eBay

jerzee908 · ‎01-01-2018

Should I put a message in my listings stating "don't send me any offers" and "no I can't ship something for free"? It has got to a point where every single day, multiple times a day that I am getting messages to lower a price or if I could ship something cheap. Mind you, 100% of the time, someone comes along and just buys what I am selling that someone previosly tried to get at a much cheaper price with some crazy offer.......

I ignore every offer message and every "can you ship for free" (I love when they tell me they will pay for it right away..........you're darn right you would have to pay right away I tell myself, but you are still going to have to pay for shipping).

Anyway, would a nicely worded message work or has it worked for anyone else? I'll work with someone if they are buying multiple items or if they have bought from me before, but I do not owe a one-time shopper a steep discount or "free shipping" which is not free whatsoever to me........

(I'll add that I have close to 2000 items listed in total on here......98% is listed as "Buy It Now" only).

retrose1 · ‎05-15-2018

@femmefan1946 wrote:
've been getting "the economy is tight" messages,
And yet unemployment in the USA is down to 3.9%
Even here in Canada our unemployment rate is only 5.9% -- the lowest I can remember and I started working in 1959, when I was 13.
Thank heavens for all those refugees pouring in from Syria and the US, we need the workers.

In some areas, unemployment is down because if you have been on the unemployment dole for a certain amount of time, the state will boot you off it and stop counting you.....OR you used to be employed at a job that paid $100,000 a year when the company laid you off to hire younger people at half that with no perks - and the only job you can get now is a min wage burger flipping job. But hey, you are employed.

(*Bleep*)

rolenboy01 · ‎05-15-2018

@rixstuff wrote:
I was selling an item for $100 and got an offer of $10, which I declined. Later I got a comment that someone else was selling one for $65. So I asked the "buyer" if he also offered THAT seller $10. Never heard from him again. I also find a correlation between the "the economy is bad" folks wanting a discount on a $5 item ALSO buying $300 purses and $2000 vintage Harley collectible items. The economy must not be THAT bad...or maybe he meant MY economy. Then again, I sell vintage jewelry. I understand if they cut back on my stuff when times get tough but I guess the idea of not buying AT ALL doesnt compute.

I always ask myself why the heck are you people shopping for non essentials if the economy is so bad in your view, I rarely hear these sob stories on items that are actually useful and needed in everyday life it's always a shelf sitter or rare or expensive item they need a deal on, it would be more plausible if it was actually something useful like a tool they can use to make money in their trade or a bag used for school.

billythekid16 · ‎05-15-2018

@rixstuff wrote:
Actually my aunt is SHAMELESS about asking stores for discounts (asking for the sale price that starts on Friday if she is shopping Thursday night so she wont have to come back or pointing out damage that she can easily fix, a missing button or belt that she didnt care about anyway, or dirt that might require dry cleaning to get a discount) but she would never play one store off against another.

rixstuff, I am willing to bet your aunt played the "one store off against another" years ago and the merchant she tried it on trumped her. Thats why she never did that again.

percgrabbe-0 · ‎05-15-2018

Can I ask you something? What is keeping you from offering free shipping? You realize you can just include the cost of shipping in a price and ebay wont make fees off of postage (that you have to pay). You may actually be losing money on each sale. Are your items very heavy? Do you offer international shipping? Are there a lot of competing sellers?

terrycanarsky · ‎05-15-2018

eBay makes their percentage off the sale price - so if you include the shipping within the sale price (i.e. "free" shipping), they DO make money off the shipping you pay in a backwards way.

I must admit, it annoys the heck out of me when a buyer buys something for a fraction of the retail (because this is eBay) and then sends instruction on how to uber-carefully pack the item just so, etc. etc. etc. It's almost as if they really do think the shipping cost is somehow paid for by someone other than the seller.

castlemagicmemories · ‎05-15-2018

@7606dennis wrote:
Upon further reflection, I would suggest that anyone willing to entertain offers not use the option to auto-accept offers since you would have no way of knowing what kind of stipulations are being attached to the offer that you are agreeing to by doing so.

Not sure but I think a message attached to it kicks it out of Auto Accept.

But the seller should still be sure to read the message before accepting because now any terms the buyer has attached will apply if the seller agrees to the Best Offer.

castlemagicmemories · ‎05-15-2018

@terrycanarsky wrote:
eBay makes their percentage off the sale price - so if you include the shipping within the sale price (i.e. "free" shipping), they DO make money off the shipping you pay in a backwards way.

I must admit, it annoys the heck out of me when a buyer buys something for a fraction of the retail (because this is eBay) and then sends instruction on how to uber-carefully pack the item just so, etc. etc. etc. It's almost as if they really do think the shipping cost is somehow paid for by someone other than the seller.

With all due respect, they may have had previous experiences with poor packing and they are just trying to avoid that happening again. They are not trying to offend you (although some may not be very diplomatic).

But I understand how that can be considered offensive and I get where you are coming from. It sort of implies you don't know what you are doing. Hopefully if they feel compelled to contact you like this, they at least say, no offense, but due to bad previous experiences, would you be so kind as to...

rixstuff · ‎05-15-2018

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@7606dennis wrote:
Upon further reflection, I would suggest that anyone willing to entertain offers not use the option to auto-accept offers since you would have no way of knowing what kind of stipulations are being attached to the offer that you are agreeing to by doing so.
Not sure but I think a message attached to it kicks it out of Auto Accept.

But the seller should still be sure to read the message before accepting because now any terms the buyer has attached will apply if the seller agrees to the Best Offer.

Forget "terms" best offers are for PRICE ONLY. No add ons from other listings, no free shipping, no special shipping not offered (I wont suddenly do FedEx for this buyer when I dont do it for anybody else). At the end of the day all Ebay is going to hold you to is the price and shipping in a timely manner for the price quoted in the listing.

rixstuff · ‎05-15-2018

@percgrabbe-0 wrote:
Can I ask you something? What is keeping you from offering free shipping? You realize you can just include the cost of shipping in a price and ebay wont make fees off of postage (that you have to pay). You may actually be losing money on each sale. Are your items very heavy? Do you offer international shipping? Are there a lot of competing sellers?

Conversely, I was advised by Ebay when I was first starting out to offer free shipping doing as you advise to simply up the price to cover it. But my sales really took off once I started listing the shipping separately. Buyers just seemed to prefer it.

retrose1 · ‎05-15-2018

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@terrycanarsky wrote:
eBay makes their percentage off the sale price - so if you include the shipping within the sale price (i.e. "free" shipping), they DO make money off the shipping you pay in a backwards way.

I must admit, it annoys the heck out of me when a buyer buys something for a fraction of the retail (because this is eBay) and then sends instruction on how to uber-carefully pack the item just so, etc. etc. etc. It's almost as if they really do think the shipping cost is somehow paid for by someone other than the seller.
With all due respect, they may have had previous experiences with poor packing and they are just trying to avoid that happening again. They are not trying to offend you (although some may not be very diplomatic).

But I understand how that can be considered offensive and I get where you are coming from. It sort of implies you don't know what you are doing. Hopefully if they feel compelled to contact you like this, they at least say, no offense, but due to bad previous experiences, would you be so kind as to...

Sorry, a lot of buyers have control issues and are ultra picky about packing because they want that feeling of ordering a servant around.

I have had buyers wanting extra boxing (which will jack the package into the oversize territory), special bubble wrap (which I have to go out and buy), upgrades in ship costs (which of course cost extra), and I tell them that I will send them an invoice for the extra postage and packing materials and include the receipts for the extras I paid for. I don't think I have sent out an invoice for extra postage in years. And I am very happy to cancel the transaction if they get huffy about it.

Most want shipping upgrades, OR want their item delivered tomorrow (that usually gets me to tell them I can't do that, because they want to 'rent' the item for a party). When I tell them I ship Priority in almost all instances, a lot are good with that. But it does show how much they read the listing. Buyers don't read the listings or check feedback for the most part, a few of the long timers do, but considering how well the Chinese are doing, it is obvious the rest of them don't.

(*Bleep*)

jerzee908 · ‎05-17-2018

@percgrabbe-0 wrote:
Can I ask you something? What is keeping you from offering free shipping? You realize you can just include the cost of shipping in a price and ebay wont make fees off of postage (that you have to pay). You may actually be losing money on each sale. Are your items very heavy? Do you offer international shipping? Are there a lot of competing sellers?

The most issues I have is with the car parts page I sell on. Yes there is competing sellers with reproduction parts, I sell genuine parts. There is a big difference in quality and reliability with most of the stuff. Some of the parts, I'm the only game in town.

You realize you can just include the cost of shipping in a price and ebay wont make fees off of postage (that you have to pay). You may actually be losing money on each sale.

Whether I charge $400 for a part with $100 shipping or $500 with free shipping, ebay will still get the same exact fee.

Yes, the parts I sell are heavy in some cases (and large). If I want $300 for something and want $50 to ship it, I can't just say.....sure I'll ship it for free no problem.

jerzee908 · ‎05-17-2018

@percgrabbe-0 wrote:
Can I ask you something? What is keeping you from offering free shipping? You realize you can just include the cost of shipping in a price and ebay wont make fees off of postage (that you have to pay). You may actually be losing money on each sale. Are your items very heavy? Do you offer international shipping? Are there a lot of competing sellers?

At a quick glance, what looks more appealing?

$11.99 plus $3.99 S/H OR

$15.99 plus FREE Shipping ?

I've experimented with free shipping before and I don't use it too often.......

pingpong517 · ‎05-18-2018

@jerzee908 wrote:
Ebay pushes the "free shipping" thing a lot, but when you are selling car parts that weigh 50lbs.+ and oversized, free shipping is not feasible. Places like Jegs and Summit can ship stuff for free because of the volume they ship..........but Jegs and Summit doesn't have NOS 1950's-1980's GM parts. I also shouldn't get nasty messages from buyers saying how they can get something else shipped for free or how they can get it cheaper......

I just wish there was more of a mutual understanding that if an item isn't listed with a "Best Offer", why bother messaging a seller?

peopel are simple and don't read anything ...and so there you go....lol