Would you like the OPTION of "Best Offer" available on eBid?

[theweaverboy]

This subject has been thrashed to death many times, I daresay the guys are well aware of those threads and this one, and since it is THEIR choice, have chosen not to implement it, these continuing threads and polls are pointless.

I'll let the poll continue on until the 1st day of 2010. And Ken what is pointless is to settle on a site that doesn't compete as hard as it can. Oh and wasn't it you Ken that said on the other poll that you write in your listing that you'll consider offers. That is kind of screwy that you wouldn't be for an actual "site approved" best offer option.

And I daresay that if the guys put the question forward to each and every member we might have a keener understanding of what the eBid membership thinks about the issue.

STOP before you start. I'm not going to message the membership again. Even though a majority of them thought it was a wonderful idea and thanked me for telling them about the other poll. Oh and I barely just got into the USA membership before someone ratted me out calling it spamming. If it was truly spamming then I’m guilty, but I’ll never be sorry.

Just so you know title “peep with perseverance” is direct for the keyboard of a UK member.

Your peep with perseverance,
Steve(AKA:theweaverboy)

[marschenegger]

It has been heard from the cynical, in this discussion that to want Make Offer, or to use the more disparaging term, 'Haggling' available to its' userbase, is to want ebid to be an ebay clone.

So to let you know my position for future reference - I don't want ebid to be an ebay clone - this will save you putting forward that notion next time you disagree with me.

I proposed sitting the Make Offer, in between the Bid and the Buy options - ebay don't do it that way.

Good for you. I, too, am not against importing tools and ideas from e*ay as long as those things are for the benefit of the site. In an unrelated discussion, I expressed a favourable opinion of making the invoice more like e*ay's check-out system where combining items for discounted shipping is a more intuitive process. Picking and choosing good ideas does not make one cynical and does not lump one into the surreal class of eBid member that wants to turn this site into an e*ay clone. Those people who want to make this an e*ay clone would be in favour of importing the good as well as the questionable and the bad things.

Coming back to the discussion at hand, I am not in favour of the haggling option because it creates a poisoned environment for everyone, not just for people selling items with no set value. The fact remains that eBid does not have a strong buyer base to make a haggling option feasible. There are far more sellers than buyers. If every seller just listed their items at a set price, their best price, buyers would have an easy time deciding what to buy and from whom because the prices are set. Throw in a variable like haggling and life gets complicated for buyers because they have to waste time going back and forth between sellers trying to extract the best price they can. For many people, time is money, and haggling is a huge waste of time for buyers and sellers alike. Maybe I'm just foolish for setting my prices and sitting back and letting the sales happen, rather than setting my prices 30-40% over what I want and trying to get what I want from constant negotiation. Sellers putting higher asking prices on their items to accommodate the haggling feature does nothing beneficial for this site.

[marschenegger]

The problem is most zealots are of limited minds.

Well said! Now hold a mirror in front of you, stare deeply, and repeat that statement over and over again!

[theweaverboy]

Well said! Now hold a mirror in front of you, stare deeply, and repeat that statement over and over again!

Hey I'm far from total perfection but I'll bet a buck that mine beats your reflection. LOL I remember your old pic.

I'm open to all listing options and styles whether I'll use them or not. Maybe I'm a zealot for thought and choice.

Better then being a hardnosed it must be done this way because it is the only correct way types.

Fact is that eBid needs more of a variety then it has now.

This is not going to be supplied by BUYERS it will be done by SELLERS.

[RonOne]

Coming back to the discussion at hand, I am not in favour of the haggling option because it creates a poisoned environment for everyone, not just for people selling items with no set value. The fact remains that eBid does not have a strong buyer base to make a haggling option feasible. There are far more sellers than buyers. If every seller just listed their items at a set price, their best price, buyers would have an easy time deciding what to buy and from whom because the prices are set. Throw in a variable like haggling and life gets complicated for buyers because they have to waste time going back and forth between sellers trying to extract the best price they can. For many people, time is money, and haggling is a huge waste of time for buyers and sellers alike. Maybe I'm just foolish for setting my prices and sitting back and letting the sales happen, rather than setting my prices 30-40% over what I want and trying to get what I want from constant negotiation. Sellers putting higher asking prices on their items to accommodate the haggling feature does nothing beneficial for this site.

Just imagine Mark, if your competition set their prices 30-40% higher than yours.
that would make you 30-40% cheeper. You'd be raking it in.

You wouldn't have to haggle, they would be queuing up for your wares.

[theweaverboy]

Just imagine Mark, if your competition set their prices 30-40% higher than yours.
that would make you 30-40% cheeper. You'd be raking it in.

You wouldn't have to haggle, they would be queuing up for your wares.

LOL! Exactly!

[marschenegger]

Coming back to the discussion at hand, I am not in favour of the haggling option because it creates a poisoned environment for everyone, not just for people selling items with no set value. The fact remains that eBid does not have a strong buyer base to make a haggling option feasible. There are far more sellers than buyers. If every seller just listed their items at a set price, their best price, buyers would have an easy time deciding what to buy and from whom because the prices are set. Throw in a variable like haggling and life gets complicated for buyers because they have to waste time going back and forth between sellers trying to extract the best price they can. For many people, time is money, and haggling is a huge waste of time for buyers and sellers alike. Maybe I'm just foolish for setting my prices and sitting back and letting the sales happen, rather than setting my prices 30-40% over what I want and trying to get what I want from constant negotiation. Sellers putting higher asking prices on their items to accommodate the haggling feature does nothing beneficial for this site.

Just imagine Mark, if your competition set their prices 30-40% higher than yours.
that would make you 30-40% cheeper. You'd be raking it in.

You wouldn't have to haggle, they would be queuing up for your wares.

No, Ron, they wouldn't. You missed the point as usual. The haggling option brings with it a buyer mentality that every price is negotiable and every seller price is grossly inflated, even those that are not. Why you guys are trying to encourage this kind of poisoned trading environment is beyond comprehension. Keep your flea market stall filled and leave eBid alone, it's not broken and doesn't require fixing.

[deltadelta48]

Almost all our items are vintage collectibles. We used "Make an Offer" successfully on you-know-where for items where we honestly had no idea of the value.

One was an old candy dish that was not described online anywhere. I found the mark was Royal Crown Derby, but that was all I knew about it. Really nice vintage items by them start at around $100. The one I had was not in very good condition, so I guessed at a BIN of $40. We got an offer of $25, decided it was a fair amount and accepted. Also got good feedback, so everyone was happy.

Another was a WWI gas mask in terrible condition. I think we were asking $75 and got an offer of $50. Got good feedback for that one too.

There were 3 or 4 others, but I don't remember the details. If an offer was ridiculous, we declined, but most offers were reasonable.

I think right now, of the 2,600 items we have listed, there are perhaps a dozen where we would use "Make an Offer" if it were available.

That makes perfect sense. I imagined people would question every starting price asking you to take less which is a waste of time. We pick a starting price for a reason. But this would be very good when you are unsure what item is worth. As you said, you would not use it on everything, just certain items. Thank you.

[marschenegger]

That makes perfect sense. I imagined people would question every starting price asking you to take less which is a waste of time. We pick a starting price for a reason. But this would be very good when you are unsure what item is worth. As you said, you would not use it on everything, just certain items. Thank you.

Actually the original post makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is rife with contradictions. For example...

We used "Make an Offer" successfully on you-know-where for items where we honestly had no idea of the value.

...Really nice vintage items by them start at around $100

Huh? The seller has no idea of value but knows this particular example's market price starts at $100? Bad example, I guess.

The one I had was not in very good condition, so I guessed at a BIN of $40. We got an offer of $25, decided it was a fair amount and accepted.

If the seller doesn't know the value and accepts $25, who is to say $40 is not a fair and realistic price? Moreover, if the buyer who made the offer looked at the item when the price was $40, who can say for sure that the buyer would not have paid the full asking price of $40? There's no way to say with absolute certainty that having the haggling feature made the sale a success. If there was any chance of selling the item at $40, then accepting $25 was a failure. Some buyers are really smart and will realize that items listed at bargain prices will not sell despite being priced low, so offering even less and waiting for the seller's response will incur only a small chance that another buyer will jump in and take the item at the full asking price. If you doubt this, make a 1-week auction listing for an item worth at least $20 and make the start price $2 and see for yourself how much competition ensues.

Another was a WWI gas mask in terrible condition. I think we were asking $75 and got an offer of $50.

Ditto. How do you know $75 wasn't enough of a bargain and would have been snapped up right away on another auction site?

If an offer was ridiculous, we declined, but most offers were reasonable.

How can you decide if an offer is ridiculous if you have absolutely no idea what an item is worth? Makes no sense.

[RonOne]

No, Ron, they wouldn't. You missed the point as usual. The haggling option brings with it a buyer mentality that every price is negotiable and every seller price is grossly inflated, even those that are not. Why you guys are trying to encourage this kind of poisoned trading environment is beyond comprehension. Keep your flea market stall filled and leave eBid alone, it's not broken and doesn't require fixing.

Sorry Mark,
Just trying to have a friendly chat,
and give you some encouragement to improve your financies.

I forgot, in your opinion, your the only one alowed an opinion.