Is the art of negotiation gone?

[Wrigley2010]

I would like the opinions of my fellow board members in regards to a question I have about eBay's "best offer" option. My question is whether or not you as a seller always counter an offer or if you only do based on the merit of the original offer? I'm not inquiring about an offer that is already within your predetermined acceptable range instead I am referring to offers that are outside your predetermined range. An example would be an item listed for $100 and you receive an offer of $50 but your lowest acceptable price is $80. Do you counter the offer or just reject it? Is this not an acceptable way to bring both parties to the negotiation table? I mean there has to be a starting point, right?

I've been selling on eBay since 1999 when my sole reason for selling was to get as much extra cash as I could to use for quarter draft beer night at my local college bar. I can say with 100% certainty that I have never rejected an offer instead I've always countered no matter how ridiculous the initial offer may be. This also use to be a great sellers tool before eBay did away with buyers being able to see whether or not an item had an open offer. Correct me if I'm wrong about my previous statement because I would love to know if there is still a way to see this. I've always been of the opinion that if someone wanted an item badly enough they wouldn't want to wait and see if the outstanding offer was accepted they would either use the BIN option or put in their top offer the first time.

My reason for asking this question is because it has become increasingly more common for my offer to be rejected than to be countered. Where as a couple of years ago I would almost always receive a counter, if not, then the first offer was just outright accepted. I have been rejected on offers of $50 for $100 item, $210 for $300, $140 for $200 and the most intriguing a $450 offer on a $500 item. In one instance I was contacted by the seller a couple days later inquiring if I still had interest in the item, to which I replied no. No matter how badly I may want an item if the seller shows no interest in selling it to me then in no way do I want to give this person my money.

I would really like to hear everyone's opinion on this even if you completely disagree with me. I am just really confused and left wondering if I have just been unlucky or if this is happening to others as well.

Cheers,
Joe

[Juicyfruit66]

I had a guy go nuts on me because I started with a low offer, he countered high, I raised mine. I was down to my last offer so I sent a message countering and he went crazy. Went off about my initial low offer and said he didn't want to sell anything to me. That he would have accepted 100$ if I had offered it first bid but now there's no way he'd accept it...how does that make sense? I agree some sellers can't negotiate without getting their feelings hurt.

[Juicyfruit66]

I once got a cardinals cool base team issue jersey for 10$ cause I offered a lady a crazy low bid thinking she may or may not counter high. She took it. It all depends on an item though, I wouldn't waste a sellers time offering 10$ on a babe Ruth game bat...I'd deserve a decline :)

[SEAFAN76]

I always counter no matter what their offer is. And I usually counter with my lowest I'll take and THEN reject anything after.

[whoman]

I had an offer of $100 for a $5,000 item. I rejected right away. Please don't waste my time.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

I offered $105 for a $100 bat, and the seller was asking $300+. i was rejected with a statement about lowballing.

[Jags Fan Dan]

I will flat reject stupid offers. I once had a $200-300 jersey for sale and a guy offered $100. His comment in the conditions section was "not a penny more." Douchebaggery at it's highest form.

[xsentrixsupra]

Like people have said its also about context. If an offer is low, but within the realm of reason I will counter it. If like someone said, something was listed for 5k and they offer 100 I just reject it and won't even bother countering or speaking to them.

The other thing that does piss me off is if someone includes a super low ball offer and then "I saw such and such item going for this amount on this site so this I feel is a fair offer" well then great, go buy it over there.

[COWBOYS4EVR]

My favorite is when they low ball you, and comment that that player
is no longer with the team. As if I didn't know.
The player broke records last year, that doesn't mean
I'm gonna let it slip out for pennies.

[helf35]

I always counter if it's within reason. On the occasion I get a $66 on a $500 bat then I counter with $466. I list with the intent of always coming down 25-30 %. I wish eBay would adopt a timer like most auctions that add time if a last second bid is placed. I would be more inclined to list at auction again. I also hate when I'm asked what my reserve price is.

[beaglegypsy003]

Most times my offer would just be rejected with no counter offer. I do hate it when the seller just lets the offer expire. When that happens I won't even submit another offer since the seller doesn't even take the time to respond.

[Bhawk2]

If I've listed the item as a straight BIN I will usually just respond to an offer of 50% with "No Thanks" figuring we are too far off. If the offer is 80 or 90% of list I'll either accept or counter-offer. If I'm listing it as "Best Offer" I'll at least counter.

I rarely offer less than full price for BIN, but I did have a situation recently where I thought maybe the listing price was in error. The item was a pair of game worn cleats from the 1960's, no player identified. The BIN price was literally 100 times the highest price I've ever paid for similar items, so I thought maybe the listing was in error. I asked, as respectfully as I could, if the list price had a missed decimal. The seller wrote back that "THIS IS NOT AN ERROR, THAT'S MY PRICE!" I was willing to double my previous high, but I didn't think the seller would accept 2% of his listing price, so I didn't even make an offer.

[salukidave]

There's no reason for a negotiation to become personal on either side.

[gingi79]

I too have found more and more sellers less interested in haggling. I do my very best to offer fair market value and come closer to initial BIN requests than not but I have seen an influx of non responders or cheeky counteroffers. Interestingly enough, it's the impulse stuff less than $200 range when I offer 80%+ of a BIN that gets ignored most often.

I'm seeing more and more items listed well above their market value with buyers who seem offended by the idea of haggling. Why? You are a seller, I am a buyer and this is a service business. The customer might not always be right but don't let them know it!

If I'm not being rude and we are discussing the item honestly and fairly, you should at least be respectful enough to try and negotiate. We may not work out a deal on this item or not today, but this hobby is tiny and perhaps a deal can be struck later. Some of my best items came from failed deals, done with mutual respect that eventually panned out. A cordial response and respectful communication will garner far more interest from me as a buyer than being ignored. Just sayin..

[joshmiller0]

I never really take offense to low offers... and I too have made them... Sometimes when I make a lower offer the seller will either take it or come back at a price much lower than the listing...sometimes even at half price. I've gotten many items by offering a bit low and getting a good counter. It doesn't hurt to make an offer... Same when I'm selling.. if I've had an item sit, I might take a much lower offer than I would have originally... What does annoy me is when I don't even get a counter... even if it's just a few dollars lower, counter me with something.

[Buccaneer Madden]

I've never sold anything with a Best Offer but I just bough a pair of Mike Evans game used gloves that way. The guy wanted 150 and I looked around as saw that most NFL gloves don't go for nearly that much so that's what I nicely told him and he accepted my lower offer. Its nice when they are willing to negotiate but I agree that most seem way to stuck on their inflated prices.

[sox83cubs84]

It runs the gamut on eBay. I've never had any sellers get indignant with me, although I tend to bid on low value items for the most part. One seller I buy minor league cards from usually gets offers from me for 40-50% off, and, because I'm a customer in good standing, he always takes care of me. On the other hand, I've had guys I've offerd 20% or less off haggle or refuse my offer. To each their own.

Dave Miedema

[grandeleague]

The problem with eBay is most of the game used items are so overpriced it is crazy and a reasonable considered offer looks like a low ball offer. Where the sellers arrive at some of these valuations on items is beyond me. I'm not an expert on many teams but I am a 30 year collector of braves equipment and I caneed tell you that game used braves items on eBay priced fairly is very few and far between. Some folks are easy to deal with but some won't budge on prices. It many cases it's better to network and buy at shows or from fellow collectors.

[aphanna25]

As a BIN OBO seller of some vintage game bats I tend to list higher, but will always counter any offer with my best price and the "Thanks for your interest. This is my lowest on this one" comment quite simply because they are my potential customer. I only get annoyed when someone tries to rationalize the lowball with a dumb comment but I'll still play nice. Much broader, when I was buying in the late 90's, the hobby was taking off and prices were white hot. Now (some) things have bottomed out and some sellers are already listing BIN at heavy losses, which makes the transaction all that more emotional for the seller.

[Jim65]

I always look at my initial offer as a starting point, if the seller is offended and does not respond, so be it. Each side is trying to get as close to their price as possible, its not personal.

I once made an initial offer at 10% the BIN and the seller accepted, item was way overpriced and he was just starting to realize it, I got a bargain but not a huge one.

[Juicyfruit66]

I think if you are using best offer and you don't have a preset decline limit, you're not being a good business person for rejecting offers without countering. Especially when it's 400$ for a 500$ item. Buyers can't read minds, maybe the 500$ was wishfull thinking and it would go for 400$, a buyer would be an idiot not to ask for 400$. Sometimes sellers who reject and add sarcastic remarks remind me of that comic book guy on the Simpsons. Even low ball offers can work in sellers favour cause they eliminate 1 of 3 chances to bid.

[Juicyfruit66]

I should say reasonable offers.

[jake33]

As a seller it is annoying getting awful bids.

As a buyer, I play a numbers game, go make 20 lowball offers and 2-3 will go through to my surprise.

On both sides of the table, I think this is a constant concept to understand ---- The market value of an item has very little or nothing at all to do with how you personally as an individual value an item.

As a seller I will get ticked of because the buyer wants to get a jersey to wear and doesn't value the fit, while the real value is the item being a piece of memorabilia.

As a buyer, I am not a Mets fan, but would I buy a game used Mets jersey for $10? Sure, most likely to flip it for a quick profit though. When a fast profit is involved, my interest as a buyer will change with it. Doesn't make it nice or even right, but just being honest with that statement.