I had a similar issue. A put a full price cash offer on a place for 1.9. The seller said they had a competing offer that was higher and asked me to submit a new

I had a similar issue. A put a full price cash offer on a place for 1.9. The seller said they had a competing offer that was higher and asked me to submit a new offer at 2.1. I declined, and said they are welcome to provide a written counter offer at 2.1. The reason they won't counter is that a new higher offer from any buyer (me) will trigger escalation clauses for other buyers offers. Dirty trick that screws over buyers, because sellers can see all offer details.