Consider Best Offer Option When Bidding

One of the medium sized sellers on ebay had an interesting Europa collection with a minimum bid of $199.00 with free shipping or best offer...there are a good amount of $30 to $50 dollar items..but the collection is a mixture of mint never hinged,hinged and used...i put the collection on the watch list for my wife to browse..we decided to put in a best offer of $150..nothing to lose...it was accepted..many dealers will take the "sure thing" rather than wait for a bid...i am sure this is not news to many of you...but some may not be aware !!

Congrats on the good buy!

I have often considered the 'best offer' option but because I feel so unfamiliar and uncomfortable with haggling that I've always chickened out. I'm afraid I'll insult the seller with an offer that's too low. But they can always counter-offer and as you said,...nothing to lose...

Thanks, Philb, for inspiring me to give it a try!

Karen

It makes me wonder why those sellers would even bother giving buyers the 'best offer' option.

K

I tried this yesterday for a few minisheets..saved me £1.50 :) Ok so it's only £1.50, but better than nothing. Thanks for posting this Phil, I probably wouldnt have tried if you hadnt.

To me "best offer" indicates they don't expect the initial asking price. I've had luck offering 50% of the start and struggled to get a 10% discount on others.

With the internal email system on each site [whichever you are using] I make a best offer on 'every' item that is for sale or auction regardless of whether it is offered or not.
Times are hard and any seller worth his salt will never be insulted by a 'sell now' deal. A bird in the hand [or rather stamps in this case] is worth two in the bush.

My "better half" has more nerve than i..and for her it works...hey 50 bucks saved is 50 bucks ..i suggested $175..but she knocked me down to $150 and it worked...i do not think you can insult the professional dealers...they can "just say no thanks " !

I sell TONS of stuff on ebay but very few stamps. As a seller I like the best offer option. Once in a while some joker will put in an offer of say 5.00 for a 50.00 item but its easy enough to decline. Theres one in every crowd. Most of the time, at least for me, I will accept most anything that is somewhat close to what I am asking. Also, I will list things a little higher in the buy it now option because I know people will offer less. Just keep that in mind.

philb,
Who says the better half is better?

yeah man congrats on the sweet buy there Philb! I use that best offer option and have qualms about making some outrageous offers- some of which are accepted actually! In fact over Christmas I made an offer on a 100.00+ Spear point for my father. I offered 20.00 and he took it! So, just goes to show you only know if you ask!