Why does eBay make sending offers so difficult?

[feltfootball]

Isn't the goal here to sell things?  Limiting the seller's ability send offers just makes no sense.  If I send an offer and nobody bites, I'm not allowed to send another offer?  

Make it make sense.

[hartungcards]

"The irrational fear of SPAM here is as bad as the irrational fear of a certain president of the U.S."

I take exception to this statement.  My fears of Herbert Hoover turned out to be completely justified.

[feltfootball]

Please do us a favor and visit them even less frequently.  😂

Spoken like a person who spends way too much time on forums.  Who is "us"? Is this your world?  Do you lack real world friends?  

[feltfootball]

I suspect eBay's limit was set based on feedback from buyers. Because after all, watching a listing was intended as convenience for buyers, not a tool for sellers.

Sorry this can't be true...Please read all the other responses.  Plenty of people have informed me that my watch list is filled with sellers who aren't interested in buying my item at all.

Which is it?

[luckythewinner]

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@feltfootball wrote:

I suspect eBay's limit was set based on feedback from buyers. Because after all, watching a listing was intended as convenience for buyers, not a tool for sellers.

Sorry this can't be true...Please read all the other responses.  Plenty of people have informed me that my watch list is filled with sellers who aren't interested in buying my item at all.

Which is it?

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Both can be true. It was intended as a buying tool, but has come to be used for many reasons by many users.

But it was certainly not originally intended as a marketing tool for sellers to send offers,  because the "send offer" feature did not exist for a long time. 

But this is starting to get away from the original  complaint, which is that eBay has clearly decided that unsolicited spam from sellers to anonymous buyers should be tightly controlled.

I share eBay's opinion, and you don't. We can disagree on that; that's the whole point of having an opinion.

[fbusoni]

@feltfootball 

Wow... you really know how to hurt a guy's feelings.  😆

Alas, this IS my world.  And I lack real world friends.  😪

But my eBay sales are through the roof!!  😂

(But what does that have to do with my post, to which you responded?)

[fern*wood]

Have you activated the counter offer toggle yet?  As mentioned earlier, this will possibly allow another offer from you if a watcher decides to counter you.   Also you can toggle on the automated offers and ebay will jump right on sending out new offers as soon as someone is eligible.

[fbusoni]

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@hartungcards wrote:

"The irrational fear of SPAM here is as bad as the irrational fear of a certain president of the U.S."

I take exception to this statement.  My fears of Herbert Hoover turned out to be completely justified.

---

@hartungcards 

One man's "irrational fear" is another man's ___________ (fill in the blank).

I knew it was only a matter of time before the real problem here manifested itself.  😎

[hartungcards]

One man's "irrational fear" is another man's Tesla Cybertruck.

[feltfootball]

Have you activated the counter offer toggle yet?  As mentioned earlier, this will possibly allow another offer from you if a watcher decides to counter you.   Also you can toggle on the automated offers and ebay will jump right on sending out new offers as soon as someone is eligible.

Yeah I accept offers and counteroffers on everything.  I like to have control over when I send my offers to goose sales on the weekends.  And for those listings where I'm allowed to make offers, this works great for me.  The problem is, I'm only allowed to make offers on about 10% of my listings at any given time.

eBay has never understood the dynamics of the sports card/ memorabiliia market.  It's always been a square peg in their round hole.  They've made some strides with cards but none with memorabilia...which is my focus.  I've resisted the urge to jump over to Etsy, Mercari, Open Bid, etc...but the time may be coming.  Not sure if the functionality is any better but I hear the fees are.

[gator08041971]

I see they updated the active listing promotion section again today:

Fun times.

[feltfootball]

Why just 8 of your listings?

[feltfootball]

I think you've actually just solved the mystery of why eBay policy hinders sales instead of faciliating them.  

They want sellers to get frustrated and use their promoted listings feature so they get a bigger cut.  Now it's starting to make sense.

[feltfootball]

I think you've actually just solved the mystery of why eBay policy hinders sales instead of faciliating them.  

They want sellers to get frustrated and use their promoted listings feature so they get a bigger cut.  Now it's starting to make sense.

And to think...I got so many responses and not one person knew this.

[gator08041971]

@feltfootball 

If you had looked at them you might have an answer

• Many of my listings are variation listings.  Can't get offers on those.
• Several listings have no watchers.  Won't get offers on those either.
• And other listings have already had offers sent previously.  They are excluded as well.

Not difficult to figure out.

@feltfootball 

They want sellers to get frustrated and use their promoted listings feature so they get a bigger cut. Now it's starting to make sense.

Of course.  I don't fall for that trap though.  I have not used a single promotion or ad to date.  And I don't feel I need to.  But I thought this was implied and didn't need to be explained.  Of course they want you to use promotions.  lol

@feltfootball 

And to think...I got so many responses and not one person knew this.

Oh, they probably knew it, but never bothered to consider it important enough to say anything because it was obvious.  Or so I thought. Maybe not?

Anyhoo, good luck.

[feltfootball]

Oh, they probably knew it, but never bothered to consider it important enough to say anything because it was obvious.  Or so I thought. Maybe not?

A good lesson learned for all.  The next time somebody asks a question, the efficient thing to do is give the correct answer right up front....and save all the opinions for your diary.  And now I'll leave this forum...better than I found it.

What a good thread this was.