Ebay - Page 3

staceyv · 04-15-2005, 07:27 AM

they don't have the one I liked- I searched the entire internet for this damn watch to see if I could save some money, but I can't find it...

Sun_Sparkz · 05-02-2005, 11:47 PM

$900 for a watch!!?? Thats like $1800 Aussie dollars for a freaking watch!! I dont care how much you love this guy, you cant be in serious debt if you can afford to spend money like that on a watch!

staceyv · 05-03-2005, 05:37 AM

He's the one paying off all of my debt.

I don't shop a lot, and that is a big splurge for me, but he DID spend about $2000 on my diamond, so he deserves it. And I could've saved 100-200 dollars a month until November if I was making that much on ebay or picking up shifts, but we've decided to forget about the watch this year.

(I crashed our car coming home from the post office- where I was mailing out books and cd's to my Amazon.com customers.

It cost us $500 to fix our car and probably an increase in insurance.

Now I have no extra money and I'm not doing anything that requires me to drive more/ drive when I don't feel like it.)

Beestie · 05-03-2005, 08:58 AM

Be careful buying stuff like that on eBay. My wife is a powerseller and recently she sold a Louis Vitton purse to a buyer in Canada. She never got paid. Turns out, another seller my wife knew also didn't get paid by this buyer. Turns out this buyer has also been selling some rather expensive watches ($3,000+) on eBay. The watches were fakes.

To make a long story short, the CMP (Canadian Mounted Police) arrested her three days ago and charged with multiple counts of fraud, counterfitting, selling stuff she didn't have and other charges.

If you have to buy a watch on eBay (try pawn shops and sole-proprietor jewelry stores first), make sure its from a buyer with a long history and lots of good feedback.

staceyv · 05-03-2005, 07:37 PM

I actually wanted to buy the watch from a shop here on the island- I wanted to make the money for the watch on ebay.
But I guess neither of those things are gonna happen. Thanks for the warning, though.

monster · 10-12-2014, 09:33 PM

Ebay: Best offers.

Is there a formula?

The thing we are looking at is pretty unique because it's vintage. It's imperfect, sold as is. but there's a reason we want it that probably wouldn't apply to anyone else. It was previously listed and didn't sell, last time the shipping was $8, this time the shipping is free and -surprise, surprise- the asking price is $8 higher.

obviously we want to pay the minimum possible and are not exactly sure what it's worth to us at this point. Certainly nothing like the asking price. I hate haggling. is there a magic formula? A percentage? Looking at the feedback, this seller regularly sells to the best offer (50% of sales) but it doesn't tell you what the offers were.

While writing this post I found a tool to tell you what best offers any ebay seller has accepted and rejected. it's pretty cool. Apparently this person accepts 42% of offers with average reduction of 28% there is nothing similar to this particular item, though. I think I'd definitely like to pay less than 78% though. :/

The tool is called Goofbid: http://www.goofbid.com/ebay_best_offers_tool.html

Do sellers have a ("legal") counteroffer capability?

Undertoad · 10-12-2014, 10:10 PM

That's a nice tool. The seller has the option to refuse the offer and then there can be some back-n-forth.

My guy looks at offers as a way to figure out whether his set price is wrong. When he gets ridiculously low offers, it usually means they are sarcastic offers, because his set buy-it-now price is like over 30% too high. That can happen, because not all items have obvious values.

If someone is allowing for a best offer you know they accept offers, which means you should by all means try an offer first. But sometimes a really low offer will be taken as an insult. If someone has something up at $100 don't offer $50.

gvidas · 10-12-2014, 10:14 PM

The first step in any haggling or auction circumstance is decide how much you want to pay. Never pay more than that.

Your opening offer should be the lowest number you think you can get away with. If you go too low, they'll ignore you as a crazy; take personal offense, if they have HBP or whatever; or just sell it to someone else.

50-33% of asking is a reasonable place to start, but if you know something about the item it's absolutely fine to offer much less. I.e.: they're asking retail price for a broken thing, and you want it for parts, it's fine to offer 5-10% of what they're asking.

If you think there's a substantial chance of someone else coming along and buying it; if they're already offering an absurdly good price; or if you like the person, make an offer closer to the asking price.

Ebay's "make an offer" system has a straightforward provision for them to say, "no thanks, how about $Y."

gvidas · 10-12-2014, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

If someone has something up at $100 don't offer $50.

You posted this while I was posting.

I think it's fine to lowball if the item has been listed for a long time or re-listed repeatedly. Obviously, if they just listed the item for $100 this morning, they're not going to accept your $50 offer. But if you know they've been sitting on it for a month, it's not unreasonable.

Undertoad · 10-12-2014, 10:28 PM

Right, it really depends on the market for something. If an item has a lot of completed listings, then a value can be determined for it. You can figure the value of a black, 16GB iPhone 5 on AT&T with good front glass and a verifiable serial number. You can figure it down to within $2. Something like that, you can't Best Offer down too far. It's the things that only sell every once in a while, or never at all, where a Best Offer of half is a place to start.

The pawn shop has been trying to sell a new safety harness, such as a worker might use when scaling trees to remove branches that are interfering with power lines. Here is a case where the item, new, sells for $500, but on eBay it can't be sold for $50.

sexobon · 10-12-2014, 10:46 PM

Going that far under the asking price you're probably better off first determining the maximum your willing to pay for it. Then, don't hesitate to make that offer to the seller. Whether they accept or reject any offer depends on how strapped for cash they are which can change at any time. Keep the offer period short so the seller can't string you along waiting for a better one. The fact that anyone even made an offer will encourage them to bide their time.

You can avoid haggling by including a message to the seller saying that your offer is the maximum the item is worth to you and if the offer is rejected; or, the offer period expires without reply, you would still appreciate being notified if the seller reconsiders. You just don't want to be contractually obligated to buy something you're having difficulty putting a value on for more than a few days in case you change your mind.

monster · 10-13-2014, 07:32 AM

thanks. This is really tricky because the item is so unique and has developed a personal value for one of my offspring that far outweighs reason/budget

Thinking about it, though, if they don't accept the offer they'll probably relist it, then they might be more inclined....

I hate this. I should never have shown the item to the party in question. sigh

glatt · 10-13-2014, 07:45 AM

Can your offspring afford to buy it if they want it so badly?

monster · 10-13-2014, 03:03 PM

yes and no

monster · 10-13-2014, 08:59 PM

ok thanks all, the offer is placed......

05-02-2005, 11:47 PM	#32
Sun_Sparkz Has Body Temperature Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: I come from a land downunder Posts: 1,105	$900 for a watch!!?? Thats like $1800 Aussie dollars for a freaking watch!! I dont care how much you love this guy, you cant be in serious debt if you can afford to spend money like that on a watch! __________________ We'll never be as young as we are right now

05-03-2005, 08:58 AM	#34
Beestie -◊\|≡·∙■·∙≡\|◊- Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Parts unknown. Posts: 4,081	Be careful buying stuff like that on eBay. My wife is a powerseller and recently she sold a Louis Vitton purse to a buyer in Canada. She never got paid. Turns out, another seller my wife knew also didn't get paid by this buyer. Turns out this buyer has also been selling some rather expensive watches ($3,000+) on eBay. The watches were fakes. To make a long story short, the CMP (Canadian Mounted Police) arrested her three days ago and charged with multiple counts of fraud, counterfitting, selling stuff she didn't have and other charges. If you have to buy a watch on eBay (try pawn shops and sole-proprietor jewelry stores first), make sure its from a buyer with a long history and lots of good feedback. __________________ ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

10-12-2014, 09:33 PM	#36
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Ebay: Best offers. Is there a formula? The thing we are looking at is pretty unique because it's vintage. It's imperfect, sold as is. but there's a reason we want it that probably wouldn't apply to anyone else. It was previously listed and didn't sell, last time the shipping was $8, this time the shipping is free and -surprise, surprise- the asking price is $8 higher. obviously we want to pay the minimum possible and are not exactly sure what it's worth to us at this point. Certainly nothing like the asking price. I hate haggling. is there a magic formula? A percentage? Looking at the feedback, this seller regularly sells to the best offer (50% of sales) but it doesn't tell you what the offers were. While writing this post I found a tool to tell you what best offers any ebay seller has accepted and rejected. it's pretty cool. Apparently this person accepts 42% of offers with average reduction of 28% there is nothing similar to this particular item, though. I think I'd definitely like to pay less than 78% though. :/ The tool is called Goofbid: http://www.goofbid.com/ebay_best_offers_tool.html Do sellers have a ("legal") counteroffer capability? __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-13-2014, 07:32 AM	#42
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	thanks. This is really tricky because the item is so unique and has developed a personal value for one of my offspring that far outweighs reason/budget Thinking about it, though, if they don't accept the offer they'll probably relist it, then they might be more inclined.... I hate this. I should never have shown the item to the party in question. sigh __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-13-2014, 03:03 PM	#44
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	yes and no __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

04-15-2005, 07:27 AM	#31
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	they don't have the one I liked- I searched the entire internet for this damn watch to see if I could save some money, but I can't find it...

05-03-2005, 05:37 AM	#33
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	He's the one paying off all of my debt. I don't shop a lot, and that is a big splurge for me, but he DID spend about $2000 on my diamond, so he deserves it. And I could've saved 100-200 dollars a month until November if I was making that much on ebay or picking up shifts, but we've decided to forget about the watch this year. (I crashed our car coming home from the post office- where I was mailing out books and cd's to my Amazon.com customers. It cost us $500 to fix our car and probably an increase in insurance. Now I have no extra money and I'm not doing anything that requires me to drive more/ drive when I don't feel like it.)

05-03-2005, 07:37 PM	#35
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	I actually wanted to buy the watch from a shop here on the island- I wanted to make the money for the watch on ebay. But I guess neither of those things are gonna happen. Thanks for the warning, though.

10-12-2014, 10:10 PM	#37
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	That's a nice tool. The seller has the option to refuse the offer and then there can be some back-n-forth. My guy looks at offers as a way to figure out whether his set price is wrong. When he gets ridiculously low offers, it usually means they are sarcastic offers, because his set buy-it-now price is like over 30% too high. That can happen, because not all items have obvious values. If someone is allowing for a best offer you know they accept offers, which means you should by all means try an offer first. But sometimes a really low offer will be taken as an insult. If someone has something up at $100 don't offer $50.

10-12-2014, 10:14 PM	#38
gvidas Hoodoo Guru Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 286	The first step in any haggling or auction circumstance is decide how much you want to pay. Never pay more than that. Your opening offer should be the lowest number you think you can get away with. If you go too low, they'll ignore you as a crazy; take personal offense, if they have HBP or whatever; or just sell it to someone else. 50-33% of asking is a reasonable place to start, but if you know something about the item it's absolutely fine to offer much less. I.e.: they're asking retail price for a broken thing, and you want it for parts, it's fine to offer 5-10% of what they're asking. If you think there's a substantial chance of someone else coming along and buying it; if they're already offering an absurdly good price; or if you like the person, make an offer closer to the asking price. Ebay's "make an offer" system has a straightforward provision for them to say, "no thanks, how about $Y."

10-12-2014, 10:28 PM	#40
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Right, it really depends on the market for something. If an item has a lot of completed listings, then a value can be determined for it. You can figure the value of a black, 16GB iPhone 5 on AT&T with good front glass and a verifiable serial number. You can figure it down to within $2. Something like that, you can't Best Offer down too far. It's the things that only sell every once in a while, or never at all, where a Best Offer of half is a place to start. The pawn shop has been trying to sell a new safety harness, such as a worker might use when scaling trees to remove branches that are interfering with power lines. Here is a case where the item, new, sells for $500, but on eBay it can't be sold for $50.

10-12-2014, 10:46 PM	#41
sexobon I love it when a plan comes together. Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9,793	Going that far under the asking price you're probably better off first determining the maximum your willing to pay for it. Then, don't hesitate to make that offer to the seller. Whether they accept or reject any offer depends on how strapped for cash they are which can change at any time. Keep the offer period short so the seller can't string you along waiting for a better one. The fact that anyone even made an offer will encourage them to bide their time. You can avoid haggling by including a message to the seller saying that your offer is the maximum the item is worth to you and if the offer is rejected; or, the offer period expires without reply, you would still appreciate being notified if the seller reconsiders. You just don't want to be contractually obligated to buy something you're having difficulty putting a value on for more than a few days in case you change your mind.

10-13-2014, 07:45 AM	#43
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Can your offspring afford to buy it if they want it so badly?

10-13-2014, 08:59 PM	#45
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	ok thanks all, the offer is placed...... __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

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