Dear eBay tire kickers- don’t!

cineaste

I guess someone is not ready to commit, but knows that if they bid they will not instantly miss out on the watch. I completely understand your pain!

MoclovFlop

I always thought people put those bids in because they wanted to thwart anyone who might score the watch at a cheap offer if the seller is uneducated.

Like, If they don't think they have time to put in an offer before it gets sold, then they will just ruin the chance for everyone even if they think the auction might be higher than a reasonable offer.

Not in an altruistic way, they aren't looking out for the seller. Just that they don't want someone to get a better deal than them.

Walrus

Wow deep. You just gave me a new mission in life I will devote myself as an altruistic eBay bezel kicker and with any luck I can piss @JwRosenthal off in the process. I thought this day couldn’t get any better.

MoclovFlop

I always thought people put those bids in because they wanted to thwart anyone who might score the watch at a cheap offer if the seller is uneducated.

Like, If they don't think they have time to put in an offer before it gets sold, then they will just ruin the chance for everyone even if they think the auction might be higher than a reasonable offer.

Not in an altruistic way, they aren't looking out for the seller. Just that they don't want someone to get a better deal than them.

JwRosenthal

And yes, I have thought this may be happening many times. People who will piss in the punch bowl so nobody can have it…this world really is filled with assholes

JwRosenthal

And yes, I have thought this may be happening many times. this world really is filled with assholes

Deafboy

My understanding from you post is when someone places a bid (even a low one) it disables the make-offer portion of the listing. What prevents you from participating in the auction?

gatorcpa

You don’t know what the 2nd bid is. All you know is that the first bid was $25. EBay only shows you the next increment above the last bid as current price.

gatorcpa

Determine the maximum of what the watch is worth to you and put in a snipe bid.

You either get it or you don’t.
gatorcpa

JwRosenthal

This has happened more than once:

A new listing comes up for a serious watch, seller is listing it with a $5 starting bid and make offer- this person is taking a leap of faith that they will get real offers or it will go for more than they hope- no pie in the sky BIN, a real open make me an offer and auction if no takers.
I make an offer- a real offer, a serious offer, it is processed and pending response (no auto rejection so I was clearly in the ballpark).
Within 1 minute it’s declined with 2 bids up to $26. The seller didn’t even have a change to respond, you don’t stand a chance to win with your $26 bid…get the hell out of the way unless you are going to be serious.

Sorry, rant over.

Donn Chambers

The problem is with the eBay algorithm, not the bidders. Once a bid is placed for more than the starting price, the best offer is automatically declined if the seller didn’t accept it and it goes into a standard auction.

EBay does state this, but it’s not understood by a lot of sellers (and it is NOT explained when is offered as an option)

from EBay’s FAQ on Best Offer:

If you receive a bid

• Current offers and counteroffers will be declined automatically, and buyers won’t be able to make any additional offers on your item
• If you had received an offer that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will need to place a bid, as their offer was declined when the first bid was placed

So if the seller posts with a low starting price AND best offer, using the best offer will rarely work the way the seller intended (or the buyer expected). It’s only works when the seller posts the item at close to or above the fair price. In the case you list, I’m not surprised it didn’t work.