Ebay is now sending emails to buyers that they overpaid. WOW!

[dantes*ri.alto]

Unbelievable. 

It was in Ina's column today, and I'm in another group where it's being discussed. Has anyone else here experienced returns due to Ebay directly messaging your buyer? 

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Reading it right now and truly appalled. I always think they have hit rock bottom and then they find a new bottom to hit...maybe it's a bottomless pit. 

[zamo-zuan]

Completely insane.

I truly wonder how they can display that they have absolutely no experience in business or eCommerce with decisions like this.

To eBay, it might look like minimal margins give the best value to their customer. But they don't fathom the reason why businesses don't offer minimal margins at all times. Even top sellers need to constantly adjust their price up and down in copmetition.

Here's a tip - It's not because they can't provide the price for cheaper. It's that minimal margins drastically increase work load for the same amount of income, and devalue your own merchandise. This is why minimal margins are usually only available during promotions.

This is going to have the opposite effect on sellers. It's not going to encourage more sellers to offer better prices. It's going to encourage more sellers to leave eBay. 

Here's an example, if an item's margin is $15, sellers "can" lower the margin to $5 to be more competitive. But this means for the same amount of margin per day/week/month, they will have 3x the work load, and go through 3x the merchandise, leading to more product shortages, and even more workload beyond the shipping department.

Sellers CAN provide lower margins. It's "possible". But it's not possible without doing harm to the business!!! People will be working like it's a sweat shop for the same amount of profits they were able to make on a regular work load a year ago.

It's just a matter of time until this starts showing up in their numbers, and anyone with serious eCommerce experience is well aware of this.

Sadly, we might have to put up with months of suffering before they realize it...

[jillsconsignment]

Where is Ina's column? I'd like to read the email.

[jillsconsignment]

Nevermind. I found it.

[annadryl]

Overpaid how? Shipping? Compared to other items? Sellers need to be prepared for this beforehand. Please post a link or SS?

[zamo-zuan]

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@annadryl wrote:

Overpaid how? Shipping? Compared to other items? Sellers need to be prepared for this beforehand. Please post a link or SS?

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Basically what the writer says is she ordered an item. After the order was completed, she got a message showing her CHEAPER listings for the same item. 

This is a concern because:

1) The buyer says the listings she was shown were NOT appearing at the time she purchased! Meaning eBay was not allowing her to see/hiding the cheapest items in search at the time.

2) Since she already completed the purchase, the only way she could have taken advantage of the better price was to do a free return on the original order, then purchase the cheaper item. Just to save $2.

3) EBay is basically encouraging people to pay for an item, encouraging cancellations to cost the seller additional shipping fees for an item to be returned for free, and then make another purchase, which of course is only beneficial to eBay and not sellers, as eBay is racking up FVF's along the way regardless of who the items purchased from.

[poppyswag]

Would you mind providing a link? I'm on ecommercebytes for Aug 30 but don't see this. What is the headline?

[Anonymous]

This has been going on for years, it's not something new that eBay is doing. It's one "feature" I've always hated seeing after I make a purchase. Guess what eBay, I didn't purchase the lower priced item because that seller had bad feedback.

I also know that when a buyer asks to cancel a sale within just a few minutes there's a good chance it's because they got one of these messages from eBay showing them a lower price. It doesn't make me happy as a buyer or as a seller.

There have been many discussions about it on this forum. There's a variation of the message sent out for watch list items showing you other sellers' items at lower prices.

[coolections]

@zamo-zuan

It's nothing new. Ebay has been showing buyers cheaper price for a long time. The seller buyer just did not know how to search cheapest first and bought the item for $2 more than others. Nothing was hidden, it's just a seller who doesn't like Ebay showing people other items.

[dantes*ri.alto]

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2018/8/1535638509.html

[buyselljack2016]

No returns, but I have had what are , no doubt cancel requests caused by eBay showing the buyer like items right after they purchase something.

It is eBay's idea that the more they show the buyer, the more they will sell.  They bought something, eBay thinks they may want to buy more, and they go ahead and show them more. Some higher price, some lower price, and if there is a lack of a like item they show something unrelated in an attempt to make more sales.

Good for eBay. Sometimes not good for the account that just made a sale.

[hioctane62]

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@coolections wrote:

@zamo-zuan

It's nothing new. Ebay has been showing buyers cheaper price for a long time. The seller buyer just did not know how to search cheapest first and bought the item for $2 more than others. Nothing was hidden, it's just a seller who doesn't like Ebay showing people other items.

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I disagree with this completely. Ebay IS purposely hiding the lower priced listings in buyer searches JUST SO they can send these emails later saying "look what you missed, but it's not too late". They WANT to show buyers that the ONLY way to get this $1-$3 savings (without return shipping negating it) is to file a false NAD case so that the seller pays return shipping, which will then push the seller towards the extra 4% FVF "penalty".

THAT is ebay's end game to almost every new policy, the extra 4% FVF, and how to make sure as many sellers as possible "qualify" for it. Ebay does love it's members who want to blame inept buyer search for this, and defend to the ends of the earth everything ebay does,

Then again, I have little doubt that ebay does have people here who the employ to post in defense of ebay. (not saying you or any other particular poster fit this mold)

[poppyswag]

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@dantes*ri.alto wrote:
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2018/8/1535638509.html

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Thank you dantes. Now ebay is creating buyer's remorse at the seller's expense. Unfathomable as a way to stay in the business of providing a platform.

Another thing I think they are doing on calculated shipping is only showing your listings the farthest away so their shipping percentage is higher. Heavier items cost more to ship - and even more to ship further. This is the kind of stuff they are "working" on.

[hillbillymedia]

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@poppyswag wrote:

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@dantes*ri.alto wrote:
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2018/8/1535638509.html

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Thank you dantes. Now ebay is creating buyer's remorse at the seller's expense. Unfathomable as a way to stay in the business of providing a platform.

Another thing I think they are doing on calculated shipping is only showing your listings the farthest away so their shipping percentage is higher. Heavier items cost more to ship - and even more to ship further. This is the kind of stuff they are "working" on.

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And just as much to ship back....