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AS a potential buyer on E-Bay, seeing a best offer in a listing
jkrk
Posts: 966 ✭✭✭✭✭
What percentage bid below the offer shuts off any potential negotiation?
My answer is any bid less than 10% away but I'm wondering what others think?
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Depends on the price and the actual guide. Some people go fishing and will accept reasonable offers. Others are priced accurately and on thin margins.
I will generally offer an amount minus the postage and tax.
peacockcoins
It's up to the seller and any pre-set limits they have put into place for acceptance or rejection for a particular listing. However, in the area of US coins where so much pricing and rarity information is easily at-hand and the overall market is pretty mature, my personal thought is that if my offer is less than 80-85% of the BIN number then we are simply too far apart in our opinions as to value.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
An offer of 75% to 80% off may get you blocked.
AS a seller I've received 3 best offers in the past few days ranging between 15-25% off ($3000-$8000 items). Maybe they're fishing .? I politely pass.
Perhaps, they are looking to catch small sellers in a panic mode or someone who needs to raise funds?
In any event, if I start negotiating at 20% before paying E-Bay fees, I really need to close the store.
Well, the percentage also depends upon the price. If an item is listed at $50 then 85% is $42.50, but if an item is listed at $8,000 then 85% is $6,800. That is a really large difference in philosophy.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Has the item in question been listed for a while or was it just posted an hour ago? Are you offering on just one coin or a whole bunch? If "a whole bunch" are all your offers a significant percent below the listing prices or just a couple? Are you a repeat customer? If so, how many items have you bought and for how much? Do you typically make offers on everything or on just a few items?
TL:DR... It depends.
Yep.
When I look to buy coins, if I see that the seller is priced much too high, I wouldn't bother to offer him/her (plus 4632 other pronouns) a counter. However, that's me.
All good questions. I was the seller. 1 offer was for 3 CAC St Gaudens. Posted 2 weeks ago. In last few days, i had 3 significantly below. Never dealt with the customers.
I, as a buyer, saw a coin priced for sale for a couple of months, I was interested but at a slightly lower price, I asked the seller if he could discount the DE coin a bit. He gave 6% off. I accepted w/ no add'l haggling.
This is an interesting question because I’ve offered 96% of the buy it now price before and got instantly shut down, and have also offered 20% of the full price and seller accepted. Many wild scenarios in between. I guess it depends.
Some sellers want full asking price while others make the decision based on numerous factors.
I have my policies, so I was wondering about other points of view.
This really isn't just an E-Bay question but a question about show negotiations, etc.
I my case I don't have overhead considerations, or any need to sell so I can be more rigid than some others.
It seems:
No 100% right answer.
No 100% wrong answer as long as you don't stray into insulting offers.
I'm surprised that he took 20% of his full price. He must have grossly overpriced his coin.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I started several years ago, making offers to sellers that did not offer "make offer" and have a hi percentage success rate. There is no formula because each auction and seller has different wants, needs and expectations. One may have had the coin a long time, another may not really deal regularly in that certain coin, then a seller may have a set of rules that they never break and many other scenarios that we as buyers have no way of knowing. So in my opinion you have a better chance of receiving a lower price by asking than by not asking and I feel that is your benefit, nothing more, nothing less.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I will just offer what I am willing to pay (based on my grading perception, eye appeal, sales of similar coins, etc.) regardless of relation to the asking price by the seller. Sometimes I get accepts, sometimes auto-rejects, and sometimes counter offers. In the latter case, I decline because I've already offered my max.
Successful BST Transactions: erwindoc, VTchaser, moursund, robkool, RelicKING, Herb_T, Meltdown
I try to stick to 10% off their list price. A few times I’ve offered much less if the item is completely overpriced.
Dave
Whenever I list a coin I try to remember to turn off that stupid automatic feature. It starts at like 50% of your actual starting price. For coins that's ridiculous. Even with it turned off, I've had unsolicited offers. Most buyers know how things work on E-Bay IMO.
To answer OP's question, I think a discount beyond 10% of ask is a hard no.
Below 80% of asking price is something I don't offer.
IMO, a reasonable buyer doesn't really care what will "shut off any potential negotiation."
If I see a coin I like for which the seller is inviting offers, I'll figure out what I think the coin is worth, and offer something in that neighborhood. If the seller values it higher than I do, we don't make a deal. If the seller comes back with something reasonable as a new offer, we probably will make a deal.
But, again, I don't spend any time or energy worrying about the seller; either he/she is on the same page as I am, or not. I'll live either way, and so will the seller.
The only thing that annoys me in such a process is if the seller doesn't have the basic manners to respond. I don't mind a seller who just says, "No." But one without the decency to act like an adult is one that I will put on my list of "don't deal with this seller."
Really? So if you were selling a Saint and someone offered $100 you'd be polite? I think most would even go so far as to block the "buyer".
Do you also refuse to deal with people if your offer happens to fall in the "auto-decline" range?
I don't sell; I only buy. That's why my response was from the point of view of a "reasonable buyer."
All you have said has nothing to do with what I said, since a "reasonable buyer" wouldn't make such an offer.
I respond to every offer I see. Sometimes, however, the listing ends before the offer does and eBay cancels the offer. Other times, the offer expires before I ever see it.
And for those at home keeping score, I get responses from only about 10% of the buyers I send counteroffers to.
Some sellers have been burned so many times with auction listings that they run BIN w/offers just to weed out useless or troublesome or deadbeat bidders. Such sellers are pretty much forced to list at high prices so that the wrong people don't jump on the BIN. Nothing's perfect though, including such selling strategies.
I get more unsolicited offers on coins that aren't taking offers than I get rejections of offers. Apparently "polite responses" are only required by the seller.
Here’s a perfect auction to discuss:
“Make offer - High Price bc I dont know coins”
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165984332580
If you offer $2000, is that an insult? (66% of starting BIN)
I have made reasonable offers - IMO - and been both accepted and rejected...Accepts have run about 75%... So probably could have offered less in some cases, but I felt my offers were fair. I am not looking at ripping off sellers... Just want to pay a reasonable price. (My definition of reasonable). Cheers, RickO
Wow, what a thread!
This topic is PERFECT for someone like myself. Just getting his nose wet in the Ebay game.
lol, I kinda take this thread very personal! Almost to the "conceded" view.
This is very helpful for us green guys, thanks!
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.I have a book in very bad condition and saw one in eBay. I put in an offer 20% below ask. A day later they denied offer but also tripled their price.
I made a mistake on the price one listing ($59 on a coin meant to list for $95, for example). A buyer offered $55. I saw the error, said a silent thankyou, declined the offer and raised the price to $95. The buyer countered with an offer of $59 and was unhappy I didn't accept it because that's what I initially had it listed for.
OOPS.. Wrong thread.
Right Church, wrong Pew.
That's not the only thing.
You mean...
Proper attire when visiting your store?
Thee's no cut and dried answer to this question as far as a percentage but if I see a crazy BIN, be it with or without the make offer feature, I don't waste time trying to pursue it. Frankly more often than not it seems like (in our experience, at least) many BINs (and "offers") are fishing expeditions to see if someone will either pay too much, or in the case of offers, whether they know what they have and if they will sell too cheap. A lot of guys routinely just throw a lot of cheap bids or offers out there using the darts-at-the-dartboard philosophy...once in a while, something sticks. We have pretty much just stuck with auction-style listings because any Make Offer listings we've tried just led to silly offers.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
I'm looking at 3 coins on Ebay right now, the seller has them listed very high. I sent them an email saying i was interested in a few of his coins but they were priced a bit high. He has them listed and has "make an offer"
I sent him an email asking weather I should make an offer on the coins knowing that the offers would be a lot less than his asking price, haven't heard back yet
We'll see,
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
I would say it's not a percentage but what is reasonable. That comes down to knowing a bit about the item.
Sometimes I've ended up buying things at 95% of offer after starting lower (when only 2 exist). Other times, I've been able to buy things at 10% of offer (only 1 known).
In the example where only 1 is known, I put in my best guess at value which happened to be 10%, and I got it without a counteroffer.
I don't get the point. How is telling a seller his prices are too high less insulting than offering a (much) lower price? It sounds as though you're trying to negotiate without even committing to buy.
i wanted him to know that I was interested but didn't want to insult him with my offers so I asked him first.
Added:
I've decided not to peruse these 3 coins as they are priced way to high for me to make and offer without offending them.
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
You already insulted him. An offer to buy is less insulting.
An offer to buy is binding and an enquiring email is not. I spend many hours monitoring eBay and offering and buying. I have a list of sellers who I know don’t mind 33% off offers because I’m a repeat customer. There’s some more stuff to ponder. 🧐
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
No formula. Buy it now prices on eBay have become so high on most items, reasonable offers can be as low as 10 percent of the ask. (Not normally, but sellers can ask whatever they want. Throw anything st the wall to see what sticks.)
This is especially true with thinly traded, esoteric items. I've seen quite a few sellers buy something at Stacks one week, and the next week it is on eBay with decimal point moving to the right.
Furthermore, as a seller I do not auto reject anything. And I certainly wouldn't block anyone for making an offer. Even a low ball offer.
An offer starts dialog. One time I had someone on eBay low ball me, and after taking the time to respond with an explanation on pricing, he bought that item and became a regular customer.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
It could be as low as 20 pct off if bin / make offer. Depends on the seller and type of material.
Seller has coin or banknote cost plus 50-100 pct might have it bin / mo with minimum they will take like 20 pct off. Or it could be on some Classic US coin marked up cost plus 50 pct but he would take cost plus 25 pct.
Some inventory classes dictate tight spreads some don’t. A savvy seller will operate with inventory classes where a nice markup can be realized. Or at shows prices padded so room if negotiation / offer below ask price.
On the rare occasion I make a low-ball offer, I like to include a message to justify it. I bought an error once where the offer was about 80% off the listing price, but I included links to a couple of comps and a pic of a similar coin from my collection with my acquisition cost. The seller accepted and wrote back thanking me for the information, said he had no idea the value but wanted to make sure he didn't price it too low.
Bottom line for me is that as long as the offer is reasonable and presented respectfully, it never hurts to ask.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
I typically offer up to 5% less than asking price and have a 100% hit ratio with that. I do not bother with an offer if the asking price is $50 or so or less. One time on a more valuable coin the seller counter-offered with a reasonable price and I accepted what turned out to be a very nice coin.
My 10% of offer example above is a super rare occurrence for me and I almost never see things that extreme. How often do you see an item going 10x with the decimal point moving to the right? Do those items sell?
I have noted that Stack's is able to offer so much rare exonumia that I can see many things going for less than they would in other settings.
Good observation. Often times, differences in value can be due to differences in perspective and it's good to have that conversation.
I learned my lesson here. One time I made an offer on a $50 item and got it for like $40. It wasn't packaged well and ended up falling out of the box in shipment. I'm guessing the insurance money may be more and I missed out on a rare item.
The example you gave didn’t sound like a “low-ball” offer, but rather, a reasonable offer for an item with a “high-ball” asking price.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.