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Several times a week I get Best Offers that are annoying. For instance, I have a Vintage balance scale listed for $59 ($48 on sale), and was sent an offer today for $26.
1. One voice in my head says “Decline immediately,” hoping the buyer goes away. Rarely does.
2. Another voice says “Counter-offer one penny less than the current price” to send a message.
3. Another voice says “Ignore – let the fool sweat.” This likely prevents him from buying from anyone else as he waits for my reply, which I never give, annoying him back.
4. Another voice says “Counter at your best price” and indicate this in your reply.
5. Another voice says “Decline” and turn off Best Offer on this item temporarily.
6. Another voice says “Decline” then Block.I ended up doing #6. Still hearing voices though.
Thoughts?
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You do know that when you create the listing there’s an option to auto-reject offers bellow a certain dollar amount? Seems like something to use if the lowballs bother you. I always counteroffer lowballs with a dollar under my asking price to see if they come up to a reasonable amount. If not then it’s option #4.
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PickingPair,
While lowball offers can be very frustrating and feel like a waist of time, the truth is that when we all shop (whether personally or professionally) and we see that negotiation is may be a part of shopping, most likely the highest amount is not immediately accepted and/or offered unless we do not feel comfortable negotiating price. That’s where negotiation comes in which is really what Best Offer is. I would offer that you do number 4 and try to distance yourself from the lowball by reminding yourself that this is just another part of doing business.
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I vote for #4, but wait 24 hours before you do.
Today, I received a low ball offer on a rather large item that has been sitting in my basement for well over a year with no activity whatsoever.
So, I’m considering it. When I get an offer that I’m not real excited about, but I’d like to sell the item, I wait 24 hours. I think about it and then make a decision when I’ve had a good night’s sleep. On this particular item, I’ll probably counteroffer at something much lower than what I’m asking, but not as low as what they’re offering. Maybe I’ll be able to make a deal.
There is a slight chance someone could come by inside of those 24 hours and offer something better. Probably not on this item that has been sitting around for so long, but it could happen.
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I only use 2 options and I always counter. 1) If its highly offensive I counter at 1 penny less. 2) If its under half price then I counter with my best price and indicate that in the message area. I have a hunch that ebay keeps track of how often you decline/counter. I believe that if you always decline ebay will push your listings down in search. Why would they bump it up? Youre not being flexible and professional. This is why I always counter no matter how angry I get at the offensive offers even though I would LOVE the satisfaction of declining. Also I hate accepting half price offers even if Im desperate to dump the item. I feel like it teaches buyers half price is acceptable and encourages it.
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I was trained to never reveal your best price as a seller. Negotiate from a position of strength.
One response in the situation above is to decline and state “Thank you for your offer, however the current price for this item is competitive to others listed and ones recently sold. I do entertain Best Offers, but only those that are much closer to the listed price. Thank you.”
This allows the seller to retain control. If the buyer truly wants this item, they will either make a much better offer, or just go away.
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I just make a reasonable counter offer, and I don’t offer up a defense of my pricing, either. So, no comment from me in the “message to buyer” section. I don’t really like playing head games with buyers. The only people that get an immediate decline/block are ones that demonstrate they are crazy right out of the gate. Those offers usually come with rambling messages. No thanks!
I had a buyer offer me $6 on a $60 item the other day. I countered with $45, no apology or explanation.
As a buyer, I get really irked when sellers don’t respond to best-offers. Why even put it on there if you aren’t going to respond or come down off the price at all?
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You’re probably still hearing voices because #6 was a severe over reaction! How confident are you on your pricing? Pricing for solds of vintage balance scales are all over the place. I can tell you in just 2 minutes of research that $26 is the average sales price of “vintage balance scale” listings. Pricing is very subjective based on make/model/materials/style/etc.
Take a step back, and realize that when you have “best offer” on your items that you should be open to all offers and negotiations.
If I were you I would have knocked $5 off with a counter. If he came back with the same price or like a dollar more, then I would either decline or resubmit my previous offer – maybe with a note saying this was my bottom dollar.
Or…maybe if I wasn’t confident in my price (sometimes I pull prices out of my butt and hope for the best), I might consider this person willing to fork over real cash for this item might have done more homework than me and they know this item is only worth $30.
A couple more things to consider: How long have I had the item? Have I ever received any other offers?
Bottom line: You are shooting yourself in the foot over reacting to offers like you are.
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I’ve been known to accept low offers sometimes. Usually it’s on items that I have had for a while, there are only 7 views on it for the last 12 months, I bought it for $.70 an lb at the Goodwill bins, and I totally guessed at the price.
Part of my business philosophy is environmentalism. I am pulling things out of the waste stream in hopes of finding someone who wants the item either because they can’t find another one or they want a second hand one rather than buying a new one (which means natural resources mined and potential child/slave labor created it).However, a brand new pair of Nikes still in the box with 15 watchers – you can take your low ball offer and shove it.
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We’re going to be moving across country in a month or two so I am accepting offers that make me cringe a little, but just remind myself that there is still profit and it is easier and cheaper than worrying about packing and moving everything. Also, this will just give me an opportunity to find new and better things in my new location which is the fun part.
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@ctebay – I’m planning to move in about 5+ years. Right now, my plan is similar to yours, Sell Everything! and start all over again. None of my inventory is particularly expensive so I don’t think it makes sense to pay to move it 1,000 miles. At this point, I’m planning to sell everything in the house and just move with a carload of my favorite stuff. We’ll see how it goes when the time comes.
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I had a low ball offer (less than 20% of asking price) a few weeks ago. The buyer stated with the offer “take it or leave it”. I thought that was pretty rude but some people. I countered with a 10% decrease in the original price. He declined but at least I tried.
ALWAYS try by countering. The worse thing they can do is say no.
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If I can add my two cents, I noticed that not one of your six options is actually negotiating. Americans in general don’t negotiate, but other cultures do. I would suggest to you that the voice in your head should be saying “How do we get the sale at my best price?” And the answer to that is probably counter offer at a price above your bottom dollar. Then proceed with negotiations.
I would suggest that blocking someone after a first offer, even if it is ridiculously low, is a bit much. Do not be insulted, you do not know where they are coming from. Just try to negotiate and then draw conclusions (or get angry) from there.
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I should add that I have had multiple sales that started with a lowball. I had one offer me $10 on an $80 item. I knocked off $5 and they took it. Positive feedback and all.
Some people just want to see if you’ll play the game of haggling. If you view it as a game you’ll enjoy yourself much better.
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