Sending offers to buyers

[kikicollectables]

Sending offers to buyers appears to be a complete waste of time, few take up the offer as they were only looking or are selling something similar, and those that do quite often fail to pay. This leaves the item in limbo for 4 days. Better to just ignore it as you cannot get rid of it.

Best to put offers on the listing that way the money is taken automatically if they send you an offer that you find acceptable. Can the offers out be removed?

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

Just my 2 penneth worth.

If i see a buy it now item without best offer and i'm not willing to pay that price i sometimes add it to my watch list in the hope that the seller may send out offers at a more reasonable price that i can either accept or decline.

If i see a buy it now item WITH best offer i may well make an offer based on what it's worth to me.

BUT.If i see a buy it now with best offer and the seller sends ME an offer i will more often than not decline the offer and wait until another comes along elsewhere.If i wanted to make an offer i would have done so.

Funny us human's innit 🙄

[plpmr]

If I get an offer but find that it means me signing up to ebay's immediate payment from then on - Ii don't take the offer.

[m25jet]

To be honest if I get sellers harassing me with Best Offers on an item, even though I've only looked at an item and have already decided not to add it to my Watch List, then I'll make a note of that seller's User ID and will make a point of not buying from them in the future.  If potential buyers want to buy the item - or use the Best Offer option if provided so that they can make the seller a Best Offer - then they will.  When sellers start ramming offers down people's throats it becomes like receiving spam mail, which is bloody annoying and (in my case at least) can actually serve as a deterrent with regards to buying anything from that seller.

[jalewis2009]

I find people watch my items, even with Best Offer added, and don't buy until I send an offer. So it's a bit harsh to judge the seller for doing that, when it has become the way most of my items sell - I don't know why they are not sending in offers.

I have noticed it has now changed to the offers lasting 96 hours though, which is a real drag. As most do not decline, and if they don't accept, this traps the listing at this point in a sort of stasis. I don't know why it's been lenghtened to so long, as nearly everyone who has bought when I've sent an offer has done so immediately or very soon, no-one seems to after a few days. I am wondering why eBay has lengthened this?

[kikicollectables]

Quite agree 96 hours is ridiculous to have a listing that you cannot change
or add to. Easier to end the listing and pay the 12p to relist.

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

Afraid I do disagree here, at least as a seller, and, I suppose as a private seller I just want rid of stuff, but I find sending proactive offers is virtually the ONLY way to shift my stuff. Some people don't seem to realise that I'm not targeting 'them personally' and it is ironic when they very occasionally send messages like "stop sending me offers and delete my details now" when I had no idea who they were until, er, they told me!

I also *highly suspect* that it jollys up the search / exposure algorithms too because there is an uncanny connection between the number of times I let an item lie for weeks then months, then send out offers, then a few days later sell to a non-offer buyer at the full price. It happens way too often to be coincidence...

[eastern-lights]

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@lighting_signs_and_vintage wrote:

I also *highly suspect* that it jollys up the search / exposure algorithms too because there is an uncanny connection between the number of times I let an item lie for weeks then months, then send out offers, then a few days later sell to a non-offer buyer at the full price. It happens way too often to be coincidence...

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Yes, I've noticed that.

[johnwash1]

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@lighting_signs_and_vintage wrote:

Afraid I do disagree here, at least as a seller, and, I suppose as a private seller I just want rid of stuff, but I find sending proactive offers is virtually the ONLY way to shift my stuff. Some people don't seem to realise that I'm not targeting 'them personally' and it is ironic when they very occasionally send messages like "stop sending me offers and delete my details now" when I had no idea who they were until, er, they told me!

I also *highly suspect* that it jollys up the search / exposure algorithms too because there is an uncanny connection between the number of times I let an item lie for weeks then months, then send out offers, then a few days later sell to a non-offer buyer at the full price. It happens way too often to be coincidence...

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Yes, everything you've said there is exactly what happens for me too.  I find 'Send offers' a good way to get sales.

So it's really annoying that the 'Send offers' button on my Active Listings page has recently lost the count of how many items.  If I had, say, 8 items eligible for sending an offer I might send offers on 6 but not be willing to compromise on the other 2.  When I could see the count was still 2 I didn't need to waste time checking.

Why do ebay tinker with pages and reduce functionality?