Competitors Pricing Items Way Too Low and Driving Down the Selling Prices of Items

[consolidatingkinsman]

I've noticed a trend of a lot of sellers posting items for sale way below trending selling prices, which is driving the prices of a lof of the items I sell much lower.  I have messaged a couple of sellers regarding competitive pricing and trying not to drive down the prices of items, but have gotten no response when I have messaged.  I really wich other sellers would pay attention to the trending prices and price completitivley, instead of just trying to make a quick buck and driving down profits.  I see no way these sellers could possibly be purchasing these items, if they were they would be losing money.  I guess I'm just wondering if other sellers have been experiencing this problem?  

[jason_incognito]

there might be 10 people willing to pay the higher price. I have 100 pieces.  If I price them all at a high price, I can slowly sell a few. Then when the sales drop off I can drop the price and repeat. 

Or 

I can realize I paid $1 each, price them at $4, give quantity discounts and combine shipping to move the entire 1000 pieces in a couple weeks. I can then take the extra $1000 I made and start all over.

It allowed me to be in a position to buy 6 month old laptops for $50 from a company that had gone belly up.  They had all been wiped clean, but even with that I still made a killing. 

[mistwomandancing]

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@tunicaslotwrote:

I think she was referring too the liar liar pants on fire comment.

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Oh.. lol

But HE wasn't name calling, even then.   He said, "and for the folks that say thats not true liar liar liar pants on fire.."

Yeah, the disagreeing and back and forth here is worth gold as a learning platform.   Hearing the various thoughts members have on each subject is helpful in making sure we consider something  fully before making our own decisions on a subject.

[castlemagicmemories]

OP, price setting is not going to be something all sellers will agree on.  Needs and decisions vary.  You cannot expect to control this.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@consolidatingkinsmanwrote:

I've contacted them to let them know what the trending prices have been, and that they could be making much more off of a product by pricing it within a few dollars of their competitors. I'm not sure if they are just new to selling on Ebay, or just don't understand that they could still make a sale and potentially earn a lot more for their item. For example, It's on new beauty items that may retail for say $60 and normally sell on Ebay for about $36, and they have priced it at $20 or even lower.

From some of the responses I received I think that my contacting them was greatly misunderstood.

I appreciate your insight and experience about my question.

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OP,  I know you thought you were being helpful, but from the seller's perspective, you may have seemed to be meddling in their business and questioning their decisions~~and that was not taken kindly.  They may have felt that was vastly inappropriate and offensive.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@consolidatingkinsmanwrote:

I've contacted them to let them know what the trending prices have been, and that they could be making much more off of a product by pricing it within a few dollars of their competitors. I'm not sure if they are just new to selling on Ebay, or just don't understand that they could still make a sale and potentially earn a lot more for their item. For example, It's on new beauty items that may retail for say $60 and normally sell on Ebay for about $36, and they have priced it at $20 or even lower.

From some of the responses I received I think that my contacting them was greatly misunderstood.

I appreciate your insight and experience about my question.

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OP,  I know you thought you were being helpful, although with not entirely altruistic motives, but from the seller's perspective, you may have seemed to be meddling in their business and questioning their decisions~~and that was not taken kindly.  They may have felt that was vastly inappropriate and offensive.  They may have felt it was really none of your business.

[mistwomandancing]

Absolutely!  

Another point to keep in mind is this:   If it is just the one or two sellers *undercutting* many others who sell at the 'higher price'   then those one or two sellers will dump their low-priced merchandise quickly and be out of everyone else's hair, so the prices will be back to showing at the higher prices again, and that will be that.

But, if there are sellers who are continually selling at that lower price...  then that lesser price becomes the current trending price for the item.   Prices rise and prices fall.  And when enough retailers are selling in a market at lower prices, then they set the new trending level, which others meet or risk failure.   I found out many years ago that success in sales wasn't as easy as I'd though originally, and it was far more fluid than I'd ever imagined! 

[timemachine777]

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@consolidatingkinsmanwrote:

I've noticed a trend of a lot of sellers posting items for sale way below trending selling prices, which is driving the prices of a lof of the items I sell much lower.  I have messaged a couple of sellers regarding competitive pricing and trying not to drive down the prices of items, but have gotten no response when I have messaged.  I really wich other sellers would pay attention to the trending prices and price completitivley, instead of just trying to make a quick buck and driving down profits.  I see no way these sellers could possibly be purchasing these items, if they were they would be losing money.  I guess I'm just wondering if other sellers have been experiencing this problem?  

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Putting aside five finger discounted goods. You have a lot of sellers being trained right now by eBay, for a race to the bottom. Unless you sell your stuff dirt cheap, you will not be seen in the product catalogs. This is the way it'll be pretty much when the new product based platform is launched later this year. 

[billythekid16]

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@castlemagicmemorieswrote:

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@consolidatingkinsmanwrote:

I've contacted them to let them know what the trending prices have been, and that they could be making much more off of a product by pricing it within a few dollars of their competitors. I'm not sure if they are just new to selling on Ebay, or just don't understand that they could still make a sale and potentially earn a lot more for their item. For example, It's on new beauty items that may retail for say $60 and normally sell on Ebay for about $36, and they have priced it at $20 or even lower.

From some of the responses I received I think that my contacting them was greatly misunderstood.

I appreciate your insight and experience about my question.

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OP,  I know you thought you were being helpful, but from the seller's perspective, you may have seemed to be meddling in their business and questioning their decisions~~and that was not taken kindly.  They may have felt that was vastly inappropriate and offensive.

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And it would not be a surprise if any or all of those sellers promptly put the OP on their BBLs, figuring this is a malicious competitor who could buy their items (and not pay for weeks) just to "get them out of the way."

[nowthatsjustducky]

If it is any consolation, an item I listed yesterday on my main account drove the trending price up instead of down.

It was a Toys R Us talking Geoffrey Giraffe.  I listed it yesterday at $49.95 plus shipping, and it sold a few hours later (making me wonder if I priced it too low).  If you search on solds now for that one, sorted by price+shipping highest first, you will see it is at the top of the list, with the next one down being for less than half of what mine sold for.

And scrolling further down, I see many that went for far far less than even that.  Guess this shows that a seller's intuition is often a better price indicator than what sold searches show, eh?

[castlemagicmemories]

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@billythekid16wrote:

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@castlemagicmemorieswrote:

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@consolidatingkinsmanwrote:

I've contacted them to let them know what the trending prices have been, and that they could be making much more off of a product by pricing it within a few dollars of their competitors. I'm not sure if they are just new to selling on Ebay, or just don't understand that they could still make a sale and potentially earn a lot more for their item. For example, It's on new beauty items that may retail for say $60 and normally sell on Ebay for about $36, and they have priced it at $20 or even lower.

From some of the responses I received I think that my contacting them was greatly misunderstood.

I appreciate your insight and experience about my question.

---

OP,  I know you thought you were being helpful, but from the seller's perspective, you may have seemed to be meddling in their business and questioning their decisions~~and that was not taken kindly.  They may have felt that was vastly inappropriate and offensive.

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And it would not be a surprise if any or all of those sellers promptly put the OP on their BBLs, figuring this is a malicious competitor who could buy their items (and not pay for weeks) just to "get them out of the way."

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Yes, that might be a very valid next step that was taken, in view of the circumstances.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@nowthatsjustduckywrote:

If it is any consolation, an item I listed yesterday on my main account drove the trending price up instead of down.

It was a Toys R Us talking Geoffrey Giraffe.  I listed it yesterday at $49.95 plus shipping, and it sold a few hours later (making me wonder if I priced it too low).  If you search on solds now for that one, sorted by price+shipping highest first, you will see it is at the top of the list, with the next one down being for less than half of what mine sold for.

And scrolling further down, I see many that went for far far less than even that.  Guess this shows that a seller's intuition is often a better price indicator than what sold searches show, eh?

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Congrats on the sale!  Possibly the ones before you that sold for far less were before the news that Toys R Us is going out of business, and that recent news made yours far more desirable.

[tunicaslot]

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Putting aside five finger discounted goods. You have a lot of sellers being trained right now by eBay, for a race to the bottom. Unless you sell your stuff dirt cheap, you will not be seen in the product catalogs. This is the way it'll be pretty much when the new product based platform is launched later this year. 

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They may be following Ebay's directives - I agree - but how long are they going to last? Once their product is gone or they realize how much they are losing - they'll increase their prices too so they can make a profit.

[newnewnewmann]

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@consolidatingkinsmanwrote:

 I have messaged a couple of sellers regarding competitive pricing and trying not to drive down the prices of items, but have gotten no response when I have messaged.

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Why would anyone answer you?

If I received a message from a stranger lecturing me on my business and prices, honestly, my first thought would be -- I guess the guy is desperate, poor fellow, he can't run his own business and wants to tell me how to run mine.

[percgrabbe-0]

In general the OP doesnt understand some sellers can get merch to sell cheaper than he can whether its a store closeout or a flea market or whatever.

[nowthatsjustducky]

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@squinkercat59wrote:

So, I buy a box of widgets at an estate sale for ten bucks. There are 50 widgets in there. They're currently selling for 20$ each on Ebay. I'm going to list them at $8, because it's still a huge profit for me, and I want to move them. You're saying I have to price them at $20 because everyone else is? Maybe everyone else has OVER paid. Just sayin'.

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Well if said items are consistantly going for $20, why rip yourself off $12 per item, when chances are you will also get $20 each in the same amount of time it would take to get $8 each.  Why leave a significant amount of money on the table when you don't have to?