seller's remorse (auctions)
I've always been an auctions cheerleader but I am currently experiencing some seller's remorse over single-title items I sold over the past several weeks at auction for fire sale prices [I also sell lots]. In a way I had no choice because I was winding down a commission and it was either sell quickly at auction or return the stuff. But I can't help but feel like I've been taught a lesson. I don't know if it's some sort of summer slump and views and prices will go up or something like a new normal that requires course correction. I am sure many people will chime in to say they never auction anything for this and other reasons.
32 comments
pennysdream
·3 years agoI feel your pain.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoYour purpose was to turn stuff into money.
You succeeded.
YAY!!
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoMost of the books I was going to list (not best sellers or common) are worthless - there are few copies on the site, but they still go for $5. No fire, but I'm donating.
@inhawaii - I go round and round with the DH about this - he wants to mark some things up in my stores at top price, and I like to hustle stuff through. Since they're my stores, I'm the boss of it, so though I definitely list at what he asks me to, I also determine when something has start being marked down - that's where the tussle starts. The last one was math theory books. I'm very generous about allowing something to run at full price, too, but 90 days is my cut-off.
anjofak
·3 years ago Wonder why the or how is that one helpful..should be an option in canceling orders to add them to BB list.
ittybitnot
·3 years ago@keziak
If you use AUCTIONS, you need to check your Buyer Management page. ebay has recently dropped a default to YES on your page that requires a buyer to submit a payment source in order to BID......Basically, if they are bidding on more than one of your selections, the result is that they have to pay FULL PRICE for shipping for each one. There is no more option to "request a total" for combined shipping. There is no longer an incentive for a buyer to bid or offer on more than one of your selections. Buyers have been reporting getting this lovely (not) feature during auctions 'midstream'.....i.e. no more bidding for you unless you comply and agree to pay for each auction as it ends at full price.
As a buyer here, I was getting by this requirement by using a different BUYER ID to purchase more than one item from a seller that has auctions and does combine over a number of days. As of this morning all my Buyer IDs are in the forced program so that is over until the seller discovers what eBay has done in the name of reducing NPBs...... Those that are left and agree to this nonsense pay more, sellers pay more, and eBay has increased their "take" as a result on the nominal listings that sell at all.
You can check yours here:
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
Buyer Payment Requirements
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.
If these are set to YES, you may be limiting your buyer pool by discouraging those that DO pay in fear of an NPB. Yes, eBay is aggressively signing Buyers up for this nonsense with the proclamation for sellers that it will reduce NPBs.... LOL,,, They forget that it also discourages those that DO pay, pay right away, and have done so for a couple of decades. eBay forgets the buyer can still ask to cancel, which has an ingrained fear response from sellers who know that they will probably have a SNAD if they don't.
For buyers: No more ApplePay, No more GooglePay, No more taking advantage of seller coupons or promotions, no more using eBay coupons, no more PayPal credit, no more PayPal Pay in 4, no more combined shipping. A good buyer experience takes second place to a new revenue stream for eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
Buyer Payment Requirements
Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.
Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.
It is not about the sellers, it is not about the buyers, it is all about the money.
zero29zero
·3 years agoExcellent advise, I looked into this the last time it came up and found that my buyer requirements had been set to "provide a payment source before they place a bid" without my knowledge on 2 ID's. You made me look again, seems like my reset to no stuck
keziak
OP3 years agoI'm afraid I do not understand. My buyer's can request a total. Got that message 2 days ago. They get combined shipping if they wait for an invoice. If they don't t hen yes they pay full price (when I ship I give them a partial refund).
ittybitnot
·3 years agoI'm afraid I do not understand. My buyer's can request a total.
@keziak
Once again, use this link and go see what your preferences are. Scroll to the bottom of the page, under
Buyer Payment Requirements
Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.
Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.
Your settings (if set to yes as the default) do not work UNTIL eBay forces the BUYER ID into this scheme. eBay is aggressively forcing Buyers into this daily. The buyer IDs that are FORCED are not necessarily slow or no payers. Go visit the buyer board to see how happy they are to be treated so miserably. They are your future NO BIDDERS, and NO BUYER OFFERS people just like me.
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
What do your say? Are you "IN", ie. set to YES?
I don't care how many books you have for sale, once MY BUYER ID is enrolled, I won't bid on anything you have, much less bid on multiple listings since this preference ensures my unlucky buyer ID can no longer combine multiple wins for one price.
I can, of course, request a total until I get my unlucky lottery winner notice from eBay that tells me it is OVER. Today it was OVER for me..no more bidding, no more offers, though I did buy a few things from one seller that combined BINS for a reduced shipping charge. The rest of the sellers that I perused
can join the "why am I not selling anything?" crowd.
Buyers that ask eBay CS what is up with this are told IT IS THE SELLER and NOTHING WE CAN DO. The facts are they dumped the BUYER into this mandatory nonsense and never bothered to inform the sellers that their PREFERENCES were set to a default YES while they were asleep is not mentioned.
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoeBay needs to initiate a bundling system for offers and fixed price items - I have no idea why this has not been done, Poshmark has always done it (and with offers, the item stays live on the site until you pay), and even Mercari which has the funkiest website I've ever sold on has initiated a bundling option (at last). At the very last, the item needs to stay live until payment.
No help for auctions - they're such a tiny part of eBay and so many of the items even on auction really don't need to be auctioned, that they may as well let it go with 'seller beware'.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoThere's too many buyers out there who seem to think "bundling" just means add items together and take $$ off the listed price.
I really wish I could go through the WM (or wherever) checkout and say I have 5 of these things can I get a deal?
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoThat's basically what bundling is used for - either save on shipping or send an offer.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoTrue, except 'some' buyers apparently think they should get both.
(sorry to hijack your thread OP)
keziak
OP3 years agoI do have it set to "yes". I've had a long day and I must not be understanding you but what does a requirement to provide a payment method have to do with combined orders?You mention the one seller who combined BINs. I said I do this though I also combine auction wins.
I'll try to visit the buyer board tomorrow to see what people are saying.
ittybitnot
·3 years agowhat does a requirement to provide a payment method have to do with combined orders?
@keziak
If you, as a seller, require that in your preferences, as soon as eBay enrolls the BUYER ID, you can no longer have combined orders for one payment for that buyer.
Each auction win is automatically paid for in full as they close. So if your buyer wins ten, they will be paying for ten shipping costs separately. You can't send a combined invoice/order since they are already paid for.
My IDs are now in the forced program. I buy jewelry. 90% of jewelry is sold at auction. So now, if I win ten auctions from a seller (that keeps the default preference awarded by eBay to yes) who has a shipping cost of $5 each, I will be paying $50 for ten items that otherwise could have been combined in a 5 ounce package. Sellers pay $3.00 in transaction fees, instead of thirty cents for one, and pay fees on all the excess. Combined shipping/sending an invoice is no longer an option regardless of what you did in the past.
When I see that a payment source is required in order to bid or make offers, I back out and don't deal with that seller at all.
keziak
OP3 years agowell that's weird unless the rule went into affect 2 days ago (?) because I combined an invoice for a guy 3 days ago.
gurlcat
·3 years agoI think maybe Ittybitty just hasn't explained it in a way that makes sense to you, so I'll try.
The new "rule" (requirement) is not like a light switch that makes your house go from brightly lit to pitch black, rather it is like a bunch of switches for a bunch of lights, with buyers being the metaphorical lights. Ebay often makes changes in a "gradual rollout" rather than a site-wide change that effects everybody at the same time. Several months ago they started rolling out the buyer requirement of providing a payment account before sending an offer to a seller for Buy It Now items, and I don't know if that is fully rolled out to all buyers yet, but I don't think so. And then about a month ago(?), they started rolling out the auction version of that, for placing bids.
So the guy whose orders you were able to combine 3 days ago -he was not yet rolled into the requirement, but at some point he will be. And the possible reason your auctions are closing with disappointing win amounts is some people who wanted to bid ARE already rolled-in, so they were asked to pre-authorize a payment method, and they didn't like that, so they decided 'never mind.' Also any who wanted to SNIPE in the final seconds -just think about them scrambling to get their cards out of their wallets and enter the numbers fast enough, basically impossible.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoThere was no need for this new scheme to forestall non payers.
Why couldn't ebay just crack down on non paying buyers period? Much like some other sites where you don't pay 3 times and you're off the site. And as far as "they just make another ID", if ebay can stop sellers opening another ID when they wish do NOT tell me they can't do the same thing to buyers.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoSo if a buyer ID is forced into this payment info first thing, can a seller override that by checking that they do NOT require that, or is the buyer stuck with it regardless?
I'd love ebay to answer why they limit the payment options to either PayPal or a cc after tooting their horn so loudly about all the other options buyers would have to pay under MP.
PP Credit and Pay x 4 I can (possibly) understand as I've heard that option can sometimes be rejected by PP at checkout anyway.
ittybitnot
·3 years agoSo if a buyer ID is forced into this payment info first thing, can a seller override that by checking that they do NOT require that, or is the buyer stuck with it regardless?
@toomuchstuffagain35
Yes, a seller can elect NOT to use it. The "stuck" buyer would be able to bid or offer in a normal fashion WITH THAT SELLER. It would be most useful for those sellers that would like to invite multiple sales from the same buyer, and do not live in fear of an NPB. It might be a good selling point: Buyer Friendly, Combined Shipping, no upfront payment source required!!!
The buyer ID, unfortunately remains in the program and is going to face the same problem with sellers who do not elect to change the defaults. As stated, sellers were never informed that these default settings were applied to their accounts, and wonder why they are no longer getting (m)any OFFERS or BIDS.
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
Buyer Payment Requirements
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoIt would have been nice if ebay had ONLY applied these terms to buyers who have a history of nonpayment.
But that's probably above the pay grade of most of their coders (or the folks responsible for these decisions).
ittybitnot
·3 years agoI'd love ebay to answer why they limit the payment options to either PayPal or a cc after tooting their horn so loudly about all the other options buyers would have to pay under MP.
@toomuchstuffagain35
LOL. A good buyer experience apparently is overridden by the opportunity to make more money.
gurlcat
·3 years agoDon't forget, NO SNIPING unless they had already entered a bid earlier in the auction and provided the payment account then (and I'm not even sure that would work, because the snipe bid would obviously be higher, so would you have to re-authorize?). I dread the day I get rolled in, because I use a sniper BOT, and unless that company can figure out a way to pre-authorize my payment on my behalf, it will be utterly useless. In fact I think I might reach out to them ask if they have any kind of plan, because they rely on premium membership revenues, so they must be getting some cancellations already.
gurlcat
·3 years agoMy most recent auction which ended 5 days ago had such a shockingly low winning bid, I literally gasped when I saw it. And I knew almost immediately it must be from people who wanted to bid getting stifled by the payment popup thing. So I went to my preferences and unchecked that puppy immediately.
Here's how I get the idea that the item should have sold much higher. It was a mixed lot of vintage jewelry including some signed by popular collectible designers. I sell these all the time, but in various sizes of lots and "caliber" of desirability. So I found the most recent one with about the same size/caliber, which ended June 9th, almost exactly two months ago.
It had:
347 views
29 bids
Winning bid of $197.50
But the one that ended August 7 had:
408 views
13 bids
Winning bid of $67.00
So, it's not like the more recent one drew less interest, in fact it got considerably more views than the other one, but look at the difference in NUMBER OF BIDS.
tobaccocardyahoo
·3 years agoYou've got history on this site.
I felt things were slow during July and August. I checked my sales history and they were slow last July and August too.
In fact my sales in 2023 are slightly better than 2022. Sure does not feel that way, but the graphs show similar month to month patterns.
Looks like some people got some bargains on your auctions, but folks who collect some of those made to be collected books are really sensitive to a bad economy. And prices have been off their peaks for quite a while.
We all are seeing some books which no longer sell, or sell for the prices they did before.
keziak
OP3 years agoBook sales usually pick up in August. Doing great on Amazon. But I have less listed now so no wonder I am making less overall. Just looking at all the unlisted stuff and wondering what to do (hubby says "bonfire?").
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoLOL the "other halves" can be so helpful regarding ebay inventory sometimes.
inhawaii
·3 years agoYou shouldn't have sellers remorse.
Making a little money is better than making no money at all.
At my full time job, the owner's wife likes to mark things up so much that people will no longer buy them.
She would rather price something that costs us $50 at $100 and sell none than $75 and sell 10.
nick101902
·3 years agoI only had remorse in the beginning, I sold my personal collection. every piece I sold hurt. After that it became a business, now I just want peoples money lol
Good luck
luckythewinner
·3 years agoYou have seller's remorse because you sold someone else's items at fire sale prices?
Imagine how the person who trusted you to sell their items must feel! 🤣
keziak
OP3 years agowell they definitely got more for the stuff than in a book sale so there's that.
luckythewinner
·3 years agoBut perhaps they could have gotten more from another seller who was motivated by the owner's interests rather than one who was motivated by getting a quick sale before the commission ended.