Most traditional property sales run on private negotiation — a buyer submits an offer to the agent, the agent negotiates on the seller's behalf, and other interested buyers have no visibility into what's actually been offered. An open offer board works differently, and it's worth understanding both models before you sell or buy.
How private negotiation typically works
In a traditional sale, offers are submitted privately to the seller's agent. Other buyers generally can't see competing offers, which means they're negotiating somewhat blind — they don't know if their offer is genuinely competitive or being used as leverage against another buyer. This can lead to "gazumping," where a seller accepts a verbal offer and then takes a better one before contracts are signed, or to buyers overpaying because they assume (correctly or not) that they're up against stronger competition than actually exists.
What an open offer board changes
On an open offer board, every verified offer is visible to every verified buyer in real time — amount, settlement terms, and key conditions. Instead of negotiating through an intermediary who represents only the seller, buyers can see exactly where they stand against genuine competing interest, and adjust their own offer accordingly.
Why transparency tends to produce genuine best offers
When buyers can see real competing offers rather than being told a property has "strong interest" without evidence, they're negotiating against verified information instead of a sales narrative. This tends to produce offers that reflect what buyers actually believe the property is worth, rather than offers inflated or deflated by uncertainty about the competition.
What "verified" actually means
An offer being visible on an open board only works if it's genuinely from a real, identity-verified buyer — otherwise the transparency is meaningless. That's why buyer identity verification (typically a driver's licence or passport check) happens before a buyer can submit an offer, protecting sellers from fake or unserious offers cluttering the board.
Does the seller have to accept the highest offer?
No — an open offer board shows the terms, but the seller still chooses which offer to accept based on the full picture: price, deposit, settlement timeframe, and conditions like finance or building & pest. A slightly lower offer with no finance condition and a fast, clean settlement can be a better outcome than a higher offer that's shakier.