Huge Mistake

[or_couture]

I've just made two huge mistakes so thought to share so others could avoid.

Both happened this weekend.

1. An international buyer reached out to me about a dress shirt. It was $495 with a markdown of $200 off. I agreed to do $195 and add direct shipping for $45 (I always use GSP). I adjusted the price, he said he would buy, he didn't buy. I msg him, never heard back, so changed the price again to $295. Day or two before that, I copy pasted a bunch of markdowns including $200 off. Back in the day, when you adjusted manually a price which was included in a current markdown, it would've ended the markdown on that price. But eBay changed it! I have the 'include items when they qualify' box ticked, so after I changed it to $295 a $200 markdown was applied to the item and the buyer got it for $95!

2. A buyer reached out about a set. It was $199 with a markdown of $50 to $149. I agreed to give another 10% off so we did $134. She then said she didn't know there are taxes (even though it's mentioned in the "shipping" tab) so I said fine, and I adjusted the price to $122 so it'll be $134 out the door. She said she would purchase, but she didn't. I forgot about it. The $50 markdown was applied so the price went down to $72 and someone just bought it.

Both are my mistakes so I'll obviously take responsibility and ship the items, but just thought to share. If you agree on a price and the buyer doesn't purchase don't forget to adjust it back! and don't forget a markdown could apply on an item even after you change the price, as opposed to before!

[mam98031]

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@ryanrobyn wrote:

this is why I don't used markdown but just manually change the price

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I've used the Markdown Manager for years without issues like are being described.  But it appears to me that the ones having issues are using the MM differently than I am.  I select which listings I want in my sale.  I do not set up a rule or let the computer select for me from perimeters I set up.  I always select my listing I want in the sale.

But the issues the others are describing are very concerning to my and Trinton is trying to help me / us have a better understanding.

[moo*cow*corner]

I agree with the @wastingtime101 . That's what makes the most sense to me, based on my experience.

In the old Markdown Manager, if I changed the price of an item, that listing was booted out of the promo. And stayed out for the duration, unless I manually added it to a new promo.

Once all of the promotion tools got consolidated in the new Hub Promotions Manager, there is a setting for adding skipped items as they qualify. That function was certainly available in the old Promotions Manager where you ran sales (not Markdown Manager). If I ran a promo for a certain category, new listings in that category got automatically added to the promo within a short time.

If I had to hazard a guess, it's that some functionalities that used to be separate when the modules were separate--- now all play together in the new PM in the Hub.

[wastingtime101]

My replies to your questions are in blue font @mam98031 .

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@mam98031 wrote:

@wastingtime101 

It changed when markdown manager was de-activated and promotions manager sales and events took its place. When was that - 2 years ago? A lot of the functionality was altered.

What do you mean by "de-activated"?  I use the markdown manager on a regular basis without issue.  And if I have the need to change the pricing on something I have in a currently running sale, the discount for the markdown manager sale has ALWAYS disappeared.

2017 Fall Seller Update. The old Markdown Manager was retired and when they integrated the markdown system into Promotions Manager, now called Sales & Events, a lot of the functionality changed.

First the OP changed the price manually to their markdown price instead of to their original list price.

How do you do that?

Find the listing, click the revise button, enter a new price, save changes.

Second the OP had the box checked on their sale page "include skipped items when they qualify". These actions combined caused the low prices.

Oh, I have always selected the items I want in my sale.  I've never used the qualifying perimeters.

Are you defining qualifying perimeters as the check box option to include skipped items when they qualify? Not checking that box is why you never experienced what the OP did.

If you want to learn more about the setting go to a search engine and type in the below search terms, quote marks included. You can find information going back two years about sellers experiencing situations similar to the OP when the process was still new.

"include skipped items when they qualify" ebay

There is a page somewhere on eBay that lists all of the reasons a listing could be skipped from a sale. I don't feel like searching for it but you can if you want to read it.

• The OP had an item listed at $495, marked down with a sale event by $200 (sale price $295).
• They manually revised the listing price to $195 for a buyer who didn't follow through with the purchase. Then they manually changed the price back to $295 instead of the original $495.
• The OP did not remove the item from the sale.
• They had the box checked to include skipped items when they qualify.
• The item was temporarily skipped when the OP manually changed the price and once the system indexed the price change, the sale was added on top of that. Why? Because they opted to include skipped items when they qualify.
  
• If the OP manually changed the price to the original $495 or if the OP removed the listing from the sale or if the OP unchecked the box to include skipped items when they qualify then the unintended low sale price would not have happened.
• The system operated as it's supposed to - this was an unfortunate user error. The OP was nice enough to come here and share their experience to spare others from the same fate.

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[mam98031]

That is what I'm saying in a nutshell.  When I use the Markdown Manager I select my listings to be in the sale.  I do NOT set perimeters and let them get auto selected.  I select my listings on my own.  ALWAYS.

If I change a price on one of the listings in my active sale, then it will no longer be in the sale.

[nuclearomen]

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@or_couture wrote:

I've just made two huge mistakes so thought to share so others could avoid.

Both happened this weekend.

1. An international buyer reached out to me about a dress shirt. It was $495 with a markdown of $200 off. I agreed to do $195 and add direct shipping for $45 (I always use GSP). I adjusted the price, he said he would buy, he didn't buy. I msg him, never heard back, so changed the price again to $295. Day or two before that, I copy pasted a bunch of markdowns including $200 off. Back in the day, when you adjusted manually a price which was included in a current markdown, it would've ended the markdown on that price. But eBay changed it! I have the 'include items when they qualify' box ticked, so after I changed it to $295 a $200 markdown was applied to the item and the buyer got it for $95!

2. A buyer reached out about a set. It was $199 with a markdown of $50 to $149. I agreed to give another 10% off so we did $134. She then said she didn't know there are taxes (even though it's mentioned in the "shipping" tab) so I said fine, and I adjusted the price to $122 so it'll be $134 out the door. She said she would purchase, but she didn't. I forgot about it. The $50 markdown was applied so the price went down to $72 and someone just bought it.

Both are my mistakes so I'll obviously take responsibility and ship the items, but just thought to share. If you agree on a price and the buyer doesn't purchase don't forget to adjust it back! and don't forget a markdown could apply on an item even after you change the price, as opposed to before!

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you made the same mistake twice, and that mistake was taking the prices down on the listings, which you don't need to do, instead, next time someone mails you asks if you can do better price then what is listed, send them an offer direct to them, this doesn't effect the listing and they have 3 days (if i remember correctly) to accept that offer before it voids, that offer is sent to them and them alone and doesn't touch the listing. 

[or_couture]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@or_couture wrote:

I've just made two huge mistakes so thought to share so others could avoid.

Both happened this weekend.

1. An international buyer reached out to me about a dress shirt. It was $495 with a markdown of $200 off. I agreed to do $195 and add direct shipping for $45 (I always use GSP). I adjusted the price, he said he would buy, he didn't buy. I msg him, never heard back, so changed the price again to $295. Day or two before that, I copy pasted a bunch of markdowns including $200 off. Back in the day, when you adjusted manually a price which was included in a current markdown, it would've ended the markdown on that price. But eBay changed it! I have the 'include items when they qualify' box ticked, so after I changed it to $295 a $200 markdown was applied to the item and the buyer got it for $95!

2. A buyer reached out about a set. It was $199 with a markdown of $50 to $149. I agreed to give another 10% off so we did $134. She then said she didn't know there are taxes (even though it's mentioned in the "shipping" tab) so I said fine, and I adjusted the price to $122 so it'll be $134 out the door. She said she would purchase, but she didn't. I forgot about it. The $50 markdown was applied so the price went down to $72 and someone just bought it.

Both are my mistakes so I'll obviously take responsibility and ship the items, but just thought to share. If you agree on a price and the buyer doesn't purchase don't forget to adjust it back! and don't forget a markdown could apply on an item even after you change the price, as opposed to before!

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you made the same mistake twice, and that mistake was taking the prices down on the listings, which you don't need to do, instead, next time someone mails you asks if you can do better price then what is listed, send them an offer direct to them, this doesn't effect the listing and they have 3 days (if i remember correctly) to accept that offer before it voids, that offer is sent to them and them alone and doesn't touch the listing. 

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I've already explained above why I do NOT do that. They commit to buy and end up not paying. Nobody got time for that.

[or_couture]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@or_couture wrote:

I've just made two huge mistakes so thought to share so others could avoid.

Both happened this weekend.

1. An international buyer reached out to me about a dress shirt. It was $495 with a markdown of $200 off. I agreed to do $195 and add direct shipping for $45 (I always use GSP). I adjusted the price, he said he would buy, he didn't buy. I msg him, never heard back, so changed the price again to $295. Day or two before that, I copy pasted a bunch of markdowns including $200 off. Back in the day, when you adjusted manually a price which was included in a current markdown, it would've ended the markdown on that price. But eBay changed it! I have the 'include items when they qualify' box ticked, so after I changed it to $295 a $200 markdown was applied to the item and the buyer got it for $95!

2. A buyer reached out about a set. It was $199 with a markdown of $50 to $149. I agreed to give another 10% off so we did $134. She then said she didn't know there are taxes (even though it's mentioned in the "shipping" tab) so I said fine, and I adjusted the price to $122 so it'll be $134 out the door. She said she would purchase, but she didn't. I forgot about it. The $50 markdown was applied so the price went down to $72 and someone just bought it.

Both are my mistakes so I'll obviously take responsibility and ship the items, but just thought to share. If you agree on a price and the buyer doesn't purchase don't forget to adjust it back! and don't forget a markdown could apply on an item even after you change the price, as opposed to before!

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Hi @or_couture, can you provide a screenshot of the options as you see them today so I can better find more information for @mam98031?

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Not sure I understood.. screen shots of what exactly? Thanks

[or_couture]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@ryanrobyn wrote:

this is why I don't used markdown but just manually change the price

---

I've used the Markdown Manager for years without issues like are being described.  But it appears to me that the ones having issues are using the MM differently than I am.  I select which listings I want in my sale.  I do not set up a rule or let the computer select for me from perimeters I set up.  I always select my listing I want in the sale.

But the issues the others are describing are very concerning to my and Trinton is trying to help me / us have a better understanding.

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I also select which ones I want in the sale. One by one!

[moican76]

1. Thanks for the warning to be mindful about markdown sales.

2. Please don't negotiate your prices down over sales tax! Buyers will expect all sellers to do that!