What's Up with Listing Improvement suggestions?

[nationalpawnshop]

We currently have a brand new, in the box, Singer sewing machine listed for $165 with free shipping. In the "Growth" section of suggested listing improvements eBay tells us that we should lower the price to $125. But, when I check the sold listings of exactly the same model I find them selling for as much as $267... One seller has actually sold 82 of them for $255 while they can be had off Singer's own web site for $165 shipped...

Under the heading of "Competitive pricing of items like yours" it tells me that there are 11 out of 59 that are priced lower than ours. OK, but doesn't that also means there are 48 that are priced higher?

So, what's the point of suggesting that we sell something for considerably less than the majority of other listings? Of course, eBay wants us all to sell, sell, sell but they shouldn't care what we're asking as long as what we're listing actually sells. And in an instance like this why should they be suggesting we take considerably less than the items obvious value when the Final Value Fee would be higher the more we sell an item for? Simply to sell for its own sake rather than to make the highest possible profit?

[castlemagicmemories]

Ebay gets final value fees for any sale, so they want to move items.  Ebay has no cost in your item, you do.  

But these are only suggestions, ultimately, you decide what price you want to offer the item for.  And only you.

It is not mandatory to comply with suggestions.  Again, it's up to your discretion.

It has been reported that items have sold at the seller's price when they have not lowered their price, so again, your call.  

[ittybitnot]

Simply to sell for its own sake rather than to make the highest possible profit?

eBay has no "skin in the game" here.  They want ANY final value fee, and I am sure there are still seller newbies that think eBay knows best, and they should do what ebay says.  IGNORE these messages.  They rank right up there with "sell it for auction starting at 99 cents".....

YOUR profit is of little concern to ebay.  

[jonathankirkland]

As has been stated already, ebay only cares about successfully completed sales. They get 10% of whatever sells. Something sitting for $150 earns them virtually nothing, but that same item sold for $100 still makes them $10, so why would they NOT want to try to persuade sellers into lowering the price?

Thankfully, most sellers here are smart enough to realize this tactic and not fall for it, but maybe for the more impatient or less intelligent sellers they will be persuaded to lower the price and then ebay benefits from it.

As far as the price of your item, why not increase that price to $199?? I realize you said it can be found on the manufacturer's website for $165, the same as you are offering it, but if someone finds it on ebay they might not even necessarily shop around. And if you say others have sold for $250+, yours is STILL a bargain even at $199! It might seem silly, but if people see others of the exact same item selling for $250 and stumble on yours for almost $100 less, they might shy away suspecting something is "fishy" about it.

Not trying to tell you how to run your business or anything, but sometimes raising the price really does help sell an item instead!

Best of luck.

[jonathankirkland]

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@nationalpawnshop wrote:

We currently have a brand new, in the box, Singer sewing machine listed for $165 with free shipping. In the "Growth" section of suggested listing improvements eBay tells us that we should lower the price to $125. But, when I check the sold listings of exactly the same model I find them selling for as much as $267... One seller has actually sold 82 of them for $255 while they can be had off Singer's own web site for $165 shipped...

 

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And just to expand on this, it's very likely that that person who sold 82 of them is drop shipping them directly from Singer to the buyers and netting all that tasty gravy into their pocket!

[nationalpawnshop]

Yes, it's easy enough to simply ignore these suggestions but I have to wonder why I should be bothered with them in the first place and whether eBay doesn't have anything better to do than waste my time with such absurd suggestions? Are they actually paying somebody to be deliberately stupid?

[jonathankirkland]

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@nationalpawnshop wrote:

Yes, it's easy enough to simply ignore these suggestions but I have to wonder why I should be bothered with them in the first place and whether eBay doesn't have anything better to do than waste my time with such absurd suggestions? Are they actually paying somebody to be deliberately stupid?

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Not only that, but they are also taking the liberty of adding "best offer" to peoples listings without their consent. Nice, huh?

In fact, here's a direct quote from "Brian T", an ebay community team member, to one of the posters here about his concern over the matter (I highlighted in red my "favorite" parts):

"Hi @bob_la_londe, I can definitely provide details about when and why Best Offer may be added to a Fixed Price listing. Best Offer is applied for new or occasional sellers if the item is listed above the recommended price, or does not sell within 8 days. We determine the recommended price based on prices of similar listings sold on eBay over the past 90 days. While we have seen a 10% increase in sales conversion on listings with Best offer, sellers can remove the feature if it's added. If the feature is left on the listing once added, sellers can decline any offer that doesn't meet their minimum selling price. I appreciate you sharing your feedback with us!"

[nawlinsron2]

"Lower the price"....like paying for bad advice.

[cargo11]

What do you expect from programmed robots that randomly tell people to lower prices. DON'T Follow advice from a machine! (That includes Siri, Alexa and any others)

[ted_200]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

Simply to sell for its own sake rather than to make the highest possible profit?

eBay has no "skin in the game" here.  They want ANY final value fee, and I am sure there are still seller newbies that think eBay knows best, and they should do what ebay says.  IGNORE these messages.  They rank right up there with "sell it for auction starting at 99 cents".....

YOUR profit is of little concern to ebay.  

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Well, it's pretty obvious, if he sells machines so cheap he sells at a loss... that will drive up the number of units sold by a LOT, and eBay will make MORE money in FVFs.  eBay is a not-too-bright parasite, one that kills its host without realizing the host is the only thing keeping it alive. 

For me, they've gone back to "recommending" I add Item Specifics to my listings that would make my listings violate policy.   That's AFTER I've already filled out another Item Specific that by my choice of specific makes their recommended one a policy violation. 

I generally ignore suggestions from those who have a well-established track record of handing out bad advice. 

[ted_200]

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@nationalpawnshop wrote:

Yes, it's easy enough to simply ignore these suggestions but I have to wonder why I should be bothered with them in the first place and whether eBay doesn't have anything better to do than waste my time with such absurd suggestions? Are they actually paying somebody to be deliberately stupid?

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I don't think they have anyone working there for free... even if they do keep thinking their sellers will. 

[rolenboy01]

I've had them tell me to lower my price when according to them my price was already 100% lower than everyone elses and it wasn't they don't know what the heck is going on.