Ebay best offers

[citoyen]

I'm selling an item on ebay that usually retails at £60-65. It's new, unused and in the original packaging. I listed it at £40 with free P&P.

It's only been up since yesterday afternoon but I've already had two offers - the first was £20, which I rejected outright, the second is £25, which I haven't responded to yet.

Is my £40 valuation unrealistic? The fact that I've had two offers within 24 hours of listing the item makes me think it might be worth holding out. On the other hand, I don't want to pass up an offer when I might not get better. I find it hard to know what level to value stuff at on ebay. I don't want to be greedy but nor do I want to let stuff go too cheaply.

What does the panel think?

[sojournermike]

There are always a few that try it on. Just ignore them. If you don’t get a reasonable price put it up as an auction. You might win or lose, but at least it will find a level.

[Hot Flatus]

If you put something on as best offer have it on for 30 days. If it is worth £40 then somebody will pay it, provided it isn't something esoteric. It pays to not panic with eBay. Were it me I'd accept £35.

[citoyen]

It pays to not panic with eBay.

Sensible advice.

I was thinking of making a counter offer of £35 but it's not like I'm in a desperate hurry to sell so maybe I'll just leave it a bit longer.

If you don’t get a reasonable price put it up as an auction. You might win or lose, but at least it will find a level.

Yeah, I think you're right. It's just stuff that's cluttering up the house so I need to adopt the mindset that any money I can raise for it is a bonus.

I chucked something out yesterday that I've been holding onto for a few years. Thought it might be worth putting on ebay but it turns out that it is now obsolete and literally worthless, no good to anyone. There's a lesson in that.

[Little Jim]

Have you had a look at the completed listings to see what sort of price this thing normally goes for on eBay?  That generally gives you a good idea of what you might expect.

I've always found that you always get a few chancers making silly low offers within a few days of the listing but then you get more realistic offers a bit later.  I'd wait a bit yet and if it doesn't sell put it up for auction as suggested already or you could even contact the person who made the £25 offer and tell them they can have it for that if they are still interested.

[Ben T]

2/3 of cheapest available new price is reasonable for a 'good as' brand new imo, I've sold many items at this.
You can set it to auto-accept offers of at least x, and auto-decline offers of less than y.

[Ham]

I'll be honest, I don't understand "or best offer". With the limited exception of time focussed purchases (people who need the item then or not at all) I can't understand what it adds to a minimum reserve price, which then gives you the opportunity to receive more if someone bids higher. People aren't shy at offering you less than your buy it now, anyhow. Maybe it's just me.

[Hot Flatus]

Except the dynamic is slightly different. A 'best offer' offerer is interacting directly with the seller.

[fuaran]

Except the dynamic is slightly different. A 'best offer' offerer is interacting directly with the seller.

And the buyer thinks they are getting a 'bargain' because it is less than the buy it now price.

If you are going to allow offers, at least accept/reject them promptly (or make a counter-offer).  The buyer can't make another offer while the first one is pending. Its rather annoying if you make an offer, then end up waiting several days to see if you get any response.

[Hot Flatus]

I enjoy best offer items. Love a bit of a haggle.

[zigzag]

if i'm a buyer i put an offer that makes me a little uncomfortable - then i know it's the right offer. sometimes it gets rejected straight away, sometimes counter-offered, sometimes accepted. i'm only offering low on non-urgent items (which i will need in the future), that way i am not motivated to pay "too much". sometimes i put in the message that i don't really need the item, and someone may come along and pay more, but if they want a quick sale - here's what i offer.

[citoyen]

I'll be honest, I don't understand "or best offer". With the limited exception of time focussed purchases (people who need the item then or not at all) I can't understand what it adds to a minimum reserve price, which then gives you the opportunity to receive more if someone bids higher. People aren't shy at offering you less than your buy it now, anyhow. Maybe it's just me.

I set the item at what I think is a fair price and if someone wants to make me an offer, I don't mind a bit of haggling, as long as they don't take the piss.

Coming in with a very low starting offer is just irritating. I declined the £20 and £25 offers, but I had another offer of £30 and made a counter offer of £33 which was accepted. I'm happy with that.

I also sold another item yesterday at the listed price (£20), though I probably would have accepted an offer of £15.

I've got another item to sell that I will probably put on as an auction (with a reserve) as it's something that seems to be quite popular on ebay and usually fetches good prices.

It's all a game, really. And just a way of raising a bit of cash for my old tat desirable, high-quality items.

[fuaran]

Seems Ebay are now adding best offers to your auctions, whether you want them to or not. And the option to turn it off is quite well hidden.
I thought I was selling a couple of things as a regular auction, just noticed they also had a button for make offer.

[Karla]

I sold a lot of stuff on Gumtree when clearing dad's house last year.  The near-instant "Hey mate give you a fiver for it" messages were almost universal.  I think it's just dealers who hang out on there all the time and make money from the occasional gullible person who accepts their silly price.

[rogerzilla]

"Best offer" on auctions is fairly new.  It's meant to protect fleaBay's revenue stream by avoiding people making offers outside the bidding system.  The option disappears as soon as anyone places a bid, meaning the item is going to sell and Beelzebub will get his pound of flesh.