eBay UK adds "additional terms" to Best Offer
Several sellers have noticed a new addition to their Best Offer pages today: a new text box for “additional terms” has been added, so that if you make a counter-offer, additional terms (or just comments) can be added.
Other sellers, mainly in the collectables categories, say they’ve had this for a while, so it seems to be something that’s only just rolled site-wide.
eBay sellers seem to fall firmly into two camps over Best Offer: those of us who love it, and those who hate it. For those of us who find it a useful selling tool, this will be a very welcome addition to the process. The lovely Martin from The Whirlpool Bath Shop, who sent me the original heads up, tells me he negotiated a price both he and his buyer were happy with via this console today, on the basis that the buyer bought accessories with his bath. I can see it being useful for my own sales when I’m happy to do a better price for buyers purchasing multiple items at a time. And of course, on the original B.O. console, making offers like “if you buy three I’ll give you free/upgraded P&P” wasn’t an option: now it is.
Those who don’t like Best Offer are of course free to not add it to their listings 
ebuyerfb says
11:02 pm on 02/05/2009
This has been a feature on .com for a long time. It is a decent feature though I get a lot of buyers who lowball and then say “free shipping” in additional terms even though eBay would clearly state that S&H is not negotiable (not sure why since eBay shouldn’t care).
Whirly says
7:44 am on 03/05/2009
I actually lost a sale yesterday because of this feature but I am glad I did, I have also been using the additional terms box to call out the next delivery slots available, if we have a run on a bespoke product and the lead time is pushed out beyond the quoted time it’s useful to be able to communicate this, as was the case yesterday when quoting w/c11th the buyer declined and in a follow up email said he needed it onsite next friday, in the past I would have only been able to advise this at the invoicing stage which in this case may have meant a cancellation or upi and the risk of bad feedback or dsr scores being left. So a sale lost but no harm done.
Mark T says
2:02 pm on 03/05/2009
It is also useful for a little boiler plate response like this:
Hello
Thank you for your offer, unfortunately it was too low so please consider our counter offer
Best regards,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
John Lindauer says
5:52 pm on 03/05/2009
We are an ethical seller and do not do business with those who are not. So after years as a Power Seller and tens of thousands of ebay sales – we have terminated our relationship with ebay and moved to Amazon and our own website. We made the change because we believe ebay and its Paypal subsidiary have crossed the line in terms of unfair and unethical dealings. For example, selling us listings wherein we believed we would have a certain placement in the ebay searches only to read a few days later an ebay offer to provide “enhanced placements” for new listings that would tend to put them in from of the position ebay sold to us. For example, Paypal refunding a buyer’s payment even though we submitted proof that the claimed return of the item was fraudulent. (we filed a police complaint and the police opened the box – the police report was not good enough for paypal). Several days later we saw our item for sale on ebay. so ebay got two listing and we got robbed. That may have pumped up ebay’s metrics and share price for that quarter but the thousands of listings and fees that we will not do in the quarters ahead will more than offset its short-term gain.
Integrity and fair dealing with your customers is a cornerstone of business success. Ebay does not seem to realize that its fees-paying sellers are its customers – so it sees them as victims to rob . Ebay is best known in the United States where it began – and in the United States ebay is in serious decline because its customers, powersellers like us, have come to see its true colors. Put it this way – suppose you bought a new Rolls Royce and after the contract was signed and the dealer had your money the dealer refused to refund your money and delivered a Ford. Would you buy your next car from that agency? For the same reasons we will no longer buy our next listings from ebay.
Glenn says
9:34 pm on 03/05/2009
John not sure if your comments fit this particular thread, but as it’s here I will add my pennies worth.
We have also been the victim of blatant fraud and Paypal have issued refunds despite clear evidence of a buyer’s dishonesty.
We are also moving away from ebay with a greater presence on Amazon and developing our own Internet shop. But here is the rub.
Much as Paypal has annoyed me, I need them as a payment method. I know that there are lots of payment methods on offer, but lets face the facts, the customers we want to encourage to our shops are ebay customers who use and like Paypal.
It is a reality of life that there will always be dishonesty and injustice in any system. Paypal and all credit companies work on percentages, and provided fraud doesn’t cut to deep into their profits they really aren’t interested in dealing with it.
Every seller has to accept fraud / loss / damaged goods in their business model. I admire your integrity and in principle agree with much you say, but abandoning ebay / Paypal will not harm them in any way, but does deny you potential customers.
Good luck with your shop
Liz says
11:34 am on 04/05/2009
The ‘extra’ comments section is just weird. I doubt it will be of any use as most of the comments over the weekend have been ‘ please accept my stupidly low offer, I am going to buy lots of stuff……..really’
OK, that’s not an exact quote, but it has made the best offer process longer and more whiny.
whirly says
1:11 pm on 04/05/2009
#6 I thought only the seller could use that box, wasn’t aware buyers could also use it. I will await my first stupid comment.
(soon to be ex-)Power Seller says
8:16 pm on 04/05/2009
It strikes me that its just another way of making selling on ebay more expensive (in this case by being even more time consuming) and less profitable.
I feel so much better now that we have taken the decision to dramatically reduce our presence on ebay and concentrate all our efforts on the webby.
When if ebay have finished re-inventing themselves as the new Amazon (if they ever succeed) and returned to being a stable, reliable, profitable sales platform, I might reconsider – unless I’m too busy running a successful outfit that actually benefits me rather than someone else…
Economic Comics says
1:36 pm on 06/05/2009
It gets even better…
We’ve just had two Best Offers on two different items, and the e-mail clearly states the buyer’s username…… Thanks eBay – very helpful!
Sue Bailey says
1:52 pm on 06/05/2009
E.C. shhhhh
That’s the kind of glitch we like – if it *is* a glitch and not a rather sensible developement!
whirly says
4:03 pm on 06/05/2009
#9 #10 my fault, I have had the buyers ID on all offers since the intro of Additional Terms,, makes sense really, we have to display our details anyway so it’s not exactly difficult for them to just ring up and order *apparently*