eBay

beautifulbeauty2012 · ‎07-31-2023

I marked as "watched" $30 item and received $40 "offer" from a seller. He changed the price to $45 and "offered" me $5 off from the new price. I knew I wasn`t losing my mind and went to the revision history-indeed price was revised.

Do you think it is ethical? Obviously, I declined that "offer" and blocked him. Does the seller think buyers are stupid? I can see increasing by a buck or two, but $15 on $30 is just rude.

luckythewinner · ‎08-02-2023

@chapeau-noir wrote
I'm gobsmacked at this thread. Truly.

So am I.

In the past, sellers on this board have gleefully boasted that when they received a lowball offer, they responded by raising the price of the item.

dqdistribution · ‎08-02-2023

Not really much to say if you can't tell the difference between assumption and fact. The context is based on intention, something the buyer here has no actual idea of.

Fact 1) A watcher was added to a listing

Fact 2) Price was increased on that listing

Fact 3) Offer sent out on increased listing

The intention of the price increase is completely assumption. Seller could simply have seen 'send offer-eligible'. If he is going to send an offer out he might want to check out the listing first and see what the current price is, make sure his listing is up to date. Oh the prices have all increased a bit and he is on the lower side. Well might as well revise it and increase the price and then send out offers.

This is NORMAL behavior. This isn't TARGETING behavior. The OP acts like they are a victim, and completely based all the intention on assumption. The only person who actually knows the intention is the seller who did the price change. Have they come out here and said anything?

The fact you aren't following along here is quite amusing. 🙃

brandsonhands · ‎08-02-2023

OP didn`t send any offer-not a lowball - none.

itscalledapostingid · ‎08-02-2023

@brandsonhands wrote:
OP didn`t send any offer-not a lowball - none.

Maybe the seller got a low-ball offer from someone else.

Only the seller knows what their reason for raising the price was.

You, the OP, do not know.

itscalledapostingid · ‎08-02-2023

Additionally the seller could be using a third party app to automate price changes.

It's a very common practice.

beautifulbeauty2012 · ‎08-02-2023

Maybe some alien sent a lowball offer, you don`t know that.

OP received targeted offer, so everything else is just your imagination who did what.

albertabrightalberta · ‎08-02-2023

@spreadlovelikefire wrote:
Maybe it would help to know that when a seller sends an offer that they are sent blindly. The seller would have no idea how long you've been watching or interested in the item or who you are.

And sometimes, you might get offers on items you never added to your "watch" list. If you looked at the item, you might get an offer.

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

spreadlovelikefire · ‎08-03-2023

You clearly have no idea how sending offers works. When a seller sends an offer they do not know who they are sending it to, eBay does not give that info to the seller. Also, the OP has no idea if they were the only ones to receive the offer. I send offers out everyday and some have multiple buyers, some only have one. Either way, I have no way of knowing who they go to. I have no idea if that person was actually watching my item or just was looking at my item. Did you know that you don't have to watch an item to receive an offer? Alls you have to do is simply look at the item and eBay allows a seller to send a potential buyer an offer. None of us have any idea how many people received this offer. The OP is speculating and it's speculating based off of not understanding how offers work. But what do I know, I've only been selling full time for 18 years.

spreadlovelikefire · ‎08-03-2023

This is correct. Happens all the time. And I've had countless offers sent to other sellers who accept my offer thinking it's their item because they are using my items to price theirs. They are usually not seasoned sellers that do this.

ajs_coins_and_alchemy · ‎08-03-2023

Where did you get the notion that this button prevents a seller from sending you an offer? Or that adding them to your blocked buyer list in general stops them from sending you an offer?

This button is not full proof either. This button just hides "Contact Seller", there are still ways to message you...

ajs_coins_and_alchemy · ‎08-03-2023

@chapeau-noir wrote:
Then after reviewing for a price change (that part makes perfect sense, only I delist and relist when I do it) they send that same watcher a discount.

I guess people here do that kinda thing so they don't see the humour in it. OK.

I did this once...a buyer actually made me an offer (2 actually) on an item I forgot about ... the offers IMO were jokes and I declined without a second thought, but I reviewed the item, I realized the item was underpriced. I took down the listing. The next day I relisted with better pics & marketing at a higher price. That buyer came back SOOOO mad that I relisted at a higher price (w/o offers). He claimed I "raised the price ON HIM" and thought we were "in the middle of a negotiation"... Uhm, dude, you made me two BAD offers, which I declined. That's hardly a 2-way negotiation. LOL I forgot all about him until he messaged me, and it was literally 24hrs...