Mothers day 20% promotion

[fly-rodder]

Over the last 6 months Ive noticed that every time Ebay has a promotion like the 20% off sale, some of the vendors involved in the promotion raise the price of their items. On 2 occassions on different sales Ive placed items in my watch list only to find that within hours of the sale commencing the price has gone up on those particular items.

I think this is price gouging and the vendors are taking advantage of the sale. In particular an Item I was after has gone up so much that once the discount is applied its only about $5 less than what I can purchase it online elsewhere.

Has anyone else experienced similar and is this within Ebay rules? love to know what other experienced buyers think.

Thanks

[lyndal1838]

Ebay does not have any rules about what sellers can charge for their items....and neither should they.

I don't think it in the spirit of the ebay discounts, but there is nothing you can do about it.

I must admit I have never found it happening with the sellers I buy from when there is a 20% discount offer.....mainly big ticket items from large retailers with an ebay shop such as The Good Guys and Bing Lee.   Their prices are the same on ebay as on their own website so the discount is genuine.

[lizzyamelia]

I have noticed this especially with computer/laptop sellers. If there is a 20% off sale they increase their prices by up to 25% prior and salso increase postage or add it when it was originally free post. No its not nice to see that some sellers are trying one on.

[fly-rodder]

Thanks Lizzyamelia
Thats where Ive noticed it happening also, its not in the spirit because the seller doesn't pay for the discount its Ebay. Like I said its price gouging.
It will drive people away from eBay, as I ended up purchasing directly from an online retail store as I found that the items was much cheaper outside of Ebay and still had the protection of using PayPal.