ebay's latest

[blackolive (Ste)]

Ive a few items listed on Ebay at the minute on a buy it now listing, with the "accept offers" firmly disabled.

this morning I received an email from ebay thus :

Your chances of selling have just gone up

Hi
Buyers can now make offers on your listing.

Listings that accept offers from buyers have a higher chance of selling because they provide more opportunities to attract buyers and make a deal. If you haven’t already, be sure to download our app, so you don’t let any offers pass by. Every offer is an opportunity.

If you don’t want to receive offers, go to Manage offer settings to update your preferences.



quickly logged into ebay to find they had revised my listing on a £15 b.i.n item, to automatically accept offers over £7.50. Luckily no-one had taken Ebay up on their very kind offer and bought it for half the price I had it up for, and its now been revised again by myself.


I certainly can't find anything in the user agreement that states they can do this, just a heads up for people that this is happening. yet another nail in the coffing for them

 

[colnerov]

Hi, I like (not) how they say you can 'update your preferences'. You haven't, they have, you have to go back in and reset them' No wonder their traffic (profits) are down when they pull strokes like this. It's not their place to say what something is worth, the market will decide. The buyers can get the hump with you when you when you won't accept their offer, when it could be nothing to do with you.

Colin

 

[julianf]

From reading the eBay forums, are you certain that it's not a case of offers being autodeclined "under" the £7.50 limit, and over that number, they come to you for manual approval or decline?

 

[mrsbruce]

I used to get them frigging about with my listings too. Including reducing the posting times from 3 weeks (items made to order) to 5 days, without even a mention to me, until a buyer would complain.

 

[julianf]

(note, my comment above is not in any way endorsement of eBay's meddling - just a desire to clarify)

 

[Monkey Harris]

Unreal..
gumptree and faceache are easier to deal with..
eBay ousting private sellers..?

 

[colnerov]

eBay ousting private sellers..?

Hi, That's been their aim for years, they want to be a 'go to' retail site like Amazon.

Colin

 

[reb78]

Hi, That's been their aim for years, they want to be a 'go to' retail site like Amazon.

Colin

That's the only way I use them these days - as a shop. I actually find the interface more friendly than Amazon, so rarely use Amazon at all. I don't sell on ebay anymore as I am afraid of losing what I am selling through some dodgy shenanigans with a buyer - since buyers seem to get away with all sorts at the sellers expense!

 

[Robotstar5]

I hadn't listed anything for a while and noticed the listings page has been "improved" but carried on regardless until I got an "offer alert" and realised it was an automatic option they had set had to quickly edit the other items. Had a look at the settings to check nothing else had been changed a found there is now no option to only allow bidders with a Paypal account.

 

[armalites]

You don't have to repsond to the offers or accept them, I appreciate the dramas with ebay but it is still one of the easiest ways to sell something that could be worth nothing locally. Like everything in life there is an element of trust when dealing with people.

A couple of facebook groups for tools I belong too are awash with "Don't deal with this person posts"

 

[roofman]

It was all down hill when they started telling us what the postage charges were and made no allowances for packaging etc..we have no one to blame other than ourselves for allowing yet another massive company to call the shots without voting with our feet

 

[ChrisW8]

I found out they were doing that to mine too...…….

Loads of investigating on my listings, I found that the 'make offers' and 'automatically re-list' only happened if I used the App on my phone to re-list items.

If you list or re-list via yer pc and go into Advanced Listing, you can leave the relative boxes unchecked.

You can also Re-edit yer listings and uncheck the boxes while the auction is live.

hope this helps

 

[indy4x]

It was all down hill when they started telling us what the postage charges were and made no allowances for packaging etc..we have no one to blame other than ourselves for allowing yet another massive company to call the shots without voting with our feet

I think the reason they did this was to stop the practice of some seller's listing 99p items but charging £40 for postage to avoid paying eBay final value fees.

They seemed to resolve this by including postage costs in their final value fees

Appreciate both options are a PITA but they are a business with the sole purpose of making money

I may not agree to either of the above but it's just my take on it

 

[Robotstar5]

What's happened to all the postage options?, just seens to be Royal mail or shutl now.

 

[blackolive (Ste)]

From reading the eBay forums, are you certain that it's not a case of offers being autodeclined "under" the £7.50 limit, and over that number, they come to you for manual approval or decline?

No, it was set to automatically accept offers above £7.50

 

[cumbriasteve]

What's happened to all the postage options?, just seens to be Royal mail or shutl now.

Still using Hermes and the option is there for me.

I am about to give Ebay the big heave ho with selling though, used to have a few accounts for various sales lines but down to one now, I don't like some of their tricks such as if someone looks at one of my items ebay shows them other sellers offerings on my sales page.

It was only ever a hobby so won't miss it financially.

 

[rtbcomp]

...
I am about to give Ebay the big heave ho with selling though, used to have a few accounts for various sales lines but down to one now, I don't like some of their tricks such as if someone looks at one of my items ebay shows them other sellers offerings on my sales page.

...

That really annoys me as a seller, but as a buyer it's great. Ebay are trying to get people to buy off someone even if it's not you. Imagine if Tesco advertised their food in Asda.

 

[Wightsparks]

Have to say as a buyer (have sold on ebay but not for a while) I much prefer Ebay to Amazon - I even have a bunch of Amazon gift credit that I have not used for years. I just want to know how much something costs - with Amazon they don't tell you delivery or if they do it suddenly depends on buying Prime or how much your total is or... , I get annoyed and frustrated within a few minutes of Amazon's rubbish. Ebay is just cleaner and easier.

 

[pondy]

Got this today. Listed at £250, automatically accept offers over £125..

 

[Wightsparks]

Which idiot in ebay thought that this would go down well with sellers? I would think one without a job in about 48 hours...