Offers

[gunslinger***]

Why, all of a sudden, am I required to log into Paypal to make an offer on an item??

[stainlessenginecovers]

Because offers require 'pre payment' before making that offer. This way, when the seller accepts, they are paid and item is on it's way. 

Sellers can choose whether to be 'opted' into this or not; but there were simply too many people making offers that were accepted and then not paying. 

[myfrugalboutique]

Offers do not require pre-payment, they require a payment method if the offer is accepted. 

[ittybitnot]

Why, all of a sudden, am I required to log into Paypal to make an offer on an item??

@gunslinger*** 

It is your lucky day!  eBay has auto enrolled your buyer ID into this program.   You can read more about it here: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-Requesting-Payment-UP-Front-when-submitting-Offers-to/m-p/...

[gunslinger***]

Thank you.

I went through with it this afternoon, and got the offer in.

It's just frustrating, every time I turn around, buying AND selling, that Ebay throws up another roadblock. It's like they are trying to discourage sales.

I've been a member, with the same payment method, for 20 years. So today, having to verify what is already on record, seemed pointless. It would have been much easier if they could have told me WHY they were asking me to do this.

[buyselljack2016]

@gunslinger*** 

It is not so much the fact that you have a "payment method", but what is happening is that you are "pre-authorizing" the amount of the offer to be taken immediately from that payment method if the offer is accepted by the seller.

[mudshark61369]

@gunslinger***,

"I've been a member, with the same payment method, for 20 years. So today, having to verify what is already on record, seemed pointless. It would have been much easier if they could have told me WHY they were asking me to do this".

This started out in 2021 as a test, where random buyers were asked to provide a payment method that would be immediately charged if an offer was accepted.  Now it seems that without an announcement it has become a fixed policy.  It has nothing to do with your reliability as a buyer or seller.

"It's just frustrating, every time I turn around, buying AND selling, that Ebay throws up another roadblock. It's like they are trying to discourage sales".

It looks like as a seller you either auction your items or list them as Buy It Now without the Best Offer feature.  However, if you go to your Buyer requirements "Managing who can buy from you"  page and scroll down past the usual requirements you may find that under the Buyer payment requirements header,  the Box next to Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer, has been checked for you by ebay. 

[ittybitnot]

 It's like they are trying to discourage sales.

@gunslinger*** 

They are not trying to discourage sales altogether, but they are indeed preventing multiple sales from the same seller for a combined shipping charge.  That option has been removed since all sales now become individual transactions with full shipping, taxes, and the like.  eBay makes more money.  

The seller pays more fees on all that shipping/taxes plus .30 each for ten transactions instead on one combined.   Personally, I won't make offers anymore at all, or for multiple items from the same seller UNLESS I switch IDs.  My other ID has not yet been enrolled in this buyer punishment program, so I am still good to go for combined shipping regardless of the seller's default to yes setting placed by eBay. 

[offtrackthoroughbred]

I just now bailed out of a "make offer".  Why should I trust eBay with pre-authorization to pay for something?  Ebay doesn't trust me; I don't trust eBay!  My mother taught me better than that.

[house*of*paws]

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@offtrackthoroughbred wrote:

I just now bailed out of a "make offer".  Why should I trust eBay with pre-authorization to pay for something?  Ebay doesn't trust me; I don't trust eBay!  My mother taught me better than that.

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What would you be trusting eBay to do with your 'preauthorizing' a payment?  

But anyway ... refusing to make any more offers is certainly a valid response to requiring preauthorization.  There are consequences to all decisions.

[dcmotorsportsplus]

i only have one issue with this, as i sometimes use the Paypal Pay in 4 Plan, and thats not an Option with when i make an offer. 

[femmefan1946]

As a seller I am very wary of this program.

As a buyer if I were to make a serious offer on several items, I would consider sending a Message rather than the Offers, so that the seller can combine shipping and make me a Special Listing.

It won't happen, but it would be one way to avoid being overcharged on combined shipping that the seller cannot discount.

Another thought.

The seller can counter offer with a much lower prices that adjusts the shipping cost.

But it all gets too complicated for what should be a See/Want/ Offer/Accept /Pay system.

[scepter19]

This is a ridiculous new requirement.   It's like going into a store, and you ask the clerk if an item is on sale.   And they say, "I refuse to answer your question unless I run your credit card first."   I personally trust eBay's security, but it seems strange and makes people nervous when you have use PayPal just to ask a seller about his prices.

[house*of*paws]

@scepter19 

We aren’t ever required to provide any information to ask any seller a question.

Some sellers require payment information to make a formal offer on an item.

[maxine*j]

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@scepter19 wrote:

This is a ridiculous new requirement.   It's like going into a store, and you ask the clerk if an item is on sale.   And they say, "I refuse to answer your question unless I run your credit card first."   I personally trust eBay's security, but it seems strange and makes people nervous when you have use PayPal just to ask a seller about his prices.

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Well, it is the result of buyer behavior.  Too many so-called buyers made offers, seller accepted the offers and took their items off the market, only to find that the so-called buyers did not pay and probably never intended to -- they were just messing around "asking about prices."

Is the new system flawed?  Yes, it is.  And some opt out of it.  But other sellers are glad to see it, thinking it is less flawed that the previous system which allowed game-players and time-wasters to give them big headaches.

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