eBay send offer to watchers: when a discount is worth sending

What does eBay send offer to watchers actually do?

The ebay send offer to watchers tool lets you send a lower price to buyers who have shown interest in a listing, usually by adding it to their watchlist. A watcher is a buyer who has saved your item to follow it. The offer goes to that buyer instead of changing the price everyone sees, and the buyer can accept it or ignore it.

eBay decides which buyers are eligible, how many offers you can send and what the discount limits are. Those rules differ between eBay.co.uk and eBay.com and can change, so check the current options in Seller Hub and on eBay's help pages (eBay UK help, eBay US help). This article does not quote limits, because they are not ours to state.

What we can cover is the part you control: whether a discount makes sense for that item, and how to price it so a sale still earns money.

When is a discount to watchers worth sending?

An offer works best when a buyer is already interested and a small push could turn a watch into a sale. It costs you margin on every accepted offer, so it only makes sense when the sale is worth more to you than the lost profit.

• The listing has watchers but few or no sales. Interest without a purchase often means the price is slightly too high for that buyer. A targeted offer tests that without cutting the price for everyone.
• The margin is comfortable. If you can drop the price and still clear your profit floor, the offer is low risk to your finances.
• The item is competitive but not unique. When similar listings exist, a small discount can tip a buyer who is comparing.
• You want to raise sell-through on slow stock. A sale at a smaller profit can beat a listing that sits for months.
• You would rather not cut the public price. A private offer lets you try a lower price on interested buyers only, without resetting the listed price.

If you are not sure the price is the real problem, run a fair test first. Our guide to price testing on eBay is not one of the links below, so treat the same idea simply: change one thing, wait long enough, and compare.

When should you not send an offer to watchers?

Skip the offer when the discount would push the sale below the profit you need. A watcher is not a promise to buy, and some watchers only follow items for reference.

• Thin-margin items. If a 5 to 10 per cent discount erases most of your profit, you are paying to make the sale.
• Items whose cost moves often. If your supplier price can change before the buyer accepts, a fixed offer can turn into a loss.
• Listings with a problem that a discount will not fix. Poor photos, a weak title or missing item specifics put buyers off whatever the price. eBay names listing quality and completeness among its Best Match factors, and advises filling in item specifics such as make, model, size and colour.
• Items that already sell steadily. If they sell at the full price, a discount is a gift.

If you raise prices on strong sellers instead of discounting them, see when to raise prices on eBay listings that sell well.

How do you check your margin before you send an offer?

Work out your break-even price first: the lowest price at which a sale costs you nothing after the item cost and eBay fees. Then add the minimum profit you want to keep on every sale, your profit floor. Never send an offer below that number. Our guides on the break-even price on eBay and the minimum profit per sale go through both calculations.

Example (hypothetical numbers): suppose an item costs £20 from your supplier and you list it at £30 with postage included in the price. For the arithmetic we use a hypothetical fee rate of 15 per cent of the sale price. This is not eBay's actual rate: fees vary by category and by seller type, and you can check the current figures on eBay's selling fees page. We also ignore ad fees and any fixed per-order fee to keep it simple. Suppose your profit floor is £2.

A 10 per cent discount cuts the profit from £5.50 to £2.95, which is nearly half. The 15 per cent offer falls below the £2 floor, so you would not send it.

The break-even price in this example is £20 divided by 0.85, which is about £23.53. With the £2 floor, the lowest offer is £22 divided by 0.85, about £25.88. Any offer below that costs you more than you agreed to give up.

Remember that the percentage discount is on your selling price, not your cost. A 10 per cent discount takes a bigger share of profit than it seems. The difference between markup and margin catches many sellers, which is covered in our guide to markup vs margin for eBay sellers.

How do you send an offer to watchers, step by step?

The exact menu names change from time to time, so follow what Seller Hub shows you. The steps below are the general order.

1. Pick the listing. Start with items that have watchers, healthy stock and a margin you have already calculated.
2. Calculate the lowest price you will accept. Use your break-even price plus your profit floor, as in the example above.
3. Open the offer option in Seller Hub. Look at your active listings for the option to send offers to interested buyers. If you do not see it, your account or the listing may not be eligible. eBay sets the criteria.
4. Choose the discount. Pick a figure that stays above your floor. Think about whether postage is already in the price, because a discount on an item with free postage comes out of the same pot.
5. Check any other terms. Look at how long the offer stays open and whether you can add a message. Both are controlled by eBay, so read what the screen says.
6. Send it and record it. Note the listing, the date, the discount and the outcome. A simple spreadsheet is enough to learn from.

Start with a small group of listings. If the offers are accepted without trouble, you can widen the group. If none are accepted, the discount may be too small, or price may not be what is holding buyers back.

What if your supplier price changes while the offer is open?

An accepted offer locks in a sale price, but your cost can move before you buy the item. If you source from Amazon and its price goes up, your margin shrinks or disappears. This is one of the main risks of offers on sourced stock. It is the same exposure covered in what to do when a supplier price rises after an eBay sale.

One rule needs stating plainly. eBay's drop shipping policy allows dropshipping from a wholesale supplier. Listing an item on eBay and then buying it from another retailer or marketplace, such as Amazon, that ships directly to your customer is not allowed. Read the policy on eBay UK or eBay US. Whatever your sourcing method, you stay responsible for safe delivery within the time stated in the listing and for the buyer's overall satisfaction. eBay may remove listings, warn, restrict or suspend accounts.

For sellers who source from Amazon and want their prices to track costs, Dropizon reads the live Amazon buy box in your own browser and reprices your eBay listings with your formula, a minimum profit floor and guards on every push. You can see how that works on the how it works page. That keeps your public price in line with cost, but it does not make any sourcing method allowed, and an offer you send yourself is still a price you set.

A sensible habit is to send offers only on items whose cost is stable, and to price them with room to spare. If you cannot trust the cost for a few days, do not send the offer.

How do offers differ on eBay.co.uk and eBay.com?

The mechanics of a seller offer are similar, but the numbers behind your margin are not. Fee structures differ by marketplace, by category and by seller type, and eBay sets the limits on offers on each site.

• UK private sellers pay no final value fee when items sell, so a discount costs only the lost revenue. Business sellers pay fees that vary by category, so a discount lowers your percentage fee a little but not any fixed element. eBay UK says you must register as a business if, for example, you sell items you bought to resell, and the fees for business sellers are on eBay's business fees pages.
• US sellers should use the fee schedule for their category on eBay.com. Our link to eBay US help is the place to start, and the margin steps in this article stay the same with your own rate.
• Promoted Listings. With a general campaign you pay only when the promoted item sells within 30 days of a click on the ad, and the fee is the ad rate as a percentage of the total sale amount, including item price, postage and taxes. If a buyer clicked a promoted ad and then accepts your offer, the ad fee can still apply. Check this before you send the offer.

For the full list of costs, use the eBay profit calculation, step by step and replace the fee rate with your own.

A quick checklist before you send an offer

• Do you know the break-even price and profit floor for this listing?
• Does the offer price stay above that floor after fees, ad fees and postage?
• Is the cost stable, or could your supplier price change before delivery?
• Is the listing as good as it can be: photos, title, item specifics and returns terms?
• Can you deliver within the time stated in the listing?
• Will you record the result and compare it with similar listings?

If the answer to every question is yes, send the offer. If you answer no to any, fix that first. A discount cannot make up for a thin margin or an unreliable cost.