Listing Eligible For Offer??
I started a markdown manager sale & now ebay says one of those listings is eligible for an offer, I am suppose to send an offer on a newly reduced price?, When does it ever stop?, I could offer an item for ten cents & would have to make an offer for a Nickel,
24 comments
doc-holmes
·2 years agoI went to the Honda dealership to buy a new red car. The sales person said it also comes in black. I DON'T WANT IT IN BLACK! I clearly said "red," why would they tell me black? At what point did I ever say I would be interested in a black one? I'm moving my business over to Ford.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoThey asked you about black because they can make more money and/or the wait time for red would be months.
Sales people sell, they don't make money on a sale they can't close.
doc-holmes
·2 years agoIt was sarcasm. I may not have translated well.
jameshen1
·2 years agoYou sure do get triggered easily. If you don't want to send and offer, don't. It is not required. They are just letting you know of a tool that might help you make a sale. Don't use it if it not feasible for you.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years agoWhen you start offering your items for $0.01 with free shipping, EBay will start asking you to send $10 rebates to all your buyers...
farmalljr
·2 years agoOne might also consider that something that has sat for 3 months, might be pretty stale. A B&M isn't going to keep shelving something that doesn't sell regularly. I would think if it's not selling in the store at least every other week, then they clearance it. Shelf space is a premium. Server space is a premium. If 10 people look at your item and don't buy it, there is an answer in that formula. If something is getting few or no views, then perhaps people do not want that item or it's priced higher than they would even consider.
IMO, long tail items just don't work anymore. You need to move something in under 3 month, or I think it affects your whole store. Too many slow movers and you get pinned as a store who doesn't make any sales, so why would they direct traffic to your items?
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoI have a lot of suggestions on my listing for send offer. I use it on stuff I have that has watchers. I do a small discount, not a big one. Sometimes they sell sometimes not. Use also on something with a deeper discount that has been sitting forever and get that money in your pocket so you can go get other inventory, or pay your bills.
cardsforauction
·2 years agoYou don't have to send them if you don't want to send them. If your looking for a quick sale or want to give a better price on a high ticket item I think it is a good tool.
gb58
·2 years agoI run sales often with markdown manager, and most of the time when running a sale I will see an increase in items available for offers.
In my mind it means people are looking and may just be on the fence about buying, so I will always send an offer regardless if I am running a sale or not. Sometimes the difference between buyers watching a $10 sale price vs. a $9 offer price will make the sale.
Don't look at the fact you can send an offer even while running a sale as a negative thing. Use it to your advantage, send an offer and possibly make the sale.
meme6253
OP2 years agoThanks for your input, I do understand what your saying, It's just that it is never enough & profit margins keep shrinking & a line needs to be drawn somewhere,Don't you Think?
farmalljr
·2 years agoYes, a seller wants/needs to make a profit. Ask yourself this, how much profit are you making NOT selling? How much of your investment is sitting in inventory and not in your checking account? Your dollars are tied up in that merchandise. It's NOT selling. I've read your posts for a long time, and they pretty much have the same theme. I GET it. But the more you complain, it's not making the situation any better. I've been in the same place myself when I have over 10K listings here.
You are not going to wake up tomorrow and all the sudden sell half your store. Every day is actually going to be a repeat of the last day, until you make changes. For me, and likely for YOU it will need to be the same change. Sell off your inventory for whatever someone is willing to pay. Redirect your attention AFTER that to only buying/selling stuff that moves. Never again deal with lots of items on hand in your inventory, until you have a system worked out that doesn't get you back into the SAME situation you are in now.
It means to make a change, you will need to take a loss, and clear OUT the inventory. It's DEAD weight and you money is hopelessly tied up into it, until someone BUYS it. So if that means having a real fire sale and not caring about profits, that band aid needs to be ripped off and the lesson learned.
I HAD a store with 10k items and 250K of listed merchandise value. Having a lot of items doesn't mean ANYTHING if all you do is advertise and are not selling it. Profits are not your problem, it's the inventory you have. You either need to become REAL comfortable not getting regular sales, or you need to change your business direction. You can't change your lack of views or lack of sales simply complaining here about it. If you truly want better sales, you need to do something about it.
Your "drawing a line" isn't making you any more money and it's not getting you more sales. The buyer is in control of that, not you.
cardsforauction
·2 years agoI think if the OP has too much inventory then it maybe time to sell in large lots of similar items. I may be wrong but if someone is a Batman fan for instance, maybe sell more items in a large lot? I assume already if someone buys more than one item the OP combines shipping for a better shipping price for the buyer, but maybe not?
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoRIGHT. I used to have a fairly stubborn mind set like that regarding this. Sometimes folks sell at a loss so they can get that merch out of their stale not appealing inventory so that can then go on to purchase more appealing inventory. Most business work this way even Walmart with their clean out the old inventory sales.
meme6253
OP2 years agoMy Inventory has done Very Well for a long time!, It wasn't until they implemented item specifics that things started going down hill, & It has never been fixed & now they are experimenting with it!, & Pay to Play has also ruined things, There is much more to consider,You need to listen to many more sellers than just me,There are Major Problems Here!
farmalljr
·2 years agoThere ARE problems here. What's your solution? Complain or change directions? It really seems like you just want to complain about everything, instead of just realizing there is NOTHING in your control that you can do to change eBay. You have to change YOUR business and make it work, however that ends up being. Obviously the changes you HAVE made are not satisfactory to you.
At one time I was making over 50K a year, selling "junk" VERY part time. That's not a reality here anymore, especially for the things I was selling. It's NOT because people didn't want it. It's because eBay changed and the buyers left. Nothing stays the same forever. It's an adapt or go under state of being here.
You are free to do whatever you want, but complaining isn't going to do anything for you or your business. And frankly it's pointless to try to coach someone who thinks they can do the same things they did 10 years ago, and expect them to work. If you REALLY want change, you need to start listening to advice others are giving you.
eBay is never going back to how it was 20 years ago. NEVER. It's time you get up to speed or you'll be left in the dust.
hartungcards
·2 years agoSomething tells me "item specifics" isn't the real problem here.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoEspecially as they have been around for 10+ years!
Of course sellers who don't fill them out or enter garbage will have problems.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoI had a customer message me on an item I listed today. It’s promoted at 2 percent. It’s a really good deal in comparison to competitions. The buyer asked if I could do a small discount. I sent them the offer with the SMALL discount they asked for—Have not heard back. SO, sometimes these people do not see a deal if it is staring them in the email/face. Some have ONLY SO MUCH THEY want to spend or have and if that’s the case. PLEASE PASS ME BY AND go away until you come to your senses. LOL!!! Might sell this dang thing today regardless if this buys wantsa their small discount.
gb58
·2 years agoThe is no profit margin on an unsold item, it is just an item sitting there with your money tied up.
I consider all offers, and I send offers also to watchers.
When considering sending an offer, you should consider what you have into the item and also how long you've had the item in inventory. Even though you recently put the item/items on sale, if the item has been sitting in your inventory a year or more, perhaps your sale price still isn't at the right price point to make the sale, and it's time to blow it out and turn your money over.
Sometimes that may even mean selling at a loss, depending on how long you've been sitting on the inventory.
It isn't about "drawing a line", the watcher isn't asking for an offer, ebay is suggesting that since someone is watching your listing, that perhaps by discounting it a little more, perhaps you could make a sale.
Here is another idea, rather than running a sale at the max amount you want to discount, say for example 20%. Why not discount items 15%, that would leave you room to discount another 5% or so if the opportunity comes up to send an offer to a watcher. The watcher would feel like they are getting a deal, and you would still get your price.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoYes, many on the fence and then they buy.
farmalljr
·2 years agoWhat are you selling that so unique and/or at a screaming deal? No offense meant, but what you seem to sell, is all collectable stuff. Collectables are want items and in this economy, want items will fall behind NEED items. All that stuff is shelf dust collector stuff.
If any of your inventory is old, it's going to effect the traffic your store is fed. You just have not had many sales in the last 90 days. Instead of complaining about poor sales and/or not getting traffic, you need to do something about your store. Again, no offense. You need to do some major changes or your just not going to see better results. 50 items sold and over 2K listed. You just not moving products.
If you want to sell collectables, you need to dominate the category to see extreme sales. Your store is light years away from dominating the current categories it sells in. You need to find products that sell often, are not flooded with listings, and items you can offer at a screaming deal. If not, and you don't change anything, you can expect your sales to continue on the current trend.
No matter what any of us think of eBay, you have to work with what you have. You can either change to get those sales and move the merchandise you are sitting on, or you can wait until you go bankrupt. That merchandise is dead weight. Get rid of it, take your money (whatever you can get for it) and invest it in something else that makes you money.
lakefor94
·2 years agoIt is a tool meme. I convert those on a regular basis even with a markdown sale going. I think 5% is the least you can offer unless it is an expensive item then it allows a lesser percentage.
I only convert perhaps 1 or 2 out of 10 because alot of the watchers are other sellers.
Product in and product out with the emphasis on product out. I especially jump on the chance to send an offer on old stock.
Regardless of what you do with that , best of luck moving products.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoTo send an offer or not is 100% your choice.
"eligible" does not mean required or even suggested!!!!
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoRight. There is no obligation. It is just a tool to help you sell it if you choose which is actually pretty darn great.