Another Frustrating New Ebay Policy

shop955

Member
Apr 27, 2014
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This morning, I went to respond to a message from a potential buyer, and noticed this very obvious pop-up at the bottom of the message. Clicking the "learn more" button, it essentially just says that you can submit an offer on items even without the best offer feature. This now shows up whenever anyone goes to message me, even if they are not even looking to make an offer.

This is really frustrating to me.. I have gotten two offers already on an item this morning that is not listed at best offer, and for which I cannot go any lower on. This feels to me like eBay undermining sellers yet again. I know many people do make offers without this or a best offer feature, but this just makes it seem like the seller IS accepting offers even if they are not. Any thoughts?

The link is here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/private_offer.html
 

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This is the first day I've seen it, it seems very new. I think it's not only unfair to sellers, but is also confusing to buyers, making them think sellers are accepting offers when they are not. Hopefully this new idea fails fast!
 
Just guessing here but I expect it might be because many buyers already ignore the fact that the seller has not included a best offer option and contact the seller directly. What can often result from this contact is a negotiation to reduce the price if the transaction is taken off ebay. Ebay is probably trying to take more control over these unsolicited offers to negotiate.
 
Um...even as a buyer I dislike. If I hadn't seen this thread I would have thought the seller was open for offers but been confused as to why it wasn't listed best offer. Plus it will make buyers think there is haggle room and not buy at the listed price. I get what ebay is trying to do but I think it's clumsy and not a good solution personally.
 
Just guessing here but I expect it might be because many buyers already ignore the fact that the seller has not included a best offer option and contact the seller directly. What can often result from this contact is a negotiation to reduce the price if the transaction is taken off ebay. Ebay is probably trying to take more control over these unsolicited offers to negotiate.
If you're right, this is another example of ebay going against its own policies. The policy (originally) stated that making a b.o. on a non-b.o. listing was a violation but instead of sanctioning members who did it, they changed the policy to and encourage such nonsense. :mad:
 
This morning, I went to respond to a message from a potential buyer, and noticed this very obvious pop-up at the bottom of the message. Clicking the "learn more" button, it essentially just says that you can submit an offer on items even without the best offer feature. This now shows up whenever anyone goes to message me, even if they are not even looking to make an offer.

This is really frustrating to me.. I have gotten two offers already on an item this morning that is not listed at best offer, and for which I cannot go any lower on. This feels to me like eBay undermining sellers yet again. I know many people do make offers without this or a best offer feature, but this just makes it seem like the seller IS accepting offers even if they are not. Any thoughts?

The link is here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/private_offer.html

The way I read the link was that sellers have the option to send an offer to a buyer, but not the reverse. So, is the pop-up visible to the buyer/questioner?
I may go do an ASQ just to see!
 
If you're right, this is another example of ebay going against its own policies. The policy (originally) stated that making a b.o. on a non-b.o. listing was a violation but instead of sanctioning members who did it, they changed the policy to and encourage such nonsense. :mad:

Once Paypal extended its buyer protection to include SNADs I expect ebay revenues took a hit. We see enough posters coming on her asking about the risks of taking transactions off ebay. Ebay has gone to great lengths to prevent buyers and sellers from having direct communications - probably to avoid transactions heading off in this direction. This may just be one more.

Again, just guessing and speculating.
 
I just used this feature last night and thought it was great. My listing was as a fixed price with best offer but the option popped up when the buyer was just asking a question about price. The buyer was not aware that I could send an offer (neither was I, lol) but it did initiate great communication which lead to the buyer submitting an offer and me selling the item. If your listing is an auction or fixed price, it's just an option...you don't have to use it. I think it's a great feature when your item is at a fixed price but you get a strong offer that you're willing to accept. It erases the need to relist in a different format to make that sale. I like the new feature. When I list as an auction or fixed price, I get tons of lowball offers (even though it's not listed as a best offer) so this doesn't really change that but it gives the seller a little more control in my opinion.
 
The way I read the link was that sellers have the option to send an offer to a buyer, but not the reverse. So, is the pop-up visible to the buyer/questioner?
I may go do an ASQ just to see!

Me too. I thought it was just for sellers to send offers to buyers who communicate with them about an item.
 
Well that is bloody well dumb. If sellers wanted to send buyers an offer (which is stupid,) then they would just set their listings up as OBO in the first place and let the buyers come to them. eBay.... Crimany.