Recieving Seller Offers for Viewing?
I've noticed that I've been receiving "SELLER OFFERS" for items I've only viewed when doing comps and not "watched". Is this something new?
55 comments
I've noticed that I've been receiving "SELLER OFFERS" for items I've only viewed when doing comps and not "watched". Is this something new?
gregmm
·2 years agoI am on the phone with eBay right now and they can not tell me why they are sending sellers a (send him a offer) when I do not do more then look at an item. the rep is tiring to convince me it is a good thing to waist my and the sellers time when I have show no more interest then clicking on a listing.
fern*wood
·2 years agoThe seller may have clicked on automatic offers on their items. Ebay has been adding items to my eligible listings for me to send offers to that show zero watchers, so I don't send them, but if I'd agreed to automatic offers they would have gone out. I don't like ebay making items eligible for offers just by having someone view it.
gurlcat
·2 years agoeBay's phone CSR's are helpless and ignorant enough about real problems, so it's hard to think of anything more pointless than calling them about this "problem."
Also I'm not sure why you thought you needed to tell a seller you weren't watching an item that they sent you an offer for. 1. They can't un-send it. 2. If you think there was something they should have "checked" to avoid sending the offer to mere viewers, that is impossible.
Let me show you something. Here's what I see when I filter my Hub listings by items eligible to send offers for. -Before clicking 'Send offers' I can see how many watchers an item has, and then when I click that, I get a window showing how many "interested" buyers will receive the offer. Sometimes it matches the number of watchers, sometimes it doesn't. -NOTE- I don't even get to see the names of the buyers, never mind why they are considered "interested". I can only guess, based on the criteria eBay shows in the 'i' information window.
For this item, 1 person less than watchers would receive the offer. Is that someone I already sent an offer to? Is it someone who has their preference set to not receive offers? Are they not on good standing on eBay?
But for this item, one person MORE than watchers would receive the offer. -Does that one person have the item in their cart? Did they just look at the listing more than once? -No way to know.
ALSO, NO WAY TO EXCLUDE THEM FROM RECEIVING THE OFFER. So if a seller wants to avoid irritating someone like you, their only choice would be to not send offers at all. Even ones where the 'interested' number matches the 'watchers' number -that doesn't mean all the interested are watchers. There could be watchers missing, AND non-watchers included. There is nothing a seller can click to distinguish the 'why' s, and 'why not's.
Now ... YES .... eBay seems to have begun experimenting with including buyers who viewed listings only once. I personally think that is very foolish on their part. But there is nothing we sellers can do about it, nor what some low-paid phone worker in Indonesia can do about it. They are paid to tell you it's great and that's it.
gregmm
·2 years agoYes I had another one this morning. I made a point to tell the seller I am not watching the listing and I have 7 of the same units I want to sell and ebay did this on it's own. I hope if enough people call in on this issue ebay will stop doing it when we are just look at a listing.
gurlcat
·2 years agoI just got offers for 2 different items I looked at ONCE EACH yesterday. This is totally out of control.
gloryglorygifts
·2 years agoI got one the other day. Not only did I look at it, I used the "sell similar" button to create my listing. No thanks ebay. I have one of my own already, hence the sell similar.
Big brother is watching.....
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoWould this have anything to do with the "Competing Offers" option in preferences?
Here is a link from the Buyers board:
Communication Preferences> Competing Offers
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoThe whole thing is quite confusing for me. I don't want offers from items I look at, only items I'm watching. Nor do I want to send offers to buyers who look, but do not watch. I'm not that desperate, but apparently eBay is.
gurlcat
·2 years agoWe didn't want other people's listings showing up on ours either. But eBay will do whatever works on "some" buyers even if it ticks off other buyers and all sellers.
fern*wood
·2 years agoI like receiving offers for items I'm thinking about buying and I like sending offers to watchers, since I've had a moderate success rate by doing so. I do not like to receive offers for items I look at, nor do I want to bug buyers by sending offers if they just looked at my item. I skip listings on my send offer list that show zero watchers and hope that at least eliminates that, but I'm not sure.
I was hoping to ask about this on the monthly chat, but where the heck is that?
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoThey retired the monthly chat because a couple hours once a month was too much to spend communicating with us I guess. Now apparently they will only do them when a seller update is released and only answering pre-submitted questions. The announcement was kind of vague.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Retired-Monthly-Chat-with-eBay/Monthly-Chat-Update/m-p/34294877#M30392
BTW Devon replied to three threads earlier today but not this one. Oh well.
a-lotta-stuff
·2 years agoWe only buy the same three things on ebay, any other listings we 'open' are ones we want to 'steal' the title and info from so we can list ours for less. When/if we get offers on those items we first message seller and tell them the only interest we had was to undersell them and then let the offer expire.
gurlcat
·2 years agoWait, what do you have to gain from telling them that?
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI think someone is being 'edgy'.
gurlcat
·2 years agoIf someone wrote that to me I'd show them edgy. 🤣
I source only what I can sell for crazy margins, so I'd appreciate a voluntary heads up from the competition, then have fun dropping my price low enough to wipe the smirk off their face. If they were really smirky I wouldn't just drop it enough to sell first, but to lower the average sold comp significantly. -Probably be the last one I'd have available anyway, since I sell mostly one-offs.
a-lotta-stuff
·2 years agoI had to check first to make sure I remembered it right - the message with offer had an ebay and not a member address, and ebay messages always make us nervous till we see the subject. So I replied like that.
And as to the 'source only what I can sell for crazy margins' and '... mostly one-offs' part ... we do same so 'you is us.'
gurlcat
·2 years agoI don't understand what you're saying. Do you think eBay takes it upon themselves to send buyers offers without the sellers' permission? Have you ever had a buyer "accept an offer" of a reduced price that you never actually authorized? Can you imagine how furious that would make all of us, and how many sellers they'd lose if they did that? How would they even determine the amount to offer?
Even if that's what you thought whenever you've replied saying you were just checking the listing to undersell competitors' prices, what would be the point of THAT? -Some eBay employee would actually read it with their eyes and ...... do ........ what, as a result???? Sorry your explanation just makes me more puzzled than I was before.
a-lotta-stuff
·2 years agoOK, last word on this - Got a message, went to look, address was 'ebay' not seller name - till I notice the subject didn't say 'funds held' or 'item removed' I was nervous - so I took it out on the seller.
And we don't send offers or want them because we don't sell things for the amount 'they' want, we sell them for the amount we want. The real store pays all bills, ebay is 'coffee and cake' money. We do it for fun.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoTried to find info on this silly feature but nothing discusses it, which make me suspicious by default.
Perhaps a moderator could explain how this feature works, with or without watchers??
ckimodog
·2 years ago@pls-consignments
The mods (Khoros) are here on this forum to keep peace and decorum between the helpfuls & those who need help or advice. They don't implement new features, that's eBay job.
My suggestion would be to reach out to the community managers, so here goes...
Devon@eBay
Elizabeth@eBay
Kyle@eBay
Can you look into this feature that seems to be confusing many of us? TY in advance.
Lately they haven't been participating on this forum much from what I've seen, maybe they're busy, who knows?, but it would be helpful if they could look into this send offer feature that so many are posting about here.
Happy Selling
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years ago@pls-consignments Well, I'm not a moderator, but I have sent offers daily since the inception of SIO's. I have been traveling, so I'm late to this party, but this is NOT new! They have done this from the beginning. They used to publish the criteria, though last time I looked, I could only find a general list. SIO's can be sent to whoever is on the list, the list is made up of watchers, people with your item in their cart, possibly people with the item on their favorite list or other lists, people who have expressed interest by repeatedly viewing an item. They used to publish how many times & for how long, I think it was something like 3x & there was a time associated with it too, I think.
NONE of this is new! This is the way it's worked from the get go. It's certainly possible they altered the algorithm as to how 'interest' is defined, but people who just looked at an item, have always been eligible to receive offers. Same with Watched.
I'll share that I send hundreds out a week & have from the get go & only once have I ever had a customer irate in the 2 or so years we've been able to do SIO's. You can also turn off the option to receive the notices. Hope that helps.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoYes, you ARE late to the party. SIO's have been in place for some time for "watchers". However, we have been discussing offers received from other sellers for merely looking at an item for comps. It appears that the criteria for "interested" buyers is no longer relegated to only watchers or those who click the little heart.
Now, it appears to include not only those who look at an item, but also those who may only "think" about an item, which I might add is very annoying for those of us with ADHD. 😜
postcardcountry
·2 years agoHere is a touch of the other side.
I would love to send offers only to real 'watchers'.
There is no button to say "no, I will not send offers on this item at this time" in seller hub, so there is no way to have the item disappear from "send offers - eligible" list other than to send an offer.
If you pick and choose, heaven knows how long it will take for an item to drop off.
gurlcat
·2 years agoOkay they DEFINITELY have bumped the sensitivity on what counts as "interested buyers" .... but I'm not so sure if it's with regard to receiving seller-sent offers, item price drops, or both. I know I suddenly started getting lots of notices on price drops just within the past week or so, and most of them for items I looked at only once or maybe twice. I can't remember if I've received any actual offers from sellers for items I showed that little "interest" in. And when I did a round of sending offers yesterday, almost all of them said they'd be going to the same number of people as the item had 'watchers' (plus or minus one in a few cases). So if offers are also going to more viewed-only buyers, it must be a phase-in thing that I'm not phased in as a seller, but definitely as a buyer. And yeah it is irritating, because I don't want to turn off that kind of notification wholesale -I DO want to know if an item I'm WATCHING gets cheaper (via price drop or offer), but not every dang thing I click on.
chariot_badges
·2 years agoI just had a very interesting thing happen, first thing this morning.
As normal, I got my coffee, turned on the news and opened eBay.
There was two unanswered messages there.
In order or arrival it was.
"Hi. I am interested in your xxxx item. Would you take $20 for it?"
Immediately after that, about five minutes I got another message from the same person:
"Oh. Ok. No, that's too much. Thanks anyway."
So, he went and looked at the listing.
He sent me the first message.
Then Auto Pilot sent the Offer that I usually start with at the beginning of a BIN, which is a 5% discount.
Then he sent the final message.
What would I have done?
I would have responded that I would offer no more than a 20% discount, which is his case would have been darn close to that $20.
Would it have kept the deal together? I dunno. But I'd of liked to have the opportunity.
Maybe I should rethink my participation in the Auto Pilot program.
pls-consignments
OP2 years ago"Maybe I should rethink my participation in the Auto Pilot program."
Yep, "Auto Pilot" translated means "Let eBay take over". No thank you.
gurlcat
·2 years agoI have to confess I don't think I've ever seen the Auto Pilot feature.
I know (and use) auto reject and auto accept features for when buyers send me offers, but this sounds like a seller-sent offer feature. Is it really called Auto Pilot and what does it do?
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoAre these different than "seller initiated" offers? I ask because view-triggered offers are also "discounted" offers.
If they are different, meaning that they're generated by eBay and NOT the seller, what unique benefit do Seller initiated offers provide? 🤔
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoThey are initiated by the seller. The seller clicks 'send offers' in seller hub. The users eligible to receive the offer can include watchers, people who added item to their cart and those that only viewed.
Sellers can also elect to have ebay send those offers automatically when more users become eligible. That often results in getting offers very soon after viewing. Too soon in my opinion. I often watch items to buy later when I have some extra cash. The offer may expire by then.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoI guess I was under the impression that offers were sent only to watchers. If they keep coming for items only viewed, it will no doubt affect buyer strategies and annoy the heck out of sellers using the app to comp items.
This is starting to become a boardwalk of carnival games. Not a good look.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@pls-consignments
I have had the same thing happen. No views, but send an offer? For What? This feature is unnecessary in my opinion. The few times I have sent any offers, a little sign pops up and reads "there are no offers on this item"...huh? Seriously, what is the point of this feature? It's futile, not to mention sort of silly.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoThey are getting desperate, they are sending offers if you just look at a listing, doesn't matter if you're interested in the item or not.
an-57470
·2 years agoNot exactly new… but really irritating. 😞
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoI feel a little late to the party on this one, so pardon my questions.
Is there any way to prevent buyers from sending Seller Offers whenever I comp an item? Or does eBay control that?
mtgraves7984
·2 years ago@pls-consignments
Account Settings/Account Preferences/Communication Preferences/Buyer/Buying Activities
Go there and make sure that 'Offers to buyers' is NOT ticked. Save. At least, I think that takes care of them. Good luck.
an-57470
·2 years agoOne would think… but I have this setting off and still get them.
In fact, I have every communication setting I have (that I am allowed to) off… and I still get them.
😞
auctiondibs
·2 years agoSign "out" of eBay and view away at other listings. We use two eBay accounts on the same computer and eBay doesn't send out offers to both of our accounts, when viewing listings and both accounts are signed off.
Cookies 101 = eBay can't send an offer if it doesn't know who viewed the listing.
mtgraves7984
·2 years ago@Anonymous
Sitting here laughing at myself.💡 Heck, I have that setting off, and I still get them, too. Redundant... but kinda creepy, huh?
an-57470
·2 years agoYeah. 🙂
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI wonder if eBay dropped the threshold for number of views before the item becomes eligible for a seller offer. IIRC, it used to be three.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoSo, are we now able to make them without watchers?
femmefan1946
·2 years agoSo, are we now able to make them without watchers?
If the seller uses Fixed Price, a watcher is someone who isn't going to buy, or they already would have.
Viewers, who are only counted for 30 days are more volatile and a better bet.
they are sending offers if you just look at a listing, doesn't matter if you're interested in the item or not.
Why would you View if you were not interested?
a-lotta-stuff
·2 years ago"So, are we now able to make them without watchers? --
If the seller uses Fixed Price, a watcher MAY BE someone who buy it at some point but just not now, ...."
"they are sending offers if you just look at a listing, doesn't matter if you're interested in the item or not. --
Why would you View if you were not interested?"
Maybe they were interested UNTIL they viewed the listing.
gurlcat
·2 years agoNot at all true. As a seller I get a decent percent of takers on my sent offers so clearly those people wanted to buy, but either the price was just a bit too high or they put it on watch but then forgot about it until my offer reminded them.
As a buyer (and I've seen other buyers say this), when I see a fixed price item that is priced too high and doesn't have 'make offer' enabled, I may put it on watch just to see if the price comes down later, or if I'll get an offer from the seller. If I do get an offer but it's just a piddly 5% off or something, then I realize their expectations are far too high for me, so I un-watch the item at that point.
-For my listings, I do enable 'make offer' on most of them, and I use the auto-reject and auto accept features, in fact I make those the SAME amount (I don't see the point of a "maybe" range). So, if someone makes an offer below my minimum they get an automatic 'no' and I don't even have to know about, but if their offer is above minimum they get an immediate YES and the item is SOLD. But here's the funny part: for some reason, there are buyers who just apparently don't make offers, rather they just put the item on watch and wait to receive a seller offer.
Quite often I will send an offer that isn't even as low as my auto-accept minimum, and someone will take it! This happened just a couple hours ago. I had this fixed priced at $479.95 but the auto-accept amount was $400. It's been listed for almost a week and I was getting sick of seeing it on the 'Add Item Specifics!" thing on my home page every time I logged in, so today when I realized it had 8 watchers I figured it was time to try sending an offer. I got a taker in 2 or 3 minutes. But remember, they could have gotten it for $400 if they had just made that offer, ha!
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoI look at a lot of listings (usually to report them) just once and start receiving offers for the item.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI look at quite a few listings for comps but they're all solds, so I don't get offers. I expect if I browsed more or shopped live listings I would. I never send offers on listings that have no watchers just because of this.
gurlcat
·2 years ago- I thought I understood send offer numbers that exceed the number of watchers are people that have the item already in their shopping cart, just not quite pulling the trigger yet for some reason.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoIt wouldn't be to bad if it was an item I was interested in or watching.
To receive offers just for looking at a listing, I think it's a little pushy.
I started getting so many, I finally opted out of receiving offers.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@kensgiftshop
I get those all the time! I actually got an offer on Cuban Cigars from Cuba, but sold by a US seller! lol ðŸ˜
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoI reported a few digital items the other day, then received offers on each listing.
Then about 30 minutes later received emails saying the listings had been removed.
If I just reported a listing, why would I want to receive an offer on it, I'm not going to buy it, no matter how good the offer is.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoThe two actions (looking and reporting) call up two different procedures. Since looking doesn't necessarily mean reporting the two procedures won't be linked; you'll get the offer, then after examination you'll get the notification of take-down. The whole thing of sending offers just for looking is annoying, though, because this is what happens.
Like @gurlcat I have pretty good luck sending offers to people who are actually watching - it's usually on things I want to move along and in lieu of putting them on sale (season-end, etc.).
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoNew to you, maybe. But not new. Kinda creepy, huh? 🤣