Is This A Shill?

[snip] >> Chuck makes a good point about the Make-Offer feature, and it should be >> noted that sellers have this option available to them within the eBay >> messenger system even if the button isn't present in the auction, so if you >> have your eye on something and feel the price is too high (or your search >> of completed auctions shows the item has been relisted several times with >> no takers), there's no harm in sending the seller a message with a dollar >> amount in mind. -C > YMMV. There is a type of system that I am interested in adding to my collection. An eBay seller has a bunch in a number of BIN/Make Offer auctions over months. I asked an expert on the systems his opinion on the auctions, including what he would offer. I offer 50% more, but it was still 2/3rd the BIN price. They countered by taking a bit over 10% off. I countered by splitting the difference but they didn?t go for it. The auction closed and I looked at the auction history. I saw that the systems had previously been offered at a price less than my split-the-difference offer. When they came back up for auction again, I offered the split-the-difference price and noted that the lower price in a previous ?no-takers? auction run. They countered with a higher price than their counter to my initial offer. They went unsold again and I waited for the next auction run. I offered the split-the-difference price again and they countered even higher. I got the message and have stopped bidding. That was a couple months ago and they still have sold any of those systems.

I?ve also found that if a seller has a number of the same item for sale, I?ll offer to take the entire lot at a significant discount. A number of the sellers will go for that (e.g. they can unload all of the items in one transaction).

TTFN - Guy