The clever little proposal people
I’m noticing a curious trend among people who make purchase offers. This is already the third case (for different items) where the buyer uses the form to make an acceptable offer but puts the wording "shipping included" in the comments.
If you’re not paying attention and accept it, then if you don’t want to give them free shipping, you have to cancel the transaction or wait for payment of the expected price, so + s.sp (while the buyer refuses to pay until they are sent a modified invoice)
I consider them sneaky (and I block them immediately even if they have thousands of positive feedback) because instead of making a clear request/offer they try to take advantage of the seller’s inattention.
p.s. I’m aware that under eBay’s rules anyone who makes an offer is bound by it and it’s explicitly stated that shipping costs must be added ... but if they force you to cancel a transaction they make you waste time and maybe "points" in your eBay reputation
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoGood morning maurizio8837
Honestly, I really think that this practice is entirely to the buyer's disadvantage, since they risk ending up with more reports as a non-paying bidder, with all the related limitations.
In the end it's just a matter of form, because in my opinion it changes little in substance.
This is what I do: if I receive a purchase offer of 30 euros with a text inside saying "shipping included", I simply make a counteroffer with a text inside saying "40 euros shipping included".
So practically, even if formally incorrect, I use the same system the buyer preferred to use.
Then, just to be safe, I also send the buyer an email pointing out the amount of my counteroffer.
Given that the payment invoice can be modified, what matters is reaching an agreement on the price.
Whether it's 30+10 shipping or 40 euros free shipping doesn't really matter.
Kind regards.
maurizio8837
OP3 years agocorrect.
I still believe that (having never seen this before and with offers coming from people with a high number of transactions behind them) someone must have found a procedural "bug" to "force the seller" to accept an offer because "they don’t feel like canceling the transaction". If then the sale is not completed (because both parties agree to cancel the order) the proposer loses nothing, neither in eBay reliability nor in feedback.
I’ll give you an example. Item for sale at €50. Offer at €44 that I accept, but I immediately realize that he also wanted shipping costs included (that is, €7), so I cancel the order before any monetary transaction has even taken place. No prob. Too bad that then he writes to me by PM that the right price is the one he wants (that is, about €35) and that mine doesn’t even exist ...
...
which makes one wonder "if there really is an identical product on eBay or elsewhere at the same price he wants, why didn’t he take it instead of insisting?"
Simply because it doesn’t exist and the smart guy tried to "force a sale" at his price instead of making a purchase offer at his maximum willingness to spend or, just as acceptably, asking the seller directly whether they could meet his needs.
Oh well ...
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoGood evening maurizio8837
I am explicitly referring to purchase offers with attached messages where the total price the buyer is willing to pay is requested/written.
If I receive a purchase offer with no message and I’m fine with the price, I accept it.
If then I see that the buyer doesn’t pay after 4 days, I cancel with the reason: the buyer has not paid for the item.
If instead the buyer contacts me and explicitly asks for shipping costs included or tells me that we misunderstood each other and wants to cancel, I write to him that according to eBay rules I cannot do cancellations and take the blame myself, otherwise I get penalized because sales cancellations are not looked on favorably by the platform, so the buyer is given two options:
A) Accept not to complete the sale and will be reported as a non-paying bidder.
B) Accept to complete the sale at the price of the purchase offer including shipping costs.
Kind regards.
daxsisko
·3 years agoas Actar80 said, I would remove purchase offer from the listings, since (personal opinion) it risks attracting mostly indecisive deal hunters; if anything, you can always lower the item’s price later (and it’s visible to everyone)
"If someone isn’t careful and accepts, then if they don’t want to give away the shipping, they have to cancel the transaction or wait for payment of the expected price, so + s.sp (while the buyer refuses to pay until they are sent a modified invoice)"
regarding this point, of course someone should be at least a little careful before accepting to avoid later problems, but if a buyer makes an offer with a certain price, they can’t add descriptive clauses of that kind if shipping costs are specified in the listing: so, if by chance they then don’t pay....... it’s their problem and a warning for non-payment
it’s correct to put them on the black list, and they can also be reported to Ebay (then we’d have to see whether Ebay takes it into account, since it’s a case not mentioned among the reportable ones and, in fact, it’s not even related to a transaction that took place if the offer isn’t accepted)
maurizio8837
OP3 years ago@daxsisko @actar80
alternatively, make listings with the price including shipping costs.
p.s. to weed out the nonsense, I already set a minimum threshold below which offers are automatically rejected and I never activate the option "automatically accept if offered above x"
daxsisko
·3 years agoas mentioned, in advance, personally I rule out the idea of adding a buy offer, since it implies a possible future negotiation: I prefer to set a buy-it-now price that I’ve decided on, with immediate payment, and then possibly lower the price later (so that anyone can benefit from it, and not just the person who sends me a "buy offer")
then of course everyone chooses based on their own experiences / personal choices
maurizio8837
OP3 years agoyou know why over time I decided to add the possibility of a "purchase offer" with a threshold? Easier way to avoid getting messages like "will you accept 10€?" (instead of 30).
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoThe purchase offer brings the buyer closer to the seller compared to a fixed price.
Sometimes buyers make ridiculous and indecent purchase offers with the sole purpose of finding out how much you’re willing to lower the price.
For example, this situation happened to me:
Item sold for 100 euros with a purchase offer.
Offerer offers 5 euros, I calmly, without getting angry, counter with 80 euros, the offerer counters with 75 euros and the sale goes through.
Obviously, regarding the purchase offer issue, I’m referring to sales of used items by private individuals, where it’s also possible to decide to take 10 or 20 or more euros off the initial sale price.
That isn’t feasible for a professional selling new items with very low profit margins because of competition, so using the purchase offer doesn’t make much sense.
Kind regards.
actar80
·3 years agoMy personal opinion: the purchase proposal gives room to all those time-wasters, opportunists, smug people full of themselves, who have no respect for sellers’ work, for their obligations in terms of commissions they pay, responsibilities, shipping risks, and their time.
It often happens too that if you enable the purchase proposal, the other party feels even more entitled to play hardball on the price! Of course, you do get the honest buyer who offers reasonable amounts, but that’s rare.
If instead you run into the usual smart aleck and/or troublemaker, then if you don’t sell them the item for the price they demand, they’ve just made you waste your time for nothing (making your blood boil!) or worse, they complete the purchase and when the shipment arrives they pull out some nonconformity complaint out of spite! And then what do you do? How do you prove the buyer is acting in bad faith? That’s pretty hard, since the platform primarily protects the buyer and rarely the seller, so you end up losing the shipping costs for both sending and return, and in the worst case with an item returned damaged or not in the condition you sent it.
Even if you’ve set the threshold, rest assured that for many it will only be annoying and they could behave improperly as mentioned above. In light of these reflections, whether right or wrong, whether you agree with them or not, think about it and decide whether to keep offering the purchase proposal.
actar80
·3 years agoIn fact, it's better not to complicate life with the purchase proposal that leaves room for all those time-wasters and opportunists who have no respect for sellers or for the time they waste (not to mention the aggravation). Better to set clear limits right away on what's allowed, and I'm saying this from experience both here and elsewhere, where people even write to you just to express their opinions, to say their piece.....but who ever asked them for their opinions? If you don't agree with the prices and sales/payment rules, whether fixed or open on other platforms, you move on without bothering anyone, but few seem to understand that.
it2015-inno
·3 years agoI totally agree. Unfortunately they still write: "but why so expensive?", "but do you know that you won't sell it at this price?", "you should cut the asking price in half".
I block them and I feel great.
bye
iemmepi
actar80
·3 years agoIndeed...it seems that since the parties aren’t face to face, that phenomenon arises where I can get away with anything...after all, I’m online! In a way, it’s like the keyboard warrior phenomenon people have been talking about for years, even on TV, and who, if they were face to face with the other person, would be little kittens.
Good call👍 block problematic people right from the start. Have a good day 👋
actar80
·3 years agoYou're right to block them.....ethically it's not right, you know what, remove the purchase offer from the listings.
Anyway, what you wrote here (where eBay doesn't read but only the moderators do) write it to eBay support, point out the buyers' behavior; you never know, maybe at some point they'll decide to change the form, even though I think they'd have to be flooded with requests to consider a change.
Find the right section and send them 1 email or start 1 chat, prepare 1 text so then you can copy and paste it whenever you need to.