eBay Gives Buyers Greater Flexibility when Haggling

by: hawk

while ebay keeps screwing with sellers , they are also screwing with the buyers. they don't quite have anyone smart enough to realize that though.

by: comet

Using only a cell for the past year (don't ask!) About half of this stuff is unuseable.  Thanks Wenig!  Everyone has a cell, and YOU choose to have a fail site!!!  The things I can find/buy on AZ vs.ebay----  well I think I have bought 1 thing on ebay in past months vs prob 50 on AZ.  As for SELLING--- Right now I have two items on repeat.  I do "Offers",  altho often get extreme lo balls,  which I decline or counter offer.  I have some "wiggle room" built in as I know people love to think they got a.DEAL, but, no, sorry,  not taking less.that it costs me to sell one of a kind motorcycle.specific items to you!  And out here in Cow Town with crap internet it sometimes has taken me 12 hours to even SEE an offer!!!!  I am planning on throwing some used stuff on to clear out an estate,  see how that goes,  haven't done it in 2 years.  Nothing I sell has a place on AZ or anywhere else I have seen.  

Oh and ebay--- how about a "PICKED UP" or "DELIVERED" space on SHIPPED ITEMS?  Discovered.there was.none last week when a local bought an item and we met up.  Ridic.esp on PICK UP ONLY larger items!!!!  I get.that they want their share of the vig on postage, but postage doesn't always happen!!!!  Absurd.  

by: Chicago48

Can somebody explain, do store owners get listing fees with GTC or not.  My seller hub has these words:  Pay no insertion fees on 100 listings, including Good ‘Til Cancelled.  Which indicates to me that there is NO LISTING FEE IF THE ITEM IS GOOD TILL CANCELLED, CORRECT?
WHY IS EVERYBODY stating there is a fee?  

by: FidoMaster
Web Site

Pace – Yeah, the Elliott letter, love it or hate it, did shine a laser on Wenig’s failed leadership which will forever taint Devin ''Misexecution'' Wenig’s “legacy”.

Unfortunately, he’s getting out of this a wealthy man no matter which way he goes.

Also in case you missed it, that mouthpiece Tarman was let go shortly after that Holmes report interview, which if I recall correctly you had some interesting comments on.

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Agree with Lightning’s observations many of these changes are very auction-ish, difference being Wenig and Temkin are attempting to grease the skid on both the buyer and seller side in an effort to complete a transaction much more quickly than the auction waiting game.

Keeping mind as eBay transitions more sellers into MP, they will also benefit from the per-transaction fees (low as they may seem individually), so while they try to push for higher ASP seller inventory, they also want more transactions completely much more quickly, and by rolling out these offer capabilities on both the buyer and seller side they hope to amp up velocity.

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Also got a laugh out of Wenigs Tweet about the dividend, he’s posturing like he cornered into it by Elliott (Ina reported on this yesterday if you haven’t seen it).

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@smallstuff: Go to Active Listings view in Seller Hub, there’s now (for us) a new radio button labeled “offers to buyers” that will display (unfortunately but not filter), you still have to scroll through listings to find ones that are “eligible”.

Since they haven’t announced this like they did the BO time options for buyers, this could be part of an ongoing test (like the time option I first noticed at the beginning of January, then it went away for my personal consumer buyer account).

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Here's a refresher to the other promised changes Wenig's pal Temkin promised including this bit on seller protections:

''As the head of seller experience, it's my job to protect you as the seller...It's a high priority to add more seller protections.'' - Harry ''Seller Protection'' Temkin

www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2018/11/
1541640735.html

by: FidoMaster
Web Site

Chicago - You're paying for the listing fees through your store subscription - so yes you are paying for them, and you'll pay individually if/when you deplete the ones included in your store level and list above the included listing allotment.

On a related note consumer sellers previously received 8X NO COST GTC relisting using the mobile app. I tried to get clarification on this yesterday but only got it half-answered:

https://twitter.com/FidoMaster1/status/110808405
1565518851

Lastly, the weekly chat Ina linked at the bottom of the article update is worth reading for anyone trying to keep up with this stuff.

by: I Must be Crazy

For a platform that is on record as wanting to shed the legacy perception of being a ''flea market'', this seems to accomplish the very opposite. More proof that eBay management still does not have any clear direction which way they are headed.

I have never been a fan of Best Offer. The few times I have used it I find it to be slow and clumsy. My biggest complaint is there isn't way to require immediate, or time limited payment for an item. I think that issue makes the feature less desirable than it would be otherwise. When a buyer doesn't pay, I then need to wait the minimum of days to open the Non Paying Buyer case, wait for that to resolve before relisting my item. All the while losing prospective buyers along the way.

Until eBay can add enhancements that deal with timely payment for BIN, I won't be offering it.

by: I Must be Crazy

"Until eBay can add enhancements that deal with timely payment for BIN, I won't be offering it."

I mean timely payment for Best Offer....

by: FEEbay

I hate Ebay, and all of their meddling, but will never understand the hostility that some of you guys have towards the "Best Offer" feature..... Personally, I think it is THE SINGLE GREATEST feature that Ebay has ever rolled out. It is the PERFECT way to get around MAP pricing, and we treat lowball offers seriously as well. ANY Best Offer is a legitimate sales lead, and a possible sale, and it only takes seconds to counter, decline, etc... This is a great tool!!!

by: Whatever

with the current rate of returns - ebay should be a non-existent company shortly and with ebay's new "Screw" the seller attitude - "Let's steal as much of their money as we can before the ship goes down" I really don't see the point of all this. Sellers are leaving in droves - new sellers are inexperienced and don't know what's about to hit them - back to the swap meet and community sales I guess.

by: Whatever

My "i'm not leaving" stance is getting very thin now - after a month with 6 returns of buyers remorse and ebay taking the buyers side - my patience is wearing thin. I've never had 6 returns in an entire year never mind 1 month. This latest ploy by eBay will end up being a huge disaster. If their low ballers now - and you accept that lowball offer you have just set yourself up for more misery and grief. eBay must be soooo desperate.

by: RKTOYS

I still don't see that promised option to reach out to watchers.  I have a dozen watchers rthat won't make an offer right now.

by: FEEbay

@RKTOYS - Yeah, I am still waiting for that feature as well.... We just need to be able to send Best Offers to watchers, and buyers with our items in their carts, and NOT change the price of the item globally for everyone to see....
This cannot be that hard to implement right?? I mean, you can already send a Best Offer along with a simple My Messages response!

by: geoffreymason

I'm tired of haggling. I'm tired of people who want my dirt-cheap items even cheaper! And I'm tired of the rude rebukes of those whose offers are turned down. (And I do not use "make offer"; these are cheapsters who are acting independently, and who feel entitled.)

by: Lightning

@FEEbay makes a good point, and goes to show that not ALL eBay edicts are distasteful to EVERYONE.  There are some rare exceptions.

The key to Best Offers is to manage them properly.  If you don't use Best Offer, and still a few appear, maybe it's not a big deal to just respond to those occasional instances, hopefully professionally instead of in a mean-spirited manner.  It really doesn't take long to send a message.

Sometimes buyers request a price drop because they see the eBay SUGGESTION to make an offer in the Contact Seller list of topics.  You can take action to head that off.  Each of us can create custom responses when these radio buttons are checked, that show up just below the stock eBay explanations.  So on that button, put a response that makes sense  for your policies.  You can state that you don't entertain offers, your prices are as low as you can put them, you have sales now and then instead, etc.

If you are in the habit of using Best Offer, make sure to set your auto-responses, BOTH of them.  Use the auto-decline to shut down low ball offers.  You'll probably never get a low offer again, so no aggravation there.  Use the auto-accept to save transaction time, instead of having to respond manually.  It's annoying that these changes REQUIRE us to change with them, but it seems to be eBay's goal to make our lives miserable.  They are very good at it.  But some of it can be deflected without too much effort, and there is some satisfaction in knowing you countered the attack.

by: Lightning

@Chicago48
You pay for a GTC listing when it begins, and again every time it renews in 30 day increments.  You have 100 free listings per month.  If you had no Active listings at all today (3/22), and tomorrow you list 75 GTC listings (on 3/23), it's free.  You have 25 left for the month.  You do nothing more in March, so your 25 free listings expire on 3/31.  On the first, you get 100 more ''free'' listings.  You list 80 on 4/10, still free, 20 left.  But along comes the renewal of the March listings on 4/22, 75 more charges.  That uses up your remaining 20, and you have to pay for the 55 ''out of pocket''.  And now you have 155 listings running.  Next month, all 155 will renew, so again you are paying for 55 on your monthly bill, IF you didn't list a single additional item.  This all presumes none sold, like most days for a lot of us.  Hopefully you are having better luck.

Here is the exact wording regarding GTC from the FEES section of the NO-Help pages:

''Good 'Til Cancelled listings''

''For Good 'Til Cancelled listings, we charge an insertion fee every 30-day period. Your listing will renew automatically every 30 days unless your item sells before that timeframe, you cancel your listing, or your listing violates an eBay policy and we end your listing. Good 'Til Cancelled listings count toward your monthly zero insertion fee listings. Fee amounts are based on the terms in effect when the listing goes live and when it renews.''

Ebay collects the fee every 30 days, or uses your free listings.  Apparently that's the ''GOOD'' part of Good 'Til Cancelled - from EBAY's standpoint.

by: hawk

ebay is bound and determined to destroy all small sellers by there greed for fees. in turn they will destroy themselves.

all empires rise , get greedy and arrogant , then they fall. nobody has learned from centuries of history.  

by: nuggets

What they arent counting on is those of us with valuable businesses just blocking the pushy offerers off the bat and never doing business with them ever. Every change ebay makes, I just add more people to the blocklist and work on our contingencies. Were not a small or common goods seller and have grown to see ebay as the worst company on the planet. Were usually ahead of the curve on most things, so this is suppose to until the general public catches on.

by: Snapped

''...goes to show that not ALL eBay edicts are distasteful to EVERYONE.''

Of course not.  That's why it's so important to have a CHOICE.  Either way.

Point is, those who dig BO already had all they needed to use it.  Assuming they knew how; many did/do not.  

The argument here is about the 'mandate' culture this lazy management venue is foisting upon their paying customers, not about what is being mandated.  It's not that the BO discussion itself isn't worthy (though fans and non-fans will likely never compromise).  It's that, ideally, all should be able to exercise the PREFERENCE that works for them.  

eBay has once again squashed that potential, in favor of their own greed.  More importantly, whether or not BO suits YOUR (collective) needs, is anything gained that was lacking before eBay chose your path for you?

Bear in mind that with every 'option' eBay removes for a seller, choice is also removed for the buyer.  On eBay.  They still have choices elsewhere.  And they will go where those are honored.  

Perhaps you (all) may have noticed that happening with each eBay homogenization?