Make an offer on a piece

How to bid on something that is not for sale, what the fee buys you, and the rule that can make your offer vanish.

An offer is how you say «I would pay this for that» to someone who has not put a piece up for sale.

The button, and what it opens

The handshake, on the piece. It only appears once you are signed in:

The offer button on a piece
The offer dialog. A copy of the real one, kept in step with it.

Two things in it are worth noticing before you read the rest of this page: the hidden offer switch — which does nothing unless you have a subscription, and is shown here as an unsubscribed user sees it — and the fee at the bottom, which is charged when you publish the offer.

Before you start

  • A wallet, unlocked.
  • The fee to publish it: 80,000 sats, charged when you place the offer and not refunded whatever happens next. You are paying to put it in front of the owner, not for the outcome.
  • You cannot offer on your own piece.

Two things to know first

An offer is off-chain and non-binding. It does not lock your funds. It is a message with a price.

A piece holds only one active offer at a time, from anybody. Placing a new offer on a piece deletes every previous one, including other people's — and somebody offering after you deletes yours. Last offer wins.

This is how an offer looks in the list: the piece, the amount, when it expires and its state.

Zoide Nº 7 · #12
0.02 ($0.31) 4 days
From anotheruser To thecollector
ACTIVE
An active offer, as it appears in the public list of offers

What happens if the owner accepts

Accepting does not transfer the piece and does not charge you. What it does is put the piece up for sale at your agreed price, and notify you so you can complete the purchase.

That extra step is what lets this work without Zoide holding anything: the seller does not have to be around when you buy, and until you buy, the piece is still theirs.

Your offer is what the seller receives. When you complete the purchase you also pay the market fee and any royalty, on top — exactly as with any listing, and shown to you before you sign. Read an offer as «what they get», not as your total.

So watch for that notification. It appears in the bell, inside the site, and that is the only place the completion lives: Zoide never sends you a link to complete a purchase. Open the site yourself and go to your offers.

Until you complete it, the piece is listed at the agreed price — and a listing is first-come, first-served.

Your accepted offer grows a cart: that is the one that finishes the purchase, at the price you agreed.

Zoide Nº 7 · #12
0.02 ($0.31) 4 days
To thecollector
ACCEPTED
An accepted offer waiting for you. The cart completes the purchase; the bin drops the offer.

Hidden offers

If you have a subscription you can make the offer hidden: only the owner sees it, not other bidders.

Without a subscription the hidden flag is ignored and your offer is stored visible. You are not warned. If being unseen matters, check first.

Your offer expires in seven days

An expired offer cannot be accepted, even if it is still on screen.