Why do so many people post a Make an Offer that auto-declines any offer up to less than a few dollars under the Buy it Now price? What's the point of this? Just list the item with a Buy it Now price that's a few dollars cheaper and be done with it. This practice doesn't make me feel like I'm getting a deal, it just makes me feel annoyed at the seller.
Dealers do that in real life too. I've negotiated with dealers only willing to go down ~$5 over a $300+ coin. It actually happens a lot now that I think about it. It could just be that they have too much money into the coin and don't want to break even/take losses.
I feel the same way. I was dealing on certified coin that was listed for months I made the seller a good offer of 80% of trend prices I was only able to barter the seller down like you mention $5.00 dollars on a $300.00 dollar coin. I was very disappointed in the sellers attitude as to get the seller to only drop $5.00 off the coin, so they still own it after 3 offers on it. I was kind of upset with their tactics and wasting my time for $5.00 the coin was a fairly common coin.
As someone who uses this feature on almost every coin I list on eBay, there are coins that I have listed with auto decline at 50% of my list price and others at 95% of my list price. It all depends on how much I have into the coin in relation to the list price which is controlled by the market/price guide. That said, if your auto decline provides less than a 5% discount, it is rather pointless to use the Best Offer feature.
Yes, I know some do, and when I get one I just pass after the first try. But there are still many who don't...they actually respond manually/personally and are willing to negotiate, so for those folks I'd keep trying. You get a pretty good sense of who's who just by how their website is set up, what they say and how they say it, plus by asking a question or two to see how courteously and timely they respond.
I would feel much better about paying 95% for a coin if say I made an offer of 85% and the seller negotiated up to 95% in person, than if my offers were auto-declined. Setting up a Make an Offer sends a message that you're willing to negotiate. Setting up auto-declines sends a conflicting message that you're not willing to negotiate.
I know from experience that sometimes it's an accidental carryover from creating a new listing from an older one having the BIN option where it wasn't intended for the newly listed coin. When that was the case, I would delist and relist without the option. If it's not accidental, I have no idea what the seller has in mind.
I once looked at a coin that had my interest on ebay,contacted the seller and made a very reasonable offer for that coin. After I checked recent auction prices for that coin I made the offer and the seller came back with a flat refusal. I contacted him again and his reply was "I do not have to justify my prices" he also added me to a list that does not allow me to place a bid for any of his coins. Not to worry, there are other individuals on ebay that sell coins. JMO Phil
I went through this exact issue last week. After several attempts to negotiate I gave up and moved on, very irritating. Thanks for bringing up, enjoyed your post.
I've never sold anything on eBay, so can't speak from experience, but I believe the seller posting a "make an offer" is given a choice of the lowest they'll accept and many just don't want to deal with, or be bothered, with people that put in ridiculous offers. Just my thoughts on it.
I noticed recently on the app, when you go into make an offer it tells you if the seller will accept the offer before you submit it now. It tells you to raise the offer. So basically you can find a sellers lowest price without submitting it now.
I sell on eBay and frequently list "Make an Offer" with the Buy It Now price. For instance I will list a coin for $24.99 and take an offer of $20.00 Or $40 for $49.99 if the offer is reasonable, and the collector is interested in a group of items. It is very similar to selling at coin shows when you are dealing with a collector, and/or dealer across the table. Lowball offers, such as $20. for a coin priced at $99.99 gets the collector added to my "Blocked Bidder List."
One thing that bothers me about best offer is no answer at all. If i offer 250 on a 300 coin basically that money is tied up for 24 or 48 hrs until it expires. I dont really get bothered if a seller wont come down on a coin. Its they're coin they can ask and negotiate how they want. If i want the coin i pay what they want or find another example. When its all said and done however ...buyers determine what the market bears. So........
on my listings (no coins) i accept offers for every item i sell, though when i gt an idjit that will offer 1.00 or even 5.00 on items worth 20-100.00 then he gets blocked, one guy made 150 offers, just to waste my time, it was the last time i dealt with that guy, lol....i usually sell my new items for from 20-50 % off retail to begin with, then usually run sales and coupons and yet they will still offer a ridiculous sum..gheesh
