"What's Your Best Price?"

Don_s, I agree that best offer means more than just $$$. Best Offer is the best offer, actual money is just part of an offer. Form of payment and inernational shipping vs. local shipping or pick up are also part of the best offer formulation.

I also agree with you final sentence, a serious buyer should make a serious offer.

From the website www.howstuffworks.com:

Car Selling Ad Terms*

OBO - This means "or best offer," which tells the buyer that you are willing to consider offers below the price you listed.

Source: Edmunds.com

Come on guys, I don't care if you are from Neptune, "OBO" means an offer LOWER than the asking price. A seller doesn't need to say "OBO" for a buyer to assume he will take a HIGHER offer than the ask -- every seller is willing to do that.

But let's not lose sight of the point that we all seem to agree on: a buyer whose first and only communication with a seller is "WYBP" has a high likelihood of being ignored -- as well he should be, b/c this response indicates a lack of seriousness and a single-minded focus in disadvantaging the seller. At the very least, a "WYBP" message might be accompanied by something like "I am really interested and would be ready to pay quickly if your best price is in my range." At least then there seems to be a point to the negotiating tactic.

12-24-06: Jeffreybowman2k
From the website www.howstuffworks.com:

Car Selling Ad Terms*

OBO - This means "or best offer," which tells the buyer that you are willing to consider offers below the price you listed.

Source: Edmunds.com

Must be printed in the midwest. :)

I won't get into this again, as it's been debated before, and it really is off the WYBP topic anyway, which is really starting to get beat to death as well.

Happy Holidays,

John

I think "Best Offer" means best offer. That might mean the most money offered, or the offer that the seller finds most attractive. If someone offered me half my asking price and a two week stay in a Mediterranean Villa, I might well take that over a full price cash deal.
That may not be the most clever example but I hope it conveys the idea. There are more possible interpretations than the one that most immediately springs into your mind.
To take it a step further, imagine that you have advertised your Audiogizmo Thermal Dissipator MK II Rev.3A for $225 obo.
Member "Tipafew" contacts you with an offer of $650 if you cover shipping and PayPal. You can enail him back and have the money in your account in less than 30 minutes. What would you do next? I know I would take a few minutes to explain to him the true meaning of obo and insist that he offer less than my asking price. I've always felt responsible for his education.