Discussion: The Modern Buyer: How Baby Boomers and Generation Xers Shop Now

[scene.of.the.crop]

Hi, everyone!

We’ve posted our next installment in “The Modern Buyer” blog series where we are exploring the current global shopping habits of the baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1980)—two generational groups that pioneered eBay in 1995.  As part of our four-part blog series that started earlier this month, we’re continuing to dive deep into the shopping experience today’s buyers expect, and what this means for eBay sellers. Let us know how are you thinking about the direction for your business in the short and long term as it relates to new buying behaviors.

I’m Jennifer Deal, eBay Seller Marketing Manager, and I’ll be popping in and out of this thread to answer your questions over the next couple of days. We also did a Facebook Live discussion on this topic, be sure to check it out:

Join the discussion below!

[vintagecraze50]

Regarding the warning messages, I had a buyer ask for a price reduction on an item that had just gone off sale to be relisted again. FLASH warning comes up when I meassage them back telling them that it is a fixed price and we cannot do a reduction. Message was sent so buyer does not waste their time on this item if they cannot afford it, and to go on to another seller if they want. Another example of how these warnings are coming up with ZERO intent on sellers part to do a transaction off Ebay. If this keeps up I will be downsizing my  excellent customer service by  not responding to these messages and perhaps be loosing sales as a result. 

[mikescuriouscurios]

  As much as I'd like to see a senior discount too (love the one at my local Goodwill) the three biggest problems I see are abuse in 1. How do you confirm someone's age without getting too personal or requesting photo ID.   "On the internet noone knows if you're a dog." 2. If grandma IS a senior who's to say when the grandkids come over to visit they don't take advantage of her ebay account to buy that latest video game (for themselves that is).

  Even a frequent flyer program, doesn't work well on the internet since you don't really know if it is an entire college dorm or frat house using one ID.

  Basing it on a credit card or paypal account level would probably have the best chance of success.

Forgive is this has already been adressed read pgs 1-5 then skipped to 10.

 AS far as the most recent generation of buyers, which we cater to in many of our listings, we've come to call them the "instant gratification" or "buy it now" generation. They don't mind paying more to get it quicker (the AtoZ way of thinking - gee, they COULD be on to something you think?) and why we have our shipping set to 1 day (we'd go 0 day if we could manage it 100% consistantly, but with short staff,  stuff happens and it's not worth the penalty) and we also almost always offer overnight shipping which gets selected more frequently than you would imagine. Would be REALLY nice if Eb actually started offering the Guaranteed Delivery to ALL sellers who want it now. because we've been doing it since day 1 anyway!! Like I said this is the "Get it to me NOW!" generation, you proposed it almost a year ago, so when are you finally going to step up to the plate Ebay?

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@mikescuriouscurios wrote:

  As much as I'd like to see a senior discount too (love the one at my local Goodwill) the three biggest problems I see are abuse in 1. How do you confirm someone's age without getting too personal or requesting photo ID.   "On the internet noone knows if you're a dog." 2. If grandma IS a senior who's to say when the grandkids come over to visit they don't take advantage of her ebay account to buy that latest video game (for themselves that is).

  Even a frequent flyer program, doesn't work well on the internet since you don't really know if it is an entire college dorm or frat house using one ID.

  Basing it on a credit card or paypal account level would probably have the best chance of success.

Forgive is this has already been adressed read pgs 1-5 then skipped to 10.

 AS far as the most recent generation of buyers, which we cater to in many of our listings, we've come to call them the "instant gratification" or "buy it now" generation. They don't mind paying more to get it quicker (the AtoZ way of thinking - gee, they COULD be on to something you think?) and why we have our shipping set to 1 day (we'd go 0 day if we could manage it 100% consistantly, but with short staff,  stuff happens and it's not worth the penalty) and we also almost always offer overnight shipping which gets selected more frequently than you would imagine. Would be REALLY nice if Eb actually started offering the Guaranteed Delivery to ALL sellers who want it now. because we've been doing it since day 1 anyway!! Like I said this is the "Get it to me NOW!" generation, you proposed it almost a year ago, so when are you finally going to step up to the plate Ebay?

---

That is an excellent point you brought up, though, how would the age confirmation occur?  While several on this thread, including myself, had that idea, which fits with the article, and anyway, who doesn't like a disoount? I don't think the implementation was considered.

I believe stores issued senior discount cards; if you bought frequently at a particular store, you got one of these cards to flash when you bought on the specified day.  

Maybe having a sign up program of some sort online would work so there was no abuse of the program.

Just some thoughts.

[sharingtheland]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@retrose1 wrote:

ebay does not.  Had a recent buyer that lives less than 3 miles from me and I sent an email after they paid asking if the wanted me to drop it off or meet someplace to pick it up and ebay censored it and sent me an off ebay transaction warning for trying to save the buyer a pile of shipping bucks.

@retrosel - This is a tough situation. Your intention was to help a nearby customer save on shipping and time but if your listing didn't offer local pickup then it does fall outside of the policy. 

---

Maybe this has already been addressed; I'm only on page 5 or 6 of this thread.  I'm sure rose has responded and I'll see it.   

But this was a paid and completed transaction.  So these warnings are sent for communications both before and after a sale?  There is no distinction?   What sense does that make?

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@sharingtheland wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@retrose1 wrote:

ebay does not.  Had a recent buyer that lives less than 3 miles from me and I sent an email after they paid asking if the wanted me to drop it off or meet someplace to pick it up and ebay censored it and sent me an off ebay transaction warning for trying to save the buyer a pile of shipping bucks.

@retrosel - This is a tough situation. Your intention was to help a nearby customer save on shipping and time but if your listing didn't offer local pickup then it does fall outside of the policy. 

---

Maybe this has already been addressed; I'm only on page 5 or 6 of this thread.  I'm sure rose has responded and I'll see it.   

But this was a paid and completed transaction.  So these warnings are sent for communications both before and after a sale?  There is no distinction?   What sense does that make?

---

Sherry, it has been said that warnings don't go out post sale but some have been receiving these warnings post sale as threads have attested to this.  The latest one was by gopete, but she was not the only one that has posted about this.  I brought this forward at Chat yesterday.  

I apologize again for leaving out the word out, when I said, this was NOT directed at you.  Without the word NOT, it said, it WAS directed at you, so I am so sorry about my typo!

[scene.of.the.crop]

---

@sharingtheland wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@retrose1 wrote:

ebay does not.  Had a recent buyer that lives less than 3 miles from me and I sent an email after they paid asking if the wanted me to drop it off or meet someplace to pick it up and ebay censored it and sent me an off ebay transaction warning for trying to save the buyer a pile of shipping bucks.

@retrosel - This is a tough situation. Your intention was to help a nearby customer save on shipping and time but if your listing didn't offer local pickup then it does fall outside of the policy. 

---

Maybe this has already been addressed; I'm only on page 5 or 6 of this thread.  I'm sure rose has responded and I'll see it.   

But this was a paid and completed transaction.  So these warnings are sent for communications both before and after a sale?  There is no distinction?   What sense does that make?

---

@sharingtheland

The specific case was that an email was sent to the buyer after they paid asking for arrangements for drop off or pick up of the item. I don't have the details of the listing but if local pick up was not offered, then the conversation is noticed because there is a  different process than what was set up in the listing. 

As @ittybittyattic pointed out in the thread (I once bought a pair of shoes from someone in my same town and found that they stuffed them in my mailbox. Wrapped in plastic bag. They pocketed the shipping) there are other scenarios where the intent is not on par. 

[gracieallen01]

gramophone-georg wrote:

"I also have to wonder if this way overly heavy handed response to attempts to do a job coupled with other things like forced IPR with no combined shipping resulting in the seller getting to pay full pop fees on shipping for each individual item with no workaround might just be FORCING more sales off eBay... out of sheer frustration with the rat maze of brick walls.

I don't understand how they don't understand."

I'm sure they do understand - they have teams working on this to find ways to monetize and stonewall workarounds (they don't have all those employees doing CS, now, so they?).

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@sockmonkeydave wrote:

@odditiesandantiquities1

It's not a matter of right or wrong, it is what the bots pickup.

ebay made the bots much more sensitive not that long ago, ebay does not give us the details.

Phone numbers, e-mail, and off ebay, are sure triggers 

physical address, talk of money, good bet on that.

---

Excellent points, Dave!  Thank you.

[sharingtheland]

---

@scene.of.the.crop wrote:

---

@sharingtheland wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@retrose1 wrote:

ebay does not.  Had a recent buyer that lives less than 3 miles from me and I sent an email after they paid asking if the wanted me to drop it off or meet someplace to pick it up and ebay censored it and sent me an off ebay transaction warning for trying to save the buyer a pile of shipping bucks.

@retrosel - This is a tough situation. Your intention was to help a nearby customer save on shipping and time but if your listing didn't offer local pickup then it does fall outside of the policy. 

---

Maybe this has already been addressed; I'm only on page 5 or 6 of this thread.  I'm sure rose has responded and I'll see it.   

But this was a paid and completed transaction.  So these warnings are sent for communications both before and after a sale?  There is no distinction?   What sense does that make?

---

@sharingtheland

The specific case was that an email was sent to the buyer after they paid asking for arrangements for drop off or pick up of the item. I don't have the details of the listing but if local pick up was not offered, then the conversation is noticed because there is a  different process than what was set up in the listing. 

As @ittybittyattic pointed out in the thread (I once bought a pair of shoes from someone in my same town and found that they stuffed them in my mailbox. Wrapped in plastic bag. They pocketed the shipping) there are other scenarios where the intent is not on par. 

---

With all due respect, I read your response as ebay does not want to lose the fee on shipping.  

[southern*sweet*tea]

Well, I'm no lawyer and I don't pretend to be one, but it all sounds like restraint of trade and/or tortious interference to me, both of which are illegal.  Not sure if it would apply to a third party marketplace, but still sketchy IMO.

If Ebay wants to keep sales on their marketplace by limiting communications that is their right, so they need to remove all means of communication between buyers and sellers. They cannot pick and choose IMO.

[gracieallen01]

---

@scene.of.the.crop wrote:

---

@sharingtheland wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@retrose1 wrote:

ebay does not.  Had a recent buyer that lives less than 3 miles from me and I sent an email after they paid asking if the wanted me to drop it off or meet someplace to pick it up and ebay censored it and sent me an off ebay transaction warning for trying to save the buyer a pile of shipping bucks.

@retrosel - This is a tough situation. Your intention was to help a nearby customer save on shipping and time but if your listing didn't offer local pickup then it does fall outside of the policy. 

---

Maybe this has already been addressed; I'm only on page 5 or 6 of this thread.  I'm sure rose has responded and I'll see it.   

But this was a paid and completed transaction.  So these warnings are sent for communications both before and after a sale?  There is no distinction?   What sense does that make?

---

@sharingtheland

The specific case was that an email was sent to the buyer after they paid asking for arrangements for drop off or pick up of the item. I don't have the details of the listing but if local pick up was not offered, then the conversation is noticed because there is a  different process than what was set up in the listing. 

As @ittybittyattic pointed out in the thread (I once bought a pair of shoes from someone in my same town and found that they stuffed them in my mailbox. Wrapped in plastic bag. They pocketed the shipping) there are other scenarios where the intent is not on par. 

---

What difference does it make to ebay if the sale is completed and the buyer and seller want to make different arrangements - AFTER THE FACT?  ebay has been paid.  paypal has been paid.  Just how much more interference does ebay want to cause?

[nawlinsron2]

It's the Your Customer Is My Customer in Perpetuity Doctrine

[sharingtheland]

@sharingtheland

The specific case was that an email was sent to the buyer after they paid asking for arrangements for drop off or pick up of the item. I don't have the details of the listing but if local pick up was not offered, then the conversation is noticed because there is a  different process than what was set up in the listing. 

From brian.t in Weekly Chat yesterday, 1-24:

Once a transaction is complete and payment has been made, you can share contact information with the seller in order to arrange payment. 

Can you see how sellers get confused?  Did brian.t mean "share contact information with the seller* in order to arrange pickup?"

Either way, he states that:  "Once a transation is complete and payment has been made, you can share contact information..."     No mention of bots trolling for words that indicate "different processes."

Other than ebay's fee on shipping, what difference would it make to ebay how the item was delivered to the buyer as long as it was satisfactory and beneficial for the buyer?  

Again, this is a respectfully submitted question on behalf of sellers who are mightily concerned.

*buyer ??

[terrycanarsky]

I have heard many sellers of niche products also know their customers well. The article will not apply to everyone but is food for thought. 

I would submit that this sentiment, that the article provides food for thought, does not apply with as much pertinence as eBay seems to believe.

As I have stated, I am at that cusp between the two groups being discussed.  A few of my friends practically have their mobile devices surgically implanted, they use them so much.  A few do not own a cell phone or, if they do, it's a flip phone which has no other utility other than making a phone call.  Those are the two far ends of the spectrum from BOTH demographic groups in my experience and knowledge.  The rest of us fall somewhere in between - and are much more likely to do research on our computers and then go to a brick and mortar store to make an actual purchase.  In some instances, we may order online.

Of the several hundreds of people I know, I cannot think of a single one who voluntarily visits eBay for anything, not even those who use their mobile for everything imaginable.  eBay has a horrid reputation for being clunky, glitchy, non-user friendly (in several ways, not just the tech end).  The mobile app is a hot mess.  The demographics groups you're looking at have a bit higher expectations of a business than eBay provides.

I would also submit that if eBay wants the sellers to think on this morass of old data collected into a single spot and erroneously presented as cutting edge research into e-commerce, perhaps surveying sellers for their tried-and-true "best practices" as well as what (perhaps) obstructs sales on the site would be far, far more pertinent and a better use of everyone's time and resources.

~Melody R

[sharingtheland]

I live in an Adult 55 community.  Everyone has a smart phone and knows how to use it.   We are even required to use the Golf Genius app.  

There are people here who like to shop in stores; I'm one of them.  But I also do a tremendous amount of online buying - it's convenient and I don't have to get dressed.

I also do not know anyone who shops on ebay; it's all Amazon Amazon Amazon.  The parents of the grandtwins research/shop online, using both phones and computers.  They are Gen X'ers, barely, make a lot of money, shop constantly, and are absolute wizards with both phones and computers.  They do not ever look at ebay.  For sure not for preowned, vintage or collectible and not for new items.

They know I sell here and that I could probably find what they're looking for, but they don't even ask.

Not sure how ebay will ever attract buyers of their ilk.  I'm assuming this thread is also about gathering marketing/advertising ideas.