Buy It Now, or Best Offer
melvin289
Posts: 3,019 ✭
When a seller offers a Best Offer option with a Buy it Now, what would be considered a proper % to knock off? I have used 10% on the only times I have ever used the option and all offers have been accepted. There have been a few mentions of people Low Balling on the offers and I was just wondering.
Ron
Ron
Collect for the love of the hobby, the beauty of the coins, and enjoy the ride.
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20% might be acceptable but its totally up to you.
BTW, Best Offers can be set up to accept any amount above X dollars meaning if I BIN it for $50 then add Best Offer to acept anything over $40, you'd automatically win the Best Offer whether you offered $40.50 or $49.50.
The name is LEE!
The reason it can vary greatly is that dealers have varying mark ups for BINs. It is very important to be comfortable with the BIN price and not just assume the seller has a market price listed. Some sellers have been known to have very high BINs.
Ron
Whatever you are, be a good one. ---- Abraham Lincoln
Have any of you ever been blocked after making a low ball offer???
<< <i>Sometimes my BIN prices are quite a bit above the price I will take for various reasons. >>
Why? Trolling for a sucker?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>
<< <i>Sometimes my BIN prices are quite a bit above the price I will take for various reasons. >>
Why? Trolling for a sucker? >>
Per ebay rules an auction start price, when combined with a buy it now, has to be at least 10% below the BIN. This causes some sellers to ask a higher BIN in order to keep their auction start price at the minimum they are willing to accept for the coin.
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
<< <i>Well it stands to reason that if a seller gives the option of a Best Offer then they must be willing to accept less than the BIN price. If not why bother to list the option? I just didn't want to have a thread started about me Low Balling someone.
Ron >>
"Make Offer" tells you that they are willing to take less than the BIN. If they decline your offer, they may make a counter offer. Also you are free to keep making new offers until they accept, so why not start out with a low offer, you might get surprised (making offers in 25 cent increments is a good way to end up on their block bidder list
Also keep in mind that when the seller sets up the make offer listing they had the option of automatically declining or accepting offers at certain dollar amounts. You will know this to be the case when you get immediate automated response to your offer. If you find that you were automatically declined, just keep making small increased offers up to the max you are willing to pay. This way you may get the coin in an automatic acceptance below what you were actually willing to pay.
When I make offers I also include in my terms: "immediate paypal payment. Offer expires xx/xx/xxxx EST time." By including an expiration date and time(usually no more than 24 hours) with my offer, I'm not commited to wait for the seller to accept or decline. Most sellers will wait to see all their offers before deciding. I don't want to be committed too long on an offer, it ties up my available shopping funds.
I don't use the make offer feature with my listings. I know the minimum I am willing to accept so that is where I start my bidding. If it doesn't sell for at least the opening bid, then I don't want it to sell. With the current free auction style listings at any start price (limited to 100 per month) it doesnt cost me any listing fees not to sell. Hope this helps, now go make an offer!
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
<< <i>If the BIN is in line with my valuation, I use the BIN feature. If there's a "Make Offer", I make an offer in line with my valuation. I don't have a static % discount that I apply; I usually make an offer based on my valuation of that item. I've made offers as low as 50% which have been both accepted and declined. If it's an offer lower than 80%, I generally provide an explanation with the offer. >>
I like this answer and couldn't agree more.
Lance.
but apparently you have to have an Ebay store to do it. I've never seen that option when I was setting up a listing. All I have is the "buy it now" option. So, my listings are set up with my lowest price I'll accept
with a "buy it now" option for the buyer, just as someone else had mentioned previously that they do it.
AL
<< <i>You do not need to have a ebay store to sell as "make offer'. I have done that several times.
AL >>
Correct, you may have to change something in your selling account settings to get the option.
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
Yes free auctions only pay the FVF's if your items sell.
We might be seeing less of the BIN's for awhile as auctions give better exposure of your item. At least that is how I read the tea leaves over my morning coffe.
<< <i>Change is in the offering for now. Anybody else get the email announcing that auctions style listings starting at any price have no listing fees until Jan. 7th?
Yes free auctions only pay the FVF's if your items sell.
We might be seeing less of the BIN's for awhile as auctions give better exposure of your item. At least that is how I read the tea leaves over my morning coffe. >>
As I posted above, there is a limit of 100 per calander month on the free listing. If it sells you will then be charged the listing fee. If you relist an item make sure the 0.00 listing fee shows at the bottom of the page before you relist to know that you are getting it free. If it says there will be a listing fee you have either exceeded your 100 limit for the month or you need to back up and click on "sell similar" instead of "relist."
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
I have had absurd offers of less than face value and the bullion value, as well.
I try to respond to all offers, even the ridiculous ones.
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
<< <i>10% is a good guideline.
I have had absurd offers of less than face value and the bullion value, as well.
I try to respond to all offers, even the ridiculous ones. >>
Why not just use the auto decline feature for offers below a certain $ amount?
Before I make an offer I check similar listings for the best BIN price on a like item and then offer a bit under that. A smart seller is going to know what his competition is asking for the same item.
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
And thanks for clarifying the terms to the 100 listings limit per month.
<< <i>When I make offers I also include in my terms: "immediate paypal payment. Offer expires xx/xx/xxxx EST time." By including an expiration date and time(usually no more than 24 hours) with my offer, I'm not commited to wait for the seller to accept or decline. Most sellers will wait to see all their offers before deciding. I don't want to be committed too long on an offer, it ties up my available shopping funds. >>
I may be wrong, or things might have changed, but I thought that when you make an offer on Ebay,
you are committed to that offer for 48 hours or whatever the expiration period is. If the seller accepts
your offer, you are contracted to buy the item at that price, just as if you had hit the BIN button.
You can add terms, but is the seller required to abide by them if they contradict Ebay terms?
Not intending anything here except to understand what the actual Ebay rules are for offers.
Thank you,
Mark
Discover all unpredictable errors before they occur.
<< <i>
<< <i>When I make offers I also include in my terms: "immediate paypal payment. Offer expires xx/xx/xxxx EST time." By including an expiration date and time(usually no more than 24 hours) with my offer, I'm not commited to wait for the seller to accept or decline. Most sellers will wait to see all their offers before deciding. I don't want to be committed too long on an offer, it ties up my available shopping funds. >>
I may be wrong, or things might have changed, but I thought that when you make an offer on Ebay,
you are committed to that offer for 48 hours or whatever the expiration period is. If the seller accepts
your offer, you are contracted to buy the item at that price, just as if you had hit the BIN button.
You can add terms, but is the seller required to abide by them if they contradict Ebay terms?
Not intending anything here except to understand what the actual Ebay rules are for offers.
Thank you,
Mark >>
You are correct. Offer automatically expires in 48 hours. By me putting in an earlier expiration on my offer, most sellers will not accept it if it has gone past the expiration in my terms. I put it in my terms only in hopes of expediting their decision on my offer. Call it a bluff. So far, haven't been called on the bluff. But, per ebay "best offer" rules offers can be taken by the seller for up to 48 hours when they officially expire.
Velocity, Not Valuation Defines A Bubble.
<< <i>Not intending anything here except to understand what the actual Ebay rules are for offers. >>
If you tender a offer it is the same as hitting the BIN or tendering a bid at auction. If the seller accepts you are committed to buy the item.
<< <i>Offering someone I didn't know less than 80% or so of a listed item would be, IMHO, very rude. There are ways of lowballing but not as an "offer" on-line. >>
That is rude, but I can handle them. When I am offered 50% is when I start to object to having my time wasted. And have been known to block people who do that from my site. I am using the Make an Offer feature less and less for just that reason. Also, using the auto offer accept/reject features are not really useful as people will use their 3 offers to figure out where that line is. Better for me to just set my BIN price where it needs to be. People still try and make offers, just using email instead of the Make Offer button.