Multiple Listing Bait and switch gap could be closed by eBay.

[imakesugar]

On the Community Boards we have discussed how many Sellers put an odd cheap item in their Multiple listings lower priced to get their items Higher in search. Then when a Buyer clicks on it they realize that they've been had.

 The price that they are looking at is not the Item they wanted to buy. It is replaced with something that is much cheaper. 

I consider this dishonest as do many other Buyers. Buyers these days don't have the time to waste on the computer LOOKING AT SWITCH AND BAIT Listings. I get real disguisted as a Buyer wasting my time on Clicking on these false listings. 

One of the problems I see is that during the listing process there must be a way to put a dollar amount in the select field. Now I see listings that all have the same item for the same price but when the listing is coming up SELECT is the item with the cheaper price and NOTHING IS OFFERED at the cheap price. 

eBay could change this option so that SELECT CANNOT have any amount of money NOR allow any in this field. By eBay being proactive on this Many bait and switch listings could be stopped. If that can not be done have the field so the items price has to match the price of the items in the multiple listing. Just saying.

Here are examples I have copied and pasted to show how it is working...  Pam

[goodluckselling]

---

@slippinjimmy wrote:

They are called "Variation Listings".

I agree it's a problem.

The price range returned in search results ($x.xx - $y.yy) should reflect only the price range of the items in the Variation listing which are actually in stock.

There would still remain the issue of Variation listings that include vastly lower priced variations which only qualify as a variation by a hair if at all.

---

Right.  This is how it seems to work for us.  In a MV listing where the lowest priced variation is temporarily out of stock, the listing shows the price range for the in stock items only.

Good Luck Selling!

[goodluckselling]

It really is not helping the sellers who do this because they are gaining actions against the listing when buyers do not engage in buying from the listing.  As they continue to rack up impressions and views without further actions they slip down in search placement.

Also variation names are searchable, so if you are looking for a blue shirt and a multi variations listing with a blue shirt is available it will show in your search with the pictures and price for the blue shirt. 

Maybe use a more refined search to help eliminate the misuse of the low priced variation for search placement.

Good Luck Selling!

[babja]

---

@tunicaslot wrote:

As frustrating as this is - it's a problem on most every shopping site on the web - not just Ebay. Ebay has enough problems without trying to get IT to mess with this and hopefully get it right.

Is it a waste of time - yes - no different than my shopping on Kohls - clicking a link for that $2.99 shirt and it's sold out. If it's sold out - then it should no longer be offered for sale on the site. Same if I click through and that $2.99 price only applies to the Small while the 2X I want is $24.99. Sears, Macy's Bonton, JCP - all have the same problem.

I get that it's upsetting and time consuming - but to keep complaining about problems that are rampant on most sites on the interent like it's exclusive to Ebay is also wasting your time - as this probably is not going to be changed. It hasn't stopped me from shopping at Kohl's even tho I'm cursing everytime I click one of those links.

---

The problem isn't the same on a large scale level.   It's worse on Ebay.  80% of MV listings that bait me in with a low price and matching size in my search for a dress and the switch is a nightgown in that size and price.  The dress that I was searching for is available in my size at 3 times or more of the bait price.  

I do not see how Ebay can stop this type of scam and its variations, without the help of other ebayers.  You need to report these sellers and Ebay needs to penalize said sellers.  

[gew6463]

So I don't know if this applies here, but just throwing it out there: I had an item on my 'cart' page on another site (the big A) and thought I would check Ebay to see if I could get it for a better price. In this case it was a queen size mattress. So I put in the brand I was looking for & size, then chose price + shipping lowest. Up popped listings at better prices than I had seen on the other site. The only problem was that this 'lower' price was for 'twin' size; very clearly not what I put into the search engine. So now I have to wade through these listings that are not actually lower at all. Let's just say I gave up and went back to the other site. 

The thing that really bugged me about that (as both a seller & a buyer) was that there were sellers that put Queen in their listing title, being honest & up-front. But the search engine kept sending me back to the twins (regardless of my choosing the 'queen' size option). I'm not saying those sellers were dishonest, but I did feel like they manipulated the price by doing that. And possibly cost another seller a sale. If a buyer  has to dig too much, they might just go to another site.

[lookng2015]

If eBay changed the variation listings to only be able to offer a certain range being only a VERY low % difference between the lowest & highest price item offered in the one MV listing, this would combat a LOT of this search and browse manipulation.

have they got the guts to do it? Probably not.