Ebay sellers - Do you use Buy It Now or Best Offer?

Barry · February 6, 2007 4:22AM

If yes, do you find it a good way to sell?
Do you get too many lowball offers on Best Offer to make it worthwhile?

segoja · February 6, 2007 4:37AM

You can auto decline offers at a price you set.

Let's say you ahve an item you do a BIN for $1200, hoping the right guy comes along, but you are willing to take $1100.

You set the auto decline below $1100, and the system doesn't even bother you with the offers..although you can see them.

It works OK, but why not start the auctio at $1100 with a BIN of $1200 and not worry about the offerings.

To me make an offer implies you are willing to negotiate, which may or may not be good.

Heywood · February 6, 2007 4:42AM

I agree, But depends on what you are selling, I have only sold widgets.

I sold a bunch of ASE sets with a BIN about $20 over start price, all were snapped right up.

Also, I am looking at sell prices for some mint Items right now, and the BINs seem to be above items that didn't sell- I bet people didn't want the hassle of waiting.

edited to add, never did best offer

Barndog · February 6, 2007 4:44AM

I use BIN, but don't use a best offer 95% of the time because there are idiots out there that will waste my time with stupid offers.

Wolf359 · February 6, 2007 4:47AM

Best offers are too often misjudged as meaning you need cash now, so only lowball offers come in. I
dropped them long ago, because people thought it was a giveaway. I'm glad eBay (now? or before?) offers an automatic decline.

Also, I've seen ACG/NTC overgraded junk with market priced BINs and Best Offer auctions. You have
to wonder what the seller is thinking when the coin is usually worth only a minor fraction of market
price.

So, I'd use a fair, attractive Buy-it-Now price.

DennisH · February 6, 2007 5:17AM

I don't use either one.

On stuff I just want to go away I start auctions at $9.99 and let Nature take its course. On better stuff that I don't want to worry about taking a hit on I wait until eBay has a listing special and then put it on sale at a fixed price.

Results have been good so far.

JJM · February 6, 2007 5:38AM

I have bought some "best offer" stuff for way low offers compared to the BIN price

jbsteven · February 6, 2007 7:44AM

I use Best offers on all my coins.

I think of it this way:

When you are at a coin show and you have a coin for sale in your case. Someone asks to look at it and asks how much. 9 times out of 10 if I say a price the person will ask "Is this your best price"? Usually it is but sometimes I will knock off a little more to give them a good feeling about the deal. I see Best offers on Ebay as the same situation.

Best offers also get a little back and forth between the seller and buyer which seems a little more personal than Buy in Now (take it or leave it price).

Before the Best offer thing on Ebay I always used a Buy it Now just a little over my opening price. I have found by using Best Offers on Ebay I get more sales. I do put a figure to auto decline (the $1000 offers on $5000 1893 S Morgans are just a waste of time).

Fletcher · February 6, 2007 8:13AM

As a buyer, I use both depending on the coin. If the coin is priced fairly, I use buy-it-now. If the coin is overpriced, I make a fair offer. As far as lowball offers are concerned ... there is just too much competition out there today for me to waste my time or the seller's making lowball offers. However, I will occasionally make a lowball offer if it is a common coin, and there is one hour left in the auction with no bids just in case the seller wants to move it ... not super low, but maybe 10% below bid.

mirabela · February 6, 2007 9:00AM

I like using Buy It Now as a seller, but I tend to think I would make a few percent more in most cases if I were to auction the coin with a low start and no reserve. The best situation is when something trades often enough to have clearly established levels, you price it like 2-3% back of that or so, and you can expect it to go away pretty quick. What I like is that usually if it is going to sell at all, it goes in the first day or two. It is amazing how well watched eBay is. Basically, I use BIN when I value a quick sale over the net bottom line.

seemyauction · February 7, 2007 2:33PM

I use the .99 starting bid and NO RESERVE

The market determines weather I'll eat next week or not.....

AL

seateddime · February 7, 2007 9:35PM

I have done well with BIN and best offers. About 25% of the time a buyer just buys it anyways if the price is fair to not risk the coin selling.

ABSilvercoins · February 7, 2007 10:33PM

I have had little success with BIN as a seller. (My BINs were set too high, or it is because I'm a 'new' seller.)

I LIKE using it as a buyer. It is handy when you exactly what you are looking for and what you will pay.

buffnut · February 7, 2007 10:48PM

For me the BIN/best offer combination has worked great as a seller. With only one or two exceptions, I either got the full BIN price, or I still got an offer that was able to net me some profit. With my experience, I haven't had an overwhelming amount of lowballing for my coins. Some lower offers than I would take, yes, but I found that the buyer usually bit when I made a counter offer that was acceptable to me. I have a feeling that it also depends on what kinds of coins you are selling, whether it is a high demand key, a strike rarity, or a common date in common grade. In fact just last night I listed a 1937D PCGS buffalo nickel for a BIN of $99 and best offer option. I gave $63 for the coin a few years ago. $99 is almost full trends price, but within 2 hours I had an offer of $95, which I accepted, and the buyer paid with Paypal immediately. Now that was easy and I actually got more than expected for the coin! I have had it work with higher value coins too- like my 1926D in PCGS MS64 that got the BIN price of $1900. I bought that particular coin in an NGC MS63 holder for $378. Not a bad flip. Another thing that I do is select the "immediate payment required" option for BIN, so you don't get deadbeats ruining your auctions. All in all I find it to be a really good way to sell for me- and as a buyer I love it to pick PQ coins and varieties.

Ebay sellers - Do you use Buy It Now or Best Offer?

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