UGH! Send Offer Option Killing Sales.

[yellow-snapdragon]

Not sure who else here feels like the "send offer" to watchers option is killing sales. I get SOOOO many watchers on my listings and they just sit there and watch, I believe waiting for me to send them a lower priced offer. I know a lot of sellers send offers because in my buyer account almost as soon as I watch something I get an offer. I put multiple items in my watch list to compare, then I buy something and delete other items from watch list. And, yes, I will accept some offers as a buyer, but I will not hang around and wait for weeks, months for sellers to send me one. But I get these folks who throw my items in their list and... wait, and wait, and wait. I do not send offers and I won't send offers in the future because then buyers automatically expect you to do so from then on.  Sales are way down but there is interest, just no buyers. They've come to expect ALL sellers to send offers because so many do.  Do you send offers or not?   

[memorymarielane]

My best offers use to account for 90-95% of my sales; however, now they represent zero sales. I believe it is for the exact reason you are expressing. So now I will send the least amount Ebay will allow (5% off) with a lovely message to the buyer if they want the item they can accept or send a counter offer... they never do of course. People have no $$$ and most are using credit cards now to make ends meet. Times are changing and I'm just killing time on ebay honestly as it is no longer profitable for me to use. Best of luck to you and thank you for pointing out the obvious to everyone who needs to hear it.

[mam98031]

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@thebricktank wrote:

Imho, a certain % of watchers are competing Sellers.

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Not all competitors go to such lengths.  Likely most do not.  But none of us knows for sure since we can't see who the watchers are.  So it is all Guess Work.

[mr_lincoln]

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@thebricktank wrote:

Imho, a certain % of watchers are competing Sellers.

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I tend to agree with @mam98031 on this one especially in certain categories ... your opinion may apply in commodities where competitors want to see if your items are selling for more or less than theirs but normally a Sold search will reveal that information and doesn't need to be account specific.  

[yellow-snapdragon]

I see the response a lot that people don't have money right now, everything is so expensive, rent, rising costs, etc. If you have a chance, please search "vintage Victoria's Secret panties" in sold listings and see how much some people are paying for these items. To me it's obscene but they are selling. My prices are actually quite reasonable compared to what some of these sellers are getting FOR THE SAME ITEMS! I go back to a previous post where I compared some buyers to lemmings. They have a certain seller they go to over and over and will pay any crazy price those sellers put on their items. So **bleep** frustrating to have items listed for a quarter of what other sellers list them for and mine don't sell. I used to sell quite well here but I agree with other posters that it has become simply a hobby to list on eBay.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@aldelbertmatthew wrote:

They bypass that by sending me a direct message with a lowball offer after I send out offers to watchers for 5-10% off.

So clicking on "not allow counteroffers" doesn't matter.

If the message is a reasonable offer, I will debate with them or accept but it's rarely the case.

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It really depends on your category.  I find that clicking not to allow counteroffers does help, but it still doesn't mean I don't get direct ones a few times a week minimum, sometimes daily.   I shudder to think what it would be if I allowed counteroffers. 

[sfau]

Yes I send offers - usually 10 - 50 percent off.

[buddyboyusa]

Very useful tool. Use it often. Helps to boost sales. Success rate is approximately one out of every fifteen offers. Percent of discount offered is based on market conditions and my profit margin. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@yellow-snapdragon wrote:

I see the response a lot that people don't have money right now, everything is so expensive, rent, rising costs, etc. If you have a chance, please search "vintage Victoria's Secret panties" in sold listings and see how much some people are paying for these items. To me it's obscene but they are selling. My prices are actually quite reasonable compared to what some of these sellers are getting FOR THE SAME ITEMS! I go back to a previous post where I compared some buyers to lemmings. They have a certain seller they go to over and over and will pay any crazy price those sellers put on their items. So **bleep** frustrating to have items listed for a quarter of what other sellers list them for and mine don't sell. I used to sell quite well here but I agree with other posters that it has become simply a hobby to list on eBay.

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That's known as seller trust, and it's worth its weight in gold.

[mam98031]

The updated screens for Make an Offer are as follows.

[keziak]

I also use this feature a lot and get some sales that way. Right now I have a sale running and that discount is more or less the same as any offers I would send. It's hard to know if the sale is working. I've had some sales but would they have sold anyway? So hard to know so many things here. For example if I get multiple sales to one person is that due to my saying in my TOS that I combine shipping? Maybe. I get questions about combining. 

As for overall sales I am in a slump in terms of views and sales. I'm disappointed because traditionally August  has been good for book sales. But I'm also having a very bad week on Amazon which was recently  generating tons of sales. My fried is experiencing the same thing. I guess there are the usual speculation about reasons (people on vacation, phase of the moon?) but it's  pretty unknowable. 

[mr_lincoln]

@keziak   You are not alone with your downturn in sales.  I have not seen any growth in 18 months. 

[vintagecraze50]

Yep, your reputation on here, quality of how the listing is presented, feedback and repeat customers who trust you goes a LONG WAY in getting higher prices.

[yellow-snapdragon]

I would love to find the secret formula to earn "seller trust". My feedback and star ratings obviously mean very little in earning it (seller trust). I've been selling on here for years with nothing but great feedback. What am I doing wrong?

[mam98031]

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@yellow-snapdragon wrote:

I would love to find the secret formula to earn "seller trust". My feedback and star ratings obviously mean very little in earning it (seller trust). I've been selling on here for years with nothing but great feedback. What am I doing wrong?

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That depends on who you are working to earn Seller Trust from.  The buyers or Ebay?

For buyers.  Offer excellent customer service, package items really well and ship quickly goes a long ways.  I personally have become a repeat customer with some sellers for those very reasons.  I have repeat customers that keep coming back for those vary reason.

If you are talking about with Ebay, I don't know what that takes.  They don't consider it in disputes or much of anything else.

[gloryglorygifts]

As a buyer, I only watch items that I'm going to buy. It's easier to keep track of it when I'm ready to buy than trying to find it again.

I had a person reach out to me to complain about an offer that I sent, which they claimed didn't even cover their taxes and "some of the product that I usually get!!" (Never bought anything from us.) So it seems yeah, people are expecting big breaks in prices now. Funny thing, though. The item he received the offer on had the wrong bin price and was way lower than it should have been. His loss. He has now won a spot on my BBL because he was nasty. Judging by his feedback, he did me a solid by being a jerk so my listing is now correct and I don't have to worry about dealing with him.