If you solicit offers, shouldn't you respond?


I recently made a very reasonable offer on an item that was being sold on a strictly "make an offer" basis (there was no option to buy the unit at the asking price, just "make an offer". So I offered the asking price less shipping).

The seller never responded, so I sent a PM. No response to that either. My offer has expired with no word from the seller.

Isn't there, simply as a matter of courtesy and responsible behavior, an obligation to respond to reasonable offers if you're soliciting them?
etnier

Showing 3 responses by etnier

A followup: the item has apparently been sold. It seems that rather than using the auction option here the seller (who put no 'buy it now' option on the listing) was conducting an undeclared auction, using offers rather than bids.
I don't think that not responding is an appropriate answer under any circumstance: I was just raised better. This isn't a biker bar.

But I don't know the Audiogon style, so maybe it's appropriate to be rude here.

The seller had solid feedback: 100% on 57 transactions.

I wish there were a way to leave feedback for not responding to an offer and two followup messages.
"I see no reason to respond when an offer is purely stupid."

If "I'll meet your price if you throw in shipping" (for a BluRay player) is stupid, I give up.