Ebay etiquette

[shahmink]

When I'm looking for items on ebay I regularly come across seller's mistakes in their listings.

For example, in a seller's store they have the exact item listed twice at different prices. It's listed once in a clearance section for BIN $25.99 and then listed in a 50% sale for a BIN $39.99.

Shall I point out these sorts of mistakes to sellers?

[shahmink]

As far as I know it is  illegal in Australia for a business trader to sell the same items (identical) at two different BIN prices - I thought they had to sell it to the consumer at the lowest price ?

That's what I was wondering. As a buyer, I shouldn't have to go through the seller's whole store to see if it's listed under a different category at a cheaper price.

If this isn't an oversight by the seller, this is just plain wrong.

[thecatspjs]

sweetpea there are a whole raft of consumer laws about advertising and pricing - it is not that simple - there iss definitely some legislation about pricing just not sure how far it extends.

[1sweetap6v8]

Im sorry but you can put what ever price you like on an unregulated product and you can price them different even if its an identical product. Supermarkets do it daily.

SPC tin of baked beans old stock 1 mth before date runs out they put them in a rack and put special 99cents go to the shelf where there normally kept there they are new stock 6mths before out of date at $1.29 this is totally legal and at the companies own discretion. And you do not have to buy either as the consumer its your decision. This is just an example. But it shows it can and is being done daily.

And if you point was valid that they have to sell at the lowest price well there all in trouble because none do.

Coles woollies Foodland IGA can have the exact same products at all different prices why because they can. They do not have to sell at there cheapest price possible that's just insane. They sell for what they know they will get for it.

[thecatspjs]

sweetpea I am not going to argue with you over baked beans - and this is not about cheapest prices, it is about a single trader selling identical goods at the same BIN price, in the same store, not differentiated by damage, or date or located in a different shop.

[lyndal1838]

There is nothing stopping shops having the same item at different prices...as already stated, new stock can come in at a higher price so why would a shopkeeper underprice it just because he still had old stock.

There is also nothing stopping him from increasing the price of the old stock but that would be underhand, wouldn't it?

As for looking through all the shop stock....just do a search for the item you want.  It will isolate the same items and you can see at a glance which is the cheapest.

I have done that with some of the Chinese sellers and found many combinations of Item price with free postage, item plus postage where the item is priced low and the postage high, and also high priced item with low postage.

You can make it even easier by swapping to a search of the items by Price + postage (lowest first)...it will take a few seconds and make it very easy to get the lowest price.

[1sweetap6v8]

@thecatspjs  Jeez they can have 30 identical items all at different prices there is no law to stop them its buyer beware. And its the sellers items and can be sold for what ever they would like to offer it for.  And its not new.

[thecatspjs]

It is inherently unfair for the same shop in the same location to have a different price for identical goods. Not old stock etc etc

Anyway for naysayers, found it - it is called multiple pricing - and it depends in this case if an ebay shop price is considered a displayed price.

From WA Dept Commerce - Consumer Protection on Multiple pricing

Multiple pricing occurs when a supplier displays more than one price for the same item or service.

If a supplier displays the same item with more than one price then they must sell it for the lowest displayed price or withdraw the item until the price is corrected.

A price published in a catalogue or advertisement is a ‘displayed price’. If mistakes in catalogues or advertisements have occurred, they can be fixed by publishing a retraction in a publication with a similar circulation to the original advertisement.

[1sweetap6v8]

They can still sell for what ever price they like not the lowest.

[thecatspjs]

We always have been, and will continue to be on a different page, and for the record that just suits me fine - I get that you have no idea of what I am on about, and I happily admit I have no idea what your on.

[wargul]

I admire your tenacity Cats.

I don't point out pricing errors but I do send the seller a message if something appears amiss.  Like, $40 postage for a standard letter size item.... or the item picture is clearly of a different item.  These are usually bulk listing errors and sellers mostly appreciate the heads up.  I have never copped any negative reactions to this.  I buy a narrow rtype of goods (tin badges of historical interest) and want sellers to be active, successful, and have a good feeling about me as a buyer... so the heads up seems like a good idea to me.