Ebay "Best Offer" Ethical Question

If it is a new auction just listed within 15 minutes and his offer is within my acceptance range I give it to him. After you miss a couple of them that you should have hit the BIN but offered something close, you will just pay the fiddler. You just let that snoozer know that he slept it. There are more than one set of eyes on a new listing as it is listed. nlp

For me, I normally counter, but as long as I am making a decent profit on it, I will accept the offer. If it is in the first few minutes or something, it really doesn't matter to me. I normally price my buy it now's pretty high so I can accept offers anyway. If it does sell at the regular buy it now, then that is better for me.

I always go into a listing like that knowing what I'd like to get and what I'll take. If I'd like 50 but I'll take 40, I set the best offer parameter to automatically decline anything less than 30. If someone offers between 30 and 40, I'll send them a counter offer of 40 or higher. As soon as I get an offer of 40 or more, I jump on it.

IMO, there is as much of a chance of the bidder finding a better coin for his price as of you getting a better offer, so I take an acceptable offer ASAP. Many of my coins list for months before I get an acceptable offer, the chances of it getting "bested" in 48 hours seems remote. But I am very low volume so that is my experiences.

It still amazes me how many sellers list at some ridiculous BIN price. Like I bought a buff the other day listed at $300, but in haggling they eventually accepted $140 for a coin that lists full PCGS retail at $155. Why BIN at almost 200% when they are willing to take 90%? Seems strange to me. I guess they hope some sucker will pay the 200% and not bother to haggle. I find that a bit sleazy though personally. I can't justify anyone asking more than say 125%-150% of retail for most coins. Exceptional toning aside, which can make things vary greatly, but ask more than that and IMO you are trying to rip others off! I saw the same "grade" coin at a show a couple weeks ago a guy was asking $450 for it ( so almost 300% ). I told him that full list was only 155 and he then offered me it for 155. I didn't like his, and really didn't like his pricing model, so I passed but he claimed to have paid 300 for it - recently. Complete bull as it has been around 150 for many years now and this guy is such a pathological liar in haggling it is sickening! I usually just skip his table but was curious how he could be asking so much! And then claiming to be willing to sell it at a >90% loss? Too many sharks out there trying to rip off anyone they see. Gets a little sickening sometimes, IMO.

Buffalosrock...




I reread your full post.

Guess he is a retailer.

Once When I was a clothing merchant I bought low and sold low. Business was good.

The adage was you make your money the day you buy it.

That is what I start out with as a BIN, trends plus ebay fee.

I have a small circle of previous buyers with whom I am more willing to haggle with them.

I list my bins about 36% higher than what I want. I use offer, when an offer is lower than I want. I reply with, " I'm willing to give you a % discount and thank them for their interest. I find more times than not, my counteroffer is excepted.
This weekend I had 3 French speaking buyers submit offers, I accepted, they paid. When I asked them which of the 4 coins they would like, they replied all 4. Then about 20 min later, I get requests for refunds and to cancel the transaction. They misread the ad. Yet the title says pick 1 only, as does the first line in bold in the description. I had two buyers do this on Fri, and 1 a week ago, all from Quebec. This month I've had 5 sales like this. It gets annoying after the first two. I have cancelled 6 transactions in the past 30 days. Yet other buyers understand the pick 1 when they buy. It's just strange the buyers are from one part of Canada.
The upside is I now know how to issue refunds and request a cancellation to get my fees back. I get nervous when I need to do a task, I've never performed. What gets me, they don't bother to leave positive feedback, only 1 person did.