Sent seller offer but got no response, either a good or bad one?

[urlittlestar]

I've never been on this side of eBay but has this ever happened to anyone else before? I'm not sure what to do now

Yesterday I came across a item I've been looking for for a very long time, but couldn't seem to find as cheap as this one. Item was new condition. The options were either to bid, or make a best offer on it. No one had bid which I was glad about as I knew that would mean the price would just get higher and higher and maybe even unaffordable in the end. If there had been a buy it now option, I would have definitely bought it there and then, but since there wasn't I had to settle for sending the seller a best offer. I went a £5 discount below the asking price, which actually isn't bad as the postage is not free on this item. I also sent a message alongside my offer, which probably would have been sent to the seller's inbox

The seller said in their description they were having a big clearout, so it seems like they are coming online every day to list new items. They only had 24 hours to respond to my offer (and message) but they didn't. It was almost like I'd never sent my offer at all

I'm really annoyed, the seller said in their listing that they want to send this item to someone who wants it, I explained in my message I've been looking for this item for ages at a reasonable price and would appreciate it they could accept my offer for it. I wasn't rude or anything like that. Yet they still just never responded at all. Also I can see from my email no one else is watching this item. In the past my offers have been rejected, accepted and countered. I don't mind the outcome, i get closure and if I get rejected I move on to a similar item. But no response at all? My offer expired this morning so I've wasted one of my offers, and now only have 2 chances left

I don't know whether I should assume the seller didn't know about my offer and should message them to let them know I sent one, or if they deliberately ignored me which is really rude. What would you do in this situation?

Please no rude or troll answers, I don't appreciate that at all

Thanks

[*guinevere*]

Buyers are alloweed to send 3 offers on an item, so theoretically you have another two to go, but if the seller ignored this one what is to say he won't ignore the next? 

Sellers are allowed to accept or declinr offers, and they can also ignore them in which case the offer will time out without it being accepted. 

[philip_uk]

i have notice on items for sale, where it is an auction, but with a high starting bid, with the offers option, the start bid is most probably the least they would accept, the fact it is an auction sale they were looking for a bit more than the start price not a bit less, 

If it had been a buy it now with offers the seller is hoping a buy it not sale or offers close to the asking price, 

try offering over the bid price, see if you get a respons that way

[elitegiftsltd]

Perhaps they are letting you know exactly what they think of the offer.

As its an auction, offer more than the current price.

If I set something as starting price £100 for the auction I don't want to be bothered by people offering £70, £80 or even £40 (has happened!).

People get annoyed when you reject their offer and somewhat vocal when offering a reasonable counter offer.

So sometimes its easier to just ignore offers not worth considering. 

[gallovidian]

Please don't take t his as a troll answer, but you seem to be assuming that the price will go up and up, but the seller should assume that it won't attract a bid even of his asking price. He probably thinks he knows his items, and the likely interest, as well as you do.

Some sellers do take offence at what they consider a ridiculously low offer. It all depends  on how and for much they intended to sell. If you offered a reasonable price for the item, you did nothing that should give offence. He might have blocked bids from you, though, and you can do nothing about that.

Lots of sellers spend some time away, especially in the quiet time of the yer and with Covid easing. The offer can still be accepted during the stated duration, but afterwards can't be.

Probably the bet thing you can do now is put in a bid for the starting price, to deter people who feel encouraged by listings with no bids. Then put in the bid you expect to win in the last moments of the listing, either manually or by a sniping website or software.

[urlittlestar]

Thank you for the advice so far, I think that someone will eventually bid just cos there's 8 days left on the listing, and honestly usually someone always bids eventually.  Even though the starting bid is not the usual 99p, it's £50 (my offer £45)

This item is also rare and limited edition which might attract new potential buyers even more. I thought about maybe setting a really high max bid as a starting bid just so no one can catch me, but that might backfire if someone else does start bidding, cos eventually even if I don't get outbid the price will become way too expensive for me!

[urlittlestar]

And I've gone overboard my max bid many times just to win the item, it becomes a risky addiction and I don't want to go back there again

I'm not sure why my replies are like I'm answering too haha. Does anyone know how to quote?

[Anonymous]

Rule of thumb when the seller asks for offers.............

BIN, offer less than BIN price.

Auction, offer more than start price.

[*guinevere*]

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@urlittlestar wrote:

And I've gone overboard my max bid many times just to win the item, it becomes a risky addiction and I don't want to go back there again

I'm not sure why my replies are like I'm answering too haha. Does anyone know how to quote?

Yes, Click on Reply to the comment you are replying to and just clck on the speech marks at the top of the comment box.

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[urlittlestar]

Thank you guinevere

Out of genuine curiosity, I decided to see what else they were selling earlier on. By setting it to newly listed I found out that the seller listed more items yesterday, so I know full well they were ignoring me now. I'm sorry but it's just plain rude! How was I supposed to know that they didn't want to reply to my offer? I can't read minds. I soon noticed though that not a single item of theirs had any bidders or watchers even the items that are ending soonest and are the cheapest price. Should I just assume that despite their feedback score being 100%, this seller is one people tend to avoid? I wondered if they've ignored other potential buyers too in the past, it seems weird that no one bids on their items at all

[pixiesen2012]

when an item is listed as an auction with 'make an offer' the seller will be expecting offers higher than the start price and they will ignore any offers below the start price as they are an insult.

you say know the item is likely to bid up higher so why do you think think the seller will accept an offer below their start price?

[elitegiftsltd]

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@urlittlestar wrote:

Thank you guinevere

Out of genuine curiosity, I decided to see what else they were selling earlier on. By setting it to newly listed I found out that the seller listed more items yesterday, so I know full well they were ignoring me now. I'm sorry but it's just plain rude! How was I supposed to know that they didn't want to reply to my offer? I can't read minds. I soon noticed though that not a single item of theirs had any bidders or watchers even the items that are ending soonest and are the cheapest price. Should I just assume that despite their feedback score being 100%, this seller is one people tend to avoid? I wondered if they've ignored other potential buyers too in the past, it seems weird that no one bids on their items at all

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You know by the fact they didn't reply.

If the issue affects you then never buy from that seller.

These days can have plenty of listings with zero bids. Usually when I bid I only do so in the last second or two - so an item can go a full week with zero bids.

And sometimes I'm not able to put a bid in at last second and the item doesn't sell.

Lost count of the number of items I've watched with zero bids by the end of the auction.

[Anonymous]

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@urlittlestar wrote:

Thank you guinevere

Out of genuine curiosity, I decided to see what else they were selling earlier on. By setting it to newly listed I found out that the seller listed more items yesterday, so I know full well they were ignoring me now. I'm sorry but it's just plain rude! How was I supposed to know that they didn't want to reply to my offer? I can't read minds. I soon noticed though that not a single item of theirs had any bidders or watchers even the items that are ending soonest and are the cheapest price. Should I just assume that despite their feedback score being 100%, this seller is one people tend to avoid? I wondered if they've ignored other potential buyers too in the past, it seems weird that no one bids on their items at all

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You are reading to much into this, and taking it all personally, if you was to send me an offer lower than my start price I would ignore you.

Read my post #8 and move on. 

[billyandbrian]

I am struggling to follow what you are saying here, are you saying the price is really good value for a rare item, you fully know it to be worth more and you want it so much you are considering putting in an offer way above start price-yet you are annoyed the seller didnt knock £5 off (the already bargain) start price? Just bid on the item, if you are worried about shill bidding only put a bid on at the start price. You can increase it near the end of the auction if you want but you may well nab it at start price.

99% of the time with offers, I will either accept or if it is too low I will counter. Very occasionally, I flat decline and this is usually for exceptionally low offers, like 90% off. If the buyer puts in an identical offer again or sends a nasty message, I consider blocking them. It may be this seller chooses to let offers time out to discourage further low offers.

Very occasionally I have accepted less than I would like because the buyer has typed out a message as to why buying the item is important to them (haopened with a gorgeous oil I sold, it was for his mother, they were ecstatic with it and it was worth taking a bit less for the gushing message I got on receipt) and I guess I am a bit of a sucker for this tactic. But I dont think the seller is rude for wanting a decent offer.  

[jond1492]

What irritates me is any seller/business who offers the "Best Offer" option, and then no matter what you offer, no matter how sensible or reasonable it is, they just ignore them.

What's the point?

If you offer to sell an item at £25, and don't want anything under that, then don't offer the "Best Offer" option.  People are not dumb enough to go "I see that I can Buy It Now for £25, but I'm going to offer you £40", are they?! (Rhetorical!)

Best Offer, in my eyes, means someone is willing to take a reasonable, sensible offer UNDER their asking price.  If they are offering a price of £25, you could make an offer of £23, and it might get accepted.  Offer them £20, or £15, and expect a rejection or even being ignored.  Is that an inaccurate belief?  Have I misunderstood what Best Offer means?

I completely get sellers and buyers refusing or ignoring stupid offers.  However, a polite refusal, generally seems to be a nicer way of doing things.  But don't offer a "Best Offer" solution, if you only want offers ABOVE the amount I can buy it at.  That just seems farcical!

[gt_preloved]

I'm a seller and here's my $0.02 worth..

As @Anonymous has pointed out, if I have an item up for an Auction, I add 'best offer' to be tempted to end the auction early and sell above the starting price.  (Although it amazes me how many offers I get beneath the starting price).

For BIN items, sellers add 'best offer' for a number of reasons but in this scenario the expectation is certainly that the offer is beneath the BIN. However.. here's a few things to consider..

1. Sometimes I add 'best offer' if I have multiple items for sale in a listing. I won't accept an offer on 1 item, but if a potential buyer wants multiple then I'm happy to entertain an offer.

2. If I've just listed an item with 'best offers' - I probably won't accept an offer within the first x hours/days. I'd like to see how the interest plays out before deciding whether to accept an offer or not.

3. Sometimes an offer is just lower than I was wanting so I'll mull over it for a bit before responding. I don't necessarily want to put a buyer off by declining their offer.

4. Similarly, if there's a lot of interest in an item, or I've sent out offers to watchers, I'll hang fire on accepting other offers until I know the status of those that are otherwise pending.

[urlittlestar]

Thanks for all the replies, I managed to win it at the starting price! I guess my anxiety was what made me worry I'd been blocked by seller. I still don't agree with best offer though I've been having better luck with offers now since. I learned my lesson you should never offer below the starting price and have even got better when it comes to bidding. One max bid and that's it! My favourite buying option will always be buy it now though

[Anonymous]

You might want to read through some of the posts regarding complaints that Best Offer was appearing on there listings without there knowledge. 

[237ben]

I’ve occasionally submitted  an offer below the auction starting price and been successful. When it has worked it’s generally been close to the end of the auction and especially where other sellers are auctioning an identical item at the same time. I guess my seller might accept my offer rather than go unsold while people are still offering lower bids on identical auctions with later end times. I think some sellers list over-optimistic starting prices and only later do they bother to check how much things have been selling for.

 I can’t say as this works every time. Sometimes I get a snotty response or later discover the seller has blocked me. But if they choose to cut off their nose to spite their face then that’s their problem. 

[bits_n_bobs_heaven]

In my experience of receiving offers, some arrive through the ebay messaging system and some don't arrive until after the auction has finished!  It's been an on & off glitch for sometime 🙄. It's a glitch that can make a seller appear to be very rude, when they're not! They just haven't received an eBay notification of an / any offers 😠😡. It's happened to me as a seller over 2 listing cycles in the same month 😵

My suggestion would be to send the seller a direct message, which seems to be working at the moment, and once they reply, you know they are online so can then perhaps make a second offer then telling them you are making the offer now. That's worked for me in the past because I've then gone to the item itself and found the offer waiting.

Plus, not all sellers are able to check their eBay account until the end of the day when they have finished work etc, so a direct message to the seller would certainly help 😁.