How did we ever buy and sell on fReaKbay without the live cashback?

Jun 25, 2008
19,665
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OK. Am I nuts or are things at a near standstill at fReaKbay? Have we gotten so irreversibly spoiled by the live.com cashback that now we won't buy or sell unless it's at 20% or more? When it went down to 15%, I sawlistings and sales slow down. Then at 10%, even worse. Now 8%, forget it. Some here have said they will never buy on fReaKbay again unless the % goes up. WTF?!? What about when there was zero cashback? I'm confused because I'm stalling, too. How did we ever survive without it? :shrugs:
 
It may be that ebay is slow because August is a slow month for handbags. With Live.com rebates at 20 and 25%, it may be that some bags were such a bargain, that ebay had a short unnatural late summer bump. JMHO. :shrugs:
 
Yes, that's what I think too. While I agree the 8% stinks, the way people are reacting (the number of complaints is remarkable) is as though something that has always been there has been taken away, getting angry at MSN and fReaKbay and saying they'll never buy again. I mean, I want 25% off, but I'm wondering what the short- and long-term effects of this discount will be on sales if stays low or goes away completely. :sweatdrop::shrugs:
 
None of these incentives, if you can call them that, are applicable this side of the pond. The best we get to cashback on ebay is quidco! I think I would most probably spend more if I was getting cashback so maybe it is not such a bad thing after all that we don't have it - yet!
 
LOL!! same here... I saw it went down from 25% - 20%, then I waited to see if it will go back up. Then it went down from 20% to 15%, then to 10% I was freaking out!!! Now its 8%?? This is a joke!
 
My stuff is NOT selling, my BINs have been sitting there and I've lowered prices and relisted...I'm on my 3rd try with one of them already. Tons of watchers but nothing.

On the bidding spectrum, I'm currently angry that an item just LIKE mine sold last night for $76 and mine went today for $43. :cursing:
 
I just bought my Holy grail RM today with no live help:amazed:. Girl I was about to do something stupid and let it ride:noggin:- Until I thought about it and said- With all of the:censor: that Live.com has put us through, and all of their inconsistencies- There is no way of knowing if we will even get the money we are owed. So I said screw it- I'm not missing out/no way- Mind you- after I signed into that damn site- They wouldnt let me purchase the bag regularly for 1 whole hour- until the damn thing went away:death:. I felt like I was being tortured..Here I was 1 click away from my HG- and now I had to wait an hour- and hope that noone else would take it during that time. I even signed out and rebooted my computer, to get rid of it- all I wanted was to not waste the cashback- and still the damn thing was there. Go figure, when we want to be able to put the cashback through, it gives us compliications- then when we dont want it- because it's not worth wasting the limited amounts of cashbacks we can get- the damn thing wouldnt go away Bagslaps to LIVE :bagslap:
 
i think it's a common psychological phenomenon - you can't give people something then take it away. better to increase someone's benefits slowly than to set expectations high at the beginning and increasingly under-deliver. when you set expectations that high, that becomes the norm and people don't like it when conditions deviate from the norm negatively. before cashback, paying stated prices was the norm and ppl would've been happy to get any cashback at all. ebay should've known better.
 
Btw- I also realized something as a buyer- I was almost tempted- NAH Screw that, I'm going to be real honest here- And I hope I don't get beat in the head for this :noggin:. But-I was going to ask the seller if she could possibly lower the BIN. Just because I felt like I was missing out- on my extra discount. Yep that's right, I said it, and I know a lot of people have probably been asking for BINS to be lowered. But then I thought about it-How dare I- This seller does not owe me an extra discount. Why should I even dare to ask?- When their selling price was fair to begin with, & this is why it would've been wrong. So I decided not to haggle and just purchased it- And it feels really good to find out that the seller is a very friendly TPF member.

Why am I even bringing this up: Well I feel that lately some of us- as Karmen said keep on waiting for a better deal- And in the long run not only are the sellers suffering- but so are the buyers- & now because of the lack buyers- Sellers are reluctant to even sell at this time- And I dont blame them- as I too am a seller- and dont like having to pay for listing fees only to have lurkers- up until ebay/ live get themselves together- it's just not fair. And it only hurts all of us in the end....

So I am proud to say that I have broken- the need for that extra discount- While I'll still look for sales, I have realized that it is not owed to me:supacool:
 
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Gem, I'm glad you got your bag! I know it would be hard not to beat yourself up if the % went up tomorrow, but losing your HG isnt' worth taking such chances. The truth is that MSN and fReaKbay don't have to offer this discount. We'll see if it was worth the trouble when the first person here gets her cashback after the 60 days + 14 days (they sneaked those two weeks on us) = 74 days. I think thithi is the first one, or one of the first ones, scheduled to get hers. At this point, I wish they would either leave the discount at a fixed % or ended the promotion--one or the other. This in and out, up and down is driving some people nuts. :wacko:
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i think it's a common psychological phenomenon - you can't give people something then take it away. better to increase someone's benefits slowly than to set expectations high at the beginning and increasingly under-deliver. when you set expectations that high, that becomes the norm and people don't like it when conditions deviate from the norm negatively. before cashback, paying stated prices was the norm and ppl would've been happy to get any cashback at all. ebay should've known better.

goodpoint:yes:
 
I wonder if the economic downturn has affected the high end retailers such as LV, Chanel, Dior etc? I mean good ol Louie V just keeps raising their prices like the sky's the limit...
 
^ I'm no economist, but it's my understanding that economic slowdowns usually don't hit the upper class, at least not as soon nor as hard as people of lower economic means. They have enough of a safety net, and often their wealth doesn't hinge on these slow times. Doctors, lawyers, CEOs, among many others, are as in demand and still charge the same for their services regardless of the price of gas. I mean, women are still buying Hermes, Chanel, LV, Fendi, etc. There are "reveals" on the forum every day. If I had to make a guess, I would say that brands appealing more to the middle-upper and middle-class consumers are taking a greater hit. But that's just a guess.