8mm Forum: Ebay ... Chancers.

This is topic Ebay ... Chancers. in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=004949

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on August 16, 2018, 03:39 AM:

Has anyone else every tried to sell something on ebay with the "Best Offer" option ?

Have you ever had anyone offer you silly low amounts as a an offer to your "Buy It Now" asking price ?

I recently have. I am asking £650 for a projector.

I have had offers as low as £200 - £350 so far which i declined.

I am not THAT desperate for the cash sale to let it go for that price.

So i had the cheek and sarcastically responded with a counter offer of £649.00 to one potential buyer who offered me £350.

These chancer's expected a reduction of £300 - £400 from my asking price.

Aye okay nice try but no cigar. I may be a Scotsman but i am no one's mug ! [Big Grin]

Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on August 16, 2018, 08:18 AM:

David, you have my complete sympathy with this situation.

The recent changes to Ebay's structure is a perfect example of trying to fix something that just ain't broken!

There is a way around it,though. In your example, your starting price was £650. The way to do it now, is to put the starting price at, say, £690. There is a box on the screen called "allow offers." What you do is to put £649.99 in that box, and, theoretically, anyone offering less than that automatically gets a rejection message. That should safeguard you from the "something for nothing" brigade. Who knows, someone may make a bid at your asking price and the price will go up in your favour.

I use the word "theoretically" regarding the "allow offers" situation. I recently was selling a non film item for £75 with an "allow offers" price from £69.99 However, I still got offers of £50 so I suspect the system is not that efficient.

Be careful, though. I have noticed that on some screens there is different wording. One asks the minimum price you would consider (I.E. would notify you, so you have the choice to accept,reject or send a counter price). The other says what the minimum price would be that you would ACCEPT. Reading between the lines that tells me that the minimum offer would automatically be accepted without the nod from yourself, taking it more out of your control.

I hope this helps you.

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on August 16, 2018, 08:43 AM:

Melvin thanks for that advice. I will now do something about this.
I don't mind offers but within reason.
As you quite rightly state ... " the something for nothing brigade". A lot of time wasters. [Wink]

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on August 16, 2018, 10:48 AM:

Be careful with eBay as they seem to keep changing their "rules".

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on August 16, 2018, 11:14 AM:

Another thing that works well is, let's say you actually want approximately 550.00 dollars for a top of the line projector ...

Star the price off at 650.00 with a "buy it now". Then, let's say someone makes an offer of 450.00, you decline the offer, but come back with ... yep, you guessed it, 550.00!

That way, the buyer feels like they got a better deal than buying it right away, and you simply get what you were looking for, (well minus ebay fee, of course). [Smile]

Posted by David Hardy (Member # 4628) on August 16, 2018, 02:32 PM:

Cheers guys !

I have just followed Melvin's advice and adjusted my ebay settings.

[Smile]

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2