eBay discount promotion question

[kan9al]

Hi everyone,

There's a promotion by eBay Australia that you get a $50 voucher, if you buy items from select ebay stores (online brick and mortar) when the value is $100.

http://pages2.ebay.com.au/Buyer_coupons/get50?clk_rvr_id=897800727873&rmvSB=true

Any ways, I just bought two sneakers from DC Shoes ($60 + $80 = $140, free shipping).

And on checkout, the site did not combine them, and forced me to make them as two separate transactions.

The problem is, that might make me ineligible for the $50 voucher.

What should I do ?

On a side note, I noticed EVERY SINGLE SELLER began to remove items that could be exploited, as some items vanished from their stores during this brief promotion period. I know because I saw from my watch list. And even more deceptive, I've seen more of the low-volume selling items pop-up, and the higher-volume items all getting a sizable bump up in their prices.

For example, a cheap 2TB HDD I bought from in-store in Good Guys just recently for $119, and that was just regular price not on special/discout. The same HDD is now seller for ~$159 in some of these online stores, making it not actually a discount. Same seller, same item, but not the same price (in fact, online should be cheaper due to massive $$$ savings in building and staff).

Should I cancel the two orders that went through my PayPal ???

Or will eBay notice the transactions and honor their promotion ???

[lyndal1838]

The promotion will not be honoured....if the terms are one transaction then that is what it is.   Nobody looks at it and makes a decision....it is an automated process.

Did you put the items into your cart before making payment?   That would probably have combined them into one transaction.

Just because you buy items on ebay from the major stores does not make them cheaper....they do have topay the ebay fees on top of their instore prices.

How can you exploit any particular items?   Why would the sellers remove any items if they are still available....they are probably sold out.

[kan9al]

By exploitable items, I mean things people can buy then sell quickly.

Some of those items were removed, some say they are "sold out", but a majority got price hikes.

The biggest offender is Kogan, I've noticed their average price hike of $30... not to mention they're $60 dearer than other sellers on average.

I had two tabs open in Chrome, and hit Buy It Now on there page.

I had to sign in to confirm.

Then it automatically purchased it from my PayPal account*

I went to check on it straight afterwards and noticed the mishap. I went to PayPal's website to confirm.

I sent four messages to the seller, no reply yet.

I searched eBay for an answer but there was nothing.

I tried to contact ebay but hit a brick wall.

I went to cancel the transaction, but it said it couldn't be cancelled. Why the f not?

So now I'm short of $50 due to eBay's questionable terms, and shoddy automated system.

Anyone with any ideas on what I should do next ??

Would love to hear from an ebay staff/representative.

*PayPal after its split with eBay as a company, has just recently offered linked accounts to eBay for automatic payments. This removes the step where you confirm your payment, meant to make it "more convinieant" for buyers 

[lyndal1838]

I don't understand what exploitable items has to do with anything?

I doubt that many ebay sellers rely on buying stock from major retailers anyway....on average they would be far too expensive.

I have never bought from Kogan so must take your word that their prices are higher than many other stores.  I do know the stores like The Good Guys and Bing Lee have the same prices on ebay, their web site and in their B & M stores.

There is no option the cancel the transaction....you bought, you pay.

Why is it questionable terms?  There are always some terms attached to these offers and this one happens to be that you must spend $100 in one transaction.

As I already said, if the seller wants immediate payment you need to put the items in the cart first.....it is the only way to combine.

Ebay staff do not read or respond on the boards.

[kan9al]

Sorry for not being able to be explain properly.

I just think this whole Promotion was deceptive.

Deceptive from the seller's side. Deceptive from the promo terms. Deceptive from the purchase point of view.

Good Guys, Dick Smith (etc etc) "try" to match their store prices with their online prices. However, they don't really pay close attention to it. Then you have Kogan which has an ebay store, and their own online store, with same items at significant different prices during promotional periods. It's not coincidental at all.

Yes, I should've hit Add to Cart, but I usually don't need to do this as it groups purchases from same seller at the check-out page.

But apparently this is not the case if you've hit that checkbox some month/s ago to link your eBay and PayPal accounts.

I contacted eBay customer support via email. I also contacted the seller.

I only put these on the boards to seek advice, and shine some light on the matter.

Your criticism does not help the matter in any way.

Thank you for taking the time to reply nonetheless.

[lyndal1838]

How have I criticised you?

I have explained what you needed to do to combine the items.

I really don't know why you thing think the Promotion Terms are deceptive.  Ebay offered you a voucher to spend next month on the condition that you spent $100 this month from certain stores.....how is that deceptive?  And how is the seller or the purchase deceptive?

It has been happening for some time.  I have taken advantage of several of these offers this year alone.  Each promotion has been slightly different with different terms but ultimately it is a case of "you spend a certain amount of money and we will give you a reward".

Sometimes you could buy from any ebay seller, sometimes it was certain sellers.  The rewards were either discount vouchers for a set amount or a percentage discount.  Sometimes they were redeemable from any seller, sometimes from certain sellers only.

All you needed to do was read the Terms and Conditions and follow them.  The best one I ever had was a 25% discount on any items from any sellers on ebay Australia up to a value of $200.  I had a great time spending up on DVD sets.

From what I can see this promotion is ebay funded so should make no difference to the stores prices at all.  I have never seen the prices change at Good Guys or Bing Lee when there are ebay promotions on.....they are always the same on their own website and their ebay store as well as in their physical store.   The only thing that makes a difference to the ebay store is the postage cost although in the case of TGG it is the same subsidised amount that they charge on their own website.

Last Christmas there was a 25% discount promotion to be redeemed through the major stores....TGG, Bing Lee and several others.  I chose to get 2 items at Bing Lee with free pickup in the local store where I always shop.  When I picked them up the staff were surprised at the prices I had paid when BL had received the full price that the goods were selling for.

My ebay and paypal accounts have always been linked but payment is not automatic unless the seller has immediate payment requested.

Contacting ebay via email is a waste of time, especially when something is time sensitive (this promotion ended on the 21st didn't it?)

You will be lucky if you get a reply in 2 or 3 days and even luckier if the reply has anything to do with your actual question.

In these cases you are better off ringing ebay on their 1800 number....you can get it through Help and Contact at the bottom of the page.  You will probably need to try a few options before the phone number comes up.  If there is an option for them to ring you it may be worth using....the operators are supposed to be more knowledgable than those answering the phones and apparently they ring back very quickly.

[dylan11235813]

I am fairly sure that increasing the price of an item and then having a so called "sale" is illegal for businesses. It would be hard to prove though as they could just say they had to order in more stock on short notice at a higher cost to them (and a higher sales price). I would report anything you find underhanded to the ACCC. and the NSW department of fair trading.

Some big store sellers did it when ebay had a promotion for BBQ sellers some time ago. They had some items that remained the same normal price (and then reduced by the 50% or whatever it was) but they were all out of stock. The true sale items they had, had very limited quantities, probably only one.

A lot of ebay promotions require items to be added to the cart system.

[kan9al]

Yeah, I also thought so.

I have a few (recently expired) items in my Watch List that shows the price hike.

But a better solution would be to just look at the seller's feedback, pre during and post promotion.

It might be something to bring to ACCC's attention.

And I think the seller's themselves won't be in trouble, I think eBay itself will take the heat.

They should've made communications and put things in place to disallow it.

I don't think they would want the heat.

The only eBay promotions I've used so far only included entering a discount code, fyi.

[kan9al]

After 3 emails and 2 phone calls, the issue is sorted.

eBay will honor their agreement and manually supply the voucher code to my account.

They said if I don't receive it by 2nd October, to ring back.

PS, Kogan had the LG Watch Urbane "on sale" during the voucher promotion period for $372. After the period... $346. Days apart. Meanwhile their pricing for their own website hasn't changed, its on $309. Go figure ; )

[lyndal1838]

So why would you buy from Kogan if they do that?

You have already said they are usually more expensive than other ebay sellers.

And don't forget that they have to pay fees to ebay that are not included on their own website.

As I never buy fro Kogan I will have to take your word for it but I do know the Dick Smith, The Good Guys and Bing Lee have the same prices on their website, on ebay and in the B & M stores.