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EBAY Changing best offer Rules , and not in a good way !
i been buying and selling on ebay for years now and often used best offer to catch some good deals , a few days ago i tried to place a best offer and ebay asked for me to set a default payment method that would be charged if the seller accepts the offer , this has never been the case so it appears that ebay silently is toying around with the rules and in the process shafting buyers !
In case you wonder why this is bad for buyers i will give you a few examples :
- if you place best offers on multiple items from the same seller but the seller has no combined shipping rule
set up ebay will just add up the shipping charges for the individual listings and you end up paying more
than what you would have paid with combined shipping , of course you can contact the seller and ask him to refund the excess in shipping but this is a hassle for both !
- another case is that you place best offer on multiple items , the seller accepts some and counters others , you now pay for the ones he accepted and shipping and then you pay again once you accept the counter or you counter and the seller accepts
kh-vince
·2 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@gail5176,
First, you should check the original posting date of topics you want to respond to, and if they are over 6 months old don't reply to them. Do read the replies, as they may contain an explanation for the problem, or a way around the issue. If a person has selected a best answer click on that button to read what the reply said. This topic will be locked in a few hours.
"If you make offers on multiple items you expect combined shipping-this method does not allow for this".
eBay has never required sellers to combine shipping for a possible lower cost. Offers when tendered are for the item price only and do not allow for requests to change the shipping cost or method.
gail5176
·2 years agoYep they need to change that for the combined shipping alone-plus I don’t want that payment method saved ever
4pawsup*
·3 years agoI have to say as a new seller i like it. No more accepting an offer then buyer not paying. I free ship so shipping does not come in to play for me.
safan80
·3 years agoresidentrob
·3 years agoI’m ok with making an offer and prepared for eBay to immediately take the funds if the offer is accepted. But I’m not ok with eBay saying if I confirm offer they will be authorised to use those same card details for all future offers or winning auctions. This is completely unacceptable as some of us buy with different accounts e.g personal or business. Are eBay trying to get rid of its users. I used to sell on eBay using PayPal which paid instantly and could use funds straight away. I stopped selling because eBay took over the payment process and had to wait too long for payments even after customer had received item. Now it’s getting to the point I will stop buying soon. EBay you need to look into how you’re pushing people away from your platform which USED to be my favourite buying site, now its my last resort
ami_tech
·3 years agoIt's annoying as it means there is no way to use PayPal pay in 3 or PayPal credit to pay. Also sometimes you need to move money around to pay and would rather do that after the fact for various reasons. It's so ill thought out, I don't understand the reasoning behind it.
gallopinggreyhound
·3 years agoI agree this is not good.
This is not only an issue with combined shipping, relying on sellers to show goodwill if they can respond in time or as a refund. Will they be forced into ultimately offering free shipping to compensate. Doesn’t that result in the cheapest and most unreliable shipping methods?
If Paypal payment details are linked to best offers this is also worrying for buyers.
Ebay has been hacked before and if the payment details are permanently linked without any purchase ( on the off chance that the seller will accept the offer) then doesn’t it mean that a security measure is compromised. It is like going into a shop and having to give your credit card details just to enquire the price with no assurance that the item is what you will buy.
I find this cheeky and controlling and will stop asking about “best offers†and ultimately think twice about shopping on Ebay as the buyer has been sidelined in preference to the seller and the seller is being sidelined in preference of Ebay. Not my idea of auction/ offer fun.
Is the next move to link your payment account when you submit a bid with no guarantee of winning the auction. No thank you, it will be goodbye Ebay.
maccnc11
·3 years agoYeap you are correct Sir, is especially bad for sellers because eBay doesn't refund fees on partial refunds, only on Full Refunds does a seller get every penny of the fees back. I've just stopped any best offers, because they shouldn't be worrying about any payment until a deal is Struck.
myangelandmyprincess
·3 years agoeBay does do fee credits for partial refunds now.
sandman4598
·3 years agoI'm not a seller on ebay, just a buyer. I'm not a big fan of the change to "best offer". That is due to how I pay for big price items. I use quadpay and with the change it seems like I cannot do that anymore if I send an offer to a seller. It will try to take out everything all at once when that is not what I want to do. Maybe I should just send offer directly to seller through email and see if they will send me offer instead.
maccnc11
·3 years agoWe got some real Genius's at eBay, lol
worldcoinauctions
·3 years agoMy BIN sales are mostly set to require immediate payment. I think this is the setting you are referring to. Ebay doesn't allow that on auctions. If someone were to (it has happened) overpay because of this I generally give them a refund. I have even packed cash in the package and shipped it with the items. Naturally I make sure all my fees were covered and refund less than the combined postage and any fees I can't get back. Still a better deal for the buyer. My auctions have a set shipping price up to a certain number and I encourage people to take a week to buy additional items. If they get at least 5 they save a bit on shipping.
BTW, all my best offers are automated. I don't want to see your offers, just accept the ones at or above my bottom line. Once in a while I'll look at the history and laugh at those offering ridiculous amounts!
westchestervillage
·3 years agoYea same thing happening here. I hate it. Buying less because of it, when I see that pop up I just move on and purchase at Amazon or another site if they have the same price.
maccnc11
·3 years agoNot to worry eBay will continue till they bugger the platform to the point it is unusable, I guess that's their goal, everyone in store, with a whirling list of items that aren't going to sell and will never Sale.
ami_tech
·3 years agoSame here I hate it.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years agoOverall agree on how it's a problem for combined shipping & invoices. Especially whem buyers may make only 1 offer, and if accepted, then and only then continue shopping to combine. May not make multiple offers at once and wait to add as items are accepted and added to cart.
That being said, I'll counter it all and say EBay's goal is to get sellers to offer free shipping, so it may be problematic to us but it advances their goals of getting sellers to offer Free S/H... no?
emorysurplus
OP3 years agoWe all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch or free shipping for that matter , packing materials , labels and postage have to be paid by somebody so in the case of "free shipping" the seller pays the bill.
What this means however is that sellers have to start factoring all of this in the sales price , in the case of auctions this means higher starting bids for the item and in the case of fixed price items it means that the sale price is going to be higher
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years agoI think everyone that offers free shipping has done that already. If they haven't they're late to the party but auctions are a different beast.
Example ... i had an item for 39.95 + 5 S/H. Of course my new price is $44.95 free shipping minimum... but honestly, it's probably now 45.95 or 46.95 or more because now I can sneak a few extra bucks in. That's just how you do it.
Also...i dont run auctions, and upping a starting bid does nothing unless your starting bid is effectively a BIN price and you expect 1 bid only. If starting bid is low to begin with (say 99 cents on a $100 item) upping it $5 or $10 or $20 to compensate for shipping does nothing to the final bid if it's a $100 range item... When I bid, I'm bidding based on item price + shipping price.
I dont know about othee people but I will bid $20 more on an auction with free shipping compared to an auction with $20 shipping...but again, that's me.
Buyers...well ... honestly.... i don't know what the heck they think. They think free shipping is free (that's so laughable...but profitable) ...
Capitalism is all a game and like democracy is all one big experiment.
beachislandtreasures
·2 years agoI will normally only do BIN. I've seen many new sellers or some that haven't caught on yet start their bids at .99. Guess what happens then? They may end up selling that $50-$100 valued item for (you guessed it) .99 . eBay encourages that as a starting bid, but I would never put myself in the hole and pay someone to take my item. That's insane. I've sold items to repeat buyers that used my 10% or whatever coupon or markdown and the shipping is combined. I'm not going to wait around for any length of time while they shop other than the 3 days I offer to ship the item and That's because I am making sure that payment is processed into my bank. I have a time or two shipped out an item the same day if I'm shipping items out that day anyway, but here's the thing. If a buyer asks to cancel and the payment is still processing, that money has to be refunded by you, there's no reverse processing of a paid item. Your only recourse if you're a small seller is to tell them you have to wait until the payment is processed. I recently had a glitch on eBay's end that overcharged the buyer for shipping and eBay did wait to collect it once processed because it was their fault. My shipping fees were correct. I agree with eBay on the mandatory payment setup because I've gotten buyer's who didn't pay after four days when I had watcher's and had to relist it as a new item with a new number and lose those watcher's. Here's a thought, watch for when those sellers put a sale on or offer a discount with coupon, then buy it and ask first if they combine shipping. I have it checked, but only for items that can be shipped together. I just shipped off a collector plate and a necklace combined with combined shipping with a 10% discount on each item. It's not rocket science. That buyer came back and made me an offer on another Item and I was happy to give a discount to a repeat buyer who gave me positive feedback. Too many buyers make offers that sellers accept and they can't take a minute of their time to give positive feedback. eBay should do like Mecari and Poshmark, so if the buyer doesn't rate the seller after 3 days, they get a 5 star rating. Yes, I also sell on multiple platforms because I'm not just settling for waiting around hoping a watcher will buy my item or try to wear me down with offers. I will block low-ball offers if they are ridiculous. I always check out a buyers feedback left for others as well. It's a red flag if they post negative feedback for reasons that are not legit.
mudshark61369
·3 years ago@house*of*paws,
"Best Offers cannot include the shipping cost ... EVER ... so combining shipping could never be a part of an offer. There is no such thing as a 'combined shipping rule' with offers".
That is not exactly true. You're right that buyers can't ask a seller to change shipping methods or costs. However, if a seller already states they combine shipping on purchases in their listings, they could do that if a few offers from a buyer were accepted, before the IPR enter payment info, on offers was put in place. Now for those using it, the only way to combine shipping would be to issue a refund.
I found on this buying only account if I were to start selling today, the Requirement for;
Buyer Payment Requirements; "Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer". was already checked.
house*of*paws
·3 years ago@mudshark61369
Thanks for the correction. Could you please explain how ‘combined shipping’ worked with offers prior to ‘prepayment info’?
How did sellers adjust shipping costs on offers on multiple listings … or was it only on offers for multiple quantities of same item?
I always thought a buyer had to message the seller prior to making offers on more than one item in order to get an adjustment on shipping cost. [Color me discombobulated. 😋]
ittybitnot
·3 years agoI always thought a buyer had to message the seller prior to making ....
@house*of*paws
Many sellers DO state in their listing that they will combine items for reduced shipping. If they don't say that, it is always good to ASK, since they don't have to. I would presume that sellers of small easily combined products who DON'T would enjoy the consequences of an unhappy buyer.
Prior to this new program, you simply made the offers (say ten things for purposes of discussion), when accepted you didn't have to pay right away. You could then request a combined invoice and pay from that with the adjusted shipping cost.
So, if I made offers on ten of your fountain pens, I am not stuck with paying $10 shipping on each one as I would be if they stuck my Buyer ID in this program and the seller offers combined shipping. They can offer combined shipping all they want, but I am going to be charged the $10 each anyway automatically once my BUYER ID is blessed (not) with this.
They want to make this eventually apply to "auctions" as well. So if I bid and win ten of your sterling rings, I pay the full shipping price for each because they will charge me as soon as the listing ends.
house*of*paws
·3 years agoThanks @ittybitnot . I wasn’t aware that sellers had been able to send a combined invoice AFTER multiple offers were accepted. I thought that an offer acceptance automatically locked in the price of shipping for that item.
emorysurplus
OP3 years agoebay already has a rule that requires for buyers to pay within 4 days regardless of auction or best offer so there already was a safeguard in place .
i have a lot of buyers that are in europe , paying shipping on a few items doesnt make sense for them so they usually shop for 2-3 weeks until they have enough to fill a box and then i send them a combined shipping invoice and get the stuff out . ok now that i know you can opt out i can do this to accomodate them but the problem is that if they encounter this at other sellers that have not noticed this yet than it will drive them off ebay
myangelandmyprincess
·3 years agoI wouldn't call that a safeguard. Since there is not way to make them pay sellers often have four days wasted on something that isn't paid for. Especially with new sellers or high end items that get the scam offers trying to send fake payment emails.
emorysurplus
OP3 years agoi disagree , ebay makes people specify a PAYMENT METHOD that however does NOT mean that the item actually is getting paid !
For example if the seller specifies a credit card that has $200 available and places a $500 best offer or uses a stolen credit card than no payment is actually processed
eburtonlab
·3 years agoebay makes people specify a PAYMENT METHOD that however does NOT mean that the item actually is getting paid !
eBay requires some users to provide a payment method, but not all users. Obviously if the user is not required to provide a payment method at the time the offer is made, the offer payment might not be made at a later time.
But for those users that are required to provide a payment method at the time of the offer, eBay puts a hold on the card for the offer amount even if the offer is not accepted, at least according to users that have run into that situation.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoYou should email them because some of them won't combine or give the discount. I automatically do it when I get a buyer that buys a bunch of items but not everybody is me. If you collect diecast, definitely send me an email and I will give you my seller account ID.
emorysurplus
OP3 years agousually if a buyer places multiple best offers i accept and then send a invoice
gail5176
·2 years agoThis new way you can’t anymore because payment is charged right away on file
emorysurplus
OP3 years agonormally ebay just adds the shipping specified in each listing so if you sell 10 items that weigh 3oz and you have priority mail specified than they add 10x the $8.50 for priority mail and the buyer pays $85 shippping .
if the seller sets up combined shipping rule than the weight of the items are added up so for the 10 items its 30oz which is about 1lbs and 14oz which knocks shipping to $9
now as far as i know you can exclude items from the combined shipping rule usually items that are oversized or heavy or fragile items you dont want to trust USPS with
gail5176
·2 years agoPayment was made after seller accepted offer-so multiple purchases had one invoice with combined shipping
emorysurplus
OP3 years agosure you can refund but here is the problem , i had 4 best offers from a buyer in europe , i accepted them and 5 minutes later they were paid before i even could send him a combined invoice obviously because the payment method on file was charged. Since this is a international sale using ebay shipping i can no longer combine anything, i now have to pack 4 packages even though i could have packed everything in one box and the buyer paid about $30 more in shipping
house*of*paws
·3 years agoHi @emorysurplus
Best Offers cannot include the shipping cost ... EVER ... so combining shipping could never be a part of an offer. There is no such thing as a 'combined shipping rule' with offers.
Buyers are being asked to include payment info because too many were refusing to pay after their offer was accepted.
emorysurplus
OP3 years agonot exactly correct , when a buyer places multiple best offers that are accepted than the seller can send a invoice which will use the combined shipping rule , if the buyer however pays after his offer is accepted than the combined shipping is not automatically applied !
gail5176
·2 years agoIf you have to pay right away-you won’t get combined shipping-unless seller refunds u directly-I personally do not like the change because I’m not willing to pay $15 in shipping for 3 pieces of jewelry and HOPE the seller will refund the difference-that’s a jip-shipping on jewelry can easily be combined which saves $
costnu
·3 years agoeBay is full of it. And, they have been for years!
IF, hypothetical-user-JOE refuses to pay, eBay can apply the lock-in-your-payment-method-beforehand policy to JOE! And, not to everyone else!
They have computers and systems that, guess what? Never forget. A flag is set for JOE's account and it's done. You, me, we, us aren't affected.
So, tell me again why they are applying this GLOBALLY?
gail5176
·2 years agoIf you make offers on multiple items you expect combined shipping-this method does not allow for this
eburtonlab
·3 years agoYou can thank the scammers that misuse offers to try to entice sellers into getting involved in an off-eBay transaction -- or the "buyers" that make multiple offers and then fail to pay -- for the changes in how offers work.
Sellers have the ability to opt-out of the requirement for a buyer to provide a payment method to make an offer, so sellers that are concerned about combining offers or combining shipments can avoid the issue by changing the Buyer Requirements for their items.
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
emorysurplus
OP3 years agothe problem is that ebay usually implements stuff like this in a stealthy fashion and then makes things like this the default setting ! they should have send a message to the seller telling them this is what we are going to change and if you want to opt out of it you can do it at this link ..... Sure there always will be some people who abuse ebay but at the end of the day this is costing sellers orders