eBay "Offers"

[Raphael]

If a person goes into say, an auto showroom, and looks at a car, takes up the salesman's time (and turn on the floor), etc., and then offers to purchase the car at 25% or less of the asking price, he/she would probably be led straight to the door and kicked out with a warning not to return.

Yet, time and time again on eBay I (and others) have witnessed offers that are far more ridiculous. Once I was offered $100 for a piece listed at $20,000.

Can someone explain the methodology behind this? Do these people have a reason, are they crazy, or are they just miserable souls looking to upset others? Is it their way of saying that they think the item is overpriced? (Of course it is, that's why "Best Offers" are invited.)

I for one place lower limits, below which offers are automatically rejected. Then, when I see the low-low-ball offers in the database, I usually place the so-called Buyer into my "Blocked Bidder" category so that he can't enter offers or bids in the future. Interestingly enough, I once compared my list with that of a friend's, and the overlap was about 50%.

Raphael

[Steve]

As a buyer my own personal experience has taught me one thing in this area and that is that a lot of sellers on Ebay are quite frankly, stupid.

I've lost count of the times I've made a sensible offer on something which has "Best Offers" invited only to be told that I'm being ridiculous and the item is worth at least the start bid and likely a lot more. Most sellers don't appear to even understand that they are inviting offers in the first place. It's laziness on their part when they list an item as they don't check everything in their listing carefully. You don't have to invite offers, it's a choice you're given to make by Ebay.

As for the amount offered by prospective buyers I think it very much depends on the person, the seller and the item. I have seen items listed at in excess of 20 times what they're realistically worth. I have submitted a "fair" offer when I can be bothered as we never know if the seller is a **** taker and knows the real value and is trying to rip someone off - a "chancer" in other words. If the item has been for sale for ages they might actually realise the game is up and accept the low offer and climb down from cloud cuckooland. I did make what might seem a ridiculously low offer (to the uninitiated) for an item once and the seller accepted. So there you have it. Neither the buyer or the seller know how far the other will go until they test the water. I cannot see any point in banning potential buyers in what is almost certainly a limited market to begin with. Isn't that cutting off ones nose to spite your face? The unwelcome bid this time might be from someone who it will be easier to strike a deal with on another item next time.

Ebay is a bit of a game of bluff sometimes so if sellers can be a little ridiculous with their expectations, it's only human nature buyers will reciprocate and be the same. So long as no one takes offence at the offers made no harm is done in my opinion.

[gramophone-georg]

If a person goes into say, an auto showroom, and looks at a car, takes up the salesman's time (and turn on the floor), etc., and then offers to purchase the car at 25% or less of the asking price, he/she would probably be led straight to the door and kicked out with a warning not to return.

Yet, time and time again on eBay I (and others) have witnessed offers that are far more ridiculous. Once I was offered $100 for a piece listed at $20,000.

Can someone explain the methodology behind this? Do these people have a reason, are they crazy, or are they just miserable souls looking to upset others? Is it their way of saying that they think the item is overpriced? (Of course it is, that's why "Best Offers" are invited.)

I for one place lower limits, below which offers are automatically rejected. Then, when I see the low-low-ball offers in the database, I usually place the so-called Buyer into my "Blocked Bidder" category so that he can't enter offers or bids in the future. Interestingly enough, I once compared my list with that of a friend's, and the overlap was about 50%.

Raphael

Probably the methodology is to provoke exactly this response, but what do I know?

Personally- my view is that the world is full of assholes, and nothing I do will change that, so for my own well- being I'd likely chuckle, shrug, block, and move on with enjoying my day. I'm not discounting your feelings at all, but the only real decision to make here, for sanity's sake, is how long you are willing to let some sad and lonely moron with nothing better to do ruin your day just because he can.

Peace!

[JerryVan]

If a person goes into say, an auto showroom, and looks at a car, takes up the salesman's time (and turn on the floor), etc., and then offers to purchase the car at 25% or less of the asking price, he/she would probably be led straight to the door and kicked out with a warning not to return.

Yet, time and time again on eBay I (and others) have witnessed offers that are far more ridiculous. Once I was offered $100 for a piece listed at $20,000.

Can someone explain the methodology behind this? Do these people have a reason, are they crazy, or are they just miserable souls looking to upset others? Is it their way of saying that they think the item is overpriced? (Of course it is, that's why "Best Offers" are invited.)

I for one place lower limits, below which offers are automatically rejected. Then, when I see the low-low-ball offers in the database, I usually place the so-called Buyer into my "Blocked Bidder" category so that he can't enter offers or bids in the future. Interestingly enough, I once compared my list with that of a friend's, and the overlap was about 50%.

Raphael

I'll bet, if you asked an auto salesperson if that's ever happened to them, they'd nod their heads in the affirmative.

When you deal with the general public, such as with eBay, you open yourself up to the full spectrum of human behavior. In other words, who knows what those folks are thinking...

UPDATE: Just read Georg's posting. He said it best!

[PeterF]

If I want a shot at an item, I offer what it’s worth to me, regardless of whatever the asking price might be. And more often than not it gets accepted, because the seller isn’t knowledgeable and/or doesn’t bother to do any research, and has only set a random high price just in case they can hook a sucker.

When I sell, I always set a minimum acceptable price for the offers, so that the lowballers don’t clutter my mailbox. I wouldn’t dream of blocking them, however, because they often keep trying until they pass the threshold - and that results in a sale.

[Raphael]

I agree with most everything said here, but again am still seeking the rationale behind making a stupid lowball offer. For the record, George, they don’t upset me (the auto-reject is the ultimate filter) and my blocking them is not because I’m upset but to ward off possible future dealings with somebody who may be too problematic for me.

We all have our approaches to wheeling and dealing, and when somebody is asking a price way out of line, I for one don’t make an offer, feeling that to do so would cause ill will with the seller.

Raphael

[52089]

I differentiate handling this depending on whether something is auctioned or "Buy it now" (BIN). On a BIN listing, I typically set an offer threshold of 80 or so percent of the asking price. Anything below that is automatically rejected. Anything above that at least gets my attention and may be accepted or at least negotiated. The threshold may be higher or lower than 80% depending on any number of factors, but 80% is about average.

On an auction, I include a notice in the listing that the opening price is the least I will accept, so if you want to Buy It Now, you need to offer me more than that, thus allowing the buyer to bypass the auction. In at least 2 cases, buyers have offered me 2x the opening amount, and those offers were accepted immediately.

[epigramophone]

I use similar methods to stop the cheapskate "something for nothing" minority from wasting my time.

Among the options when listing an item for sale is "Allow Offers". The default setting is for this to be on, but it can be deleted so that "Make Offer" does not appear in the listing. When I list an item for auction I want bids, not offers.
I also include the following in every listing "I DO NOT RESPOND TO OFFERS BELOW THE STARTING PRICE". Needless to say, the occasional idiot will try to make a silly offer, but I simply ignore them. Life is too short to respond to idiots.