New Offer Button
is this something new? I was looking at postcards and saw this offer $5 depending on the prices it had different offer amounts for each postcard and is it just on postcards?
16 comments
is this something new? I was looking at postcards and saw this offer $5 depending on the prices it had different offer amounts for each postcard and is it just on postcards?
valueaddedresource
·5 months agoOk so after playing around with it some more and doing multiple searches across various price points, here's my current theory about the pricing that would explain both why the low value items are upside down and why some people say they aren't seeing a consistent percent being applied.
Caveat: this is just based on my observations so far, and it's very possible some people may see different things (especially if this is a test) or that the trend may vary across different price points, categories etc.
it appears to me that eBay may have this set up to initially use 10% for the calculation but that there is also logic programmed in to round up or down to make it a whole dollar figure, which then ends up not being 10%.
That creates wider discrepancies at lower values and I suspect is why some end up showing a suggested offer that is more than the actual BIN price.
But even when it's not higher, the point at which the suggestion jumps a dollar can make a huge difference. For example, an item at $7.20 BIN suggests a $6 offer while an item at $7.24 BIN suggests $7.
Here's how I suspect the math may actually work:
10% off would be $7.20 - $0.72 = $6.48. That gets rounded down to $6, which would really then be about ~16.6% off.
And 10% off (rounded) would be $7.24 - $0.72 = $6.52. That gets rounded up to $7, which then turns out to be about ~3.3% off.
Those rounding differences will be much more noticeable on lower value items but those items are also where every penny counts.
Obviously, the buyer can still enter a custom amount and/or the seller doesn't have to accept if the buyer chooses the default, but this seems like an issue that can and should be easily fixed with some additional tweaks to the pricing logic - especially in instances where it causes the suggested offer to be higher than the BIN.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·5 months ago@valueaddedresource Good analysis.
hartungcards
·5 months agoI'd love to see the mini bar at Mickey Mantle's Holiday Inn.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·5 months ago@atlasesattic From a seller perspective, I think the other thing to notice is that in the case of your $120 postcard, eBay also helpfully tells the buyer "similar items sold for $11.99 - $15.00"
To which I can only say:
7catsprinting
·5 months agoBuilt-in Low Balls!
evry1nositswindy
·5 months agoThe buyer should get another screen that they can type in a specific amount plus a message (just like the old offer).
valueaddedresource
·5 months agoFor what it's worth, on the Android app it is not on a second screen - it's somewhat non-intuitive because there isn't any visual indication (I added the arrow to the screenshot and the number is only highlighted after you tap), but you would have to tap the number, which then brings up the keyboard to enter a custom amount.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·5 months ago@valueaddedresource
I'm sure this is the result of Magical AI!
valueaddedresource
·5 months ago@my-cottage-books-and-antiques I'm sure Magical AI is also to blame for this neat little quirk where it appears on lower value items, it rounds up so the suggestion is actually higher than the buy it now price. 🙃
dhbookds
·5 months agoIt has amazed me over 20 yrs how BAD Ebay makes itself look............and it just continues..........
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·5 months ago@valueaddedresource LOL!
You might have to be of a certain age to get this, but here we have the Head of ebay's Magical AI Department, about to cast another of her crackerjack magical AI spells.
meme6253
·5 months agoIt's a new feature, I noticed it the past couple of days, The offer amount can be changed buy the buyer, I don't really find it to be a necessary but here it is.
evry1nositswindy
·5 months agoYes, the buyer can key in their own amount on the next screen. It is new.
atlasesattic
OP5 months agoNext screen? What do you have to hit to get to the next screen? This morning I got an offer on a coat that I sold, no problem with sending an offer
caldreamer
·5 months agoNo, I tried to "make an offer" on your $120 postcard and EBAY suggested $102, $108, $114. Got same result when I tried to "make an offer" on your jewelry.
atlasesattic
OP5 months agoHmmm....must be something new then, so they don't go any lower? Does it let buyers send there own amount?