Hypothetical question for B/S/T rules

[xero28]

In B/S/T forums you're not allowed to "auction", right. Suppose you have something for sale for $100. Buyer #1 offer's you $80 for it. Ten minutes later, buyer #2 offers you full asking price. You tell buyer #1 someone else has offered full asking price, but since he was first to offer, you tell him that if offers full asking price you will give it to him, otheriwise you will sell to buyer #2. Is this considered an "auction", or is it legit? Hasn't happened to me yet, but I was thinking about yesterday after I posted a sale.

I'm not sure if there is a hard and fast answer, so opinions may be all that we have. So let's hear 'em.

[Lohman446]

I would sell it to the person offering me full asking price first. Others offered you less, you are not obligated to them first just because they made an offer. You have the right to take the best offer (and how you define best is up to you) at any time regardless of previous offers.

[TwilightG]

In general, if I get an offer less than my asking, I'll sit on it for a little while. This also allows for other offers to come in. Although I don't usually encounter this problem unless I'm selling something in high demand at a low price.

I feel that my prices are pretty fair so I'm not always quick to jump on offers lower than my asking price unless it's been listed for a while.

However, one situation I had was when I was offered more than my asking price and someone else had offered to pay my asking price. This can get hairy...

[questionful]

In the scenario you proposed, xero28, it would be perfectly acceptable to take the higher offer as long as you didn't tell the low-offerer "it's yours" or any similar confirmation on the sale.
But like TG said, when someone offers a higher price, it might be a matter of opinion. This is how I think of it:

Say I post something for $100 and someone offers me $80. They are just ASKING me if I would sell the item for $80. It is in no way confirmed.

Now, say I flat-out rejected that offer and later received an offer for $100, the full asking price. While the offerer would still require a confirmation before paying, there is sort of an implied confirmation because you already stated that if someone offered $100, then you'd sell it to them. I don't think this is an accepted rule or anything, it's just something I think some people might assume, and could lead to problems.

So, what if someone offers me $100, and before I send them a confirmation PM, someone else offers me $120, like in TwilightG's scenario? That is more debatable. I would say, as long as you didn't SOLIDLY confirm the $100 offer (asking for a shipping address without confirming the sale is not a solid confirmation, for example), you are allowed to take the higher offer. But this could lead to problems, and you should be VERY CLEAR to everyone involved, assume nothing, keep everyone updated, and be polite.

**** happens. Good luck.