Guides
Offers and negotiation
Formal offers on a sale record — who sends them, who responds, and when delivery is locked in.
An offer creates a sale with pending approval. It is not the same as a casual chat message: both sides see structured price, quantity, and status in Purchases (buyer) or Sales (seller).
Who can send an offer
- Buyer or seller — From Messages on that ad's thread. Use Submit offer in chat (buyers on Buy It Now listings use Buy it now for instant checkout instead).
- The party who did not send the offer must accept or decline; the sender can edit the offer while waiting.
You must be signed in. You cannot offer on your own listing. Only one pending offer at a time per listing between the same buyer and seller — edit the open offer or wait for a decline before starting another.
What you set on a new offer
Price, quantity, and unit price are always part of the deal. You may optionally propose a deposit as part of negotiation (the balance is due after that deposit). When the listing tracks female and/or male animals separately, you must say how many of each sex you are buying (any remainder counts as unsexed stock).
On a new pending offer, you do not choose final pickup vs shipping or your ship-to address. Those are set when the approver accepts (unless you only propose a delivery method during revision — see below).
Who accepts or declines
The approver is the party who did not initiate the offer:
- Buyer initiated → seller approves.
- Seller initiated → buyer approves.
Only the approver can Accept or Decline (decline requires a reason). The initiator can Edit offer while waiting.
Edit offer and counter-offer
Either party can Edit offer a pending offer — change price, proposed deposit, quantity, sex split, or propose pickup / shipping (and a shipping option when relevant).
- Initiator edits — Terms update; the same person still waits for the approver to respond.
- Approver counters — Terms update and roles flip: you become the initiator and the other side must accept or decline.
Buyer shipping addresses are never stored on a revise — only when the buyer accepts with shipping.
Accepting an offer
On accept, if delivery was never chosen, the approver must pick Pickup or Shipping. Shipping requires the buyer's address and, when the ad has shipping options, a selected option. Stock is deducted and the sale becomes accepted; both sides move to payment and fulfillment tracking.
Stock and the public listing
While pending, the ad's public counts stay unchanged. Other buyers can still see and message about remaining stock until someone accepts an offer that consumes it (or a Buy It Now sale completes).
After decline
A declined offer cannot be revised back to pending. Start a new offer or conversation if you want to try again.