eBay

prettywoman-2012 · ‎09-12-2020

So some people are watching a specific item in my listings where I have little wiggle room, since it is an expensive item. It did come up in the list of Send an Offer to buyers, and I clicked on it and put in a price 3 dollars less than the Buy It Now price. Out pops, in RED, mind you, the following note:

Offer amount must be $ XYZ or lower

Really? And eBay is wondering why so many sellers choose to sell elsewhere!

If I dedicated just 5 hours to put together a list of all the things you cannot do on this site as a seller, including how much the Buy It Now price MUST be per ebay, on an auction item and other niceties, the 5 hours would possible not be enough to complete the list.

Have eBay Execs ever heard of the concept of freedom of entrepreneurship? Or positive reinforcement, vs. punishment? "We want to be your primary choice as a selling partner." Yeah. Right. Then stay out of our business policies, payment methods, return policies, and how we communicate with OUR buyers.

No wonder this week they lost two important members of the Board, including Pierre.

I am glad I only have a few items left here, and may even remove those. The only reason they are still here is because moving them would require modifying the text to match the other selling platform.

Well, since I am unable to set the price I THINK I can afford to send as an offer to these buyers, I am not going to sell it probably, but neither does eBay get its sales commission.
PW🐿

luckythewinner · ‎09-12-2020

And eBay is wondering why so many sellers choose to sell elsewhere!

Where did you read that? Or are you just speculating about what eBay is wondering?

No wonder this week they lost two important members of the Board, including Pierre.

Is that really why Pierre stepped down?

Well, since I am unable to set the price I THINK I can afford to send as an offer to these buyers

You could always just edit your listing and change the price.

luckythewinner · ‎09-12-2020

Have eBay Execs ever heard of the concept of freedom of entrepreneurship?

You mean your concept ... where you have the freedom to run your business the way you want, but eBay does not enjoy that same freedom?

m60driver · ‎09-12-2020

You have an expensive item and you are gong to insult some potential buyer by making an insignificant offer of $3 less? Maybe Ebay is not for you.

prettywoman-2012 · ‎09-13-2020

@m60driver wrote:
You have an expensive item and you are gong to insult some potential buyer by making an insignificant offer of $3 less? Maybe Ebay is not for you.

Offering to save 3 bucks is an INSULT to my buyers? Please teach me something else, too, I am so ignorant!

PW🐿

prettywoman-2012 · ‎09-13-2020

@luckythewinner wrote:
Have eBay Execs ever heard of the concept of freedom of entrepreneurship?

You mean your concept ... where you have the freedom to run your business the way you want, but eBay does not enjoy that same freedom?

So, are you suggesting that, in order for eBay to exercise its freedom of entrepreneurship it is O.K. to suffocate everybody else's?

If so, I have a lot of cool-aid left somewhere in the back of my pantry. Some pom poms left there, also. Just don't have time to dig it out, too busy selling elsewhere. Happy Sunday to you, too.

PW🍋

prettywoman-2012 · ‎09-13-2020

@luckythewinner wrote:
And eBay is wondering why so many sellers choose to sell elsewhere!
Where did you read that? Or are you just speculating about what eBay is wondering?

No wonder this week they lost two important members of the Board, including Pierre.
Is that really why Pierre stepped down?

Well, since I am unable to set the price I THINK I can afford to send as an offer to these buyers
You could always just edit your listing and change the price.

1. I would most likely not know it if I would wait of "reading" about sellers leaving eBay in large numbers, because the media is bought, lock stock and barrel.

I know a lot of sellers who recently left, both small and large-scale sellers, and they know others, who again, know others who did.

2. Why Pierre stepped down would possibly fill a book, so until such book is written, I let you believe that it is sheer speculation, why.

3. Are you suggesting that I deceive the buyers by first upping my price, then send them an offer with more than 3 bucks in savings?

Hmm.

PW

coolections · ‎09-13-2020

When you have millions of sellers and millions of listings, allowing sellers to reduce by 50 cents, $1, $3, whatever it may be, could actually be insulting to a buyer. You said your item was an expensive item so $3 is what percent off ? Having a sale has to have some merit to it otherwise it just looks like desperation and spam to a buyer. I assume that is why Ebay thinks having a sale should have a minimum percent off.

prettywoman-2012 · ‎09-13-2020

@coolections wrote:
When you have millions of sellers and millions of listings, allowing sellers to reduce by 50 cents, $1, $3, whatever it may be, could actually be insulting to a buyer. You said your item was an expensive item so $3 is what percent off ? Having a sale has to have some merit to it otherwise it just looks like desperation and spam to a buyer. I assume that is why Ebay thinks having a sale should have a minimum percent off.

I think our "friend" Lucky has a very specific idea about what "assuming" is worth, not to mention, second-guessing what "ebay thinks," as he so eloquently explained above. But to answer your post, saving 3-4 bucks is like getting free shipping, so I do not believe any buyer could find it "insulting". Now I just decided to wait and see, and if it is not sold soon, I will move it elsewhere where things like that sell fast.

Thank you for your input.

PW😃

coolections · ‎09-13-2020

@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
I think our "friend" Lucky has a very specific idea about what "assuming" is worth, not to mention, second-guessing what "ebay thinks," as he so eloquently explained above.

I just decided to wait and see, and if it is not sold soon, I will move it elsewhere where things like that sell fast.

OK so you disagreed with Lucky's post and now you are praising him. Good for you. If you knew your item sells elsewhere real fast it seems a little strange you would list it here knowing it may not sell fast.

m60driver · ‎09-13-2020

@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
@m60driver wrote:
You have an expensive item and you are gong to insult some potential buyer by making an insignificant offer of $3 less? Maybe Ebay is not for you.

Offering to save 3 bucks is an INSULT to my buyers? Please teach me something else, too, I am so ignorant!

Gladly. Statistical significance is generally above 5%. Thus an offer of $3 less on an item priced above $100 is an insignificant reduction in price. So we can argue over Ebay's minimum price point reduction for offers but yea, your $3 reduction offer will be seen by many, including myself, as a bit insulting.

*madison · ‎09-13-2020

ebay doesn't forbid sellers to pay fees.

vintage-car-magazines · ‎09-13-2020

@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
@coolections wrote:
When you have millions of sellers and millions of listings, allowing sellers to reduce by 50 cents, $1, $3, whatever it may be, could actually be insulting to a buyer. You said your item was an expensive item so $3 is what percent off ? Having a sale has to have some merit to it otherwise it just looks like desperation and spam to a buyer. I assume that is why Ebay thinks having a sale should have a minimum percent off.
I think our "friend" Lucky has a very specific idea about what "assuming" is worth, not to mention, second-guessing what "ebay thinks," as he so eloquently explained above. But to answer your post, saving 3-4 bucks is like getting free shipping, so I do not believe any buyer could find it "insulting". Now I just decided to wait and see, and if it is not sold soon, I will move it elsewhere where things like that sell fast.
Thank you for your input.
PW😃

If there is an elsewhere where things like this sell fast, why would you not start there?

Regarding a minimum offer....eBay (in running their business) has decided to set a minimum reduction for offers. I think many can agree that an offer of pennies off on an item listed for hundreds is counterproductive. Can we agree on that?

If we can agree on that then we agree on setting a minimum and the debate becomes about the amount of that minimum (in terms of dollars or percent). Without knowing that value of the item you tried to give a $3 discount, it's impossible to measure. If I got a $3 discount offer while buying a car, I'd go elsewhere. If it were on a $10 widget, I'd be happy.

I'm fairly certain that you don't fall into either example....they're intended to be extreme examples for illustration....but regardless, your $3 off offer apparently falls below that minimum that eBay has decided to set. The good news is that you still have plenty of options to employ running your business....

offer a larger discount
offer no discount
change the price
offer free shipping
offer paid shipping
or, as you mentioned, sell it elsewhere

disneyshopper · ‎09-13-2020

I believe the offer has to be at least 5% minimum.

When I send offers to Watchers, I offer a 10% discount.

disneyshopper
Volunteer Community Member

zamo-zuan · ‎09-13-2020

It seems the eBay policy page regarding this isn't loading.

But since the topic here seems to have turned in to what "is or is not an insult" regarding offers... If that is a concern, is there also a minimum price for offers sent to sellers in order to make sure they're not offended...?

I don't personally use make an offer when purchasing on eBay, so I'm not sure if there's a minimum or not (and as mentioned, the policy page isn't working). But if we're speaking of fairness in policies, shouldn't both side have "protections" to avoid "insulting" offers...?

It sounds reasonable to me if they're going to worry about insults, both sides should be equally considered, you know? As often times we've received offers from customers far below net price, and furthermore far below MAP pricing of items with protected pricing.

This is a bigger problem than it sounds, because we have a list of manufacturers who won't even allow their products to be sold on eBay specifically due to the "Make an Offer" feature basically allowing sellers to legally sell below MAP prices.

So it can go further than just being interpreted as an insult here. It can actually eBay allowing sellers to knowingly break legal contracts if they aren't enforcing MAP prices.