Setting prices can be tricky, especially for non-commodity or used goods on eBay. Another difficult decision for sellers is when to lower prices on unsold items and by how much. The decision to lower prices might be easier if sellers were sure that interested shoppers were informed of their price-drops.
eBay has an account setting where buyers can opt-in to receive notifications when items drop in price, called "Price Reduced On Item" under the Buyer Activity setting, but there is confusion on the part of buyers and sellers about how the feature works. Does the seller have to lower the price by a certain percentage before shoppers are notified? And which shoppers receive the notifications - is it when they are "watching" an item, or have the item in their shopping cart - or both?
Those were questions
a seller asked in an eBay discussion board thread: "So for items I have previously listed which have watchers, if I lower my item price, are the watchers notified? I was told it need to be a decrease in price of at least 5% for your watchers to be notified? But what if I only want to decrease the price 2 or 3% and still have them notified? Can I increase the price by 10% and then decrease it to the amount I want?"
Different people have had different experiences, adding to the confusion. One poster said, "Watchers are not automatically notified about price changes. I certainly have never received such a notification in all my years on eBay," while another poster said, "I have always had emails notifying me of any price drop on any watched items."
We went
back to the archives and found the answer as of 2022, as described in an episode of the now discontinued eBay for Business podcast. Host Jim "Griff" Griffith (now retired) explained eBay sends email alerts to buyers who have watched or viewed an item or has an item in their shopping cart when the seller lowers the price by a certain minimum percentage of the original selling price - somewhere between 4 - 6 percent, he hinted.
The "Price Reduced On Item" buyer notification feature is not to be confused with eBay's Auto Price Reduction feature for sellers, which some people began seeing in July - and was almost announced last month (see our
coverage of the eBay October Seller Update). The feature is handy but is likely more useful for sellers of commodity goods or certain other types of products.
We know some people are tuned into the price-drop feature because today, a buyer wrote on the
eBay discussion boards:
"For years, I've received an email and eBay app notification if an item I'm watching or have in my shopping cart is lowered by 5% or more. I noticed that I have not received any such messages for the past few weeks or so. I tested this morning with a friend who lowered two items I've been watching. Sure enough, no notifications were sent or received (?)."
If you've seen the Auto Price Reduction feature for sellers, let us know. And tell us if you think the price-drop notifications spur eBay shoppers to hit the buy button.
Do eBay Price-Drops Spur Sales?