eBay Best Offer rant

[Guest]

[mcgonagall]

i don't use the best offer just because i  never really know what to offer and would hate to insult someone because i like to get cards at bargain prices except of course the ones that i really want .

[Sharon]

Why do sellers ask for best offers if they don't intend to reply to them  .  I put in a reasonable (IMO) offer two days ago and the seller has just let it expire  .  At least have the decency to decline it 

Rant over 

[tialessa]

Email the seller - sometimes I don't get an email & sometimes I don't have time to respond before it ends/expires

You've got two offers left - make sure they're going to be around to respond to it & try again.

I personally like the counteroffer option - that should have been done at the start of the "Best Offer" program...

[Sharon]

You've got two offers left - make sure they're going to be around to respond to it & try again.

Unfortunately I don't  .  When I placed the Best Offer I had a warning come up that said this was my one and only offer - maybe the seller can select one offer only.  For this reason I put in a very high offer (£20 over the highest sold price recently).  I am even more cross now as the seller has dropped the BIN price of the bear to within £15 of what I offered without even bothering to contact me.  I know I could just BIN but to be honest I am not sure if I trust the seller anymore and with an item this expensive I am not going to risk it.  It finishes soon so I will see if it sells at all.

[Nienna]

It's not just you Sharon - I've only ever had one offer when I've used the 'Best Offer' facility on ebay.
Maybe the seller can set how many offers they will allow per ebay ID, but I was always under the impression that ebay set it, not the person selling.

Doesn't sound like the seller knows what they're doing over this auction either - I don't blame you for being careful Sharon!

[beatles99]

My Best Offer is set by Ebay and not me...far as I can see you get one shot and one shot only to make an offer..I guess this stops all the  idiots in the world, from putting in 10 offers on the same product and raising the level $5 at a time...my problem is that I've seen sellers use a counter offer but can't seem to find that feature in my stores...but still looking...maybe because I got the basic stores feature instead of the super duper one ?

[tialessa]

Maybe the seller can set how many offers they will allow per ebay ID, but I was always under the impression that ebay set it, not the person selling.

It must be country specific then because ebay US allows 3 best offers.  And I sure wasn't allowed to set a number up so it's ebay who sets it.

my problem is that I've seen sellers use a counter offer but can't seem to find that feature in my stores...but still looking...maybe because I got the basic stores feature instead of the super duper one ?

Another possible country specific item - ebay US allows three options for best offers - accept, counteroffer, and decline.  And I have basic stores also.

Has anyone tried logging into another country site or the regular ebay.com site to see if it changes based on which country's site you're logged into?  I've logged into ebay.uk & ebay.ca when I have issues with ebay.com.

[Raj]

My Best Offer is set by Ebay and not me...far as I can see you get one shot and one shot only to make an offer..I guess this stops all the  idiots in the world, from putting in 10 offers on the same product and raising the level $5 at a time...my problem is that I've seen sellers use a counter offer but can't seem to find that feature in my stores...but still looking...maybe because I got the basic stores feature instead of the super duper one ?

I use Ebay UK and have made a second offer after the first was declined.

[Nienna]

I use Ebay UK and have made a second offer after the first was declined.

I think you can only do a second offer for the same item, if the seller has done a fresh listing for it rather than just relisting from the original auction ... if that made sense?
I've only ever been able to do one offer, so I'll try it from the .com site and see if it let's me do another.

[Sharon]

Has anyone tried logging into another country site or the regular ebay.com site to see if it changes based on which country's site you're logged into?  I've logged into ebay.uk & ebay.ca when I have issues with ebay.com.

Good idea but it doesn't work .  As Tialessa says I think it is country specific but specific to the seller.  This auction was a UK one so maybe we just don't have that option here.  In the past I have got Graham to put in another offer for me and we have gotten around it that way.  I am not at all sure about these best offer options, they just don't seem to work for me 

[Sharon]

Sorry for the double post but something interesting has just happened  .  The bear didn't sell and has been re-listed.  I have put in the same Best Offer as before (I know I said I wouldn't but couldn't stop myself) but this time it said the seller can accept, decline or counter offer!  I wonder if this is only available on re-listed items?

[Raj]

I use Ebay UK and have made a second offer after the first was declined.

I think you can only do a second offer for the same item, if the seller has done a fresh listing for it rather than just relisting from the original auction ... if that made sense?
I've only ever been able to do one offer, so I'll try it from the .com site and see if it let's me do another.

I made the second offer on the same listing after the first offer was declined.  It was a dutch auction and multiple boxes available.
The listing was from a US seller.