Would you block somebody making silly offers ?

jon81uk

I generally list auctions, not buy it now so I have the auto-decline set very close to the starting price. I'm looking for offers in excess of the starting bid if they want me to end bidding early.

An item I sold this week, listed starting at £3.50, I got an offer of £3 very early on (think the auto-decline was at £2), I countered with the £3.50 as I wanted at least the opening bid, they rejected. Item sold from bidding at £7.

If someone was offering a really silly price I'm not interested in then the auto-decline gets rid of them anyway. But generally on auctions with low starting bids I would have hoped people realise I'm not looking for super-low offers!

RFW

theonlywayisup said:

I guess it's all down to personal experiences but those that I've encountered who haggle (and I mean ridiculous offers as per this thread) tend to be picky and even devious.  Something that starts with silly offers tends to end in a SNAD.  As I said, that's my opinion from experience I have encountered. I removed BO in the end.  I had also had to remove particular items after users were blocked or ignored and came back with a vengeance under new usernames.  Too much hassle. 

When I was in the auction trade the customers with the most money were usually the ones who started the lowest. They were pains in the backside but paying customers that aren't always easy to come by.

It's an odd call and I get why some wouldn't bother.

ivtechcivic

No need to block them, they could be a potential customer in future. 
Just deny or set the settings of auto denial. 
I do get silly offers like that sometimes. 
Sometimes I tell them if they want that kind of offer, they need to pay for the postage instead. 

fenwick458

I'd never block them no, but don't reject the offer either just leave it to expire. had some chancer offering £80 for a £150 listing of mine yesterday, and then straight away sending messages saying please look at the offer. I still haven't responded.
sometimes, the same buyer with the low ball offer just retracts their offer and clicks buy it now!
I think because buyers see the "best offer" bit they just have to try and get it for less, it's human nature, I do the same unless I'm in a mad rush to buy whatever.

GabbaGabbaHey

fenwick458 said:

I'd never block them no, but don't reject the offer either just leave it to expire

Whenever a seller lets a Best Offer just expire (rather than decline or counter-offer) and I end up buying the item anyway, I always leave 1 Star for Communications.

mgdavid

GabbaGabbaHey said:

fenwick458 said:

I'd never block them no, but don't reject the offer either just leave it to expire

Whenever a seller lets a Best Offer just expire (rather than decline or counter-offer) and I end up buying the item anyway, I always leave 1 Star for Communications.

I think that rather neatly explains why sellers sometimes block bidders.

theonlywayisup

mgdavid said:

GabbaGabbaHey said:

fenwick458 said:

I'd never block them no, but don't reject the offer either just leave it to expire

Whenever a seller lets a Best Offer just expire (rather than decline or counter-offer) and I end up buying the item anyway, I always leave 1 Star for Communications.

I think that rather neatly explains why sellers sometimes block bidders.

Yes, that in a nutshell. 

GabbaGabbaHey

mgdavid said:

I think that rather neatly explains why sellers sometimes block bidders.

And I would suggest that your answer neatly explains why some sellers (those who treat buyers with respect) are successful on eBay, while others (those who are more interested in playing games than in conducting business) are not so successful!

soolin

GabbaGabbaHey said:

mgdavid said:

I think that rather neatly explains why sellers sometimes block bidders.

And I would suggest that your answer neatly explains why some sellers (those who treat buyers with respect) are successful on eBay, while others (those who are more interested in playing games than in conducting business) are not so successful!

Whilst 1* seems like a minor punishment to leave for a seller that doesn’t respond to a stupid offer it can hurt a sellers sales if other buyers leave petty stars and push the stars down. eBay display rankings depend on various things including stars judged against others in those categories. Sometimes it is best to lose a potential problem buyer than risk your future sales. 

I block buyers who I believe may cause me effort, problems or future sales. 

GabbaGabbaHey

Sellers have a number of options available to them in regard to Best Offers - they can choose not to use them, they can set up an auto-reject, they can manually reject, they can counter offer ... or they can just let them expire, which is the most irritating for a buyer (as you don't know whether to offer or buy a different item). Hence I feel that 1* for Communications is entirely justified, and I'm delighted if it puts the seller at a disadvantage compared with other, better, sellers out there.
Of course, if the seller blocked me (hasn't happened yet), then I'd simply buy with one of my other eBay accounts - and my feedback and stars would reflect my opinion of the whole buying experience!