Thread: Have you run into problems with 'or best offer'

This week I had 3 different items with different sellers go south.
All were listed with a price or best offer.
First one was $1.98 plus shipping. I put in lower offer and they came back with counter offer over $3.00!

Second was $21 plus shipping. I put offer lower and they came back with $21.

Third was $9.99 plus shipping or best offer. I offered lower price and was declined. So I offered $9.99. was declined because someone hours later bid $9.99.

Don't sellers have any ethics any more.
Has anyone had similar problems?

Seems like three separate things going on here.

It sounds like the first seller was insulted by your offer and responded badly. I've been on that end of things when I offered a fair market price on an over-priced item.

In the second instance, it could be a problem with eBay itself. Earlier this year eBay started occasionally adding best offers to listings without sellers' consent. If a seller isn't paying close attention, it might be a couple of days before they get around to removing the offer option that eBay added.

The third one's a head scratcher. I can't figure that out.

Thanks for the response. That makes sense. You are spot on with number 2. I called eBay for clarification and that is what they said about them adding it automatically.

Months ago I put in an offer on razors from Japan. The seller was kind enough to contact me and tell me it was a mistake. He was willing to stick to the sale but asked if I was willing to retract the bid. Because he was a gentleman I retracted the bid and we both walked away happy.

I agree that the issue you are having for the most part is Ebay adding the "Make an Offer" thing when the seller doesn't really want that.

I am unclear on your #3. If the price of the item was $9.99 and you offered $9.99 that would be an automatic sale wouldn't it? I'm guessing that you mean you offered less than $9.99 so that with shipping it would add up to $9.99.

The seller didn't accept your offer and later someone offered that and the seller changed his mind and decided to accept that.

I don't see anything here about ethics though. If you offer full asked price, you will immediately get that item. If you offered less than full price, it's up to the seller to decide to accept it or not.

I rarely use "Make an Offer" because any price I list, with that option, I know that no one will pay that. If you use that option you need to make your listed price about 20% higher because that is the discount most people will ask for.

Someone responding with $3 for a $1.99 item is not being unethical but they are being unprofessional. The "make an offer" was probably automatically inserted by Ebay and they were pissed off that someone would try to negotiate a $1.99 item.

I don't know if they were a seller with a lot of prior sales or not. Most people with a lot of experience selling on Ebay know the system well and will (usually) respond professionally.

Sorry if I was unclear. On the $9.99 I did make an offer of $9.99 plus shipping. I thought like you I won the item. The seller declined the offer even though it was the price he listed.
I did send him a message to that and called eBay. eBay said the same as you that hey sometimes add best offer automatically. His response was rather a "I don't give a dam and can do what I want to", but not in those words. I put his screen name in my 'Do not buy from' log.

I am just disappointed in seller attitudes. I sell myself. I have made errors in listing prices but stood behind it and honored the sale even though I lost money on it.

Chalk it up to experience. Thanks for the responses. Guess I just needed to vent.

Could be either someone offered him more than you but came after yours or he thought he could do better by letting the auction run.

Originally Posted by bouschie

Sorry if I was unclear. On the $9.99 I did make an offer of $9.99 plus shipping. I thought like you I won the item. The seller declined the offer even though it was the price he listed.
I did send him a message to that and called eBay. eBay said the same as you that hey sometimes add best offer automatically. His response was rather a "I don't give a dam and can do what I want to", but not in those words. I put his screen name in my 'Do not buy from' log.

I am just disappointed in seller attitudes. I sell myself. I have made errors in listing prices but stood behind it and honored the sale even though I lost money on it.

Chalk it up to experience. Thanks for the responses. Guess I just needed to vent.

Yeah, that guy does sound like a jerk. I also agree that once you have a good reputation on Ebay you shouldn't want to mess that up. I err on the side of the customer as well even when I lose money. I just consider it a learning experience and try not to do that again.

The only thing I have learned that might help in your scenario is to try to stay away from sellers who don't have a 100% rating with a lot of sales.

Sorry to hear you ended up with a not so great seller.

I ran into a big jerk last summer. It wasn't a razor though but a vintage metal gas can. He had "make an offer" tab on there so I did, a few dollars less than what he had listed. He came back with a counter-offer, all of THREE CENTS LESS than the listed price. I tried again, coming up a bit, and he does the same thing.

Ironically but timely, the same can in better condition for less comes up on Ebay and I buy that, sending Mr. Jerk an email telling him about it. He replies with clearly a very angry email, to which I reply again, to the effect that "thank you for the silly and insulting behavior because it helped me to find a much better deal."

I thought about going the same route with a nasty reply but bit my tongue. He still has not gotten a bid higher than my offer. I hope it sells for exactly what I offered. That would be justice for the greedy pig.

Ive tried the offers a couple times. They normally come back with more than i want to spend. So i just auit doing it. Ive had a couple that just never replied. Oh well. Good luck on you buying.