Just listed something, had about 8 similar requests for a buy it now price….

I asked one to make me an offer and he replied he has no idea what it’s worth as he knows nothing about them or what they are worth ! 😯

Why do they do it?

Is it to get a bargain or are they generally desperate for the item you are auctioning?

I do it if I want the item now/ASAP, generally I pay whatever is asked. Nothing to do with getting a bargain for me

I have asked and offered up a possible price in the past. And yes it’s usually something I’m after.

Cheeky mostly. Even if I put the buy it now price on, they still offer lower.

I’ve had both previously, mostly trying it on to buy way under priced by asking the asking price then counter offering something really low, with promises of cash now! but also had some where they genuinely do want to buy , and just want to know the asking price and when I’ve told them , they have bought the item.

I do it. I can’t be arsed waiting and most of the time I am to late to bid. I won’t put my max in as I may change my mind in a week when it ends.

link?

Maybe I’ve been a bit harsh when I said “it’s an auction, please respect that as requests for a buy it now price will be ignored”

I’m having a similar experience as I am selling something without a clear idea of what it’s worth. Guys all saying “mate, I’ll be there with cash in half an hour…”.

about 5 times what you would see it go for….

I have sent back the dictionary definition of “Auction” before

the no. of bellends on ebay seems to be growing.

Oh ffs, does it matter if it’s a **** auction?, money talks, what’s wrong wi a bit of haggling?, I’ve done it plenty, saves them eBay fees and pay pal fees, I’m happy, they’re happy….I guess your a bit too straight laced aye Mike and al 🙄

Because its very rarely what can be classed as haggling, mostly its people taking the piss?!

Will you sell if for less? No
Do you want to spend ages haggling over a price then get nothing? No
Do you want to be scammed outside of ebay? No
Did I advertise it on an auction site ? Yes
If you want to BIN then make an offer not ask what is the minimum price you can buy it for.

Mind you if I was selling knock off gear I’d probably want to get shot before ebay pulled down the ad – still flogging the TLD shorts?

I usually ask them what they have in mind, when I’ve stopped laughing at their offer I tell them that’s a bit less than I want – & try bidding at the end of the auction they may get it for that price as that’s how an auction works.

Just realised why I ask for a BIN price.
Just found two pairs of chainsaw boots that would suit. Can’t bid on both I might win both. If I watch I either forget to check or am not about to bid.
Anyway I want it NOW

I messaged a bloke the other day – selling single things and asked if he had a price in mind for half a dozen

no reply at all in a week

I guess he’s waiting for the auction to end to see how many he can shift at full whack. His risk is that I’ll know that they haven’t sold in a long auction whereas right now he’d probably get a decent amount out of me

I generally only sell items BIN these days.

Search the completed auctions and see what price the item you are selling is generally fetching and the list it at 15-20% over what the average selling price is for it and the include the ‘Make Offers’ tab and generally I get offers around what I want and job done.

Saves an awful lot of messing around answering questions such as this and stuff usually sells quicker.

You lot want to try selling a sovereign on ebay!

For something that has a very specific and easily trackable value at any particular moment in time you’d be amazed what people will try on!

I’ve contacted someone just once to ask them to end the auction and sell the item to me. I needed it before the auction ended, it was 3 miles up the road from me, we agreed a price at half what it would have cost me new. He didn’t have to pay eBay or Paypal fees or dick around posting so we were both happy.

I do find the endless emails frustrating when selling though. I’ve got a couple of bits on eBay at the moment. I posted them with BIN price and asked people not to contact me asking me to end early – if it doesn’t go BIN then the auction will run. Let’s see but no doubt I’ll get some mail.

One thing I did find when listing these items yesterday though, and perhaps I missed something, but I couldn’t see how to put a reserve on. Since I was starting at 99p with a BIN, and the BIN disappears when the first bid is placed, I wanted to put a low reserve on to see if that would keep the BIN price available for a while. Couldn’t find it.

Mind you if I was selling knock off gear I’d probably want to get shot before ebay pulled down the ad – still flogging the TLD shorts?

Yeah, I only have one pair left though, red/black tribal, stitching doesn’t look too good on them but nobody would notice they’re fakes.. you want em? £35 to you pal 8)

(Slight hijack but on topic)

Any advice for me as seller where a “buyer” has hit ‘go’ on a Buy It Now at one price, but is now saying “£xxx is as much as I can go to” – about £150 less than the BIN price. (Annoyingly just 7 hours into a 10 day auction – I thought it seemed too good to be true!)

Theoretically he’s made a commitment, but in practice there’s no way I could force him to pay the full BIN price. I’m fecked if I’m giving it to him for the lower price though…

Do I just wait the two days and report him as a non-paying buyer?

Cheers,

Chris.

Tell him to cough up or you will report him as a non-paying bidder. It couldn’t be more clear cut.

Do I just wait the two days and report him as a non-paying buyer?

Tell him he is a **** and move on.

Sadly, there are no repercussions for this level of stupidity.

Always get these messages. I had a seat from a van for sale on ebay starting price 0.99p. No end of messages asking do I have a buy it now price.
I respond with its an auciton I’m leaving it run unless you cna make me a sensible offer. 99% never replied. One replied with

“I’ll offer £10 no one would pay for more than that….”

I left the auction run and sold it to a guy for £200 who drove 3 hours to get it.

moral of the story. Ignore them and leave the auction run.

Either ignore them, offer to sell for 10% over the top end of what they generally go for or if you have no clue then suggest a value that you’d be ‘well chuffed’ with if the auction ended at that.

+1 FuzzyWuzzy. If ending early, it needs to be worthwhile.

I offered an end it early price for a frame recently as I was keen to secure it without the faff of some silly last minute bid while I wasn’t on the PC.

I offered £250 inc postage which was refused (fair enough), but in the end won the auction for £238 inc postage, as nobody put it a last minute bid. 😀

As a buyer, I’ll often ask for a buy it now price. Yes, I may get it cheaper if I wait, but I’m too impatient. If I’m asked to make an offer, I will do. Managed to get afe wdeals from shops who are happy to sell through their shop website rather than ebay shop, to save on fees alround.
At the moment I’m watching something I want. I asked for a buy it now price and it came back at nigh on full rrp! So I’ll wait it out, no bids yet, 99p start bid so potentially a bargain to be had.

As a seller, likewise. Depends what it is, and often how the request is worded.

It seemed that simple, just wanted reassurance there wasn’t some loophole that’d see me short of £75 of fees with my item still unsold (I don’t see him saying “oh alright” and putting his hand in his pocket though!)

Pain as it pushes everything back two days…

Normally I do just let the auction run and turn down all the low offers, but there’s really no way of doing that in this case (other than not having offered Buy It Now in the first place)

Pain as it pushes everything back two days..

Request he pays. send him the invoice. If he refuses, you have it on record to use to get things moving again.

Otherwise wait until after the weekend. No-one will die as a result.

Has anyone tested the “you’ve entered a legally binding contract” thing – like, properly taken a non-paying bidder to small claims to enforce the contract?

I put up a rather bizarre item a couple months back, was an old (but unused) ink cartridge from my dad’s old electronic WP. Having looked on eBay, I reckoned it was worth anything ‘up to’ £25 (eek!)

Soon as I put it up, got a Buy It Now type message from a guy, offering to take it off my hands for £4 IIRC. Checked his site, yup, he’s flogging them for Buy It Now £22.50 or some such. Er, no thanks!

Sold it for I think £16-17 in the end, to a nice lady from 50 miles away, chucked in the used (no idea of wear) old cartridge as well, two happy eBay users..

Don’t see why you wouldn’t (as a seller) be amenable to it, saves the exorbitant eBay fees (10%+), so you can afford to sell it for less, you’re guaranteed a good price, and the buyer relinquishes their eBay support so it’s actually safer as they can’t do the “there’s something wrong with this” and get an automatic refund from eBay.

I’ve sold loads of things like that, and indeed bought them too. If people make a daft offer you go back with a counter offer. Really don’t get why folk sulk about it!

Oh ffs, does it matter if it’s a **** auction?

Yes! Lots!

The value of something depends on how much it is in demand. So if one person wants it, they can BIN at a price that you may find acceptable. If five people want it badly, they will bid against each other so you’ll get more money. If people really really want a BIN then chances are they want the item, so let the auction do its job.

Being asked is an annoyance. If I wanted you to BIN I’d have put a sodding BIN price on the listing wouldn’t I?

The last thing I sold on on ebay it stated ‘UK bidders/buyers only’ but I still got messages from Vietnam and Portugal asking me to post there.

I dont mind the BIN questions, sometimes it works in your favour. The ones I hate is asking for BIN but with the neck to tell you how it will all be done i.e. ‘I will give you £20 including postage, send it Royal Mial 1st class recorded, I need it for the weekend’

People that pay by paypal eCheque without telling you wind me up too, I have one for £130 waiting to clear since Sunday evening.

I wanted to put a low reserve on to see if that would keep the BIN price available for a while. Couldn’t find it.

IIRC the BIN stays until the reserve ends.

Being asked is an annoyance. If I wanted you to BIN I’d have put a sodding BIN price on the listing wouldn’t I?

But the problem with eBay is that I often put a BIN price along with a 99p starting price. So if you see it and want it then you can still buy it. Once bidding starts then the BIN price disappears which is daft in my opinion. Fair enough, in the last 24hr its’ gone or something.

So it depends how I’m feeling. If I think something will go I often refuse the BIN enquiry politely. Be patronising/internet warrior-like with someone whos asked a relatively valid question means one less potential bidder in my opinion.

I once had someone buy something for a mad amount of money then give me grief that she could have bought it off my at a cheaper BIN price. That was an interesting email I sent her back. She did pay up though…

See I’d never list a BIN price in eBay itself, just happily take them away from the auction itself.

Being asked is an annoyance. If I wanted you to BIN I’d have put a sodding BIN price on the listing wouldn’t I?

This

I went for a while listing BIN prices .. [lazy] but I got fed up with the offer/counter offer and it’s too much effort to think of a price [/lazy]

I put stuff on auction only now, and actually sign the end of the listing that the readers don’t ask for a BIN price .. I still get people asking though. I just ignore them.

ebay’s not what it used to be for sure though. It’s a game, and a lot of people like to ‘cheat’. I sell on ebay because I want to get rid of something and usually fairly fuss free .. list it, auction it, get the money, ship it.

As for non-payers .. I only recently learnt about the filtering options that mean you can dicate a little the kind of buyers that can bid on the auction .. It’s right at the bottom of the listing page near the ‘accept returns’ option. You can block people that have unpaid item history, broken policy history, no CC on file, primary address outside your shipping areas and things like that etc.

I’ve had a couple of people on a couple of items message me after asking why I blocked them .. having a moan, I just report those messages.

Using it I don’t usually have problems, but inevitably when I open a listing up to everyone again I’ll have a time waster.

2 weeks ago an item I sold quintrupled in value .. all kosher like … in the last 24 hours. With an hour to go someone had the gall to message me and moan that “it was a shame you got my mates to bid it up” . What a twazook. like it was really going to sell at the stupid low price it had sat at for the first few days.

But the problem with eBay is that I often put a BIN price along with a 99p starting price. So if you see it and want it then you can still buy it. Once bidding starts then the BIN price disappears which is daft in my opinion

you need to decide whether you are selling in an auction or a BIN sale, you cant do both. BIN usually has a “or best offer” and IIRC you can set auto reject and auto-accept, so you can introduce the “auction” element to your BIN. If you use a free listings promo its usually just for auctions and wont work with BIN.

I had an amusing argument with someone who offered a laughably small amount for a Nomad frame listed on BIN. I got the full asking price, in cash, collected so no shipping fees for the buyer or hassle for me.

Works the other way around too,

I offered £60 and a cheaper (but different shape, the seller said he switched to a 145mm version) saddle for a road bike saddle that was probably going to go for £80+. He said no, I got it for £60 as no one else bid that day!