Should You Accept Offers on eBay? Align Your Selling Strategy With Your Business Goals
October 13, 2026 · AllSet24
Some of the most frequent questions I get are: Should I be sending offers? Should I be charging for shipping? Do you accept offers? Truthfully, it all depends on what your ultimate goal is for your eBay store. You need to align your eBay sales strategy with your overall business goals.
My name is Chris. I've sold over 31,000 items on eBay, mainly sports cards and TCG cards, and I still have 100% positive feedback. Here's how my own strategy has changed as my goals changed. You can watch the video above or read the breakdown below.
Should you accept offers on eBay? The short answer
It depends on your goal. If you're trying to grow, be aggressive: accept more offers and promote your listings more, even if it means less profit per sale. If your store is established and you're trying to make the most of your time, be patient: get pickier with offers, ease up on promotions and raise your floor price.
What does it mean to align your sales strategy with your business goals?
It means your day-to-day selling decisions, like which offers you accept, how much you promote and what you price at, should come from what you're trying to achieve with your store right now. The right answer for a brand new seller is often the wrong answer for an established one.
Stage 1: Growing your eBay store means being aggressive
When I was first starting out a few years back and really started taking this seriously, I decided I was trying to grow. So I was super aggressive:
- I accepted offers aggressively. I wanted the transactions and wanted to keep things moving.
- I promoted my listings. More visibility meant more sales.
- I didn't worry about maximizing profit on every sale. The goal was growth, not the most money per card.
The point was to keep growing my user base, my buyer groups and my store followers.
Stage 2: An established store means maximizing your time
Today, I have a foundation of buyer groups and store followers, and I've gotten the hang of how eBay's algorithm works, what it wants and what it likes. So for a while now I've been transitioning to maximizing my time. That means:
- Taking fewer offers when they're aggressive, and being more patient.
- Slowing down what I list. My store already has a good foundation of listings, so I'm not trying to grow it at the same rapid pace. I'm a little more picky about what I list.
- Promoting less aggressively.
- Raising my floor price. Here's why I never list a sports card below $2.50.
Growth stage vs. established stage at a glance
| Growing your store | Established store | |
|---|---|---|
| Main goal | Transactions, buyers and store followers | Your time and profit per card |
| Offers | Accept aggressively | Pickier, more patient |
| Promoted listings | Promote more | Less aggressive |
| Listing | Keep things moving | Slower and more selective |
| Floor price | Lower | Higher |
Which eBay selling strategy is right for you?
It's tough to give advice without knowing your goal. For me it was easy, because I knew what stage I was in.
If you're new and want to grow and take things to the next level, and you're not too worried about profit per card or per transaction, be more aggressive. Promote your listings a little more and be more aggressive with the offers you take.
If you're further along, it's okay to be patient. You're not trying to turn and burn as quickly, and you may be looking to maximize the profit per card.
Either way, keep your inventory easy to manage as you grow. Here's how I organize 26,000 sports cards for eBay without sorting them.
eBay selling strategy FAQ
Should I accept offers on eBay?
If you're growing your store, accept them more aggressively to keep sales moving. If you're established, it's fine to be pickier and turn down aggressive offers.
Should I promote my eBay listings?
Promoting more makes sense when you're trying to grow. I still promote my listings, but less aggressively than when I was starting out.
Should I charge for shipping on eBay?
Like everything else, it depends on your goals. My own listings start at $2.50 with free shipping, which I explain in my floor price post.
When should I stop being so aggressive?
For me, it was once I had a foundation of buyer groups and store followers and understood how eBay's algorithm works. That's when I shifted to maximizing my time.
Quick takeaways
- There's no single right answer on offers, promotions or pricing. It depends on your goal.
- Growing? Be aggressive with offers and promoted listings, and worry less about profit per sale.
- Established? Be patient, get pickier and raise your floor price.
- Know which stage you're in before you copy anyone else's strategy.
Let me know if you have any questions, and follow along for more on Instagram and TikTok.
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