Make an offer

Haggling is part of buying second-hand. With offers in chat, a buyer can offer their own price on a listing, and the seller can accept, decline or come back with a counter-offer. It all happens inside the conversation between them, so both sides always see where things stand, and nobody has to agree on a price in free text.

Offers use messaging, so switch messaging on first. They work with the Nova and default themes. Themes with their own conversation page don’t show offers.

Switch offers on

Newer sites have offers on already. To check, or to switch them on:

Make sure Messaging is on in Add-ons.
Go to Settings › General.
In Messages, switch on Offers in chat.
Click Save changes in the bar at the bottom.

Set the minimum offer and quick replies

Go to Add-ons › Messaging. In the Offers section:

Setting	What it does
Minimum offer	The lowest offer allowed, as a percentage of the asking price. The default is 50%. Lower offers are refused with a friendly message. 0 accepts any amount.
Quick replies	Short answers sellers send with one click, such as “Yes, it is still available.” One per line, up to 10. Leave it empty to use the examples.

How it works for buyers

On a listing with a price, the buyer clicks Make an offer, enters Your offer, adds an optional message and clicks Send offer. They can also make an offer from an existing conversation about the listing. The offer appears as a card in the conversation, with the asking price.

An offer is refused if it is:

below your minimum offer (Offers on this listing start at …);
the asking price or more (the buyer can simply contact the seller or buy it);
on a listing without a price, or on an auction. For listings without a price, buyers can request a quote instead.

There can be one offer waiting for an answer per conversation. The buyer can Withdraw offer while it waits.

How it works for sellers

The seller answers from the offer card in the conversation:

Accept the offer;
Decline it;
Counter with their own price (Counter-offer). The buyer can then accept or decline the counter-offer.

Each step adds a short line to the conversation and emails the other person. An offer nobody answers expires after 7 days, unless you change it (see Change the timers).

After an offer is accepted

The listing can be bought online	The listing can’t be bought online
The buyer gets a Pay now button for 48 hours (or the time you set) and pays the agreed price through your site’s checkout, plus the listing’s shipping if it has any.	The card says to agree on pickup and payment in the conversation.

“Bought online” means the listing has the Buy Now button: see Let members sell with Buy Now. Paid offers appear in Orders, and are protected like any other sale: buyers can report a problem or, if you allow it, ask for a return.

Until it is paid, either side can Cancel offer on an accepted offer, and then a new offer can be made.

Change the timers

In Settings › General, the Messages section sets how long offers last:

Setting	What it does
An offer waits for an answer	Days before an unanswered offer expires, from 1 to 30 (7 by default).
An accepted offer can be paid for	Hours the buyer has to pay an accepted offer, from 1 to 168 (48 by default).

New values apply to offers made after you save; offers already made keep their times.

Good to know

Offers are in the listing’s own currency.
While a seller’s store is in vacation mode, buyers can’t make offers on their listings.
If you switch offers off later, an accepted offer that is still waiting for payment stays visible and payable.
The emails use the normal new-message notification, so there’s no separate template to edit.

Messaging between members — offers need it.
Let members sell with Buy Now — lets buyers pay an accepted offer online.
Auctions — let buyers bid against each other instead.
Request a quote — let buyers ask for a price for what they need.
Questions and answers on listings — let buyers ask in public before they make an offer.