Amazon to Customers: Make an Offer
Where Amazon is taking the flea market approach.
— -- Not only is Amazon an online superstore, but it's also trying its hand at being a virtual flea market.
Amazon's latest message to customers: Let's make a deal.
The company unveiled a "make an offer" button today which will allow shoppers to haggle for more than 150,000 items, including collectibles and fine art.
Among the items already being offered are a Toby Keith signed guitar, an autographed Hunger Games photo and a 1938 Buffalo nickel.
Sellers who are open to bargaining can enable the "make an offer" button. When a customer proposes a lower price, the seller will be notified and will have the option of accepting, rejecting or countering the offer.
Once a price is agreed on, the item is placed in the customer's cart and they're free to complete the transaction before their new deal is shipped to their doorstep.
Peter Faricy, vice president of Amazon Marketplace, said the company heard feedback from sellers who said they believed 1:1 negotiations would help drive more sales and loyal customers.
"The new 'Make an Offer' experience is a game-changer for Amazon customers looking for great prices on one-of-a-kind items, and for sellers looking to communicate and negotiate directly with customers in an online marketplace environment just like they do normally in their own physical store or gallery," Faricy said in a statement.
The eligible items can be found by browsing here. Amazon said it expects the price negotiating feature will be offered for hundreds of thousands of new items beginning next year.