store, they made my day big time taking my offer.

Obviously I wont waste my time asking in items that are way above the clouds, you have to be realistic aswell you know. You cant pretend to ask when we are talking about a 10.000 bucks frame and the guy is asking 5000 (making up numbers) you know.

[jtakeda]

I offer what I want to pay. If they don't like it, that's fine. I have a bike part on auto-decline on ebay right now. No harm in making an offer. I'm not going to pay more than I want just because the seller wants more

I had a funny experience where I wanted something on ebay and the seller had it listed for the published retail price. I offered 50 percent, which seems about right for this object. Later, I noticed it had been sold for the retail price. Then, even later, I figured out it was sold by someone I knew from online. I was going to ask him if he bothered to look up the price of a new one, but you can't argue with success.

Which brings to mind the time I listed something for $250, $350 BIN. A guy messaged me, saying it was too much, wasn't worth it, he could get it for $200 from a local dealer, would I take $150. Thing was, I had already sold it for the $350. I also knew him from online. I should have posted the story to the email list we both participated on, he was a jerk

I kinda agree with you. Make an offer. Most people won't go down too far from their asking price. There was a local CL listing where the guy put a price in the title, but then said what his lowest price would be in the text of the ad. I should have nominated it for best of CL



I had a record for sale a couple years back $.99 auction start price with a $800 buy it now. In the last 15 seconds bidding went up to $1200.

eBay is a strange place.

But to OP, definitely situation dependent.
use your best judgment

[daker13]

I had a record for sale a couple years back $.99 auction start price with a $800 buy it now. In the last 15 seconds bidding went up to $1200.

eBay is a strange place.

But to OP, definitely situation dependent.
use your best judgment

What was the record? I've sold a few records in the $500 range, but never $1200. That's Lee Morgan 'Candy' range.

I haven't sold a ton on eBay, but over the years I have maybe 400 transactions, and I can say for myself, I definitely have been insulted by lowball offers, even when I have the 'Make Offer' button activated. An eBay sale isn't going to make or break me at this point, and I've even blocked bidders if they offer me, say, 25% of my lowest bid price before the auction even begins. In most cases, I'd rather NOT sell something than sell it to some weird dirtbag who lowballs for fun, can't write or spell, and might not even pay me.

Ebay isn't the cakewalk it used to be. I agree with jtakeda above, but I'd say further, if you really want the item, come up with a fair price and don't risk insulting the seller.

[Macadamia]

That works? Whenever I get asked what the lowest I can go is, I send the asking price or ask the highest they can go. Why would I tell you the lowest I could go?

yeah I don't get that, my guess it's people that are shopping well out of their price range.

Also re:insulting offers, if people offer like 25% of asking price that's pretty offensive imo, if I wanted that bad of a deal I'd take whatever I'm selling to a pawn shop

[ultraman6970]

I think all depends, obviously if you are going to say something like... hey dude, I give you 10 bucks for that madone 2017... thats insulting but if you say... " dude I dont want to throw you a low ball neither sound insulting, so rather know whats the best you are willing to take??, I know we might be off but who knows..." ...

Incredibly or not, some sellers actually tells you and some even sent me offers... you have to be honest asking too you know and have clear that the dude wants to make some dought out of the sell aswell, and honestly sellers tells you. The bad part is that I cant buy bubble gum and for some stuff ive seen descent deals sometimes.

Then you have the sellers than dont care even answering msgs or offers, they let them go even if you tells them where your offer is coming from, at the end u cant get mad either, seller needs to get his costs at least and if they are off compared with the market... well I dont even bother with those ones.

Sure for some gets harder to draw a line between what is send an offensive offer and ask nicely, no lie in asking straight forward, but from there to be offensive the line is really thin too. THere are ways and ways to ask, right?

[jtakeda]

What was the record? I've sold a few records in the $500 range, but never $1200. That's Lee Morgan 'Candy' range.

I haven't sold a ton on eBay, but over the years I have maybe 400 transactions, and I can say for myself, I definitely have been insulted by lowball offers, even when I have the 'Make Offer' button activated. An eBay sale isn't going to make or break me at this point, and I've even blocked bidders if they offer me, say, 25% of my lowest bid price before the auction even begins. In most cases, I'd rather NOT sell something than sell it to some weird dirtbag who lowballs for fun, can't write or spell, and might not even pay me.

Ebay isn't the cakewalk it used to be. I agree with jtakeda above, but I'd say further, if you really want the item, come up with a fair price and don't risk insulting the seller.


Velvet underground + Nico og stereo. Non torso (blurred image) pic on back Minty fresh with 100% intact banana and crisp jacket corners. And I'd sell it again if I had it.

[booglebug]

Best deals I've had on the Bay is when the item doesn't sell and I made a offer after. Most items I have bid on, have bid to my determined max, if I win great, if not , not disappointed because a better deal will show up soon . My motto, once a certain item is bought never look for it again cause a better deal always shows up.

[noysboy]

If a seller is an established, long term member...ill make an offer to buy off of ebay to save them some fees. It can work, but you obviously have to be careful.

[daker13]

Velvet underground + Nico og stereo. Non torso (blurred image) pic on back Minty fresh with 100% intact banana and crisp jacket corners. And I'd sell it again if I had it.

Nice. For $1200, I'd sell it, too--that's a lot of money for a banana. But I've always had trouble identifying the various Verve issues from the 'original.' I picked up a nice clean copy of White Light/White Heat last year, with the tattoo visible, but I don't think it's the original issue.

[By the way, as a long-time VU fan, from back in the 80s when their records weren't in print, through all of Lou Reed's stuff and John Cale's and Mo Tucker's stuff with Half Japanese, I've come around to an opinion I NEVER thought I'd have: of all the members of the band, Nico's post-VU output is the best of everyone's.]

[jlwdm]

I just bought a dress shirt on Ebay a few minutes ago. I thought the shirt was fairly priced at $99.50 buy it now, but I offered $90 and it was accepted within 3 minutes. I wanted the shirt so I did not want to screw around with two low of a price.

Jeff

[eBAUMANN]

its eBay...go wild

i sell stuff there from time to time, always BIN OBO, if someone low balls ill just decline with a comment like "heh, keep dreamin amigo" or something, but i don't take it personally. if they come back with another fair offer, ill engage, no real reason to get all butthurt over it, haggling is part of the fun sometimes.

[wallymann]

i don't take it personally.

yep. i dont understand the psychology of "getting offended" by a low-ball offer. people actually get upset and emotional and consider it an affront to their being? pistols at dawn? i seriously do not understand that reaction.

[Cicli]

So, to rehash this thread.

You are shopping for an item on the fleabay. You make a best offer and let it ride. Ebay gives the seller 48 hours which is fine by me. Durring the wait you run across another item that will fit the bill. Lets say you found the second item 24 hours after the first offer was made. I dont want to end up with two of something.
What do you do?
1. Send the first seller a message asking him/her to respond?
2. Retract your first offer and go after the second?
3. Make a second offer to another seller and retract the one that wasn't accepted?

Do you feel its okay to retract a offer if needed? If a better item comes along?
Nobody likes to deal with an incomplete sale so in my eyes, a retraction would be best if warranted.

Thoughts?
Input?

[shovelhd]

So, to rehash this thread.

You are shopping for an item on the fleabay. You make a best offer and let it ride. Ebay gives the seller 48 hours which is fine by me. Durring the wait you run across another item that will fit the bill. Lets say you found the second item 24 hours after the first offer was made. I dont want to end up with two of something.
What do you do?
1. Send the first seller a message asking him/her to respond?
2. Retract your first offer and go after the second?
3. Make a second offer to another seller and retract the one that wasn't accepted?

Do you feel its okay to retract a offer if needed? If a better item comes along?
Nobody likes to deal with an incomplete sale so in my eyes, a retraction would be best if warranted.

Thoughts?
Input?

Depends if you are a sleazebag or not. If you make me an offer and I haven't accepted it, then retracting it means nothing to me. If I procrastinate in accepting your offer, that's on me. But if I accept your offer and you want to back out, then you are a sleazebag. I usually accept offers within minutes of getting them to avoid this.

[Cicli]

Depends if you are a sleazebag or not. If you make me an offer and I haven't accepted it, then retracting it means nothing to me. If I procrastinate in accepting your offer, that's on me. But if I accept your offer and you want to back out, then you are a sleazebag. I usually accept offers within minutes of getting them to avoid this.

Exactly. In my world, I make an offer and you accept. I own it and have to follow through.

[macaroon]

I just bought a dress shirt on Ebay a few minutes ago. I thought the shirt was fairly priced at $99.50 buy it now, but I offered $90 and it was accepted within 3 minutes. I wanted the shirt so I did not want to screw around with two low of a price.

Jeff

Exactly this. Most of the times I've used best offer, the item has been very reasonably priced anyway. But the best offer function is there, so may aswell try and get an extra 5% off. This is what the seller expects I imagine.

I generally ignore low-ball (i.e. 50%) offers completely; don't even bother responding. Why bother making one?

[CampyorBust]

So, to rehash this thread.

You are shopping for an item on the fleabay. You make a best offer and let it ride. Ebay gives the seller 48 hours which is fine by me. Durring the wait you run across another item that will fit the bill. Lets say you found the second item 24 hours after the first offer was made. I dont want to end up with two of something.
What do you do?
1. Send the first seller a message asking him/her to respond?
2. Retract your first offer and go after the second?
3. Make a second offer to another seller and retract the one that wasn't accepted?

Do you feel its okay to retract a offer if needed? If a better item comes along?
Nobody likes to deal with an incomplete sale so in my eyes, a retraction would be best if warranted.

Thoughts?
Input?

Depends on the item in question really. Most of the time this type of situation will be for a small consumable like a tire or bar tape. So be a gent, follow through on the sale. Having to wait an extra day for a response and paying an extra buck or two pails in comparison to the cosmic karmic weight of being a flakey dingle.

[YoKev]

I usually end up like 2% under the BIN for most offers.

Best offer has a comment box; I suggest you use it.

If your offer is justified, put your reasoning into words before you fire it off willy nilly. Your mileage may vary, but it has saved me upwards of 20% + off of an already kinda decent BIN a few times.

[LeadoutTrain5]

25% below asking price and then negotiate..

[shovelhd]

I have an item up now for $299 that I got an offer of $100 on. I countered with $250. Probably someone testing the market. No biggie.

[dzxc]

Why is a low offer 'insulting'? So it's low, the guy says no, you don't know the guy..you move on. Confused.

BUT I offer something low, assuming the seller will counter offer something in the middle. If it isn't what you want to pay, don't.

What irks me is when I have a 'make offer' sale, somebody does 'make an offer', and I accept, then they back out.

If not insulting, it's a very annoying waste of time to sell something for market price and receive offers at 35% of your asking price.

[shovelhd]

I'd made the counter offer in less than a minute. That's not a significant waste of time to me. I'm not a flipper though. I could see where if you had to deal with dozens of offers a day that this would be a hassle.