A coupon was added without my consent.. what to do?

[flp]

Good Morning,

I listed an item today and when I viewed it, I noticed that a coupon had been attached to it.

--it was for 15% off with a name (klarnaus)  I didn't recognize.

--it didn't have that string of numbers and letters but was a name

--it also was offering to be paid in 4 installments which I don't offer

--I have not offered coupons in several years

--I immediately took it down so it's no longer showing

 Is there anything to do or is this a glitch?  Thanks.

[luckythewinner]

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@flp wrote:

Good Morning,

I listed an item today and when I viewed it, I noticed that a coupon had been attached to it.

--it was for 15% off with a name (klarnaus)  I didn't recognize.

--it didn't have that string of numbers and letters but was a name

--it also was offering to be paid in 4 installments which I don't offer

--I have not offered coupons in several years

--I immediately took it down so it's no longer showing

 Is there anything to do or is this a glitch?  Thanks.

---

This is not a glitch, it is a lack of understanding on your part. 

eBay managed payments is a middleman. When a buyer pays for your item, that payment transaction is an agreement between the buyer and eBay managed payments, not an agreement between you and the buyer.

The 'pay in four installments" offer is an offer to the buyer from eBay managed payments, and has nothing to do with you as the seller. You will be paid in full by eBay managed payments just like any other transaction. 

When someone buys a house, they don't make mortgage payments to the seller, they make them to the bank who lent them the money. The seller gets paid in full up front. 

[flp]

Thank you for your answer regarding the 4 payments.  I still don't understand how a coupon can be offered when I don't give coupons.

[jonathanbrightlight]

It's not your coupon.  It's eBay's.  And they're covering the savings offered by the coupon. You still get the same amount from the sale as you would without the coupon.

[wastingtime101]

There's nothing to do here @flp .

eBay is sponsoring a coupon to promote Klarna as a payment method.

https://pages.ebay.com/coupon/2025/fsi/klarnaus/

Any discount on the buyer's end is not taken from your payout.

[flp]

Thank you for the link.  It just seems strange to me that eBay would lose money to promote a payment method.  I'll relist tomorrow.  

[valueaddedresource]

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@flp wrote:

Thank you for the link.  It just seems strange to me that eBay would lose money to promote a payment method.  I'll relist tomorrow.  

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@flp  not so strange when you consider that eBay just recently expanded their partnership with Klarna to the US marketplace in April and that being able to report a positive launch/healthy buyer adoption on the next earnings report is ultimately worth far more to eBay than the ~5-10% they're out on a few orders. 😉

Like other discounts they give out to goose other important financial metrics like Enthusiast Buyers or ad revenue, it's honestly kind of a shell game - but the current CEO has gotten away with it and investors seem to gobble up the "good news" without asking too many questions about acquisition costs and ROI so, I predict the targeted discounts to prop up earnings reports will continue until morale improves.

[adamcartwright]

@flp 

People do use these payment plans to spread payments out over a number of paychecks. I think eBay is hoping it will bring in business, and let's hope it does.

[jonathanbrightlight]

I have no idea if this is true in this case, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Klarna was covering part or all of the coupon discounts. Not guaranteed, but it seems like it would be relatively cheap advertising for them.

[valueaddedresource]

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@jonathanbrightlight wrote:

I have no idea if this is true in this case, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Klarna was covering part or all of the coupon discounts. Not guaranteed, but it seems like it would be relatively cheap advertising for them.

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@jonathanbrightlight the T&C says eBay is funding it...but it's also entirely possible Klarna is giving eBay a break on processing fees or some other consideration besides direct funding.

[jonathanbrightlight]

@valueaddedresource  Nice find!

[toomuchstuffagain35]

They can already do that with Paypal 'pay x 4' but of course ebay doesn't like offering that on the ones where you make an offer and don't get to choose how you pay.

[gloryglorygifts]

@valueaddedresource gives a great breakdown of what it is but I want to add that Khlarna is awesome and I know many people that use it, including myself. It's a great selling point for us sellers, so I'm announcing it all over my social media accounts. I think it will bring in customers, especially since I don't believe Amazon offers it. They don't even entertain Paypal. 

[flp]

Thanks...good information

[luckythewinner]

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@flp wrote:

Thank you for the link.  It just seems strange to me that eBay would lose money to promote a payment method.  I'll relist tomorrow.  

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Not strange to me at all. 

Way back when Venmo gave me $50 just to start a Venmo account and use it once. My bank gave me $300 to open a checking account and use it for a single direct deposit. 

These businesses no doubt have statistics that show that customer acquisition is worth the cost in the long run, so your statement that they are "losing money" may not be statistically accurate.