Twice in the last month this has happened to me:

I see a very nice vintage Rolex for sale with "Buy It Now/Best Offer." I make an offer that is 98.5% of asking price. The offer is immediately rejected, and I get a note saying "We're sorry, but we made a mistake in pricing the watch. The actual price is [original BIN] + 10%-12%." The watch is quickly re-listed at the inflated price (still with Best Offer).

Yes, I know it's crazy to offer 98.5% of asking. I usually offer considerably less. But I really liked these 2 watches, didn't want to get into a back-and-forth negotiation, and thought I might recoup shipping costs.

On reflection, I believe the dealers were using this tactic to test the market. No buyer is going to pay BIN if Best Offer is available. If the dealer gets a quick bite on a watch, he knows he has under-priced it, and so he adjusts the price up.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Has anyone else had this experience?

 

Think I have just seen this happen...
I was following a speedy reduced on eBay for fun, it was priced at £600, I’ve no idea if there was a buy it now or offer etc. But I’m pretty sure there were a few days left on the auction.
I’ve just received a notification that it has been relisted for £1850!

 

Seen this a few times, listed - pulled- relisted higher- over and over. Have had the same thing happed when I make an offer and the auction immediately ends and it's resisted higher. You can tell when these sellers are just trolling the market for a sucker, so I just avoid them all together.

 

I’ve often said that my biggest regrets were “didn’t buy” vs. “sold”. And more than once over trying to squeeze out a relative penny or two in the price. Sounds as though you really weren’t that hot for the watches to pass over 2.5%?

As for seller’s behavior - one of the less egregious actions we’ve all seen on the ‘bay and other platforms.

 

The same thing was happening with house prices around here a few years ago.
Plenty of houses listed for 800g, sold for 810 or 820.

 

The truly egregious is winning an auction or doing a BIN and the seller cancels the auction and relists it without any communication- that’s just shady business and unforgivable in my book- I won’t ever buy from that sellers again even if they are high volume well known dealers. Yes, accidents happen in listings, but at least reach out to the buyer and explain things.

 

I’ve seen this. Have also experienced listings with best offer, put in offers that were rejected, then received angry messages from the seller who was insulted that I made an offer. When I mentioned they were the ones who added the best offer function, I was told that was only there to attract more attention... wow!

 

When I read the title, I thought you were going to share a new tactic for winning auctions :-(

I agree with @Darlinboy - when I really want a watch and the price is fair, I don't really bother with making an offer. When I am in the mindset "I can take it or leave it," I usually make an offer that would make the purchase a good deal.

 

I too have learned this lesson. When I bought my Sinn 103, the seller was legit, full kit, bracelet and factory strap, blah-blah, BIN of $1.3k or make offer, it had been up for a couple hours. I got half way into the make offer feature and just said screw it and hit BIN. I pinged the seller joking that I was going to make an offer and just said screw it, and he replied (to paraphrase)- Smart man, had an offer at 1.25 and was about to take it. Its one of my favorite watches and to think I would have lost it for $50.

 

I've seen this too...

I will sometimes lob the lowball offer to see if there is an auto accept trigger.

ebay is weird as hell now...

 

Just bought a watch (finally) from ebay seller who had BIN w/Best Offer. I sent several offers that were automatically declined. I sent a message about it and he said he isn't really accepting offers, listed price was good enough. I gave him some crap back and he said it was a proven way to get more attention, and he knew from the number of watchers it was working. Except it didn't, as several weeks later he sold it to me for 30% under his list price. I wasn't even watching it anymore, it just kept showing up in my feed. I talked to him again and worked out a deal. He was frustrated none of the watchers bought it.

So here's what i've learned about watchers. Watchers are good, not because they are going to buy, but because someone else coming along will see the buzz. IMHO most watchers are flippers who will take it if it drops low enough for them to resell. I get LOTS of lowball offers from flippers. Turns out flipping ebay items is a real thing, and apparently works.

 

But they did not have a 800k BIN as in: bid it and own it

 

This all goes into my general distrust of the 'bay. When I finally decide that I'm going to spend my hard-earned money on something, I get emotionally invested. I don't think I can handle getting yanked around like that.

 

A couple people above mentioned that "Best Offer" is just an attention getter. Good point, hadn't thought of that.

 

The amount of times I've tried to make a small saving with a "or nearest offer" and lost out by somebody hitting the "BIN" just after is untrue. These days even if the offers button is there, if I want something and it's well priced already I just buy it to be safe. You never know when the seller will look at that offer.

 

Sometimes an item gets one or two bidders, the BIN option disappears.

 

Yes, they did. It was listed "for sale, $800,000." Not an auction.
But with houses, you can't buy it on the instant. You tell the agent you'll take it for 800, & the paper work starts. Mortgages require building inspections & valuations. Exchanging contracts, the legal point that matters, takes enough time for lawyers to be involved.
I know a few people said they would buy it for the asking price, the agent said "great, let's get the process started" only to have another buyer offer more than the asking price, before contracts were exchanged.

Sellers want maximum value. With houses & Rolexes, 5% can be a significant amount. Some sellers want every cent, rather than honouring a deal.

 

Usually BIN disappears after the item receives the first bid, unless it has a reserve price set.
Or sellers can set BIN with offers.

My friend had this happen today. Seller had a speedy available BIN. My friend committed and paid. Minutes later it was cancelled and money returned. No response over messages as to why. As mentioned above, new fishing tactic. Terrible!

 

Was this the $2.5k one on strap? That was an excellent value

 

I've been on ebay for 21yrs now and because I like you guys I'm going to give you the most valuable advice I can offer about ebay. The best deals are on the 'fringe'. I'm talking about listings that don't get seen because of mistakes on the listing. Stuff that is a mainstream product but doesn't show up on mainstream searches because the seller either can't spell, types too fast, or doesn't know enough about what they are selling to get it right, therefore nobody sees it.

If you're looking for something, think of all the ways someone could screw up the title and category and search for that.

Looking for a longines? look up longenes, langines, etc .

Looking for an omega constellation?, look for constallation, constellaton, constelation, etc...you get the picture.

As for categories, you will find a watch under watches, but also might be under the general jewelry, collectibles, or antiques.

I have so many examples of this over the years but just recently picked up an all original 1967 speedy premoon for $2500. Title was spelled wrong, and under collectibles not watches. I was the ONLY bidder because it was literally invisible on ebay due to the errors.

I also collect japanese swords. The ebay categories are pretty screwed up when it comes to edged weapons so they can be found in any of about 6 different categories, and you can imagine how eBay listings can be screwed up by sellers where english is a second or third language.

Based on this experience, I am very careful about titles and categories when I list to make absolutely sure I capture the widest audience. I sometimes put common misspellings of an item, or alternate names in the title to capture buyers who misspell what they are looking for, or because where they live it might be called something else.

Caveat emptor? no....caveat venditor.