topic Re: Oops! in Selling

Oops!

*lady*godiva* — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 10:49:33 GMT

I came across a listing last week for a brand name product selling for $1.99 each. Free post. (from one of those eBay recommendation feeds at the bottom of your purchases list or watch list)

At my local outlet store similar items sell from about $30

The retail store sells similar from around the $60 mark

Other sellers on eBay were selling the same product for $54.99 - $69.99

"if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is" kept going through my mind. So I checked the listing again and scrutinised every line and picture,

Because of the price I was still concerned that it was a scam (500 100% feedback though with over 800 current listings and a well known B&M store/brand - a lot of feedback for this product), the items were fake, or maybe they were barbie doll sized and not really for adults - even checked to make sure I was buying a real item and not just a picture of the item - so many thoughts.

Because of the price, I decided it was worth the risk and purchased 4. (2 for xmas presents - 2 spare cos it seemed such a good price)

They arrived today. The genuine item, adult sized, perfect.

I went back to buy more.

Today the price is $69.99.

Sales history 140 sold.More than 10 available.

I think that someone made a mistake when listing.

Impressive that the seller chose to honour the sale though, I wonder how many others would have.

I am sitting here wondering if I should offer them more money, but then I wouldn't have bought them in the first place if they hadn't have been that price.

Re: Oops!

amber-eyed-girl — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 10:56:01 GMT

Well!

if it was a known store, I wouldn't offer any more money. But I would purchase from them again, in preference to another retailer 🙂

even if it was a bit extra next time.

if it had been a small or private seller, then more money would be fair.

Lucky you 🙂

Re: Oops!

retailtherapist_8 — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 10:57:09 GMT

Wow if that Seller made a mistake it was a very costly one. I feel for them.

I would ask if it was an error. Thank them for honouring their committment, leave amazing feedback and would forward to their paypal account extra payment. I have done this before when bidding and item didnt go past 99c. However its up to you, you are not obligated if it was indeed an error. 🙂

Re: Oops!

amber-eyed-girl — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 11:05:24 GMT

I am thinking it might be items that only cost them a few dollars to make...going by the description.

so if, say, it was a major t-shirt producer...I would let them wear their error for four tops, but would become a loyal customer.

some stores also have flash sales on a few items to get noticed. I have bought items at 5$ that were back up to 40$ the next day, from Target. Less extreme but still quite a discount. If an error it would be difficult to know what to offer...as the OP was not going to buy them at the new price.

Re: Oops!

*lady*godiva* — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 11:25:42 GMT

They were leather wallets by a surfwear brand - and the name of the store is the same as the brand. So I am thinking one of the larger chains starting an eBay presence rather than a small time seller.

Amber, we already are loyal customers to their B&M store - first time I have bought on line though and their other items seem to be retail priced or at least what we get them for in the outlet stores

That's why, when I saw the brand and the price it grabbed my attention, otherwise I may have thought a cheap product from China kind of thing and scrolled past.

I was actually looking for mens black leather belts - didn't find any of those at super awesome prices though... I had no intention of buying wallets.

When I saw their price rise, I thought that maybe they had run out and had put the prices up to deter sales until they got more stock in, but the listing does say "more than 10 available"

Re: Oops!

thecatspjs — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 11:54:44 GMT

Crikey !!

Oops

Re: Oops!

amber-eyed-girl — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 11:57:43 GMT

Then a thank you note is definitely in order 🙂

Re: Oops!

modestbods — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 17:01:02 GMT

One good thing for them to come of it, at least now any potential buyer seeing the listing for the first time, & seeing 140 were sold, may feel more comfortable about paying the price as it 'obviously' must be a good deal for so many others to have bought it (ofc, that's provided they don't look up the sellers sold listings history & thus aren't aware the 140 sold went for 99c each).

If it was an error then it was a big 9k oops in potential lost revenue (approximately, after accounting for FVFs). If however it was an advertising/promo deal, then for a large store/brand it may not have been all that expensive (especially given their actual manufacture/wholesale costs would have been far less than their normal selling price).

Re: Oops!

i-love-my-sheep — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:07:57 GMT

If they're an established company, but only new to eBay, it could have been a feedback building exercise, or even a way to get their sold numbers up to look good to other buyers. Their marketing people could have thought it was a good idea, despite the loss they would have made on those items. Spend money to make money type of thing.

It always feels good when you know you've got a genuine bargain. Cherish it!!! If it was a small seller, I would have offered more money (in fact I did a few years back with a new seller that didn't seem to know any better and listed everything with a start price of 1c with free postage and most things sold for under 10c), but a large company, they would have a strategy to absorb the costs, so it's their loss in my eyes.

Re: Oops!

digital*ghost — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:33:44 GMT

The wallet was $1.99 for 4 days (well, two full days, the Halloween weekend from October 31, evening - November 3, morning), and several revisions were made to the listing over that time, but not to the Buy Now price until the 3rd - I think if it was a mistake, they would have changed it after the first few sales came in.

Another officially branded shop did something similar back when they first started out and eBay introduced the clothing gallery idea thing. I bought up a ton of this particular loss leader they decided to have, listed them myself, was more expensive than they were when they put their prices back up, but because I actually had details about the item in my listing (they just had a picture) I outsold them at a rate of 2-1 (they had way more stock than me though).

Re: Oops!

digital*ghost — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:43:09 GMT

^ Nevermind, I think I was looking at the wrong one (the one I was looking at sold 111 over the past weekend for $1.99, is $69.99 now, but the store has nearly 30k FB).

Re: Oops!

beach_and_home — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 23:57:10 GMT

I don't know if it was the case this time. But, I have noticed that a lot of sellers start out a listing very very cheap and the put the price up after a few sales.

I believe they do this for two reasons.

Firstly, and most obviously, to gauge the market to see how much they can sell it for.

But most importantly to get some "sales history". Once they've got the sales history and have got their listing to the top of best match rankings, then they put up the price. It's actually a very smart tactic if you are planning to sell hundreds of the same item.

However, the difference in prices of your item shows it most probably was an error.

In relation to sending more money, I wouldn't worry about it. If they have sold 140 at that price they've had plenty of time to wake up if it was a mistake, and as you said, you only bought it because it was cheap.

Re: Oops!

amber-eyed-girl — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 23:59:49 GMT

Shows how important a well-thought out listing is to sales 🙂

I bought a TV from eBay, the price has been all over the place since it was originally listed. That appears intentional. Major retailer, and the eBay price can vary a lot from their official online store price. Hundreds less, here.

Re: Oops!

cherry*135 — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 00:47:50 GMT

Modestbods:
" If however it was an advertising/promo deal, then for a large store/brand it may not have been all that expensive (especially given their actual manufacture/wholesale costs would have been far less than their normal selling price)."

It does sound like that could be the case, especially as the ebay store was new. Item could cost them $10 to buy. Wallets used as loss leaders.