topic Restricting quantity a buyer can buy? in Selling

Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

everard6920 — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 23:44:04 GMT

Is it possible?

I have a few buyers who buy up all of my items as soon as I list them (like, I'll list quantity of 20 of something and they'll buy all 20). I want to stop this happening if I can.

I know a sale's a sale, but many of my buyers are repeat, and these items are collectible, so I'd prefer to restrict the quantity (eg: maximum 2 per customer) to allow multiple customers the chance to buy these items.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

springyzone — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 23:51:23 GMT

I don't actually know the answer to your question. I'd be surprised if ebay had anything where you could restrict buying.

But one thing that popped into my mind was maybe you need to charge a little more for your items.

If people are jumping in immediately to buy all 20, that says they may be planning to on-sell them at a reasonable profit & are confident they can do that. So charge more-maybe even double. See how they move then as it may knock the entrepreneurs out of the picture a bit & leave the collectors.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

brerrabbit585 — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 23:55:51 GMT

In site preferences there's something where you can restrict someone from buying more than X number of items at once. It might be for bidding on auctions but I can't remember. It's down the bottom of the section where you put your buyer blocks in place, from memory.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 00:03:46 GMT

Site preferences > buyer requirements.

Scroll down to this bit:
Buyers who may bid on several of my items and not pay for them
Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought of my items in the last 10 days.
Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of or lower.
Consider selecting this requirement if you are selling expensive items and don't want to sell over a certain number to any single buyer. Learn more about how this requirement works.

It didn't copy and paste well but you can select any number of items from 1 to 10, then 25, 50, 75 or 100 items in the last 10 days. That means that they can't buy again for another 10 days so others have a chance.

I'd be VERY careful because you might upset a few people and lose a lot of buyers. I don't know what you sell or what your postage is, but it may well be that postage cost on single items might mean a lot less sales.

As springy said, I'd be putting the price up because if they're buying all you have then you're probably too cheap.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

everard6920 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 00:23:39 GMT

@springyzone wrote:
I don't actually know the answer to your question. I'd be surprised if ebay had anything where you could restrict buying.

But one thing that popped into my mind was maybe you need to charge a little more for your items.

If people are jumping in immediately to buy all 20, that says they may be planning to on-sell them at a reasonable profit & are confident they can do that. So charge more-maybe even double. See how they move then as it may knock the entrepreneurs out of the picture a bit & leave the collectors.

Yeah, that is the plan (in addition to restricting quantity if possible). It's a little tricky to price them because there is no other seller on eBay selling these items; the only other sellers of these items are in the country of origin on a site for buyers from that country. Mine are (obviously) more expensive than theirs, given the costs involved of importing them, etc, but I definitely think I can charge more and get away with it.

@brerrabbit585 wrote:
Site preferences > buyer requirements.

Scroll down to this bit:
Buyers who may bid on several of my items and not pay for them
Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought of my items in the last 10 days.
Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of or lower.
Consider selecting this requirement if you are selling expensive items and don't want to sell over a certain number to any single buyer. Learn more about how this requirement works.

It didn't copy and paste well but you can select any number of items from 1 to 10, then 25, 50, 75 or 100 items in the last 10 days. That means that they can't buy again for another 10 days so others have a chance.

I'd be VERY careful because you might upset a few people and lose a lot of buyers. I don't know what you sell or what your postage is, but it may well be that postage cost on single items might mean a lot less sales.

As springy said, I'd be putting the price up because if they're buying all you have then you're probably too cheap.

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look. I don't think the problem is anything to do with the postage.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 00:25:26 GMT

No, I assumed if they buy 20 they really want them, but if I'm reading it correctly, what you're saying is that they save a lot of money on postage if it's only $1 more to post 20 than it is to post one. That really reduces the postage cost for each item.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 00:30:20 GMT

Can you experiment with putting your price up quite a bit on 1 item, then do another bulk listing for the same item for slightly less per item than the single item, but still more than you've been asking previously?

I love buyers who purchase in bulk - it saves me a lot of work in addressing envelopes, leaving feedback, counting/measuring fiddly amounts, less messages, etc etc.

If you're importing them and you're making a reasonable profit, why not stock a few more so that it doesn't matter if they buy in bulk? That's assuming you can get enough stock? If it's limited, just ask more and see how they go. Remember that it's always easier to reduce your prices than increase them, so starting high is always better than starting low.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

imastawka — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 01:26:51 GMT

Are you serious????

Sellers are complaining about no sales, and you come here complaining that you're being bought out!!!!

And how collectable are they if you have multiples of 20 at a time to sell?

Bragging in the form of a complaint IMO

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 01:40:17 GMT

I'm not sure why anyone would want to pay an extra 30c to paypal for every item they sell, or extra fees on postage to ebay.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

everard6920 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 01:52:52 GMT

@imastawka wrote:
Are you serious????

Sellers are complaining about no sales, and you come here complaining that you're being bought out!!!!

And how collectable are they if you have multiples of 20 at a time to sell?

Bragging in the form of a complaint IMO

WOW. Bad day?

I was neither complaining nor bragging . . . I actually DID want an answer to my question. I don't usually post just for the heck of it.

1. I genuinely like my customers, have a good rapport with many of them (I would even consider some of them to be friends), and would like more than one of them to be able to buy a given item.

2. Over 75% of my sales are to repeat customers. See above.

3. Given 1 and 2, if a single customer is buying up all of a given item, then other customers may become frustrated and shop elsewhere if the items they want are selling out almost instantly to one person. And, I sell on eBay because I enjoy sharing my items with people who also appreciate them. Believe it or not, profit is secondary to that. Probably doesn't make me the best businessperson, but there you go.

It's like if you always go into Baby Bunting for baby formula and they never have it because Chinese resellers have bought it all - you're not going to bother going in there any more.

4. Given that my customers and I, uh - collect my items (and I spend a lot of time messaging with many of them about their collections) - yes, they are definitely collectible. I used 20 as an example because that is the maximum quantity I generally have. Remember how I said nobody else sells them? 20 for the whole of eBay - in fact, in most cases, the whole of the Australian market. Not collectible? Okay, Stawks. You don't even know what they are and you're making all these assumptions.

I'm very lucky to be selling something that nobody else sells. I'm very lucky to be making sales, and to have a customer base of really wonderful people. I don't know why you're assuming I feel otherwise.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

everard6920 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 02:01:30 GMT

@brerrabbit585 wrote:
Can you experiment with putting your price up quite a bit on 1 item, then do another bulk listing for the same item for slightly less per item than the single item, but still more than you've been asking previously?

I love buyers who purchase in bulk - it saves me a lot of work in addressing envelopes, leaving feedback, counting/measuring fiddly amounts, less messages, etc etc.

If you're importing them and you're making a reasonable profit, why not stock a few more so that it doesn't matter if they buy in bulk? That's assuming you can get enough stock? If it's limited, just ask more and see how they go. Remember that it's always easier to reduce your prices than increase them, so starting high is always better than starting low.

Yeah, I'm not trying to discourage combined purchases at all. Usually, people will buy one or two of each design, and combine postage. I encourage that. The problem is one customer buying all of one design. I simply want to give all of my customers the opportunity to buy a given design.

I don't think I can increase the quantity I stock; what I might do is stagger listing them (so, if I have 20, list 10 initially, and then anyone who messages asking if I have more because they've missed out - give them the heads up for when I'll be listing the next 10). That's probably the best I can do, other than increasing the price.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

everard6920 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 02:21:48 GMT

I really am taken aback by Stawk's post . . .

I am sorry if I came across as complaining or bragging to anyone. It was not my intention at all. I've had messages from a few customers upset at missing out on these items, and just wanted to see if there was a solution. Honestly.

Thank you everyone who has posted helpful replies.

Have a great Boxing Day.

Over and out.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

imastawka — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 03:08:24 GMT

If someone is buying you out every time you list, and these (whatever they are) are

collectable, then clearly the person buying them is re-selling them.

Then you won't be the only one selling these unique items in Australia.

Clearly they are too cheap. Put the price up, and then collectors will have half a chance.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 04:49:45 GMT

@imastawka wrote:
If someone is buying you out every time you list, and these (whatever they are) are
collectable, then clearly the person buying them is re-selling them.

Then you won't be the only one selling these unique items in Australia.

Clearly they are too cheap. Put the price up, and then collectors will have half a chance.

They didn't say it's the same item every time, stawks. It could be one item today (x20) and another item (x20) next week.

Some sellers use cheaper items to get people interested in their other items but if someone buys the lot then they're not going to get seen long enough to draw other buyers in. I can understand why a seller would want to limit purchases in that case. I used to win a LOT of auctions from one particular seller and while the other bidders could go higher next time if they wanted to, a lot would probably give up bidding altogether if they keep getting outbid by one buyer.

In some areas, especially craft, collectible items can be used to make other items that are kept for personal use, so they aren't necessarily reselling them. Collectible doesn't necessarily mean they'll never be used.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

chameleon54 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 05:04:36 GMT

EDIT - sorry stawks, just read your post, but great minds think alike.....

Everard, if the items are collectable and buyers are taking the lot soon after listing, it would appear your prices are way too cheap. A collector does not usually need 20 of an item, so chances are they are buying and reselling the item for a much higher price. It is your bulk buyers who are reaping the benefit of your items, not you.

You would be much better off experimenting with your prices a bit. Raise them, quite substantially and then lower them untill the item starts to sell. That price is what the item is really worth. You can then work with more subtle price changes to either restrict sales for items of limited quantity and slightly lower prices for bulk quantity items you want to keep moving.

Charging the highest price the market will bear within reason is the simplest and most effective way to generate maximum profits from your ebay business.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

everard6920 — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 05:11:51 GMT

@brerrabbit585 wrote:
They didn't say it's the same item every time, stawks. It could be one item today (x20) and another item (x20) next week.

Correct.

Some sellers use cheaper items to get people interested in their other items but if someone buys the lot then they're not going to get seen long enough to draw other buyers in. I can understand why a seller would want to limit purchases in that case. I used to win a LOT of auctions from one particular seller and while the other bidders could go higher next time if they wanted to, a lot would probably give up bidding altogether if they keep getting outbid by one buyer.

Correct. Incidentally, I mentioned earlier that the only other sellers are in the country of origin - I've noticed that it's very common for those sellers to limit quantities per person.

In some areas, especially craft, collectible items can be used to make other items that are kept for personal use, so they aren't necessarily reselling them. Collectible doesn't necessarily mean they'll never be used.

Correct - they are collectible craft items. I'd say about half of the customers I communicate with use them, and the other half keep them in packaging. It's not uncommon for customers to buy two of every design (for that reason, I'm sure). Thank you for all of your replies, Bre.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

digital*ghost — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 07:03:25 GMT

ETA Sorry - mobile ghost post that happened when I pressed back on the browser.

Will add something of (hopefully) a little more substance after my coffee.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

digital*ghost — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 07:26:38 GMT

@everard6920 wrote:

I am sorry if I came across as complaining or bragging to anyone. It was not my intention at all. I've had messages from a few customers upset at missing out on these items, and just wanted to see if there was a solution. Honestly.

The best solution would be to buy more (and more).

Seriously, though, I understand where you're coming from. My items aren't exactly collectible, but many of them are niche and I feel very mixed emotions about being bought out of a product when it does happen, especially if it's a new product and they are the first (or one of the first) to purchase it at all, (i.e. does that mean it's a hot product that's going to sell like hot cakes and I should invest every spare cent I have on restocking, or does it mean that one person has been looking for that item for ages and bought a lifetime's supply while they could and I'll sell one a year once I restock - I've experienced both outcomes more than once).

Popular products can sell out unexpectedly, too, i.e. I have a product most people buy 1 or 2 of, but it sells almost daily. My stock purchases usually more than keep up with it, then once in a blue moon someone will buy everything I have, almost always right after I've made a large purchase from my supplier and didn't include that item because I had heaps... So I have to wait up to a month to be able to purchase new stock, and field "when are you getting X item back in stock..." questions. I made one customer very happy, but i have a lot of regulars and I feel like I'm letting the rest of them down.

Some of the stuff it happens to is handmade. The little shout of joy I get when I spent 3-4 hours of an evening assembling something and they're all gone straight away when they usually last a few weeks, is often drowned out by the groan of knowing I now have to spend another night on the assembly line, lol.

What I try to do with stock now is buy as much as I can to last a specified amount of time, covering one of two bulk purchases if possible, but actually list about 80% as availalable. When the last one is bought, I'll leave it as out of stock for a few days, then make about 90% of the remainder available, with the last few there for when that sells out and people contact me to ask when I'll be getting more (people usually do this when they need an item and relatively quickly, so basically I keep 'hidden' reserves in order to be able to fill that market).

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

ja122453 — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 03:02:40 GMT

I have the same problem but a different reason and a different solution that is easy to implement.
I'm newly listed and I want to get 20 individual sales ASAP so I can start using paid promotions on EBay.
I am doing deep discount on 20 items to accelerate purchases and promoting the limited offer on an external site or two.
My solution is to add a large cost for Each Additional item added to the order (under Postage Details for your listing). That would cut back the incentive to bulk buy and suits my purposes at this point.

Re: Restricting quantity a buyer can buy?

ja122453 — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 03:13:12 GMT

Actually scatch that last comment. Ebay only allows you at add an additional posting cost equal or less than the original item postage cost! - Frustrating!