eBay

atobing · ‎07-13-2021

Hi all

I start noticing a new trick from sellers on eBay. They start sending buyer an offer for an item in the watchlist after increasing the price. For example:
1. I added a $100 item (with 'Make Offer' option) to my Watchlist using my PC and leave the page open.
2. Suddenly I received seller's offer on my eBay app saying the the seller of the above item offered a reduced price from $150 to $125. Sounds good, eh?
3. When I opened the item detail in the app, the price is now $150 along with seller offer $25 - hence the price became $125. How generous!
4. I compared the price from on PC screen to the price of the same item in my app and notice how the seller tried to fool item watchers.

Be careful, guys...

mudshark61369 · ‎07-13-2021

@atobing,

"I added a $100 item (with 'Make Offer' option) to my Watchlist using my PC and leave the page open. Suddenly I received seller's offer on my eBay app saying the the seller of the above item offered a reduced price from $150 to $125. When I opened the item detail in the app, the price is now $150 along with seller offer $25 - hence the price became $125"

After receiving the offer on the app, did you refresh the page on your PC? If not, and this was an item listed by several sellers you may have received an offer from a different seller whose item you looked at.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

atobing · ‎07-13-2021

mudshark61369 I did....

varebelrose · ‎07-13-2021

Thats as basic of a sales technique as there is.... and was probably being done in ancient Rome by the chariot sellers.

mudshark61369 · ‎07-13-2021

@atobing,

You did which? Refresh the listing on your PC and/or check to see if the offer was from the same seller?

If it was the same seller and they upped the price before sending the offer, check the listing for a revision on your PC. If there was a revision of the price the day the offer was sent, the seller is violating policy and needs to be reported. Since you have posted your issue on the U.S. based site (ebay.com) how you report the seller may be different on your home site (ebay.au) the Australian site. You may want to login to that site and post your topic there and ask how to report the seller.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

varebelrose · ‎07-13-2021

" If there was a revision of the price the day the offer was sent, the seller is violating policy"

Which policy does that violate, out of curiosity? A seller can change the price of an item for sale at any time, up or down.

mudshark61369 · ‎07-13-2021

@varebelrose,

It is against the law in many places to raise the price of an item then put it On Sale at the original lower price, It is a form of false advertising and if it was allowed to happen there would be no actual "Sales" on items. I doubt ebay would take kindly to sellers doing that.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

varebelrose · ‎07-13-2021

I seriously doubt that is illegal; its very common practice. Do you claim there is a set time period between when a seller raises the price of something and when he is allowed by law to reduce the price? Not just on e-Bay; everywhere from grocery stores to car dealerships and furniture stores do it. It would be interesting to see an adopted legal statute that says this is actually against the law.

As far as eBay goes, I do not recall ever seeing anything that said sellers could not adjust their prices as they see fit, nor limit how they market items via sales or promotions. Like many other sellers, if an item sat without selling long enough, I found that raising the price would often result in a sale, even without running a promotional sale.

Please note that I am not trying to argue nor defend the practice in general, just discussing.

doc-holmes · ‎07-13-2021

@varebelrose wrote:
I seriously doubt that is illegal; its very common practice. Do you claim there is a set time period between when a seller raises the price of something and when he is allowed by law to reduce the price? Not just on e-Bay; everywhere from grocery stores to car dealerships and furniture stores do it. It would be interesting to see an adopted legal statute that says this is actually against the law.

As far as eBay goes, I do not recall ever seeing anything that said sellers could not adjust their prices as they see fit, nor limit how they market items via sales or promotions. Like many other sellers, if an item sat without selling long enough, I found that raising the price would often result in a sale, even without running a promotional sale.

Please note that I am not trying to argue nor defend the practice in general, just discussing.

I don't know about the US, but it's illegal here in Canada. A major retailer here got hit with big fines a few years ago for that practice. Now, does an ebay store fall under the same rules? I don't know.

chanyuc · ‎07-13-2021

Hmm interesting. I heard it's illegal when you bought it, but then seller cancelled it just to raise the price. Unsure about watched items. Small portion of these sellers ruin it for the rest. I want to hear a follow up.

popblox · ‎07-13-2021

@doc-holmes wrote:
@varebelrose wrote:
I seriously doubt that is illegal; its very common practice. Do you claim there is a set time period between when a seller raises the price of something and when he is allowed by law to reduce the price? Not just on e-Bay; everywhere from grocery stores to car dealerships and furniture stores do it. It would be interesting to see an adopted legal statute that says this is actually against the law.

As far as eBay goes, I do not recall ever seeing anything that said sellers could not adjust their prices as they see fit, nor limit how they market items via sales or promotions. Like many other sellers, if an item sat without selling long enough, I found that raising the price would often result in a sale, even without running a promotional sale.

Please note that I am not trying to argue nor defend the practice in general, just discussing.
I don't know about the US, but it's illegal here in Canada. A major retailer here got hit with big fines a few years ago for that practice. Now, does an ebay store fall under the same rules? I don't know.

While sellers can 'charge whatever they want' in accordance with the First Sale Doctrine, there are FTC Guides Against Deceptive Pricing in the U.S. that actually do prohibit the practices outlined by the OP. The actual penalties vary state by state, but the starting point for enforcement would be filing a report.

I've also been highly frustrated with sellers that do this - the one that always gets my knickers in a twist is when they add a shipping charge, so at first glance the price looks the same. The key difference in this and (perfectly legal) outrageous pricing is the attempt to deceive the consumer.

ed8108 · ‎07-13-2021

@varebelrose wrote:
...., if an item sat without selling long enough, I found that raising the price would often result in a sale,....

Interesting advice to increase buyer purchasing.

lacemaker3 · ‎07-13-2021

"If it doesn't sell, raise the price."

I agree, this is a well known marketing approach, and has been much discussed. I'm sure there are nuances of doing this to avoid deceptive advertising legislations.

https://www.google.com/search?q=if+it+doesn%27t+sell%2C+raise+the+price&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&oq=...

The FTC guidelines that were posted earlier, include text that clarified when a raised price might or might not be held to be "fictitious". It's not a slam-dunk, and not a blanket prohibition.

https://www.lawpublish.com/ftc-decprice.html

"(b) A former price is not necessarily fictitious merely because no sales at the advertised price were made. The advertiser should be especially careful, however, in such a case, that the price is one at which the product was openly and actively offered for sale, for a reasonably substantial period of time, in the recent, regular course of his business, honestly and in good faith -- and, of course, not for the purpose of establishing a fictitious higher price on which a deceptive comparison might be based. And the advertiser should scrupulously avoid any implication that a former price is a selling, not an asking price (for example, by use of such language as, ``Formerly sold at $XXX''), unless substantial sales at that price were actually made."

lacemaker3 · ‎07-13-2021

I should have said:

"Just raising the price itself, does not appear to violate the FTC guidelines that were posted earlier. They include text that clarifies when a comparison to a higher price might or might not be held to be deceptive and the higher price "fictitious". It's not a slam-dunk, and there isn't a blanket prohibition."