eBay

aramatic · ‎07-13-2022

Can someone explain to me what certain sellers gain from setting ridiculous, and I mean ridiculous, prices for ordinary items? Such as a $10 calculator listed for $3,000, a barely vintage Sears eletric typewriter for $25,000? Another seller listed a calculator for $1000 but the real sting was the shipping: $1 million. I messaged him, politely asking if a decimal point had gone awry, and he said it was a good deal. What's the game? Trying to be humorous (it isn't), trying to get attention (the wrong sort), or waiting for the one buyer on the planet who's equally crazy? I'm genuinely curious.

femmefan1946 · ‎07-13-2022

Well, those are asking prices not selling prices obviously.

But there is this really weird and dumb idea that if the seller runs out of stock, he should raise the price to ridiculous heights to stop buying and avoid out of stock defects.

Which basically makes him look like a nitwit.

The premise is that it keeps the listing in the public eye until more stock arrives.

By discouraging the customer who is buying right now ? And making yourself look like an idiot at the same time?

Another of those bright ideas that appeal to the poorly edumacated.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-13-2022

@femmefan1946 wrote:
Well, those are asking prices not selling prices obviously.
But there is this really weird and dumb idea that if the seller runs out of stock, he should raise the price to ridiculous heights to stop buying and avoid out of stock defects.
Which basically makes him look like a nitwit.

The premise is that it keeps the listing in the public eye until more stock arrives.
By discouraging the customer who is buying right now ? And making yourself look like an idiot at the same time?

Another of those bright ideas that appeal to the poorly edumacated.

@aramatic

Is that similar to the same poorly edumucated and other words you used sellers who say an item is located in Canada but when you check their location they are not? Running into that as of late with mega sellers(the ones thatare tagged give awesome service and eBay stands behind 110%). The associated negs/neutrals is a dead give away with all the buyers they've left with a bad ebay shopping experience. Or are they just sellers playing the system and getting away with it?

-Lotz

byto253 · ‎07-14-2022

Some put a really high price and best offer, only expecting to sell at a much lower price.

dobo5250 · ‎07-14-2022

i have seen this many times also high price way out of range for the item some of them have been the same items i sell --so i connected two or three of them with items thats where 30 dollars at best to sell and they were selling them at $1599 shipping $299 - all long time sellers too when i asked they just told me very rudely to mind my own business one of them told they would fix my clock and then they banned me from contacting them again through ebay and google -- so i just left it alone-- till i talked to a rcmp officer at a party he said they are aware of some of these issues -- he told me that criminals use ebay to launder money some one sells high that same person buys to wash their money it all has a code in the listing to it so they know whos who ---that's why these listing appear then seem to disappear as soon as they come up--- don't know if its the truth or just this guy pulling my leg --he was a little loaded when we talked------ but it did make sense -- maybe someone else has insight --- it really makes no sense to sell things way way to high so that no one in their right mind would buy them-- just to have them sell or delist as fast as they go up

reallynicestamps · ‎07-14-2022

Or are they just sellers playing the system and getting away with it?

If a Canadian seller warehouses his items in the USA and ships from there, as at least one boardie does, how different is that from a Chinese seller who warehouses his products in Richmond BC or LosAngeles CA?

However, I agree that "Location" is too often misused and that eBay should be more willing to correct that error.

The feedback we see pointing out the problem is useful to the few buyers who actually read it, but eBay doesn't read feedback.

Buyers caught out like this should be filing Not As Described disputes-- and there should be a specific reason "Not shipped from posted location".

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-14-2022

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Or are they just sellers playing the system and getting away with it?

If a Canadian seller warehouses his items in the USA and ships from there, as at least one boardie does, how different is that from a Chinese seller who warehouses his products in Richmond BC or LosAngeles CA?

However, I agree that "Location" is too often misused and that eBay should be more willing to correct that error.
The feedback we see pointing out the problem is useful to the few buyers who actually read it, but eBay doesn't read feedback.
Buyers caught out like this should be filing Not As Described disputes-- and there should be a specific reason "Not shipped from posted location".

Regarding your comparison...sellers listing states stocks in States, for my example it messes with the search closest which many buyes use for all their searching. The thought being often closer is cheaper shipping. That's still search manipulation and makes for misleading listings.

When I reviewed the sellers playing that game (10,000+) in listings majority of feedback was "did not receive", poor communication or item states Canada vs a specific city and/or actually received from out of country/late. (Much of that feedback is inter-related) Because those sellers have a large volume of sales, negs/neutrals are not as penalizing as compared to a new seller who has under a few hundred transactions. From eBay's perspective they give high volume sellers much more leeway because of revenue they generate. Is that fair? Probably not. Just how it is.

-Lotz