What does "Make Offer" mean to you?

[palitoy]

Just curious, I've been using this both as a seller and a buyer a lot lately.

In my head, it means you've probably got 20-25% leeway at best to play with. I never go lower than that because I think the opportunity to discuss the price fades when you move into "insulting territory".

As a seller, I've had people request an 80% discount on items twice this week.

As a buyer, I've made two offers on items this month, both at the asking price less 20%, my counter offers have been 1) a 3% reduction and 2) a 2% reduction in the price.

Why even have "Make offer" if you're only going to kick off $10?

What's your mantra with the make offer?

[Mikey]

As a buyer I always think "make offer" is mostly put on an item that sellers hopes to get more for than the going rate.

It's like walking through a dirt mall and nothing is priced at the toy tent.

You know he's sizing you up when you ask him "how much" ?

That's just the way I look at it.

[great_chandel]

I cannot tell you how many sellers on Ebay have told me the following when I have e-mailed them on a "make offer" for an item: "I put make offer just to see what people might be willing to pay for it." It seems like it is nothing more than a fishing expedition to see what someone might pay. The other response I get a lot has someone telling me he will go no lower than say $900 on a $1000 item. I always respond, "if you know you will go no lower than X amount, then why put make offer to begin with?" Again, it is a fishing expedition..................

[toyman]

I agree with palitoy, I've made offers in the last few weeks and offered within $10.00 of the price and they have only moved a $1.00 or $2.00, I just decline and move on

[warlock664]

As a seller, I've rarely used "Make an Offer"; for that matter, I rarely use fixed price or high starting price either. I begin 99.9% of my auctions at $9.99, and let them run their course, thus getting a true barometer of the item's "real" value. The few times I have used Make an Offer, I've received insulting offers.
As a buyer, I usually won't send an offer that is more than 20% off the fixed price. I figure that's usually the most a seller would accept, and I don't want to waste everyone's time sending unrealistic offers. If a starting price is ridiculously high, I won't bother sending and offer at all, because usually that indicates the seller has unrealistic expectations.
A couple of times I've sent offers on Hot Toys figures to Asian sellers, and received counter-offers that were less than $1 off their starting price! I don't understand the purpose of "Make an Offer" in that case!

[enyawd72]

To me, it means "I'm not buying your stuff."
I do not play the offer game.
Just put a fair price on whatever it is and it will most likely sell.

[Mego Magyar]

It's kind of like the Pawn Shop shows, they start off low you start of high and see if you can agree in the middle.

As a seller I never use "make an offer" because it tells people right off that the starting price you listed isn't what you're really willing to sell it for. It would have to be something really special that someone really wants to pay full price when you are telling people that you will take less.

As a buyer I've had times when people only want to go a couple of dollars lower so I just move on.

[drquest]

I must be in the minority because I use it as a seller and a buyer. I find in some cases people ignore it and just go for the buy it now, and for the low offers I always set a minimum that weeds out the low ball offers and I never even see them. As a buyer, again, I love it, I've been able to get really great deals on stuff before using it. Sometimes people only drop it down a little bit, but if I'm interested in it, any amount less than what they are asking is just fine with me.

[TomStrong]

I've never had good luck with it. Anytime I make a fair offer (a fair offer mind you) invariably the member emails me back like hes insulted! I don't like to use it. I always feel like its a trap to brow beat the buyer.

[huedell]

I must be in the minority because I use it as a seller and a buyer. I find in some cases people ignore it and just go for the buy it now, and for the low offers I always set a minimum that weeds out the low ball offers and I never even see them. As a buyer, again, I love it, I've been able to get really great deals on stuff before using it. Sometimes people only drop it down a little bit, but if I'm interested in it, any amount less than what they are asking is just fine with me.

I think like you do.
You may think we are in the minority.
And maybe we are---but, honestly, I don't know how anyone can see it differently than we do...
Yet, apparently they do.
it's a crazy world, I suppose.

[Joshua the Atomic Robot]

When I see "Make an Offer" I usually submit an offer 10-20% off. The exact amount usually depends on how much other sellers are selling it for. 90% of the time people accept my offer, or give me a counter offer that is still in that range. Occasionally someone will respond with a counter offer that is just silly, like 50 cents off or something, and I usually just buy from someone else in those cases, even if I have to pay a little more, just because it annoys me that they weren't serious about making an offer.

[Gorn Captain]

To me, it's an invitation to dance.
You ask $25. I offer $15. We meet in the middle at $20, and we both feel like we had some input. I'll gladly pay that $20.

I've had sellers lower their asking price from $30.99 to $30.69.
That's not an invitation to dance, that's a rohypnol in your drink and a chloroform rag to the face...

[palitoy]

To me, it's an invitation to dance.
You ask $25. I offer $15. We meet in the middle at $20, and we both feel like we had some input. I'll gladly pay that $20.
..

Yeah, I find that kind of fun. I don't mind putting it on as a seller because I figure people like to feel they got a deal.

[ubermanx]

Giving you the false hope of a deal engages you and puts the proverbial foot in the door. Makes you not dismiss the auction immediately.

I do like Palitoy's "20-25%" off guide line and will be using that.

- Marty

[Donkey Hoatie]

I've used it as a buyer in the past with mixed results, but never as a seller. I like Palitoy's "20-25%" off guideline as well, but with some caveats. If it's a relatively lower-priced, common item, I'll usually go above that 25% threshold and max out around 33%. For example, if the seller's looking for $25 for an item, I'll sometimes come in around $17-18. For a higher-priced item that's not terribly common, I'll usually come in around 15-20% max.

I've had counteroffers to a 25% off offer come back in at a budge of less than 5%, and I'll just walk away from those. But, if they counteroffer around the 10-15%, I'm usually OK with it. I've also had offers of around 15% off a small item that just sit and languish and in those cases, I wonder why the guy even bothered to put that as an option.