Has Anyone Seen "Best Offer" On Ebay Auctions?

Some auctions submitted earlier this evening received best offers. Investigation with a Microsoft Edge "In Private" window revealed a best offer feature. Although the auctions are not stamp auctions, Has anyone else seen this on the US ebay site? Does anyone know what happens if the item receives a bid after an initial offer? I know that offers are "good" for 48 hours, but beyond that I know nothing. Auctions like this were reported last October and were reported to be an "error" by ebay. I saw some indication that offers started appearing again in late March, but searching the ebay Discussion Boards trash pile is not seem to be intuitive.

I've purchased quite a few stamps lately using Best Offer on an Auction item. I don't know if it is an error or not, but certainly has worked out in my favor.

It's an extension of the "Buy it Now" on auction, but once there is a bid on it, the option goes away.

Australia.
Best offers is a default option when listing, one has to click not wanted.

I have won approx 5 best offers, had 3 counter offers, and 2 not accepted.

Unaware of what happens if a bid is offered whilst best offer is current (usually 24 hours)

I've had a similar experience to Rod. You win some, you lose some!

Seems to happen when an item is automatically relisted

Generally one wins, (If accepted) I put in some very low offers some times.
Had a report from my bidding ***Mod Edit*** agent.
Last year his/hers records show 50% approx success rate

I must admit I've not put in a cheeky offer before. I've only 'missed out' (and I use the term in the loosest possible terms) when my offer has been 90% of the asking price and it's automatically been rejected. This must be set from the seller's side so why would you waste your time as a seller?

***Mod Edit***

Sorry guys had to make a small edit, we don't want to go there.
Don

No problem Don

I had a bad experience with this once. Normally an offer comes in at below the asking price. So when I received an offer above the listed price my brain didn't process it correctly. Not looking closely at the stamp, I just thought it was the usual situation - Buy It Now/Best Offer. So I thought the buyer was a wacko. I tried explaining to him that I didn't feel comfortable selling above my asking price. I sent him a counteroffer at the listed price. Fortunately I realized my error in time, and ended the auction before he had a chance to accept. I would have sold it at my starting price! Anyway, I always have turned it off since then.

I have witnessed buyers that actually bid more than the Buy It Now. They are betting that they can win it at the starting price, but have higher bid ready in case there are more bidders. Seemed strange when it was exposed after the auction closed.

This option is now available on all auction listings (it's not just "auto-relist").
I think it's been viewed in a slightly misunderstood way.

During many auctions I've run before, I've had people email me separately and ask if I would consider taking an offer price from them. My overall policy on that was always that I would only consider it if it didn't sell at auction (particularly when there were already bids, and people were trying to get me to sell it for less than the current bid, or maybe just a few dollars more). I don't see why that would be in my best interest, and anyone "critical" of that view should ask themselves what they would do in the same situation.

I view the "Make an offer" not as something below the initial auction offer price, but for those who want to make an off at the reasonable expected price for the item to go to, and not have to worry about getting "snipped" out. Do I care if my item sells for $300 vs. $300.25? No. (I care if it sells for $300 when it should sell for $500, but thanks to ebay ending the auction when the BIDDING is actually at it's most fierce... which still floors me.)
In any case, I am testing out the "Best offer" option in auctions now. And I see what there is "auto reject" of offers below the initial auction price, because those prices are NOT expected actual! They are where the bidding is expected start from (or perhaps the MINIMUM a seller is willing to accept), so of course offering something less than the auction offer price is rejected.

It will take some "adjustment" in the ebay community before this is normalized, I suspect.

After some chaos this morning, I disabled Best Offer and raised the price of one listing that received an offer above the initial bid that was rejected. A second offer below the initial bid was then received followed by another above the initial bid but below the rejected offer. I had standardized Best Offer settings in SixBit about a year ago, without any expectation that they would be applied to auctions. Why does ebay continue to spring surprises on sellers without warning? It was bad enough that they had stopped sending emails about site changes a couple of years ago. What is ebay's objective? Quicker sales at the expense of profit? More cash flow now with less, later? Has ebay borrowed money from some Silicon Valley loan shark? What is their rush? How will buyers who plan to bid on auctions ending in a few days react items suddenly disappearing at prices lower than they would have paid?

They have a strong balance sheet and are also generating cash. A month or two ago they not only aggressively began repurchasing stock but also announced a dividend. At the investor level these are all indications of a company looking to moving away from a high growth phase and into a phase which focuses on cost rationalization.

ebay will go over 2 billion listings this month so the changes that many stamp sellers dislike are not having a negative impact on them. Their number of active users is also holding strong at over 180 million. In other words, they are happy with the volumes and want to start concentrating on making the company more efficient.

Imagine you started a dog grooming shop. The first year or two you took in every single dog, with little regard to how profitable they were, just so you could fill your schedule and keep generating income (to cover startup costs). But as the business matured, you would start to wean out the less profitable dogs (and those that bit you causing increased costs). You would also favor dogs which you could do quickly, had lower costs, and higher profits.
Don

Edit: Lyft, the ride-hailing company, has been losing $2 per ride since it opened. Yet this week its IPO generated $3 BILLION. If you try to understand this stuff from the perspective of a rider or driver, it does not make much sense.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/l...d-2019-03-01

Don,

Did you mean "more efficient" or "more dumb and dumber"?

Clark