Do Buyers/Potential Buyers Put Items in Cart Before Actually Buying? Why Would They Do This???

[kingofthecelts]

Hi There,

I'm hoping someone may have some feedback on the following situation.

I've received an offer from Ebay advising people have some of my items in their carts.

This has totally confused me because in my mind, I personally don't put anything in a shipping cart

unless I'm about to buy.

Do potential buyers actually place items in their shopping cart while they are contemplating their purchase? In my mind, this type of shopper would 'watch' an item but not put it in their cart.

Any feedback greatly appreciated if this is a common practice for bidders/buyers:

Putting items in the shopping cart while they 'consider' their purchase.

Thanks for any feedback and hope you have a great weekend coming up!

🙂

[jpcustomsonline]

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@kingoftheceltswrote:

Hi There,

I'm hoping someone may have some feedback on the following situation.

I've received an offer from Ebay advising people have some of my items in their carts.

This has totally confused me because in my mind, I personally don't put anything in a shipping cart

unless I'm about to buy.

Do potential buyers actually place items in their shopping cart while they are contemplating their purchase? In my mind, this type of shopper would 'watch' an item but not put it in their cart.

Any feedback greatly appreciated if this is a common practice for bidders/buyers:

Putting items in the shopping cart while they 'consider' their purchase.

Thanks for any feedback and hope you have a great weekend coming up!

🙂

---

I have my watch list full, a lot. So I put stuff in shopping cart sometimes. Or, I just put it in there just because.

[emerald40]

Some people put items in their cart as they shop.  Then for some reason they do not want any of the items anymore and they abandon it.

Others are on the fence.  They put it in the cart, but it may be an expensive purchase so they just cannot decide to commit to it yet.

[iamonourside]

I think you would find it interesting to review another thread on this topic: "Your items are waiting in carts. Now make the sale." started by membersinceaug2001 on 03-05-2018 01:20:32 PM. That thread has one or more additional thread links as well. Good luck!

[dhbookds]

common practice........some don't know there is a watch list....so they use the cart.  Pretty common on other websites to go back and find something in my cart that I put there some time ago......

Also not uncommon in B & Mortar stores......where the poor clerks have to put everything back on the shelves.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Google "Cart abandonment emails" and you'll find a wealth of information about why potential buyers put stuff in the carts (and then don't buy) along with a lot of information about why sending emails like ebay is suggesting can sometimes prompt a sale.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@dhbookdswrote:

common practice........some don't know there is a watch list....so they use the cart. 

Some also think the item is theirs when it's in the cart, then come to the forums complaining that the seller was up to no good and took the item out of their cart,  when the item was actually bought by someone else.  They don't realize that until paid for the item is up for grabs to another buyer.

[luckythewinner]

Do potential buyers actually place items in their shopping cart while they are contemplating their purchase?

 I do it all the time on lots of sites. I'm sur ether are plenty of other people who do, and plenty of other people who don't. 

This has totally confused me because in my mind, I personally don't put anything in a shipping cart

unless I'm about to buy.

eBay was not emailing about what you did with your cart - they were emailing about what other people did with their carts. There are millions of people shopping on eBay - IMHO it would be a mistake to assume that they all use eBay the same way you do. 

[slippinjimmy]

Of course people use Add to cart before actually buying, that how it works on virtually all sites.

Are you aware that 60 - 80% of all items placed in online shopping carts are ABANDONED? That's why eBay has brought in this feature to send discount offers to people who have placed items in their cart and then just left them sitting there.

Right now today I have items in carts on half a dozen sites, probably 20 different items. Over the next day or so I'll go through them and pick the items I actually want to but and forget the rest.

Many sites send out messages "you have items in your cart" in an attempt to get me to click the Checkout button.

I could put these items on my Watch List but I'm either going to buy them in the next few hours or days or I probably no longer have any interest in them and would have to remember to remove them from my Watch List while with the cart they will just go away after a few days all on their own.

Right now I'm looking for a USB - SD Card Reader, I have ones I'm considering sitting in carts on eBay, AMZ, New Egg and Tiger Direct. I'll buy one in the next 24 hours when I decide which one is the right one for me and abandon the rest (will create a 75% abandonment rate). If one of those sellers decided to send me a special offer It might be just what is needed to convert to an actual sale.

[chrysylys]

I don't normally do it here.  I don't want any of the glitches to check me out somehow and confirm a sale I'm not ready to.

But I did it today as a test based on all these threads, just to see what might happen --  if any of them get reduced.

,

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

To ask for a revised total.  The preliminary work is done -- in case I get interupted.

~~C~~

[lintbrush*]

Every so often you see a post here from a seller who thinks it would be a great idea if we could contact watchers to encourage the sale.

This is not that at all, but it's a way to reach out to someone who hasn't pulled the trigger but expressed an interest.

I wonder what they tell the buyer when an item in their cart has had a price reduction.

[lex-talon]

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@kingoftheceltswrote:

Hi There,

I'm hoping someone may have some feedback on the following situation.

I've received an offer from Ebay advising people have some of my items in their carts.

This has totally confused me because in my mind, I personally don't put anything in a shipping cart

unless I'm about to buy.

Do potential buyers actually place items in their shopping cart while they are contemplating their purchase? In my mind, this type of shopper would 'watch' an item but not put it in their cart.

Any feedback greatly appreciated if this is a common practice for bidders/buyers:

Putting items in the shopping cart while they 'consider' their purchase.

Thanks for any feedback and hope you have a great weekend coming up!

🙂

---

Yes, they do. I get emails from ebay quite frequently, telling me a buyer(s) has an item of mine in their shopping cart. If there is an item(s) I'm interested in, they are placed in my watch list and not in the cart. Buyers are not aware that another person can purchase that same item in their shopping cart. Just because the item is in their cart,  doesn't mean they can reserve it. 😉

[thallidguy]

There's a reason why it's called a shopping cart. People use it for the same reason they use shopping carts in the physical world: If you're on a multi-item shopping trip, it's less bother to go through checkout just once. So you set stuff aside in a convenient place by putting it in your cart as you keep shopping.

The difference online, of course, is that if you change your mind, there's no one to re-shelve an item for you. So stuff sits in your online cart.

[chrysylys]

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@lintbrush*wrote:

I wonder what they tell the buyer when an item in their cart has had a price reduction.

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That's why I did the test ...  to find out.