Best Offer

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wsfarrell

·Jun 7, 2021

A dealer on eBay (empiretimenyc) has a Rolex 1680 for sale at $11,495. It's a 4.4 million serial, signifying a service case. I offered $11,000. They declined the offer, saying "$11,450 is our best price." $45 off of $11,495 is a 0.3% discount. Why have a "best offer"?

I believe it's similar to dealers outside of eBay who don't show prices: "Please inquire." They think that if they get the potential buyer to engage in any way, they have a better chance of making the sale. They're probably right. But not this time...

 

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mjb

·Jun 7, 2021

wsfarrell

"Please inquire." They think that if they get the potential buyer to engage in any way, they have a better chance of making the sale. They're probably right. But not this time...

Absolutely, I agree, that's what it all is. Getting you engaged, invested in the process to make the sale. After a few emails or calls, you might find that the best price is really closer to 10, especially if they've had it a while and there's no other interest.

 

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Dan S

·Jun 7, 2021

Offer $11,100. Or $11,050 if you really want to get your point across.

 

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jaguar11

·Jun 7, 2021

It does make you wonder......

 

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S.H.

·Jun 7, 2021

What irks me even more are the automatically rejected offers... I don't bother after a try or two. Their loss.

Also, sometimes, asking nicely does wonders. I shaved 200eur off 2000 recently, even if the price was advertised as firm.

 

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ATWG

·Jun 7, 2021

I find these pretty funny and don't even bother any more for this exact reason.

If you're looking for a really nice fully serviced 1680, LMK, I might know someone who's looking to sell ;-)

 

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wsfarrell

·Jun 7, 2021

Dan S

Offer $11,100. Or $11,050 if you really want to get your point across.

I was thinking of $11,001. 😀

 

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Tony C.

·Jun 7, 2021·Ωf Jury member

wsfarrell

I was thinking of $11,001. 😀

Better yet, now that the seller has revealed his rigidity, and you have decided to walk away, offer him $9,000. 😁

 

M

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myatt

·Jun 7, 2021

Honestly, I would go $10,500 on it!

 

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keepsonticking

·Jun 7, 2021

That is a frustrating ebay practice, agreed. I have all but stopped even looking on ebay since the sales tax collection, but the real thing that torques me about ebay is how the vast majority of listings are not auctions at all. I'm sure many of you have been around long enough (1998) to remember an ebay that was actually a place for auctions, where people listed items and sold them to the highest bidder. It's mostly a retail platform now. Check to see the percentage of listings that are BIN only these days. You might be surprised.

 

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applebook

·Jun 7, 2021

Maybe the seller is getting offers really close to the asking price? Your offer is pretty reasonable.

 

J

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Jkbenn02

·Jun 7, 2021

I guess so too

 

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Dgercp

·Jun 8, 2021

I hear ya, but who is the loser here?

 

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wsfarrell

·Jun 8, 2021

Dgercp

I hear ya, but who is the loser here?

I may be misinterpreting, but you seem to be saying I'm the loser because I missed out on a great watch for stupid reasons. (a) If I had really wanted the watch, I would have just bought it at BIN. (b) Since the seller had "best offer," I made an offer. (c) The seller revealed himself to be an asshole, and I don't deal with assholes.

 

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Dgercp

·Jun 8, 2021

wsfarrell

I may be misinterpreting, but you seem to be saying I'm the loser because I missed out on a great watch for stupid reasons. (a) If I had really wanted the watch, I would have just bought it at BIN. (b) Since the seller had "best offer," I made an offer. (c) The seller revealed himself to be an asshole, and I don't deal with assholes.

I have no idea if the watch was great, but if I really was hot on this, I might not let $450 get in my way. Yes, silly to list it best offer if he doesn't mean it, but there are at least a million stupid things done on ebay every day. The seller may not actually be an asshole just because he has a price in his head that he wants. I am glad you do not feel that you lost out on this one.

 

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Edward53

·Jun 9, 2021

Sometimes ebay will "sneak in" the option for a best offer by default, ie you have to untick it. I've made offers before and been told by the seller that they never intended to include that option. Perhaps that's what happened here and the seller can't be bothered to amend the listing.