eBay

saintcharlesplaceantiques · ‎10-09-2017

Hey everyone.

Has anyone else had the "best offer" option start showing up on auctions?

I typically use the "best offer" option on my BIN fixed price listings, but I've never heard of it showing up at auction before. I didn't even think it was possible to have an offer feature on an auction, but it's showing up on everything I list today. Obviously, when I list an item at auction, the minimum bid is the lowest I'll accept, so I don't even see why eBay would consider making this an option. I already get plenty of lowball offers & the last thing I need is offers below my minimum bid, and there's not even a BIN price on these listings.

I list several items a week for auction, and I didn't do anything different this time, so I'm wondering why it's showing up, or if there's something in my default settings that was somehow changed?

Is it visible on a page that's not my account?

I called eBay CS, but all they could really tell me was that it SHOULDN'T be an option, and ask me to decline any offers I recieve while the auction is running.

Anybody else running into this??

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎10-10-2017

I'm not seeing it on auctions in the categories I buy from, vintage collectibles or women's clothing.

muttlymob · ‎10-10-2017

I recall some listings had "sticky" BINS that didn't go away once a bid was placed. Maybe this is expanding on that, if that even still exists.

Sticky BO.

How appropriate. If eBay decides to force it without seller knowledge or choice.

partial*eclipse · ‎10-10-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
.... I recall some listings had "sticky" BINS that didn't go away once a bid was placed.....

The policy on "sticky" BINs hasn't changed in over 10 years. There are 4 categories where the BIN option remains available until the bidding reaches 50% of the BIN price.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/questions/buy-it-now.html

partial*eclipse · ‎10-10-2017

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
I'm not seeing it on auctions in the categories I buy from, vintage collectibles or women's clothing.

Here's one:

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎10-10-2017

I don't understand why it's showing on some listings and not others. I thought maybe I just wasn't seeing it because they are testing with some buyers but I went and found trustedbasset's shoes and it's showing on those.

Really odd.

Just thought, could it be relists where the starting price stays the same?

stoneledge · ‎10-10-2017

@partial*eclipse wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
.... I recall some listings had "sticky" BINS that didn't go away once a bid was placed.....
The policy on "sticky" BINs hasn't changed in over 10 years. There are 4 categories where the BIN option remains available until the bidding reaches 50% of the BIN price.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/questions/buy-it-now.html

Why did the Buy It Now option disappear after the first bid?

For auction-style listings with the Buy It Now option, you have the chance to purchase an item immediately, before bidding starts. But you have to act fast. After someone bids, the Buy It Now option disappears and bidding continues until the listing ends, with the item going to the highest bidder. Learn more about buying with the Buy It Now option.

Special situations

In a listing with a reserve price, Buy It Now disappears as soon as the reserve price has been met.

In some categories, the Buy It Now option is available until bids reach or exceed 50% of the Buy It Now price:

Cell Phones & Accessories
Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
Motors Parts & Accessories
Tickets

Typos courtesy of Lithium.

partial*eclipse · ‎10-10-2017

@stoneledge wrote:
@partial*eclipse wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
.... I recall some listings had "sticky" BINS that didn't go away once a bid was placed.....
The policy on "sticky" BINs hasn't changed in over 10 years. There are 4 categories where the BIN option remains available until the bidding reaches 50% of the BIN price.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/questions/buy-it-now.html
Why did the Buy It Now option disappear after the first bid?
For auction-style listings with the Buy It Now option....

At the risk of going even further off topic: Why are you repying to me with a quote of the policy that I linked to?

giz.mos · ‎10-10-2017

Every buy it now I listed from my ipad app automatically added make an offer and there was no way to change it. I had to revise all my items from my computer to get rid of it.

stoneledge · ‎10-10-2017

@partial*eclipse wrote:
@stoneledge wrote:
@partial*eclipse wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
.... I recall some listings had "sticky" BINS that didn't go away once a bid was placed.....
The policy on "sticky" BINs hasn't changed in over 10 years. There are 4 categories where the BIN option remains available until the bidding reaches 50% of the BIN price.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/questions/buy-it-now.html
Why did the Buy It Now option disappear after the first bid?
For auction-style listings with the Buy It Now option....

At the risk of going even further off topic: Why are you repying to me with a quote of the policy that I linked to?

Becasuse Lithium is so bad that it doesn't have Reply OP on every page.... it should be on every comment, frankly. Thank Lithium for that.

I posted the policy at link you provided. THat way everyone here will see it and understand it, in context.

THanks for finding it.

Have a good one!

Typos courtesy of Lithium.

idalis62 · ‎10-10-2017

I was just on the phone with eBay CS trying to get listing fee refunds for listings I ended because of this. He told me he had never seen anything like this in 14 years working there and that I would get credits, but then just emailed me this:

"It turns out that the appearance of a Best Offer option on your Auction format listing is a brand new thing we are testing. So new in fact that the public help pages have not yet been updated to reflect it.

In a nutshell, if our system sees an Auction format listing with a starting bid that is above average for what similar items have sold for recently, it will put a Best Offer option on the listing in the hope of increasing the chance of a sale. The seller is of course free to decline or even ignore any offers that are made.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions."

So yup, ebay's automated **bleep** decides what your item should sell for and then will force you to "accept offers", thereby alienating buyers who will no doubt become **bleep** at you when you don't accept "reasonable offers" because you don't actually want to accept offers AT ALL. Further why would anyone bid the start price if you are advertising that you'd "be willing" to take less!?

I sell some high demand vintage clothing items that attain huge prices at auction. They are not comparable to some random piece by that designer from last year. But in ebay's infinite wisdom they are.

gymbo_limbo · ‎10-10-2017

Not replying to anyone specific, just jumping on but this only appeared on the auctions I listed today (didn't listed any Saturday, Sunday, or Monday) but this is what it looks like when viewing it in My Ebay. I was astonished in a bad way since obviously the opening bid is the lowest I'm willing to go.

7606dennis · ‎10-10-2017

It would almost certainly have to be some sort of glitch. I can't believe that even eBay programming people would fail to see that every bid made in an auction is an offer so to have a bid button and make offer button would be inappropriate.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

readabouthorses · ‎10-10-2017

Read Post 40. Sounds like a new bright idea someone at Ebay came up with. Now time to test it out on the real live guinea pigs and see how it flies.

Ebay ... where every day is a new adventure!

partial*eclipse · ‎10-10-2017

@7606dennis wrote:
... every bid made in an auction is an offer so to have a bid button and make offer button would be inappropriate.

I've seen a report that the Best Offer option disappears when a bid is placed, which is the only sensible part of this whole enterprise.

thatsallfolks · ‎10-10-2017

@7606dennis wrote:
It would almost certainly have to be some sort of glitch. I can't believe that even eBay programming people would fail to see that every bid made in an auction is an offer so to have a bid button and make offer button would be inappropriate.

If it goes away after the first bid, I don’t know that it’s any less appropriate than a BIN (aside from eBay doing it unilaterally). It could be a useful tool,if the seller gets to decide whether to use it.