What does OBO mean, and how much should you offer?

What OBO means

OBO stands for “or best offer”, also written o.b.o., O.B.O. or o/b/o. It is old classified-ad shorthand, and it turns up wherever people sell their own things: Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Craigslist, car ads, a sign taped to a lawnmower. Everywhere, it means the asking price has room, and the seller would rather hear an offer than nothing.

In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand the usual form is ONO, “or nearest offer”, which works the same way; our UK Marketplace guide covers the other British listing words. In Quebec, look for “ou meilleure offre”, “faites une offre” or “prix négociable”.

Nothing is agreed until you and the seller both say yes to a price, and until then either of you can walk away. Once you have agreed, keep your word: sellers can rate buyers on Marketplace, and the ratings go public once a person has 5 or more.

OBO is one of a dozen shorthands you will see in listings. PPU, ISO, NWT, EUC and the rest are all in our Facebook Marketplace glossary.

What “best offer” really means

“Best” means best for the seller, who weighs more than the number: cash in hand, pickup tonight, no fresh haggling at the door, and above all a buyer who will actually turn up. Anyone who has sold on Marketplace knows the inbox: ten messages asking if it’s still available, three offers, one person who shows.

So a slightly lower offer with certainty often beats a higher one with conditions. $320 cash tonight can win over $350 “maybe this weekend, can you hold it?”

The seller can accept, counter, ignore you or sell to whoever they like, and first come, first served is the common rule.

How much to offer on an OBO listing

Work out what the item is worth first. An overpriced listing with OBO on it is still overpriced, and 15% off a silly number is still a silly number. Five minutes with recent sold prices gives you the anchor; our fair-price check shows how.

From there, a sensible opening is 10-20% under a fair price, with one reason attached (a range from experience). Go lower when the listing has been up for weeks, already cut or reposted, because each tells you the asking price hasn’t worked. You can check a listing’s price history before you decide.

There is real data on the back-and-forth from eBay. A 2020 NBER summary of eBay’s Best Offer research found that round asking prices, such as $100 or $500, drew first offers 8 to 12 percentage points lower than nearby precise prices, yet were 15 to 25 percent more likely to sell. The two sides were also especially likely to settle halfway between the last two offers.

So pick the price you would happily pay and open far enough below it that halfway lands there. Say a desk is $500 OBO and you would be glad to pay $450. Open at $420; if the seller counters at $480, halfway is your number. How far you can push before it becomes a lowball depends on the category, and our guide to lowball offers has that table.

One more reason not to trust the ask: since March 2026, Meta AI can suggest a price to sellers based on similar items listed nearby. Those suggestions come from asking prices, so plenty of OBO prices are anchored on other OBO prices.

What to send

The general openers are in our negotiating guide. These are the moments that come up because a listing says OBO.

A Pending tag means the seller has someone lined up but nothing is final (what Pending and Sold mean), so offering to be next at full price beats trying to outbid. For countering or walking away gracefully, the lowball guide has the wording.

1. Open the listing. On a computer the message box is on the listing; in the Facebook app, tap to message the seller. On Kijiji, message the seller from the ad.
2. Replace the stock greeting. Marketplace pre-fills a question about whether the item is still available. Swap it for your number, when you can come and how you will pay.
3. Send it and wait. A second message an hour later reads as nerves.

Offer deadlines and competing offers

Some sellers run OBO like a small auction: “Taking offers until Friday.” Run fairly, it is a good way to sell something popular, so send one offer you are happy with and stay quiet. Used as pressure, it becomes “someone just offered more, can you beat it?”, which may or may not be true. You can’t check, so decide your top number before you message and stick to it.

Never send money to “lock in” an offer on something you haven’t seen. “E-transfer $50 to hold it until Sunday” is how the deposit scam starts: the item doesn’t exist, or goes to someone else, and the $50 doesn’t come back. Facebook’s Purchase Protection doesn’t cover local pickups or money sent through Messenger. Our deposit scam guide lists the phrases to watch for, and the safest ways to pay are worth a look before pickup.

OBO vs firm, negotiable and ONO

An offer under a firm price usually gets no reply. The exception is a firm listing that has sat for weeks or been reposted: ask once, without a number, whether the price is still firm. Every other price word is in the glossary.

OBO on cars and other big-ticket items

“$8,500 OBO” on a used car is normal, and the room is usually real. But your number should wait until after the test drive, the inspection and the history check, because what you find is your case for a lower price: worn tires, a warning light, a missed service. If you talk numbers before seeing the car, say “subject to inspection”. Our used-car guide and inspection checklist cover what to look at.

A car priced well under the market with OBO on top is rarely a motivated seller. Cheap and flexible is the bait in most car scams. In Canada, someone selling several “family” cars may be a curbsider, and a low price can hide a rebuilt or salvage title.

Should you write OBO when you sell?

OBO brings more messages and more lowballs. “Firm” brings fewer, from people who have already accepted the price. Pick OBO if you want it gone this weekend, firm if you want your number.

If you use OBO, decide your lowest price before you post, so a quick offer doesn’t talk you down. A round price is fine: in the eBay data, round prices drew lower offers but sold more often. Add a pickup window and how you want to be paid, and answer offers in the order they arrive. For the lowballers, see our replies for sellers.

Know the room before you offer, with Sift

OBO tells you there is room to negotiate. Your offer decides how much. On a computer, Sift shows you where to pitch it. It is a free browser extension for Facebook Marketplace with no account to make; it works right in Chrome (and Edge and Brave) and takes about a minute to set up.

• A price-drop badge on the photo shows how far the price has fallen. Point at it to see each dated change. A seller who has cut twice is usually ready for an offer.
• A Reposted badge says when Sift first saw the item, and at what price, so a three-week-old listing can’t pass as fresh.
• Sift compares each price with similar listings: cheap ones get a Below typical badge and overpriced ones get Above typical. Those are asking prices, so check the eBay sold link on the details card too.
• Sift keeps a list of every listing you’ve scrolled past that got cheaper.
• Press Is this a good deal? and Sift’s AI second opinion gives a verdict, the reasons and a fair offer (“Offer $600, asking $650”), with a message to the seller ready to copy.

Sift never messages a seller itself, so what you send stays your call.