ebay--potential buys asking me to lower price?

[DisneyCowgirl]

I haven't sold on ebay in while, but yesterday I posted several items. I made the starting bid the lowest amount I would be willing to sell the items for (at least that's my feeling now--it could change). Already two people have sent questions asking me if I would accept less. I responded that at this point, I am not going to alter the auction to lower the price.

In another instance, someone sent me a question asking me if I would accept $X as my final price, an amount larger than the minimum bid. The person did this without posting a bid. Again I said I was not going to alter the auction, but I wanted to say, go ahead and bid that amount and if you win, then, yes, I will accept that amount as the final price.

What is up with this? Is this normal behavior now?

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

I used to have buyers do this to me quite often, especially when selling older iphones. In my experience they just want to get the item as low as they can.
I don't recommend changing the pricing unless it doesn't sell. Don't accepted higher bids either because I often times had items that would double what the person would offer, even though it can be tempting. Sometimes you might lose money with that deal, but you can also make a lot more. If they're willing to pay a certain amount above what you're asking there is a reason, and it's probably because your item is worth even more than they're offering you for it

Don't let anyone low ball you! It's worth it to be patient usually.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Yes it has become normal. It's really annoying. Lol

 

[usnuzuloose]

I thought Ebay monitored conversations like that. I only ask when it says to make an offer. But I no longer sell, only purchase. Your on ebay to make some money. I guess some people don't factor the costs that you have to pay when you sell on the site.

But I would not feel bad for saying no to saying no to a low offer.

 

[seashoreCM]

What happens if you don't reply to the request?

(And let the listing finish and end in its usual normal fashion.)

 

[Kies99]

I believe that per eBay rules, it is perfectly acceptable for a buyer to make these kind of offers as long as the sale still goes through eBay. If they offer to buy outside of eBay then it is against the rules.

That being said, just this past weekend I was a buyer in a similar situation. There was an item that I had seen listed and relisted multiple times. After it ended this last time, I contacted the seller and said basically if you you relist the item with xx price as the buy it now price, I would buy it. They did and I did.

It wasn't so much I wanted the lowest price I could get but more the seller had it listed for more than it was worth.

 

[robinb]

I would thank people for their offers and leave it the way it is. If you end up relisting it a couple of times you can reconsider your starting bid. Obviously what you are selling is generating interest . Good luck!

 

[Gorechick]

You may also want to check if the Make Offer option was automatically checked on your auction. There are a few options that automatically are part of auctions that you have to go through and make sure are unchecked.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't allow the make an offer choice on these. For one of the requests, the offer she made was so low, that after shipping and the required insurance, I'd rather not bother. In the meantime, I've gotten some bids. For the other one, it just seemed shady since the guy offered a price higher than my starting bid--just go ahead and bid. Or wait til the last second and bid.

 

[robinb]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't allow the make an offer choice on these. For one of the requests, the offer she made was so low, that after shipping and the required insurance, I'd rather not bother. In the meantime, I've gotten some bids. For the other one, it just seemed shady since the guy offered a price higher than my starting bid--just go ahead and bid. Or wait til the last second and bid.

That's not shady per-se, he just wanted to make his own BIN .

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Agree with the PP. I don't think it was shady really. He may not have wanted to wait seven days and figured you might take a fair offer right now.

I see no problem with him asking and no problem with you saying no.

 

[DizMe]

That's not shady per-se, he just wanted to make his own BIN .

I've considered that. I don't always have the ability to go through the whole auction process. I haven't done it but I can see why people would and I may in the future.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

What happens if you don't reply to the request?

(And let the listing finish and end in its usual normal fashion.)

Nothing happens. You don't have to answer questions from buyers.

 

[robinb]

Nothing happens. You don't have to answer questions from buyers.

Except you would probably lose a buyer. I would NEVER bid on an item where the seller would not answer a question.

 

[MrInfinity]

I've done this when I've needed something fast and there's no equivalent buy-it-now product available. Not to low-ball... I'll look at what the last few sold for and offer that.

 

[maciec]

I sell and buy on eBay. I always turn that "make an offer" off. People are down right insulting with their bids.

 

[Ava]

I recently had a buyer WIN an auction, then contact me saying they did not mean to purchase the item and to please cancel their order. Super frustrating, since I then had to wait 7 days to start the non-paying bidder process through eBay and relist the item to try to sell it again. They were in the UK, so my guess is they did not read the auction carefully and didn't want to pay the additional shipping costs.

eBay is definitely not as easy/lucrative as it once was, but it beats trying to sell something on craigslist. Every time I list anything on CL, 9 out of 10 emails I get are scams or completely low-ball offers.

 

[robinb]

I sell and buy on eBay. I always turn that "make an offer" off. People are down right insulting with their bids.

The other problem with the "make an offer" is if you accept it you cannot require immediate payment. I was screwed by a bidder who negotiated with me for a pair of Cubs tickets the day before the game and then didn't pay. I ate $80 worth of tickets.