NEW eBay Price Match Guarantee Feature?

[wilsonharborsales]

Hello,

I hope this message finds you all well.  Today an interesting thing occurred on the app that has never happened to me before.  I am going to write this in point-form.

1. I sell an item to a buyer

2. Buyer immediately requests to cancel sale after payment

3. I open the app to proceed with cancellation and a pop-up window from eBay shows up that must be completed.

4. The pop-up says that the buyer was shown a better deal and that the buyer wanted to cancel because they ‘found a better price’.  I am given two options to proceed.  Either cancel the sale, or refund the buyer the difference and continue with the sale.

5.  I choose ‘agree to new terms of sale’ and eBay automatically refunded the buyer a portion of the sale so that my price matches the other sellers price.

I have sold 11,000 items on eBay and I’ve never seen this before.  Has eBay rolled out some kind of price match guarantee or something?  Today was the first time I have ever seen this.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@toomuchstuffagain35 wrote:

I have to wonder if the buyer truly "found a better price" or ebay went "hey look, here's the same thing but a better price" when they made payment.

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I can't tell you how many dozens of times I've researched peoples 'stuff for sale' that post right here, complaining about 'slow sales', and when I click one of their items, there are 4 others shown right below, with 3 of them being the exact same for less. 

Sellers just have to do comparisons when pricing things- and sometimes others come along later selling for less. 

But I wonder- what about 'free shipping'??

If someone is $20 free and the other is $15 +$5 shipping, is the system using the lower price and NOT taking the Shipping $ into consideration? 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@wilsonharborsales 

That's new to me. Seems too elaborate for a glitch, so either a test or something new that ebay hasn't bothered to announce because, well, because why actually inform your seller base? So much better to force sellers into wondering what the heck is going on now.

Normally, I'd tag someone from the Community Team to explain what is going on here, but at this point, I'm about five for five when it comes to non-responses from the Team, so maybe someone else will have better luck.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Even in a B&M where they DO offer price match you have to show the competitor's ad/pricing.

This doesn't seem to offer any transparency at all (but it's ebay why would that surprise me?)

[golfingaddict]

I don't think lowest price is always the way to go.  I'd rather spend a little more and have faith that I will receive the item, as described, in packaging that does not reek of garbage.

There are still a lot of shoppers that choose quality over lowest price.  

And isn't that part of what eBay's 'best match' is in part, all about?

And to add, isn't that what the lowest price sort on eBay already provides?

[hartungcards]

"eBay has been increasing fees for several years without any of us really noticing."

Really?  I'm pretty sure a few of us have noticed.  Maybe you should have warned us when you noticed it.

[myfrugalboutique]

@hartungcards 

A wee bit snarky me thinks. 🤫

[wilsonharborsales]

@valueaddedresource Have you heard about this rollout from your circles?

[onefootflippers]

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@golfingaddict wrote:

I don't think lowest price is always the way to go.  I'd rather spend a little more and have faith that I will receive the item, as described, in packaging that does not reek of garbage.

There are still a lot of shoppers that choose quality over lowest price.  

And isn't that part of what eBay's 'best match' is in part, all about?

And to add, isn't that what the lowest price sort on eBay already provides?

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And why would you assume or know that the person charging more money is somehow more competent?  

All that reminds me of is the countless sellers who have been here 20 years who start threads about how they are getting no sales, and when people point out that all their prices are bad they defend them saying that "people pay for quality", "my customers know me", "my customers want a premium DVD buying experience thus will pay more for my used one than a brand new one." 

Fact is no one knows who any of us are or have any reason to expect some sort of premium experience from any of us and with the money back guarantee why would you not buy the cheapest one?

[valueaddedresource]

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@wilsonharborsales wrote:

@valueaddedresource Have you heard about this rollout from your circles?

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@wilsonharborsales I have not but will see what I can find out, thanks for the tag!

[wilsonharborsales]

Absolutely Liz!

[golfingaddict]

I acknowledge that you think my experience is wrong or doesn't count for anything.  That is your prerogative.  

But I challenge you to find a thread or discussion where I ever said "no sales" or complained about sales.

And for the record, I would pay more for a new DVD and would not buy someone's used one.   I also shop at Whole Foods and refuse to step foot in Walmart.  Just saying.

[a_c_green]

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@golfingaddict wrote:

I am speechless.

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"Dear God" was my first thought... 🙄

Reading between the lines of that followup email screenshot, it sounds like the buyer first requested to cancel, presumably selecting a "Found better price" reason for the request, and that in turn triggered some sort of price-match offer to the seller. Seller refunds the difference or requested amount, and when the buyer accepts that, it closes out his cancellation request. (This is purely a theory of mine, not guaranteed, and not anything I have seen first-hand.)

I'm curious about how the buyer proves that he found a better price. Does he have to point to some other listing (either on eBay or elsewhere)? Are UPC codes required in order to prove that the two prices are for the same item? Does he have to actually buy the other item at its cheaper price? (I suppose not, as that would seem to negate the whole purpose of accepting the seller's discounted refund, unless the buyer intends to wind up with both of them.)

[mtgraves7984]

4. The pop-up says that the buyer was shown a better deal and that the buyer wanted to cancel because they ‘found a better price’.  I am given two options to proceed.  Either cancel the sale, or refund the buyer the difference and continue with the sale.

@wilsonharborsales 

Oh, heck, no... I'd never close without seeing the buyer's hand. I'd proceed to my BBL. Quite disturbing, though. 

[ten_o_nine]

free markets
an economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.

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I guess marketplaces are not free markets.

[pjcdn2005]

I'm curious if the buyer is actually given the option of staying with the first seller if a price match is given.  What if they are just using a lower price as an excuse and really want out of the sale. That would be an oops when they realized they were still buying the gidget.