Ebay "offer received"

[MartynJPearson]

It's ages since I sold anything on ebay, but last night I listed a whole load of things. Three of my listings were for TEA tankers - one for three tankers, the other two for two tankers and they all started at the same price. Not realising that the option was turned on, I allowed "make an offer" and since listing have had an offer on all three. The first time I saw this I thought nothing of it, but I've now had offers on the other items for exactly the same amount. That made me a little suspicious.

 

The people making the offer appear to be in different locations and have good feedback levels, but it struck me as odd that the offered price was identical. The offer's exactly 30% (give or take a penny) above the starting price; so is that some sort of algorithm people use, perhaps if they are looking to buy at a lower price from people just wanting a quick sale, to then sell on at a higher price?

[hayfield]

Simple way of dealing with it is either turning the facility off, on put in an automatic auto rejection amount, which could be either higher or lower than the starting price. Never used to like it, but I have learnt to use it to my advantage on some sales

[thaddeus]

You had an offer of above the start price? never had that. must be fishy

[jonny777]

I believe that if you ignore any offers they will expire after 48 hours anyway. I would allow them to expire and see what happens. All 3 mystery people are unlikely to react in exactly the same way. If they do, you know it is dodgy. 

[rab]

12 minutes ago, thaddeus said:

You had an offer of above the start price? never had that. must be fishy

Apologies for hijacking the the thread,

but I'm never sure where to start with best offers.

Is it normal to make a first offer around the start price,

or are you expected to offer something above that.

[thaddeus]

If its an auction listing and has offers available - offer more, encourage the seller to end early, the seller has already committed to the fact that its going take a week to sell. Opening bid is usually the minimum price people will take or think its worth.

If its buy-it-now offer less, but not much less. (10% max - my value).

 

I had an item on ebay recently which the ebay guide price was for £50-65. I listed it at £5 opening price. I was the approached by a "buyer" asking if I had a buy-it-now. I didnt want to change the listing so activated the "offers" for him/her and said make me an offer. Got an offer from him/her, guess what? £2.50. Needless to say I wont be doing that again. Auction ended at £27.50.

[hayfield]

35 minutes ago, thaddeus said:

You had an offer of above the start price? never had that. must be fishy

 

 

Why ? I start my prices at the minimum amount I believe they are worth, in the past I have both accepted and declined offers above the initial opening price. 

 

Simply if you have an idea of what something is worth (not what you have started it at) and a bid exceeds this then take it, you are not guaranteed a higher price via the auction. 

[hayfield]

8 minutes ago, thaddeus said:

If its an auction listing and has offers available - offer more, encourage the seller to end early, the seller has already committed to the fact that its going take a week to sell. Opening bid is usually the minimum price people will take or think its worth.

If its buy-it-now offer less, but not much less. (10% max - my value).

 

I had an item on ebay recently which the ebay guide price was for £50-65. I listed it at £5 opening price. I was the approached by a "buyer" asking if I had a buy-it-now. I didnt want to change the listing so activated the "offers" for him/her and said make me an offer. Got an offer from him/her, guess what? £2.50. Needless to say I wont be doing that again. Auction ended at £27.50.

 

You can activate an amount which automatically declines offers below this, that is not saying you have to accept that amount, you can also set an automatic accept facility above an amount you set

 

Like all things you need to know an items true value. Was in your case eBay's value its true value ? or did the auction fail to obtain its true value? 

 

I have changed my mind on this facility, it can be a very useful tool

[ELTEL]

I have not used EBay for sometime but over the weekend I decided I would sell my new unused surplus Hornby T9

 

As I had a email from Ebay on Friday of the  weekend offer of sell anything for a £1
 

I thought  I would give it a try 

 

All went fine until I got to the payment section, where it seems now you have to use PayPal which I understand charge 10% including on aNy postal charge.

 

In the past I had used BACS for any sales which cost me nothing.

 

Have I missed something?

 

Eltel 

[hayfield]

35 minutes ago, ELTEL said:

I have not used EBay for sometime but over the weekend I decided I would sell my new unused surplus Hornby T9

 

As I had a email from Ebay on Friday of the  weekend offer of sell anything for a £1
 

I thought  I would give it a try 

 

All went fine until I got to the payment section, where it seems now you have to use PayPal which I understand charge 10% including on aNy postal charge.

 

In the past I had used BACS for any sales which cost me nothing.

 

Have I missed something?

 

Eltel 

 

YES

 

You have been reading what Trump calls FAKE NEWS

 

PayPal is about 3%. You are dealing with commercial companies who both have spent millions of £'s on their platforms, Both eBay and PayPal offer both buyer and seller protection. using this offer will cost you £1 + PayPal's 3%, try selling your loco to a dealer and see what you end up with . If these companies do not make a profit, they will not exist. The 3% on your loco is a drop in the ocean to their trading costs.

 

Sorry if I come over as a bit rude, I don't mean to, but the fees this weekend are hardly expensive !!

[chris p bacon]

41 minutes ago, ELTEL said:

Have I missed something?

You have.

 

Paypal has always been the default payment scheme for ebay,  The fees structure is Ebay charge 10% of the final price inc the postage. Paypal is 2.9%+30p per transaction.

 

[PaulCheffus]

6 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

You have.

 

Paypal has always been the default payment scheme for ebay,  The fees structure is Ebay charge 10% of the final price inc the postage. Paypal is 2.9%+30p per transaction.

 

Hi

 

However, originally you didn’t have to offer it. I can’t remember now when it became compulsory to accept it.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[chris p bacon]

I did forget to turn off the 'make an offer' a couple of weeks ago, Had an item listed at £4.99 which included postage (£3.10)  I received an offer for £2 which I politely declined with a note explaining that if I was to accept  then I would be losing £2.  You would think after receiving this the potential purchaser would now know that the break even for me (postage & fees) is £4, the counter offer I got was for £2.30 with a note saying it wasn't worth anything..... It sold for £15.

[ELTEL]

4 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

YES

 

You have been reading what Trump calls FAKE NEWS

 

PayPal is about 3%. You are dealing with commercial companies who both have spent millions of £'s on their platforms, Both eBay and PayPal offer both buyer and seller protection. using this offer will cost you £1 + PayPal's 3%, try selling your loco to a dealer and see what you end up with . If these companies do not make a profit, they will not exist. The 3% on your loco is a drop in the ocean to their trading costs.

 

Sorry if I come over as a bit rude, I don't mean to, but the fees this weekend are hardly expensive !!

Yes I do feel your comment is a bit strong.

 

I fully appreciate the organisation has to make a profit,.

 

My point was really that I wanted clarification of what the selling costs are.

 

I am also fully aware what the likely price a dealer would offer me.

 

And as you correctly point out  it’s hardly expensive .

 

Eltel 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[ELTEL]

11 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

You have.

 

Paypal has always been the default payment scheme for ebay,  The fees structure is Ebay charge 10% of the final price inc the postage. Paypal is 2.9%+30p per transaction.

 

Many thanks.

 

Eltel 

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, ELTEL said:

Yes I do feel your comment is a bit strong.

 

I fully appreciate the organisation has to make a profit,.

 

My point was really that I wanted clarification of what the selling costs are.

 

I am also fully aware what the likely price a dealer would offer me.

 

And as you correctly point out  it’s hardly expensive .

 

Eltel 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etel

 

Sorry but you have taken on board someone's total misrepresentation of the fee structure, who clearly has a beef with eBay. but totally ignored mine and other replies which have put the matter straight several times.

 

I do accept trawling through eBay and PayPal commission rates is a bit laborious at times, but we have corrected the incorrect statements.

 

eBay has a webchat facility with their customer advisers, its easy to use, and you will get accurate information. Try using it they are very helpful

 

Good luck with your sale

[RichardT]

6 hours ago, MartynJPearson said:

but I've now had offers on the other items for exactly the same amount. That made me a little suspicious.

...

 

is that some sort of algorithm people use, perhaps if they are looking to buy at a lower price from people just wanting a quick sale, to then sell on at a higher price?

I can understand angst about buyers or sellers who don’t keep to their side of the bargain, but I’m not sure I understand angst about the basic way marketplaces work!

 

Presumably you’ve put the items on eBay hoping to sell them. Someone or several someone’s have offered you a higher price than your opening price. That might well be the result of a bidding algorithm, if such a thing exists.  So what? I don’t think that is a reason to be suspicious, *unless* you have reason to believe that they won’t subsequently honour their offer?  
 

Otherwise, the only question is “am I happy with the price offered?”  If no, then ignore it and wait for a better offer/auction price.

Buying at a lower price from a seller wanting a quick sale to sell on at a higher price is the definition of a marketplace! If that’s what they are doing then that’s their business.  If you are happy with the price they are offering, again what’s the problem?

 

In the past I’ve made offers both over & under the starting price - just depends on my assessment of how much I’m willing to pay for an item.

 

RT

 

 

[thaddeus]

5 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

You can activate an amount which automatically declines offers below this, that is not saying you have to accept that amount, you can also set an automatic accept facility above an amount you set

 

Like all things you need to know an items true value. Was in your case eBay's value its true value ? or did the auction fail to obtain its true value? 

 

I have changed my mind on this facility, it can be a very useful tool

It is a very useful tool, just set the limits otherwise you will constantly get chancers and outright lunatics offering you absolutly nothing for your goods which they suddenly feel entitled too just because theyve sent you a message.

 

Moving on.

[Crosland]

9 hours ago, thaddeus said:

You had an offer of above the start price? never had that. must be fishy

 

Why is it fishy?

 

If it's an auction with a realistic start price I would expect to offer more than the start price or current bid.

 

If it's a "buy it now" I would expect to offer less than the BIN price.

 

[Michael Hodgson]

It's not at all fishy.  It's tactics.  All it means is that somebody thinks your opening/current bid is less than the price he is prepared to pay, and he is hoping to lock in what he thinks is a fair price before somebody else bids it higher.

 

If you run an auction with the offer option and get an offer higher than current bid, you can either decline/ignore it, thinking that you'll get an even higher bid in due course, or you can accept it thinking that's better than you would get if you let the auction run its course.  As the auction may then be ending earlier, you might even get paid earlier.  If you do let it run its course, it's quite possible that nobody else would bid so your potential buyer could make a successful last-minute bid which is lower than his offer.  

 

He may well be a trader hoping to make a quick buck out of somebody who doesn't know what it's really worth, but as a seller you really don't care what the buyer does with his purchase.  A seller will only get what somebody is prepared to pay for it, and an auction will determine that.  If you are worried you won't get enough, set a higher start price or put a reserve on.

 

I

[hayfield]

Michael

 

I think if someone places a bid on an item it reverts to auction only, I have two items which I started off with make me an offer, but as someone has made a bid on both they have reverted to auction.

 

As you say if you feel the opening price is well off the mark, try and secure the item early with a cheeky higher bid. 

 

Don't forget some sellers start with a low price to get bidders interested. Auctions are a bit of a game, we all like a bargain. On the other hand if its something that is rare a collector may be willing to tempt the seller into selling to them early 

[FoxUnpopuli]

[ramble] 

 

I usually only make offers where the buyer has set a buy-it-now (i.e. offer is less.)  I don't think I've ever tried to make an offer on an auction to try to finish it early (didn't know that existed.)

 

I make an offer that is roughly what I think it's worth.  That offer is not necessarily what I'm willing to pay...  if the offer is rejected and a counter offer made, I consider it carefully.  I'm much more amenable if I get a well worded email with considered justification.  Of course, you can count on the thumbs of your feet how often this happens.

 

Sometimes when I see something I really would like, but it's offered at a ridiculous BIN price, I'll send a message first with some research pointers indicating what I think it's worth, followed later by the offer.  This, perhaps surprisingly, has worked rather well for me in the past.  It has, equally unsurprisingly, provided some properly Bubba Knucklehead responses.

 

However, if the original list price is close to what I'd pay, I usually offer very close to the asking.  (If they wanted that precise amount, they wouldn't add the 'offer'...  unless they did it by accident as mentioned earlier.)

 

I'm fairly sure companies set automatic accept/reject criteria for offers.  Just sayin'.

 

eBay can still feel like a den of thieves, and it really grabs my goat eBay won't let me permanently filter a particular sellers' items out of my searches globally...  as there are a couple of reprobates I'd love to do that with.  (I do know how to do it on specific searches, I just CBA to set it up each time.)

 

 

I check RMWeb ads first before I go to the 'bay.

 

[/ramble]

 

 

 

 

[andyman7]

Just to be clear for those who have perhaps not used ebay in a while, there are two basic ways to sell, but with quite a lot of extras. The basic methods are:

Auction - prospective buyers put their bids in, and at the end of the auction term (usually 7 days) highest bidder wins

Buy it now - you list the price you want. First to click to buy gets the item

 

For Auctions, ebay discourages reserve prices - you pay extra to set a reserve, and the minimum reserve is £50. You can allow best offers which as noted above permit prospective buyers to make an offer to end the item now and sell it. The idea of course is that they offer sufficiently above the starting price to entice the seller to end the auction there and then and conclude a sale, but unsurprisingly you get timewasters making pathetic offers - you can just ignore these.

 

For Buy it now, you can also enable best offer - in this case of course the idea is that a potential buyer offers less, a bit like offering 10% below at a fair. Some people get this, whilst other assume you are an idiot and will accept £10 for your item priced at £40. Again, you can ignore these. Buy it now sellers can also send offers direct to poeple watching an item.

 

You can list an item as an auction with an alternative (higher) Buy-it-now price. Once a bid is in, the Buy-it-now option disappears.

 

All this has on the one hand made ebay quite complex but on the other hand it now replicates much more the trading atmosphere of shows and fairs whereby deals can be negotiated. You can list items, and over time adjust your prices and make or accept offers until you have sold everything.

 

Personal advice is use auctions for hard to value items, and where at all possible have the confidence to start bids low and let the item find its level. I have lost count of the number of times that I have seen two identical items listed, say they have a nominal value of £20-£30 - one is listed at 99p start price and makes, say, £25; the other is listed at £20 start price and might only make a maiden bid of £20. Low start prices draw people in; high start prices put people off (this technicque can be used in reverse when buying.....).

 

For items that can easily be valued by reference to 'sold' items on ebay - use 'Buy it now'. If the Hornby loco you are selling normally goes for £50 you will sell it more easily by adverting it at £50 than by starting an auction at that price. I'm amazed at the number of ordinary items such as Hornby R602 Power Clips that people list as auction items - it's not a Van Gogh, and anyone who wants one won't mess around waiting to win an auction, they will just find the cheapest they can buy straight away.

 

Once you have got the hang of selling on ebay it is the most cost effective way of disposing of your surplus items, with a bit of effort you will get back way more than a dealer or professional auction house will ever pay you (you are, after all, putting in the work).

 

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by andyman7

[MartynJPearson]

Thanks for all the comments. What made me concerned was that two independent buyers had suggested the same amount on two separate items. Not having sold on ebay for a while and reading the odd horror story, I was probably being overcautious. Or paranoid.

 

One of the offers was automatically withdrawn when a bid was placed; the other offers I accepted, payments have come through and it looks like there was no reason to be concerned.

 

Downside is that Mrs P now knows how easy it is to sell trains on ebay. Best not turn my back....

[Michael Hodgson]

Andyman is right .,.. it can be a lot of work getting ebay listings right, especially if you have a lot of different items types of item.

 

Hayfield is also right - somebody making a bid converts it auction only.  And if you make an offer, others can still bid until you have accepted the offer.

 

Starting with a low starting price can invite an emotional "bidding war", commonly seen at auctions, where two parties both bid higher than they would go if they had calmly considered their absolute top price for the item in advance.  I once watched an item worth perhaps £100-£200 fetch £2000 at a railwayana auction because they were both determined to outbid the other fellow.