I spent the first three years of my resale career stubbornly refusing to lower my prices. I had a "take it or leave it" attitude that I thought made me look professional. It didn't. It just made me broke. In November 2023, I was sitting on a pile of inventory—specifically, fifty vintage denim jackets—that hadn't moved in six months. I was desperate. I decided to swallow my pride and test the "Send Offer" feature I had been ignoring. I sent a 10% discount offer to 200 watchers.Within an hour, my phone sounded like a slot machine. I sold twelve jackets in forty-five minutes.
That afternoon taught me that price is fluid. Buyers on eBay aren't just looking for a product; they are looking for a win.They want the dopamine hit of getting a "special deal" just for them. Sending an offer isn't admitting defeat; it is initiating a handshake. Once I mastered the mechanics of how to send offer on ebay, my sell-through rate doubled, and my storage unit finally started to empty out.
How to Send Offers to Watchers on eBay (The Basics)
If you are new to the platform, figuring out how to send offers to watchers on ebay can feel like finding a hidden menu.eBay doesn't let you send an offer on every item immediately. The algorithm decides when a buyer has shown enough interest (usually by "Watching" the item or leaving it in their cart for a few days) to qualify for an offer.
The Workflow:
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Navigate to Seller Hub > Listings > Active.
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Filter by "Send Offer to Buyers". (There is a quick filter button for this).
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Click "Send Offer" next to the item.
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Enter your offer amount (eBay usually requires at least 5% lower than the listed price).
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Check the boxes for "Allow Counteroffers" or "Automatically send offers" if you want to automate future watchers.
Opinion Statement: I honestly believe that the "Send Offer" button is the single most powerful tool on the platform right now. It converts passive window shoppers into active buyers faster than any paid ad campaign I have ever run.
The Strategy: Make Offer on eBay Tips That Actually Work
Just because you can send an offer doesn't mean you should spam everyone with 50% off. I learned this the hard way.When I first started, I would panic and send massive discounts. Buyers actually got suspicious. "Why is he dropping the price by $40? Is it broken?"
My "Ladder" Strategy:
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Day 1-7: No offers. Let organic traffic work.
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Day 8-14: Send a 5% offer. This is just a nudge. It tells the watcher, "I see you, and I'm active."
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Day 30+: Send a 10-15% offer. Now we are serious about clearing space.
Here’s where it gets interesting... The message you attach to the offer matters. You have 250 characters. Use them.Instead of leaving it blank, I write: "Packing orders for the post office right now! If you grab this in the next hour, I can ship it today." This creates urgency without lowering the price further.
Automating with Closo AI Agents and Promotion Agent
Managing offers manually for 500 items is a nightmare. You have to log in every day, filter the list, and type in the numbers. It is repetitive administrative work that kills your creativity.
This is where the Closo Promotion agent changed my workflow. Unlike basic bots that just spam offers, Closo's AI agents analyze the specific context of the listing. The Closo Promotion agent looks at the item's age and performance and decides when to trigger the offer.
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Scenario: I have a rare vinyl record that has been listed for 3 days. It has 10 watchers.
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Manual Me: I would send a 10% offer immediately because I'm excited.
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Closo Agent: It recognizes that 10 watchers in 3 days is high demand. It holds off on sending an offer because it predicts a full-price sale is imminent.
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The Result: It sold full price on Day 4. I saved 10%.
I use Closo to automate my offer strategy – saves me about 3 hours weekly of manually reviewing which items are eligible for discounts.
How to Send an Offer to a Buyer on eBay (Direct Messages)
Sometimes a buyer will message you: "What's your lowest price?" You don't want to change the public price of the listing because that ruins the value for everyone else. You need to know how to send an offer to a buyer on ebay privately.
The "Reply with Offer" Feature: Inside the eBay messaging system, there is a specific button: "Send Offer". Do not just type "$50" in the text box. Click the button. This generates a formal, binding offer that creates a checkout link for the buyer. If you just type it in text, and they say "Okay," they can't actually pay until you edit the listing, which risks someone else buying it first.
Honest Failure: In early 2024, I negotiated a price for a guitar via text messages on eBay. I agreed to $400 (down from $500). I forgot to use the "Send Offer" button. I just lowered the main listing price to $400. A different buyer saw the price drop notification and bought it instantly. The original buyer (who I was talking to) was furious.Lesson: Always use the private offer link in messages. Never lower the public price for a specific person.
The Psychology of the "eBay Best Offer Accepted Price"
Buyers love seeing that line crossed out with ebay best offer accepted price next to it. It makes them feel like a savvy negotiator. Even if the discount was only $2, the psychology of "winning" the negotiation is powerful.
The "High-Low" Pricing Tactic: I deliberately price my items about 15% higher than the market average. Why?Because it gives me room to send offers. If the market value of a jacket is $50, I list it for $60. Then I send an offer for $50. The buyer thinks they saved $10. I got the exact price I wanted. If I had listed it at $50 straight up, they might not have clicked because there was no "deal" to be had.
Parenthetical Aside: (I once listed a camera for the exact market price of $200. It sat for weeks. I raised the price to $240 and added "Best Offer." I accepted an offer of $210 three days later. Humans are weird.)
Using Closo Demand Signals to Time Your Offers
Knowing how to send offers on ebay is mechanical; knowing when is strategic. You shouldn't send offers on items that are about to trend. That is leaving money on the table.
I use Closo Demand Signals to act as my traffic light.Closo Demand Signals analyze search velocity across the web to predict trends.
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Green Light: Closo shows "Winter Boots" are trending down as spring approaches. Signal says "Low Demand." I aggressively send offers to clear this stock.
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Red Light: Closo shows "Vintage Band Tees" are spiking in search volume. Signal says "High Demand." I stop sending offers entirely.
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The Benefit: This data prevents me from discounting items that are about to become hot commodities.
Anecdote: In August 2025, I had a stack of Carhartt jackets. Closo signals indicated a massive spike in "Workwear Aesthetic" searches predicted for September. I resisted the urge to send offers to the 50 watchers. By mid-September, they all sold at full price. If I had sent offers in August, I would have lost roughly $300 in profit.
I use Closo to automate my pricing decisions – saves me about 3 hours weekly of second-guessing whether I should discount my best items.
How to Send an Offer on eBay Mobile App vs. Desktop
The interface changes depending on where you are. This confuses a lot of sellers who switch between their phone and laptop.How to send offer on ebay via the app is slightly different.
Desktop: You have a bulk tool. You can select 50 items at once and send offers. This is essential for volume sellers.
Mobile App: You have to do it one by one. Go to "Selling" > "Active". Look for the blue "Send Offer" text.Warning:The app is glitchy. Sometimes you click send, and it spins forever. Or it sends the offer but doesn't show it as "Sent" until you refresh. I always recommend doing your bulk offer tasks on a desktop with a stable connection to avoid sending duplicates.
Managing Multi-Platform Offers with Closo 100% Free Crosslister
Now the tricky part... If you send an offer on eBay, the item is still live. What if you have that same item listed on Poshmark? And what if you sent an offer on Poshmark too? You are playing with fire. If both buyers accept the offer at the same time, you have double-sold the item.
I use the Closo 100% Free Crosslister to manage my inventory, but I also use it to manage my risk.
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Rule: I never send active offers on multiple platforms for the same item simultaneously.
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Rotation: On Mondays, I send offers on eBay. On Thursdays, I send offers on Poshmark.
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The Safety Net: If an eBay offer is accepted, I use Closo to immediately delist the item from Poshmark. The speed of Closo is critical here because you only have minutes before a Poshmark buyer might click buy.
How to Send Offers to Watchers on eBay: The "Counteroffer" Trap
When you send an offer, you have a checkbox: "Allow Counteroffers." If you uncheck it, it is a firm price. If you check it,the buyer can say, "Thanks for the $40 offer, but will you take $30?"
My Advice: Always allow counteroffers. Why? Because it keeps the conversation going. A counteroffer is a signal of high intent. Even if their counter is too low, you can counter back. I have closed hundreds of sales where we went back and forth three times and met in the middle. If I had blocked counters, they would have just ignored my initial offer and moved on.
Opinion Statement: I believe that sellers who disable counteroffers are leaving 20% of their sales on the table. It sends a message of "I am difficult to work with." Reselling is a hospitality business; be flexible.
eBay Make Offer Tips: Minimums and Auto-Accept
To save your sanity, you need to use the "Auto-Decline" settings. When you create a listing (or edit it to add Best Offer),you can set parameters.
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Auto-Accept: If I list for $100, I might set auto-accept at $90. If they offer $91, it sells instantly without me touching my phone.
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Auto-Decline: I set this at $60. If they offer $50, the system rejects it immediately. This filters out the "lowballers" who offer $5 on a $100 item just to troll you. You never even see those notifications. It protects your mental health.
Honest Failures: The "Double Discount" Disaster
I have to admit a painful mistake. In 2023, I was running a "20% Off Storewide" markdown sale. At the same time, I went in and manually sent "10% Off" offers to watchers. I didn't realize they stack. A buyer bought a $100 coat. They got the 20% store discount ($80). Then they applied the 10% offer I sent them. Then they used a coupon I had on the packing slip. I ended up selling the coat for about $65. After fees and shipping, I broke even.Lesson: Be very careful when layering promotions. eBay usually only applies the best single discount, but if you send a direct offer, it overrides the sale price in complex ways depending on how you set it up. Check your math.
Common Questions I See
People always ask me... Can I withdraw an offer after sending it?
Generally, no. Once you send an offer to a watcher, it is binding for 48 hours (or 24 hours depending on the current eBay policy update). You cannot cancel it unless you end the listing entirely. Be sure about the price before you click send.
Common question I see... Why can't I send an offer on certain items?
eBay only enables the button if there is "interest." If an item has 0 watchers and hasn't been clicked on recently, the button won't appear. Also, if you just sent an offer to those watchers yesterday, you can't spam them again. You have to wait for new watchers to accumulate.
People always ask me... Do offers include shipping?
No. Your offer is for the item price only. Shipping is added on top, based on whatever shipping policy you have on the listing. However, you can choose to send a message saying "I'll give you free shipping," but you have to manually adjust the invoice before they pay, which is messy. It's better to stick to item price discounts.
Conclusion
Mastering how to send offer on ebay is the difference between a stagnant store and a dynamic business. It puts you in the driver's seat. Instead of waiting for buyers to find you, you are reaching out to them. It turns a passive waiting game into active sales generation.
My honest assessment is that you should be sending offers every single morning. It wakes up the algorithm and puts cash in your pocket faster than listing new items does.
If you are ready to stop doing this manually and let AI handle the negotiation for you, use the Closo Seller Hub to explore the automation tools.
For more on managing your inventory across different sites while you send these offers, read our Mercari Reddit Guide
And if you want to know which products will be in such high demand that you won't even need to send offers, check out Trending Products Forecast 2026
