Why would a seller put a limit on the number of items you can buy?

[inhawaii]

I just tried to buy 12 widgets from a seller.  I get an error message that there is a limit of 5.  Why on earth would any seller do that?  He would rather sell 1, 2 or 3 at a time than sell 12 to 1 person?  That makes no sense to me.

[myboardid]

There are "thrill" buyers out there who would buy up all of a seller's inventory and then not pay for it, leaving the seller with no payment, tons of unpaid item cases, and all his items tied up in the cases.  It is smart for a seller to put a limit on how many items a buyer can buy at one time. 

[coolections]

Many sellers add a handling fee so they would never allow you to buy 12 items. A buyer would want to buy 12 then at the time of paying then try telling the seller they want a discount. It could cost the seller up to 20% profit dong it that way. Also someone buying 12 at once then complaining about one of the items requires the buyer send back all 12 items. Someone tries pulling the buy 12 and get a discount would most likely result in the buyer getting blocked. Thus Ebay allows sellers to set restrictions to stop that type of stuff from happening.

[mczombies]

I don't know that "many" sellers add a handling fee--I have never personally purchased from anyone here who added a handling fee.  I don't understand where you got that it would cost the seller up to 20% of their profit--I know I'm not the greatest at math, but huh?

Also--it is factually incorrect that the buyer has to send back all 12 items if they don't like one. That is absolutely not true.  When you give advice, you should know your facts inside and out--because it confuses the conversation, and dilutes the truth--muddying up the waters with speculation presented as facts.  You can still participate in the conversation without having all the answers. Speaking of answers, one reason why eBay lets sellers limit the number of purchases is so that instead of getting scammed for 12 units, they might only get taken for 5 from a shady buyer. Another reason is that if the item is a "loss leader" you don't want one person buying up all the stock--eBay and AZ both use limits on their special deals. 

[18704d]

I thought you're able to message the seller and

(probably after they've reviewed your feedback)

they can remove the block for you?

Thanks,

Lynn

[tiramisu41]

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@18704d wrote:

I thought you're able to message the seller and

(probably after they've reviewed your feedback)

they can remove the block for you?

Thanks,

Lynn

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Yes, @18704d, it is possible to do that.  I get that sort of request all the time from buyers.  If they look legit, then I just go in and remove the "quantity restriction" for that buyer so they can purchase more units than the listing allowed.

[Anonymous]

Sellers with loss leaders often use limits.

[luckythewinner]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I just tried to buy 12 widgets from a seller.  I get an error message that there is a limit of 5.  Why on earth would any seller do that?  He would rather sell 1, 2 or 3 at a time than sell 12 to 1 person?  That makes no sense to me.

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Some sellers use a limit of X when the weight of X+1 items places the shipping cost into another service or price level.

For instance, with First Class International the price jump from 8 ounces to 9 ounces is about $10 ($13 to $23).

[vintagecraze50]

For some sellers it is a loss prevention method. Any one buyer buying a ton of stuff especially if it comes to a significant amount of money is a risk online because of fraudulent activites, fraudulent chargebacks. They will put a limit on how much they are willing to take a risk on with any ONE buyer perhaps until the buyer has shown to be trustworthy with that much merchandise.

[castlemagicmemories]

Item may be a Loss leader and they prefer to limit quantities so the item may draw others to their store.

Limits like that also protect the seller from a buyer who does not intend to honor his commitment, by not allowing that buyer to tie up a significant amount of inventory.

[bebre_49]

One reason that I don't see mentioned here is protecting feedback.

When Buyers check feedback all they see is a ton of negative feedback not understanding that it was all from one person. So to mitigate damage, sellers might choose to limit the number of items one person can buy.