Amazon Buyers Can Now ‘Make an Offer’ On Collectibles, Fine Art
Amazon is embracing haggling with its Make An Offer feature, but if you’re hoping for the chance to talk the company down on a new HDTV, think again. Make An Offer is a tool for Amazon’s 150,000 sellers, rather than for the company itself, and will apply only to items like art and collectibles.
Amazon's Make An Offer section.
The mechanics of the new tool are pretty straightforward. If you see a "Make An Offer" button on an item’s page, you can click it to start haggling. Name your price, and the seller will have a chance to accept it, counter-offer, or swat away your lowball with an outright rejection. If your offer is accepted, you can put the item into your cart and buy it at the new price.
The move is new for Amazon, which focuses on fixed-price sales. The company sees value for its sellers in letting them work with potential customers to reach a mutually agreeable price for sports memorabilia, art, and similar items that are often sold after negotiations in brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon said in a statement that nearly half of Amazon sellers participating in a recent survey expressed an interest a feature that would let them negotiate with customers.
Amazon's Make An Offer section.
The mechanics of the new tool are pretty straightforward. If you see a "Make An Offer" button on an item’s page, you can click it to start haggling. Name your price, and the seller will have a chance to accept it, counter-offer, or swat away your lowball with an outright rejection. If your offer is accepted, you can put the item into your cart and buy it at the new price.
The move is new for Amazon, which focuses on fixed-price sales. The company sees value for its sellers in letting them work with potential customers to reach a mutually agreeable price for sports memorabilia, art, and similar items that are often sold after negotiations in brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon said in a statement that nearly half of Amazon sellers participating in a recent survey expressed an interest a feature that would let them negotiate with customers.
