eBay question
Cuprinkor
Posts: 249 ✭✭✭
eBay will suggest "make offer to interested buyer(s)". When I send an offer to sell I rarely get a response. My question is : did the buyer actually express an interest in a particular or is this an eBay-generated function to increase business (and the buyer played no part in this)?
Sometimes coins are offered to me when I never put that item on a watchlist. (I may have viewed it but not added to my watchlist.). Thus the question:
Is this purely an eBay generated "ploy" or what?
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Comments
The option for sellers to send the offer pops up for both people that added the item to their watch list and those who might have just opened the listing to view without putting it in their watch list.
Is it a ploy? That is for each person to decide. I have sold a small amount of items via this function and bought a few times too. Most times though the offers don’t lead to a sale or purchase.
Spending time on the page can trigger the offer option as well... Ie if you are studying the images it may be long enough they think you might be interested. Watch listing is a more sure way for the seller to get the option though.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
I have used this several times as a seller (non coin related) and have not had much success. As a buyer, I get these offers daily, and they rarely influence my decision to buy for 2 reasons, 1. I want interested at the coin after I looked at it, 2. The discount is meaningless, for example $3 off a $300 coin is not going to change my mind. The times that I have acted on the offer was conversely for 2 reasons, 1. I was planning to buy it anyway, but just waiting for one reason it another, 2. The discount was enough to make the decision for me, I recently purchased a pair of snowboard bindings because they offered a 20% discount, the savings was $40 and that was enough to make it a great deal. I did recently get 2 offers on toned Icelandic coins in pcgs holders that were 20% off, I didn't act, but I seriously considered it.
I get a lot of these offers because I look for die varieties and cherries.
The basic rule of EBay is that they do whatever they can to generate sales, they could care less about buyers or seller, making or losing money -- it is all about EBay. They are a real pain in the ass when they charge tax to a buyer in a state with no tax. It takes the buyer and/or seller a lot of time to fix it, and they charge the seller the standard % fee on taxes charged, correct or not. Been through a couple of recent battles, where I literally was reading them the legal statutes and they were powerless stupid trolls with no authority, but you don't get to talk to anyone with decision power. They really need some competition.
You can't offer $3 of a $300 coin
How exactly is ebay involved when a seller sends an offer to a buyer who either accepts or refuses the offer? The offer ALWAYS comes from the seller.
EBay prompts the seller to send offers when someone watches or looks at something, and yeah the seller has the final decision. Do you have a store on EBay?
Exactly what is the problem here? The seller only agrees to it if they want and the buyer only buys it if they want. Nothing is forced down anyone's throat. BTW, Companies of all sizes do many things to become more profitable and increasing sales is certainly a goal. JMO
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Only two words to sum this up:
Misleading & meaningless.
I often accept offers that are sent by sellers. If I'm interested in an item and am willing to risk someone else buying it first, I add it to my watch list to see if I get an offer.
As I agree it is still a form of advertising.
If an interested buyer is on the fence an offer may just push them over.
It doesn't cost eBay as much to get you to lower your price.
Most of the time I get these offers, I ignore them for the reasons stated above. But if it's something I'm truly interested in, and counteroffers are available, I'll often counter a bit below the offer and that often works out!
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
I sell things weekly with offers sent. I sold a $400 commem yesterday by dropping the price to $375. I was happy and I assume the buyer was happy.
As a seller I usually send offers to everyone eBay will let me. Some accept my offer, some send me a counteroffer, some ignore the offer. Every resulting sale helps the bottom line and sending the offer doesn't require a lot of extra work. I'm retired and eBay is a hobby/business that helps get rid of a lifetime accumulation of "stuff".
As a buyer I've made very few offers to sellers and most have been accepted.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I have a no nonsense approach to ebay commerce, either someone is interested or not and can make offers or email if they are interested is something; then you look what your bottom line is; even a reasonable loss is better than stale inventory.
The offers go to the watchers. But just because you watch something does not mean you want to buy it. I watch a lot of things just to see if they sell and what they sell for.
I use the word "misleading" because the buyer did not initiate the action - apparently eBay did.
Based on the actions of the buyer...
I always add items I am interested in to my watch list, and sit back and see if I get an offer. 50% hit rate for a discount
It's very annoying, to say the least! Another tactic ebay uses, coins that you have already viewed and passed on have a way of following you to the next page/list of coins and on. The way I look at it, If I already have seen it, I've already made up my mind about it, I'm not interested! Stop shoving coins in my face, sending them to my email, etc, already!
Coins that I have interest in will remain as a tab on my screen until another decision is made about it.
And I'm aware, somehow, I can opt out receiving such notices but like having to figure out my android phone, its all a pain in the A--!
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
The offer originally went to accounts that that had added the listing to their watchlists at the time the offer was made. Then eBay extended it to others who later added it. Now just viewing a listing will get the offer.
As I open the listing for every early dollar, every Lafayette dollar, and most Trade dollars, I get swamped with offers of absolutely no interest all of the time. The funny ones are those I had reported as counterfeits.
Yup. I get offers for coins I viewed die to postings on this forum.
The funniest one was for a set of Corningware. An antiques friend sent me the link to a $200 set listed for $25,000 and asked why. I told her we see it all the time in coins. Next day I got a discounted offer of $19,500
The buyer has ultimate control over sent offers though, I only send them to watchers who hang around quite a while. I find them annoying most of the time -- like if I randomly end up on a page and then get offers.
I've sent several offers to interested buyers on eBay this year. Made two sales using that feature.