New Ebay Bid Negotiation Tool

EBay Best Offer

EBay Best Offer is a new tool that gives buyers and sellers the ability to negotiate prices on Fixed Price and Store Inventory format listings. The seller has to designate the Best Offer option in the listing, and the buyer has to find them within Buy-It-Now items. (Buyers need to be in the View Item listing page to see whether Best Offer is available.) A special text message box is available (up to 500 characters allowed), where viewers can propose a lower or higher bid and offer an explanation. Sellers have the option to accept or decline (or ignore) any offers made. The service is free to both parties.

The offers and their acceptances are considered binding by EBay, just as a bid is. The final accepted Best Offer price is subject to EBay Final Value Fees. All the details are described at http://pages.ebay.com/bestoffer/faq/index.html.

Note: Since Best Offer is a new tool, we’ve yet to see how it’s going to perform. If buyers are willing to consider the fair market value of the goods, it could prove to be a great tool that offers choice and empowerment to buyers, resulting in bigger bottom lines for sellers. On the other hand, it could end up being a nightmare for sellers who spending too much time fielding “low-ball” bids from stingy buyers. Time will tell.

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