Accepting, declining or countering an offer, and how long you have.
Buyers can propose their own price on any item you have listed. You cannot start a negotiation — only answer one — and every answer you give lives on the Offers page.
A red number appears beside Offers in your shop menu the moment a buyer sends one, and again on your avatar. It counts offers waiting on your answer, and nothing else — your own counters are not in it.
The list puts anything waiting on you at the top, then the most recent. Each row shows the item, the buyer, the latest amount, how long is left, and the state of play:
The list is split into four tabs, one per status, each with its own count:
Pending opens first, and it is where the red badge’s work is. A negotiation changes tab on its own as it is answered, and the counts follow — nothing is hidden, each one sits in the tab its label describes. The tab you leave open is the one you come back to.
The rule about how many offers may be sent — three from each buyer and three counters from you, per item — is shown on the Pending tab only. On the other three there is nothing left to send.
Offer Details on the row is the only way in. There is no accept or decline on the list itself, and no way to reach a negotiation from the item page or from a message thread.
When it is your turn, the panel at the top of the details window shows the offer, what you would keep, and three buttons: Accept, Decline and Make a counter offer.
Accept has no confirmation step. One click creates the order at that price, and there is no way to undo it. Read the amount before you press it.
Declining does not close the negotiation. If the buyer still has turns, they can send another offer on the same item.
You earn appears beside the offer, and again as a live figure while you are typing a counter. It is the offer amount less commission, using the rate fixed when the offer was made, so it does not shift mid-negotiation.
It covers the offer amount only — shipping is not in it.
24 hours to answer, from the moment the offer reaches you. The same window then applies to the buyer if you counter.
The countdown is shown in whole days, so it will read "1 day" for the entire time you have. Treat it as today, not as tomorrow.
If it runs out the offer becomes Expired, and nothing else happens: it is not declined on your behalf, nobody is told, and the buyer may send a fresh offer if they have turns left. The red badge simply drops.
A counter has to move toward the buyer: above their offer and below your listed price. Anything else is refused, and the window tells you the two figures it must sit between.
Each buyer gets three offers on an item and you get three counters, for as long as that listing exists. Every one sent counts, whatever comes of it.
When your three are used, the Make a counter offer button is simply gone, leaving Accept and Decline with no explanation. Nothing is broken — you are out of counters on that item, permanently.
It creates an order for the buyer at the agreed price, which they then pay for at the normal checkout. There is nothing further for you to do, and no button on your side to complete it — the order is theirs.
They get the same 24 hours to pay, counted from your acceptance.
Accepting reserves nothing. The item stays on sale at its listed price, and anyone else can buy it outright in the meantime — including at full price. The first payment to arrive is the one that counts, whoever made it.
If the buyer does not pay in time, the order does not vanish: it stays, and the agreed price is dropped the moment they next go to pay, so what they are charged is the item's current listed price. Your side of the negotiation says so, and the buyer is told they can still buy it at the normal price.
Accepting one offer does not close the others. Two buyers can hold accepted, unpaid orders on the same one-of-a-kind item at the same time, and only one of them can end up with it. On something you have only one of, decline the rest rather than leaving them open.
You cannot unpublish an item while an offer on it is still on the clock — one waiting for an answer, or one you have accepted and whose payment window is still open. The Unpublish button refuses and says so. Answer them, or let the clock run out, and the listing frees up.
When you accept, decline or counter an offer, the buyer is emailed that it has an answer — and when a buyer makes or answers one, you are emailed the same way. The email says only that the offer is waiting and links straight to it; the amounts stay on Artmire.
You can turn your own off under Shop Settings → Offer emails. It changes nothing for the buyer: their notifications are their own setting. Offers expire on a clock, so switching them off means watching the Offers page yourself.
An email is not a conversation. If an answer needs explaining — why you countered where you did, when the piece could ship — say it yourself: Message buyer at the foot of the details window opens a conversation about that item.