Everyone loves a bargain! I remember the first time I went over the border to Mexico and found out they expected me to bargain! Whooo hooo! I had fun! Years later I taught my kids my little tricks to doing this, however, I also made it clear that they should not get ridiculous. While it is fun to get a bargain, the sellers also need to make a decent profit.

And that is the main key to successfully using the "Make An Offer" feature on eBay. I love that they now include an area where I can set my lowest price so that offers below that are automatically turned down. This saves me time as a seller since many people just don't get the last sentence of my first paragraph.

Obviously, if I have posted that I will accept offers, I don't expect to sell the item for the listed asking price. That being said, I also want to make a profit. Recently I had an item listed for $199.99. The offer submitted was $20! Now WHY on earth would I accept only 10%  of the asking price? The answer is: I wouldn't. Normally I am very polite and professional to my customers but this time I did tell the person not to waste my time. Soon after that I sold that item for $175.00 which was about what I had in mind as a fair price.

While many people think "I may as well give it a try, what can it hurt" when submitting a super low offer, please keep in mind that many of us sell as a business and we are busy people, too. Granted it doesn't take much time to decline an offer but still and all, my time is as valuable as yours.

I have made offers on items myself but I never go below 50% of the asking price and usually more than that. I look at the item and try to decide what it is worth to me. You should also include the shipping charges in that price since they are not negotiable. I once had someone make an offer that was extremely low to begin with but also requested that that price include the shipping charges! Puh-leeze! I told them that, if I did that, I wouldn't even make a dime on it and probably would lose money. Again, wasting my time. That gets very old after awhile. And don't email telling me you only have X amount of dollars to spend because I am not here to be a charity. That is unreasonable. You would not go into a store and do that so don't do it here, either.

Since everyone does love a bargain, consider using the feature when selling your items. I rarely use it on less expensive merchandise but save it for the pricier items. I research the competition for the same item and then price mine accordingly - about the same but with the make an offer feature used. For instance, say I have an item that is selling for around $200 by other eBayers. There are six of them showing up in my search on eBay, all near the $200 mark and all BIN (Buy It Now). If I price mine at $200, keep my shipping around the same amount as the others, but put Make An Offer on it, I have an edge over the competition because potential customers will see that I am willing to take less for the item. It works better than a sale since I can leave it that way all the time. In fact, I fully EXPECT to not receive the full asking price so, if you see that someone accepts offers, understand that they are willing to bargain to make a sale.

The main thing to remember is to be reasonable. You don't get something for nothing and that applies here, too.