Question about a selling/buying scenario

[WhyreByter]

I'm new here, and want to understand how a particular scenario should work, by the rules of this forum:

Imagine I've got something that I want to sell. I'd like to get $100 for it, but will entertain lower offers.

As a seller, I believe that what I should do is post a For Sale, with a price of $100 or best offer. Then, as people declare interest and send me their offers, I consider each in turn. If the first buyer and I can't reach an agreement, they bow out and I PM the next interested person to get their offer, and so on until it sells or there's no other interested parties.

As a buyer, if I'm interested, I should register that via the forum, and then wait for the seller to PM me to make my offer? Or should I make it as soon as I declare interest? If I'm second in line, and I offer $100, but the first person is only offering $80, am I "trumping" them?

Also, as a seller, if the second person PMs me an offer that is better than the first person's offer (which I might have accepted, otherwise), what's my obligation under this system? Do I get to truly take "the best offer", or do I have to pretend that I didn't see the second offer?

I'm just curious, as I really like this format/rules/etc, and I want to make sure that I'm playing by the rules, on both sides of the table!

Thanks!
WhyerByter

 

[Witcher1979]

This is actually a damn good question.

I think rules wise you have to take first offer, but if 2nd offer is higher who wouldn't take it?

I think if this was me I would take first offer as well even if it was lower.

Interested to see the result here.

Cheers

 

[Merlin]

Hi Whyerbyter,

As a seller:

The potential buyer must declare interest in the thread and then things can move to PM with offers. If you can't reach an agreement with the first member making an offer, you move onto the next one; you aren't under an obligation to consider multiple offers from one member before moving on, since this would constitute a 'silent auction' and is a no-no and would possibly gazump others in the queue.

If you are buying, then you are in the reverse position; you must declare interest, make your best offer and the seller accepts or rejects your offer.

Offers are a one-shot deal and if yours isn't accepted, you go to the back of the queue and hope to get another try, or you withdraw from the deal.

The best offer is the actual asking price, of course.....

Is that clear enough?

 

[StrontiumDog]

Wibble!

 

[WhyreByter]

Thanks, Merlin! It does clear things up a good bit, but not completely. It seems that the desired intent with best offer sales is as follows:

Seller makes initial post. Interested buyers respond indicating interest, and thus setting the order for any tiebreakers. Buyers PM their best offers. After some given time period, the seller reviews the offers.

The buyer who gets the item is determined as follows:
- It is the first seller who offered full price
- If no one offered full price, it is the first seller who offered the highest price, assuming that the price is acceptable to the seller

If the seller doesn't accept the highest offered, then all offers are rejected. The buyers then either:
A) Make another offer
B) Publicly withdraw interest

There's other questions that arise, though, like:
- Can someone who has already made an offer raise it later, before final decision, based on the number of people declaring interest (If I'm #2, and I see another 5 people declare interest, I may re-think my offer, and want to raise it).
- What do I do as a seller if I reject all current offers, in order to let any lurkers know that there are no active offers? Can I post to the thread and say something like "All active offers were reviewed, and rejected"?
- If, as a buyer, after being rejected (along with all other offers) I want to raise it, do all buyers who haven't withdrawn interest keep the same place in line, or, is our place in line lost along with the rejection?

Thanks again for your time, not just in answering this question, but administering the site in general; I've spent a great deal of time on it since I found it, and love it.

 

[imnogeek]

@WhyerByter & everyone, There is no strict "how to conduct yourself when taking offers" rule, but there is a general ethos of how Amibay is run and what it stands for (if you want maximum money put it on the other Bay)

If someone posts in the thread then makes an offer then the buyer should either accept or reject the offer - simple.

Now go to the next in line that's made an offer, then consider what they have offered and accept or reject it.

Carry on untill someone makes an offer you are happy to accept.

A thought though... when you place a sale you have a figure in mind that you would accept? so why not put that as the price you want?

This is a community, intended to serve the community - not *bay

Gary

 

[Witcher1979]

@WhyerByter & everyone, There is no strict "how to conduct yourself when taking offers" rule, but there is a general ethos of how Amibay is run and what it stands for (if you want maximum money put it on the other Bay)

If someone posts in the thread then makes an offer then the buyer should either accept or reject the offer - simple.

Now go to the next in line that's made an offer, then consider what they have offered and accept or reject it.

Carry on untill someone makes an offer you are happy to accept.

A thought though... when you place a sale you have a figure in mind that you would accept? so why not put that as the price you want?

This is a community, intended to serve the community - not *bay

Gary

This is very well said. I like how this was put

Nice

 

[Zetr0]

@Jimbo

Imnogeek is like the conscience I never had =D

 

[WhyreByter]

I definitely like the sense of community, which is why I'm so worried about crossing the ethos. Personally, I will probably never do a obo sale. If I don't sell it at my asking price, I'll drop the price until I do. Simple.

My interest is from watching a few threads and wondering how this scenario is supposed to work. All the other scenarios are pretty cut and dried, and I think that using the Amibay goal to summarize this one makes sense.

Thanks, all!

 

[Zetr0]

remember to tip your waitress (imnogeek) =D

 

[jvdbossc]

I don't wan't to cause any problem so early in the morning, while the moderators are still enjoying a cup of coffee, or should I say thee? So enjoy the cup of thee, but please hear my feelings about this one:

But should there not be a rule :readit:that as soon the seller logs on he needs to make a decision? :roll: Otherwise a possible seller can log on, wait for 3 day's and come back to the highest paying guy? oh: (or look silently without logon etc..)

Me thinks a buyer has the right to withdraw interest after first logon of the seller, and I think the seller should take a decision at first reading the offer.

Is this a stupid question ? Maybe, I don't really have a problem, since I mostly pay or near pay the seller the asking price.

 

[Templar]

thee = tea, I guess eh?

 

[Merlin]

thee = tea, I guess eh?

Stimmt! Eine tasse Thee... aber ich brauche viel Kaffee.....

Coffee... I'd walk around all day with a drip stand connected to me, giving me intravenous coffee if I could; caffeine's a food group, isn't it...??

 

[r0jaws]

....But should there not be a rule :readit:that as soon the seller logs on he needs to make a decision?.....

The difficulty of creating a rule like that is effective policing of it.

Whilst we do have a framework of rules to work in, we try and avoid having too much detail, and a rule for every circumstance, because it would make the site very bloated and difficult to understand and trade in.

One of the jobs of the moderation team is to interpret the rules, and apply them in the fairest way we can.

It is rare for a moderator to act unilaterally, and generally we would discuss a potential problem with the rest of the staff before attempting to tackle it.

If something crops up again and again, and we think it needs some clarification, then we might write a new guideline or rule for it.

Discussions like this are helpful though, it can throw new light onto the forum and allow us all to perhaps consider things from a new angle.

 

[jvdbossc]

R0jaws: Discussions like this are helpful though, it can throw new light onto the forum and allow us all to perhaps consider things from a new angle. __

Exactly! You got it right. I don't have any problem here at the moment, I was lucky that all major big deals wen't great on here.