How do I stop eBay from changing my listings!

[lorrie0806]

eBay continues to change my listings to Accept Best Offers.  How do I stop this????  I am sick and tired of having to check listings every day to see which ones they have changed and then revising listings!  Help!

[orangehound]

eBay (as usual) is not communicating to us the criteria they are using to commandeer listings, but they do not seem to be willing to end the program despite near unanimous objection from the seller community.  So, is there a work-around?  It depends on the reason it is happening to your listing(s):

1. Old listings.  One theory is that the "Accept Best Offers" is being added to listings that have been sitting on the eBay shelves and gathering dust for some time ... so eBay edits them with the "Accept Best Offer" to try to get them to move.  If this is the case, then all you would need to do is (a) end the listing, and (b) relist as "sell similar".  This woud effectively reset the timer on the listing (this would also help it rank higher in searches).
2. Over-priced listings.  Another theory is that eBay is using Terapeak to assess the pricing level that a listing should be at to sell in a reasonable time .. if eBay's assessment is that the listing is significantly overpriced, then the "Accept Best Offer" gets put on the listing.  If this is your situation, you can stop the edits by lowering the price.
3. Low sell-through rates.  A third theory is that it is happening to sellers that overall have a low sell-through rate on their inventory.  If this is the case, then you are hosed ... nothing you can do other than bulk editing out the intrusion by eBay.

Subscribing to an eBay store may minimize the intrusions, but even store owners have gotten the Accept Best Offer added to listings, so that may not help.

[cargo11]

Of course now - if you try to edit the "best offer" from your listings - if it was a freebie 50 per month listing - Ebay will charge you .35 cents for the "priviledge of selling IT at your own price" (without the best offer on it) Kinda puts that "FREEBIE" in a whole new meaning GREY-AREA doesn't it? 

[cbjgoal]

I've just noticed that ebay is doing a "promotion" (if you want to call it that) where if you list during July you pay no listing fees as long as you activate "best offers." Or as they're doing it, allow ebay to turn on the best offer. This isn't an opt-in, it's already activated. Well I know I won't be doing any more listing this month, and I'll be darn sure to check all of their "promotions" to be sure I don't get stung again. (I've never had listing fees anyway since what I list isn't subject to the fees. So this is an insult.)

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@lorrie0806 wrote:

eBay continues to change my listings to Accept Best Offers.  How do I stop this????  I am sick and tired of having to check listings every day to see which ones they have changed and then revising listings!  Help!

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This has happened to me as well. I list on my PC using the Advanced listing tool where i ensure the Best Offers box is not on by default. However, when i revised my listings using the app on my iPad, the Best Offer was added to the listing when i clicked the Submit button. I’d then have to go back to my PC and remove it via the Advanced tool.  

I have heard that using the Quick listing tool will add Best Offer by default. 

Eventually i found where to click to expand the page to see Best Offer while using my iPad to revise a listing. I could then ensure BO was not set to On before i submitted it. 

[futuretomorrow]

@lorrie0806

The only way to truly stop this is to stop selling on eBay which may not be an option for you. The reason why I mentioned the extreme is that this is not the only thing eBay will and most likely has changed in your preferences/listings. Many of us either didn't bother to fully read the most recent agreement updates from this year (who reads those long TOS docs from any company? There's a reason for that!) but eBay has several lines in the TOS that give them excessive liberties to change any aspect of your account, listings or otherwise if they think it provides a better user experience.

If eBay had UX, including the user journeys for all use cases locked down then maybe this would be okay (uhmm...not really/can be debated) but my concern is that with all the observational and circumstantial based evidence, eBay is the last company you'd want to have as much power over your listings and business as they do, to the extent I've openly asked here without anyone ever directly responding to me (there's a reason for that as well) whether this is anyone's business if they sell here. I personally don't think it is.

The extent of the last TOS updates in not even close to easily translateable definitions simply boils down to eBay believing they're doing us a massive favor in allowing us to sell here when it should be more balanced or quite the opposite entirely. You don't own anything on eBay, not even the right to sell your items specifically the way you'd like. Read the TOS if you haven't and if you have, read it again, buy a lawyer some lunch and have them go over it with you. Selling here is like renting a store, inside of a store, inside yet another store. You are working under layers of rules that have completely stripped any ownership from the process you believe you have and so many here have invested so much blood, sweat and tears they won't see it any other way and still believe it's their business and their listings.

I'd politely disagree. The listings are fully owned by eBay once you make the listing live.

[lorrie0806]

Your post was eye opening and I appreciate you taking the time to reply!  You are so right of course, my goods are no longer my own.  I have started listing a few items on another site, we will see how that goes.  I just long for the days of selling where the sellers weren't dictated to in such a manner as it is now.

Thanks again so much!  Lorrie

[lorrie0806]

Thanks so much for your post!  I think that I, like a lot of other sellers, are experiencing low sell through right now which I know can sometimes be attributed to the summer months.

It just kills me to think of eBay deciding which of my items are over priced.  I know what I pay for the items and after fees am not making that much as it is.  In addition I absorb about 10% of the shipping cost in addition to what I charge buyers, make sure to print labels so customers can see that they underpaid shipping thinking that might help with return customers!  I used to do free shipping on everything but just could no longer afford to do that.

I have started selling a few things on another site, so far no movement but it has only been a couple of days.

Once my current inventory is depleted I won't be doing this anymore.  Used to be fun.. now it's just too darn irritating! 

[mrv71]

Just keep raising your prices 2x, 3x or more, and let buyers make offers.  Eventually everybody will do it if the "best offer" will be imposed on every seller.

[callahanmagic]

"... ... working under layers of rules that have completely stripped any ownership from the process you believe you have ... ..." 

"The listings are fully owned by eBay once you make the listing live" @futuretomorrow

Contrary to the statement: "Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing" that is shown above each listing on the platform.

Send shivers up and down my spine when I read the post.  And it is not from the bucket of ice water that was dump on my back by my nephew and niece.

To the OP @lorrie0806, as with @fashunu4eeuh mentioned, you may want to create your listings using the
Advanced listing tool which will allows you more options + set your Best Option Offer Button as you desired.

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Lucas

*still rollin' with the punches*

[futuretomorrow]

@callahanmagic

I'm not sure how to respond in full because of the way you've formatted your comment. I wish eBay just used a Disqus format like half the planet yet we wonder things out loud like why younger people don't shop here.

I think I figured out you were adding to the comment and letting the seller know what they could do about this. Thanks for that.

[shamrock_trades]

Yeah, Ebay can get annoying at times.

After the listing has been up for a while, Ebay will open offers automatically. It will also charge $0.35 if you don't choose "Make an offer." This is upsetting to a lot of people.

What's worse is that on my listings, it keeps changing them from First Class Shipping to 2-Day Priority Mail. 2-Day Priority Mail is pretty expensive! It can get tough when someone buys an item and then Ebay changed it before you noticed. I don't know, but it seems like Ebay is messing with me...

Thank you for your post and God bless.

[callahanmagic]

Yes. You did get the gist of what I was trying to say in my poorly response to your comments.

Personally, this " the listings are fully owned by eBay once you make the listing live" is never more true based on the threads started by affected sellers.  To name a few, such as: 

1) Best Offer feature added without seller's approval - popular gripe on the board, currently.

2a) Repricing tool beta tests on unsuspecting sellers -  thread started on June 06, 2018 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Any-one-getting-a-screen-from-eBay-saying-they-will-lower-your....

2b) Blues was called in to verify the "repricing tool" - and we were informed that it is a beta tests + ALSO there is an opt-out feature, if the targetted seller do not want to have the feature in his/her listings.

3) Guaranteed Delivery default opt-in to some sellers 

4) Ghost listings on already SOLD items

5) etc, etc, etc, ... ...

Hence, conflicting with "Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing" that was shown above each listing. 

Yes, merchants on this platform are responsible for his/own created listings. However, adding, changing/revising,  or delete, duplicate WITHOUT informing the merchants are just plain wrong.  Whether or not that the listing is created on the quick tool or advance listing tool.

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Lucas

*still rollin' with the punches*