Ebay Best offer Part 1: A Buyer's Best Friend.

I have been on Ebay since the late 90's. Back then, I was a very early teen and I grew up watching my Dad use Ebay to buy old toy Train sets as he was a giant train enthusiast. He and I loved Ebay because you could get online and see thousands of items from thousands of buyers and had choices to buy used or buy new and be able to get a possible discount off a store price.

My Dad once commented "The bad thing about Ebay is you can't haggle. Haggling is the only way to get the best price". Obviously in an auction format, haggling never came into play. But once "Buy it Now" became an option, haggling was logically the next step.

Ebay responded with the "Best Offer" feature. This is not a new feature in any way and has been out for many years, but it surprises me how little it is utilized. Just as with Craigslist, yard sales, or your best friend's stash of stuff he needs to get rid of, Ebay has buyers who urgently need to sell something or are willing to come down on a price. Some sellers don't really know what people will pay for their item or they need the money and aren't firm on the price (and all us sellers know how good it feels to finally sell something on Ebay).

As a buyer, we should take full advantage of this. Don't be afraid of "Best Offer", as the title suggests, it is your best friend. Here are some ways you can use this to your advantage:

1. Items with large quantity and Best Offer = Big Savings

Lets say you want to purchase a set like 9489, The Endor Rebel Trooper Battle Pack. You feel this would be a good investment and you start searching Ebay. Most people will look for auctions and try to snipe a few at super low prices, or look for "Buy it Now" sorted by lowest price. This is extremely time consuming to maybe save a dollar or two here and there.

Instead, I search for sets with "Best Offer" checked (you can enable this in "more refinements" on the left hand side under the "show only" section on the right. This is will bring up a box in the middle of the screen. Click "show only" on the left side menu. On the right there is a check-box that says "Accepts Best Offer"). I then search through for ones with multiple quantities and ones in independent Ebay Stores (as these are more likely to have multiples).

Lets say doing this for the aforementioned set, you come across a seller with 20 of them listed at $12.99 each (retail) with free shipping.

In this case, I suggest offering to buy all 20 at a price point of , say, $9.50. The seller will most likely be tempted by this because: 1. The seller gets to ship them all to one person in the same box. 2. The seller moves all that inventory at one time. With the money saved on shipping, chances are this is only a few dollars less than the seller would have been made waiting them out.

Obviously the same applies for bigger sets, but that requires more capital and shipping is not quite as easy. Listings with Multiples for bigger sets aren't as common, so this advice is more effective for smaller sets. But I have had success when I do find a large quantity listing for a big set, so don't be afraid to use this advice in that situation.

Example: I recently purchased 10 of the Lego "Captain America Avenging Cycle (6865) listed at $13.99 for $10.50 using Best Offer.

2. Items that have been listed for longer have a better chance of accepting your Best Offer

This is a very simple concept. The longer something has been for sale, the easier it is to get it at a better price. One of my daily Ebay checks is to search for certain Lego sets with “Best Offer” and sort by “Newly Listed” and then go to the last page (unfortunately Ebay doesn't have an “oldly listed” option). These sets have been here for a while and chances are these buyers are willing to take less. Make them an offer and you may get lucky – they may just want someone to finally buy it! I find I can offer these sellers a little less and they will take it more often than a seller who just listed a set.

Example: Recently there was a New Lego Death Star 2 (10143) listed for $1150. It had been there quite a while. I offered the seller $600. He counter-offered with $800. I did not end up buying it (probably will regret it), but according to BP data, that would have been $350 off!

3. Best Offer puts unreasonable prices in play

Most of us see the over-priced stuff on Ebay. We feel sorry for the uneducated seller's who don't have BP to show them what their set is actually worth. So most of us probably write off 90% of listings when searching for a set. But “Best Offer” means it could sell for any price! Assuming you have the money, putting in a fair offer wont hurt anything at all. Also, they have the option to counteroffer and you can possibly negotiate down to a fair price.

Example: I offered on a Lego Helm's Deep (9474) that was listed for $140. The seller accepted my offer of $110.

4. You can add a personal message to a Best Offer or Counteroffer

A LOT of people don't do this, mostly because they just don't know what to say. In my experience, this always helps. If you are buying it as a gift, let them know. Or just put a friendly note in like “Hopefully we can work out a deal as I love this set!”. Things like that make a seller feel better about selling to you. Just think about things you might say in a friendly bartering session with a friend. I have had a lot of success with this as well when they send back counter offers. If they offer $500, I may offer back $450 and say “I really don't think I can go any higher”. These work in normal haggling and Ebay is no exception. (Note: I do not condone lying in a personal message to a seller).

Example: Commonly I will offer low and then add “Let me know what you think. I am really interested and am willing to come up if need be”. I find their counteroffer is lower than if I send no message at all.

These are just a few things to consider when using Ebay Best Offer. Some other advice:

• Be sure you have the capital and are willing to pay for something you offer on. If you put out 20 Best Offers and all of them are accepted, this could be a big issue.
• Try not to low-ball a seller. Though you get 3 Best Offers on an item, sellers have a tendency to shut down completely if they think you are being unfair with your offers. I usually start with about a 30% discount from their original price. A message to them helps with this as well. If someone is really friendly to me in a message, its hard to assume they are low balling and being a jerk.
• Make sure you read the listing completely before you submit an offer. When you submit an offer, you are bound to it if the seller accepts it. There is nothing worse than submitting an offer and then figuring out the item is not what you wanted.
• If you find your Best Offer is immediately declined and you think it was fair, move on. In my experience, these sellers have it checked, but aren't going to take a reasonable offer for it. It usually indicates they are pretty firm.

Just give it a try next time you are Ebay and leave any more info or suggestions in the comments!

Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods.