eBay

coast-commerce · ‎09-25-2017

Why not allow sellers to list items with variations in an auction format?

If I am selling something that I have multiples of basically the same or similar items, why not permit such a listing that employs an auction format?

It makes sense to list something such as T-shirts, hats, socks Etc. with multiples of the same design in an auction format. A bidder may wear size XL T-shirts and want to restrict their bid to the size and price that suits them, but as it stands such offers may only be in a fixed price listing.

If what I am selling are just variations of the same thing, what difference does it make (to ebay) what the size, color or other variation is? Why can I sell something with variations in a fixed price listing, but not one with an auction format?

Why not give buyers options, choices or other ways of exercising individual preferences in an auction format? If it works for fixed price listings, why not use it for auctions too?

In some cases, variations offered may have differences in value, e.g. an XS T-shirt uses less material than an XXL version, so it has less value than the XXL one; in such a case as with fixed price auctions, the opening bid (asking price) would need to reflect the base-line value of any given item.

Why is ebay opposed to auctions with variations, if it can be done with fixed price listings, why not in an auction format too?

*help_no_brakes* · ‎09-26-2017

"As you can see, the suggestion is not as complicated as many make it out to be."

If you say so...sigh.

Who wants to bid on a t shirt ?

If I want a t shirt I don't want to wait 7 days for an auction to end...

coast-commerce · ‎09-26-2017

@*help_no_brakes* wrote:

Who wants to bid on a t shirt ?

As I mentioned, it was just an example.

*help_no_brakes* · ‎09-26-2017

"As I mentioned, it was just an example."

My apologies...even though I don't see where you said the t shirts were an example & stated that's what you had to auction.

coast-commerce · ‎09-26-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
Re: Why Does ebay Prohibit Auctions with Variations?

eBay has millions of buyers, and many of them are not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Many of them do not even understand how a single-item auction works. The work-around is incredible simple - just list them separately, one item to an auction.

Yes, I think you are onto something. We must accommodate simpletons too.

There is also the complexity of having a single item number with multiple auction winners. It would take a significant programming effort to convert a system designed as a one-to-one system into a many-to-one system.

I agree with this notion, ebay has something and they do not want to mess with their goose that lays golden eggs, day after day. Why "improve" something when it is just "fine" as it is today.

If all of us thought like this, we would still be hunters and gatherers.

luckythewinner · ‎09-26-2017

@coast-commerce wrote:
I agree with this notion, ebay has something and they do not want to mess with their goose that lays golden eggs, day after day. Why "improve" something when it is just "fine" as it is today.

If all of us thought like this, we would still be hunters and gatherers.

I have been reading the eBay selling boards for a decade now, and this is the first time I recall a seller asking for the ability to have variations on an auction listing.

IMHO a company would be utterly foolish to undertake a massive rewrite of their core site functionality just to provide a marginal feature that less than one in a million of their users has asked for - especially when there is a simple and straightforward workaround.

myangelandmyprincess · ‎09-27-2017

@coast-commerce wrote:
@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

There would be no way to conduct an auction without stating exactly what is being auctioned and for how much (opening bid). If a seller wishes to group an item of similar kinds into an auction format, the items can be sold as a lot. If a seller wants a buyer to pick and choose among different things in one listing, then it would be a fixed-price listing with variations. I can't think of a way for an auction to be set up with buyers selecting among a variety of things. There would be no uniformity of any kind in which multiple buyers could bid any amount they choose. Or perhaps i misunderstand your question? Have you seen something online that does an auction with variations such as you describe?
What I am suggesting is much simpler than many of the responders to this topic have made it out to be.

A simplified outline of the concept follows...

I have vintage Rolling Stones T-shirts with identical designs to auction off, but my inventory has limited quantities of each size:

5 XS T-shirts (asking price $3.99)
4 S T-shirts (asking price $4.50)
8 M T-shirts (asking price $4.99)
12 L T-shirts (asking price $5.50)
2 XXL T-shirts (asking price $7.50)

Bidders could bid on one item at a time only. If someone wants several T-shirt sizes, they would have to place separate bids for each of them; as making a bid for a group of T-shirts of different sizes would be disallowed.

If one person bid $5.00 for a small T-shirt, another person bid $6.50 and at the end of the auction, the final bid for small T-shirts is $12.00.

The high bidder would have valued the small T-shirts at $12.00 and have the option of buying one or up to four (the entire inventory of that size) at that valuation when the auction has closed.

The bidding would be separate for each size and be for one item only; as in the aforementioned example, only following the auction would the high bidder (for each size) have the option of buying more than one (up to the limit of inventory available) and only in the size that they bid on (because other sizes have a different base value).

As you can see, the suggestion is not as complicated as many make it out to be. The idea is much like a fixed price listing with variations. However, instead of one offer to buy an item, it may take several bids which benefits both parties; i.e. the seller gets the highest valuation that buyers are willing to pay for a particular item and buyers set the price that they are willing to pay for any given item.

Folks, ebay disallows listing variations of the same item in the same category simultaneously, but do permit variations of the same item to be sold in one fixed price listing with variations. I could not just list one T-shirt in each size in separate auctions launched simultaneously in the same category; ebay does not allow for this to be done.

Currently I would have to list each size of T-shirt in separate auctions one after the other until all have sold. If I could consolidate all inventory of these T-shirts into one auction, I could reach a lot more potential buyers at one time and get the best price for the product.

Sorry that is exactly as confusing as I expected it to be As someone else mentioned there used to be Dutch auctions which had multiquanity. It confused people and really didn't benefit a seller. So multiquanity and variations double confusing I'm not understanding the part your saying eBay disallows. You can't do several auctions of the same size but why would you want to. You'd be competing against yourself You can list 1 of each size at a time

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

d-k_treasures · ‎09-27-2017

As long as there in no BIN, you can put up as many auctions as you want for the same item. Ebay just won't show another one in search until one has a bid.

But yes, you would be basically competing with yourself.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

lookng2015 · ‎09-27-2017

When the only person who doesn't seem to think this idea is way complicated is the OP, that should tell them something.

Sometimes "brilliant innovations" aren't. (just ask eBay)

"If a product doesn't sell, raise the price" - Reese Palley
"If it sold FAST, it was priced too low" - also Reese Palley

d-k_treasures · ‎09-27-2017

@lookng2015 wrote:
When the only person who doesn't seem to think this idea is way complicated is the OP, that should tell them something.

Sometimes "brilliant innovations" aren't. (just ask eBay)

Ask ebay? They wouldn't know brilliant if it shone right in their eyes.

Of course, this isn't a brilliant idea, not even a dim bulb, and we certainly don't want ebay messing with the auction software!!!!

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

coast-commerce · ‎09-30-2017

@coolections wrote:
Your reasoning would not work. No one is going to bid with what you have suggested.

Wow, that is a bold statement! You should not criticize something until you have tried it and you can not try it until ebay makes it available for beta testing. I know that if I had two choices of where to place my bid, in an auction with choices and one without; it is a no-brainer to plunk down money in a listing with options.

Furthermore, why can't I give a buyer options of items, i.e. same basic item in a different color or with a V cut, crew cut or mock neck collar, long-sleeve, mid-sleeve or short-sleeve; it may be something buyers could get excited about.

Yes, my reasoning would work...

...we have airplanes, vaccines, nuclear weapons and spacecraft because people made their ideas work.

coolections · ‎09-30-2017

@coast-commerce wrote:
@coolections wrote:
Your reasoning would not work. No one is going to bid with what you have suggested.
Wow, that is a bold statement! You should not criticize something until you have tried it and you can not try it until ebay makes it available for beta testing.

You've been told by 15 people now why it won't work. Why ask me as that is a pretty bold statement.

coast-commerce · ‎09-30-2017

@coolections wrote:
@coast-commerce wrote:
@coolections wrote:
Your reasoning would not work. No one is going to bid with what you have suggested.
Wow, that is a bold statement! You should not criticize something until you have tried it and you can not try it until ebay makes it available for beta testing.
You've been told by 15 people now why it won't work. Why ask me as that is a pretty bold statement.

Whoa, 15 people...in a community with millions of users, 15 people is a drop in an ocean. Not concerned that 15 people said it would not work. So what am I to think, that the 15 people who said that it would not work are the ultimate authorities in the matter.

No, it is just 15 people with an opinion!

What I am most disappointed with is the lack of ebay's willingness to innovate, try new concepts, ideas, features and options.

We would still be in the dark ages if new ideas were not developed and brought to the masses.

luckythewinner · ‎09-30-2017

We would still be in the dark ages if new ideas were not developed and brought to the masses.

We would also still be in the dark ages if every business was foolish enough to expend time, energy and resources to develop and bring to the masses every single idea that someone who wasn't funding the effort dreamed up.

So what am I to think, that the 15 people who said that it would not work are the ultimate authorities in the matter.

No one here claims to be the ultimate authority. They were just expressing their opinion, like you were. But to take your argument to it's logical conclusion ... what are we to think, that the 1 person who likes this idea is a better authority?

coast-commerce · ‎09-30-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:

We would still be in the dark ages if new ideas were not developed and brought to the masses.

We would also still be in the dark ages if every business was foolish enough to expend time, energy and resources to develop and bring to the masses every single idea that someone who wasn't funding the effort dreamed up.

So what am I to think, that the 15 people who said that it would not work are the ultimate authorities in the matter.

No one here claims to be the ultimate authority. They were just expressing their opinion, like you were. But to take your argument to it's logical conclusion ... what are we to think, that the 1 person who likes this idea is a better authority?

15 vocal opinions, just steam, not necessarily substance.

A good idea that never comes to fruition is still a good idea.

Is it a good idea??? Well guess we will never know because perhaps ebay wants to remain stagnant and wait for others to make it outdated, stale and ineffective.

Apathy seems to work for some.

coast-commerce · ‎10-01-2017

To all of the nay-sayers who feel that this concept would not work, I feel that a similar sentiment would have (and may have) washed over the selling community if it was proposed to have fixed price listings with variations.

As to those who feel that the software writers (coders) are incapable of writing such a complicated program, the basic framework for fixed price auctions with variations has been established, so adapting the concept to include auctions is achievable.