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SMART BEST OFFER Are there any other sellers that want this to stop or has everyone given up?
I have fought with eBay for over two years to "opt out" of their Smart Best Offer program. I have been an eBay member for 17+ years. I am a Top Rated seller with 100% positive feedback. I suppose I am considered a "casual" seller in their eyes with 35-40 sales per month. I have made 45 calls to complain about this practice of modifying my prices by adding Best Offer. I have spoken to supervisors, filled out surveys and answered the "questionnaires" on numerous pages. I have contacted the eBay Business Page on Facebook. I have started conversations here on the community forums (which for some reason are no longer accessible).
Since there are so few references to Smart Best Offer on eBay community pages, does that mean it is no longer an issue? Has eBay "broken" sellers and convinced them that nothing will (or can) be done about this? I'd like to hear from other sellers that want this practice to stop, as well as any actions they have taken. Even sellers that have not been bullied by eBay are welcome to chime in - after all, you may be next! In fact, maybe eBay should start doing this to EVERY seller. That alone should generate a response large enough to overturn their policy. Does anyone recall the short-lived sale price policy where an item had to be listed at a fixed price for two weeks before it could be added to a sale? Overwhelming response was AGAINST it and it was soon discontinued.
Since their research "proves" Best Offer increase sales and makes more money for sellers, how about having Best Offer on eBay's overpriced shipping supplies?
Any guidance we provide as part of our Services, such as pricing, shipping, listing, and sourcing is solely informational and you may decide to follow it or not.
The above sentence is from section 2 paragraph 2 of the eBay User Agreement.
Providing guidance That would be SUGGESTING that adding Best Offer, offering free shipping, adding more or better photos, revising the description, lowering the price etc, may result in a sale.
Once I have listed an item I have already decided to NOT FOLLOW those suggestions, and when eBay performs the action of actually changing the price by adding Best Offer it is most certainly NOT "solely informational"!
I refuse to believe that this policy can't be modified by the actions of eBay's only customers - it's sellers. I've made my last phone call concerning this policy and have just printed out a Cease and Desist Demand Letter. I'd be happy to share this letter with any interested sellers. Although in itself it has no legal "teeth" it may get the attention of someone with intelligence at eBay. This is the perfect scenario for a class action lawsuit - many parties with similar grievances that can't afford an expensive legal battle. But alas almost every seller is banned from participating in one thanks to eBay's cowardly decision to "say they're not allowed" coupled with a bad US Supreme Court decision that allows cowardly Fortune 500 corporations to do exactly that.
However, maybe sellers could share legal resources to obtain a Cease and Desist ORDER which does have the teeth of the law along with possible financial penalties if the order is ignored. Perhaps sellers could share a legal resource to represent us in the arbitration process? Although each case is heard independently, a winning strategy could be devised by a single lawyer that represents several sellers in each of their own arbitration cases. I want to hear from others that think this is possible. Let's discuss this...Don't be shy!
Of course no talk of legally challenging eBay in any form would be complete without a mention of the
R word.
If a company is big enough to bully you continuously, violate their own user agreement, ignore reasonable requests and create a legal climate that favors themselves, could they do more? Could they Retaliate?
Yes. Yes they could. And like Mission Impossible self-destructing smoking tapes, all knowledge of their actions will be disavowed by anyone with authority up to and including the CEO:
Perhaps it won't get that bizarre, but that doesn't mean your "Partner" won't retaliate in other ways. Just sayin'.
mcrhubarb
·1 year agoThis just happened to me, eBay claimed the super smart best offer is placed on items that have been listed for more than 4 months internally by eBay to help you sell your items faster. I didn't agree to this. This item didn't even have the best offer activated. If they are doing this to sellers what's the point of coming up with a fair or reasonable price?