Cannot Understand Problem With Buy It Now

In the words of the great philosopher Red Buttons, "The way a man does one thing is the way a man does all things". When a bidder sends a ridiculously low offer to a seller he is telling the seller something about himself and the way he conducts business. Sellers will interpret the gesture differently of course. Personally, I consider the behavior unreasonable, and assume the bidder may be unreasonable in other aspects of the transaction too. That low-baller will win an all expenses paid trip onto my blocked list...but that's just me.

It costs you time.

As a buyer I've never used the make an offer function. I'm not certain I've had that option, though, on items in which I've had a serious interest it may not have been offered.

As a seller I have accepted fair offers a couple of times. In each case, we did some back and forth to come to a price we could both agree to. And, being honest, I have a couple of times simply ignored offers that were ridiculously low.

I don't think I've ever submitted a best offer at less than 60-70% of the asking price. Usually I make an offer at 75-80% or so and half-expect a counter offer before we're done. I interpret "best offer" as that the seller is willing to be a little flexible on the price and might take slightly less, not that the seller is willing to take practically anything.

Well as a long in the tooth and always learning ebay seller I have the answer to my question. People just don't get it.

Perhaps you are out of touch. When I see a BIN I expect that to be the seller's best offer.

There are tons of listings, so many that one I have passed by because the seller is out of touch with how people shop is not missed. I don't have to time to think about whether its a genuine BIN or someone like you that wants the upper hand in the deal. I just quickly move on in browse mode until I find a reasonable price.

Besides, if I make an offer that might be rejected because it actually is a BIN, then there is an opportunity cost: I have lost the opportunity to bid or buy some other listing while I wait for possibly no response from an insulted seller.

I recently purchased a piece of currency that was listed on ebay with a BIN/Make an Offer. It had been previously listed and went unsold the last time the seller listed. I decided I'd see if we could make a deal.

I submitted an offer that was 63% of his BIN price. I thought it was a reasonable first offer. Seller countered asking for $25 more than my offer. I accepted his counteroffer and paid.

I don't bother with a second offer if we are fairly close price wise.

-MV

Hey Hungry. If you have nothing positive to contribute to the discussion........(fill in favourite expletive here)

Not quite sure what Hungary said to merit that ... can we be civilised?

And, it can be rude.

Rude? "Bottom-feeding" is in the eye of the beholder. If a seller is insulted, they have thin skin. Everyone has a different idea of what something is worth. Nothing I can do about it.

For an out-of-touch bidder story: Taking advantage of ebay's free listing offer last week, I listed a lot for $6 BIN, 30-day listing, with the "best offer" option available. Less than 1 day into the listing, I received an offer of $2. I declined the offer with a reply that a reasonable expectation of a 30-day listing would be for the seller to accept 10% off offer after 1 week, 20% off after 2 weeks, 30% off ... etc. Within a half an hour I received a second offer from the same potential buyer of $3. My second reply suggested they reread my first reply, and that the price would remain at $6 for the next few days. They have not used their 3rd offer yet.

While I haven't used the "best offer" option very often (almost never), I do remember one instance where I offered $175 for a $225 BIN item. The seller's response was to raise the BIN to $325. Needless to say, the item remained unsold.

I don't sell much at fixed price but when I do I always allow "Best Offers" and set my price so that I can accept offers of 70% or better. If someone offers 10% or 15% it annoys me and I probably think "I should block that guy" but I just ignore the offer and move on.