Vent - eBay etiquette

Fosterdog

OH recently sold something for his mother, it was something unopened and unused. Second hand and used they were selling for around £50 new from a business seller around £100 and somebody actually had the cheek to offer £30 for it.

That person went on to win the auction for £80 so were obviously desperate for it and clearly wanted a new one not used.

WTFH

I generally put things on at 99p, whether it's worth £1 or £1000. Before putting it on, I check to see recent ones - the ones that don't sell are normally ones where the seller has put on far to high a starting price.

I sold a bike this summer and the price had gone up to about £160 after 2 days, with 3 left to go. I then got a message asking if I'd accept £180. I replied that no, I would let the auction run, but the person was welcome to bid £180.
They never placed a bid, and the bike sold for £250. A couple of years ago I put a camera up. Was hoping to get £500-600 for it, based on how much others had got. After a couple of days the high bidder contacted me - he was currently at £200. He asked if I would accept £550. I accepted. It was a reasonable price, in the range I expected and we were both happy.

Will be doing a load of ebaying soon - a lot of hifi equipment and some other stuff which is wasting space in the house.

NBLondon

... and sometimes it works - if the seller needs the money quickly or thinks that it won't go higher in the last 5 minutes.

Last year I was selling an air-conditioner. They were about £200 new, hoping to get up to £100 for a used one. I got a couple of e-mails offering £40 and £50 for a quick sale. One of these started at £35 then upped with a long spiel about how they needed it quickly for the baby's room. When I looked at their profile and feedback, they had sold a couple of similar items in the last few months so I reckon they were hoping to get in cheap and then sell on themselves so I ignored them. Made £75 in the end.

pulliptears

I had a great one before Christmas offering me £80 cash on an item that was already bid up to £100 with 5 days left.
I didn't even politely decline, when I'd finished wiping away the tears of laughter I blocked him and carried on. Sold for £190 in the end.

Chlorine7

I've actually been on many sides of this. I have emailed a seller about a BIN price and they replied on what it would be and I agreed to it.

I've been emailed because someone needed a costume I was selling urgently and they made a reasonable offer.

I've also been asked if I'd sell a designer bag for £60 (twice by the same guy!) and my iphone 4S for £70! I am generally polite in my replies and I add a BIN if I think it's worth doing.

gunsandbanjos

I posted the other day about this, I was selling a virtually brand new bag (used once - listed as used). I started it at £550, they retail at £895 so whoever bought it was already getting a great deal.
Guy messaged me saying he was on ebay all the time so he "knew" I would only get £200-£300 for it so I should just end the auction and sell to him. He said as my bag was in immaculate condition he would probably offer to the higher end of his estimate. Made it sound like he was doing me a bloody favour!
I ended up selling it for £560 to a lovely lady and bell end message man got added to my blocked bidder list for his cheek.

MamaMoo_2

I must say, I have emailed sellers on occasion to offer a BIN price, however I don't make stupid offers.
My youngest son had a febrile seizure and I brought him to A&E with my other son in tow. To help keep my eldest happy, I'd put him in his Batman coat (complete with detachable cape).
Predictably, he lost the cape. I knew if he noticed it'd break his heart, so I located one (the only one!) on eBay and asked the seller if they had a BIN price in mind, and made an offer of about what the coat had originally cost, but stated I was willing to up that if necessary.
The seller was lovely and accepted my offer as it was more than she expected to get for it, and she also upped the postage to next day delivery free of charge.

Another time I offered a seller a reasonable amount for their item as BIN, but they refused and were quite snotty about how much they expected to get. I eventually bought the item from them by bidding, and paid around 50% of what I had offered them as a BIN price.

I'm always open to people offering a BIN price on auctions, but I hate it when people make ridiculous offers.

Like selling a pair of GHD's. Bids were up to about £10 with 3 days left. Multiple emails offering £15-20. Eventually sold for £54.

Or when using BIN or best offer, and I have a brand new iPad for sale for £400 (£100 below RRP) and I'm getting best offers of £75-150.

Comyface

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

bell end message man

Totally just lolled at that. :rotfl:
Insult of the day :T

Takeaway_Addict

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

I posted the other day about this, I was selling a virtually brand new bag (used once - listed as used). I started it at £550, they retail at £895 so whoever bought it was already getting a great deal.
Guy messaged me saying he was on ebay all the time so he "knew" I would only get £200-£300 for it so I should just end the auction and sell to him. He said as my bag was in immaculate condition he would probably offer to the higher end of his estimate. Made it sound like he was doing me a bloody favour!
I ended up selling it for £560 to a lovely lady and bell end message man got added to my blocked bidder list for his cheek.

You weren't tempted to send him a snide message then? I would have been.

The_Green_Lady

If I want something I will email, it's rare. Once I emailed offering £30 for a Susie Cooper dinner service, it was on a 99p auction. They said they thought it was worth more than that and would let the auction run. I won the set for £15. They were quite disappointed when I picked it up. So it can be a good thing. I am a business seller and I often get offers. Frankly if I've listed it I want to sell it. If the offer shows a reasonable profit after fees then great!