Genuine eBay Plus discounts a thing of the past.

[mallaaaaa]

Just putting this out there to see if ever ones on the same train of thought as me. I have read a few things about eBay Plus being a scam for different reasons. My experience is this. So called "sales" and "discounts" offered to eBay Plus members is utter bullcrap. If 20% is offered for ebay plus items, not all eBay Plus sellers will have this 20% off any more. The ones who do have it have the Plus items they are selling inflated by about 30%. For example; here in Australia the retail for a Ryzen 7 5800x processor is $699. Out of all the ebay plus sellers only a couple have the Black Friday sale offering of 20% off. And they have the processor listed for $919. These same sellers (reputable ones) have the same item on their website for normal retail of $699. I can understand a slight inflation to account for ebay fees but $220 bucks more??? Of course we want the 20% off deal but what the heck is the point?

[lyndal1838]

But are you comparing like models?

Many sellers have several different models for sale but only selected models are subject to the discount.

[mallaaaaa]

Yes as mentiomed in the post I was looking at the Ryzen 7 5800x.

[springyzone]

From what I have read lately about ebay plus, there isn't much that would entice me to join and this just adds to it.

I know that for some buyers, it is a boon and they save money but I guess it depends on what people normally buy.

I can well believe that sellers could be selling items items cheaper on their own websites as the fees may not be as high. The big stores seem to be fairly uniform price wise but I have seen some smaller sellers occasionally say in their ads that it is cheaper at such and such a site. Probably against ebay rules to do that, mind you.

I think when it comes to sales prices, if stores say 20% off an item, it is meant to be off their normal price. So it will be itneresting to see what those ebay sellers list that item at once the 20% offer ends.

Basically, it comes down to the fact ebay isn't necessarily cheapest with the prices for anything and can sometimes be much dearer. I've probably looked up about a dozen things in the last few months and bought elsewhere. And ebay plus isn't tempting me. I bought something recently and when I looked at it, the ad said-join ebay plus and get this item sent free. It was free postage anyway!! It had me confused for a moment so I double checked the cart.

[mallaaaaa]

My Rant continues...

Don't get me wrong. I genuinely have ended up saving the money spent on subscrption on postage alone every year. So thats a reason for me to continue with plus but as you said, things are no longer cheaper on eBay and I end up buying from elsewhere. The only time I hope things will be cheaper is during these sales. But they have become a joke now and I don't see buying from ebay that often going forward.

The sad part about all this is, pre-Plus era, the sales were genuine and applied to everyone. I have gotten fantastic prices before. The first year on Plus was probably good as Plus discounts were applied to most if not all Plus sellers. Now only a handfull of them get it and the ones who do get it see to be scammers.

I contacted ebay and reported the seller who has inflated his prices by almost 30% and I got the idea that eBay couldn't care less about it. Was told that the sale is applied randomly and they allow sellers to inflate prices. I told them that I understand inflating to cover fees, but inflating something thats retails for $699 to $919 is just insane and even after the 20% discount it brings the item to $36 over retail. Sellers like that are free to do what ever they like but they should not be apart of the promotion.

Maybe eBay is well aware of this and knows no one will buy from the inflated sellers so they wont have to pay out. They probably focus on the less valuable stuff. Either way I think they have lost the plot. I personally use ebay to get a good deal on something or look for something hard to find. The good deal bit is history so it will just be to find something hard to find or discontinued in stores. Pretty sure having a Plus membership for that reason isn't worth it.

[silver-fox-bullion]

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@mallaaaaa wrote:

My Rant continues...

Don't get me wrong. I genuinely have ended up saving the money spent on subscrption on postage alone every year. So thats a reason for me to continue with plus but as you said, things are no longer cheaper on eBay and I end up buying from elsewhere. The only time I hope things will be cheaper is during these sales. But they have become a joke now and I don't see buying from ebay that often going forward.

The sad part about all this is, pre-Plus era, the sales were genuine and applied to everyone. I have gotten fantastic prices before. The first year on Plus was probably good as Plus discounts were applied to most if not all Plus sellers. Now only a handfull of them get it and the ones who do get it see to be scammers.

I contacted ebay and reported the seller who has inflated his prices by almost 30% and I got the idea that eBay couldn't care less about it. Was told that the sale is applied randomly and they allow sellers to inflate prices. I told them that I understand inflating to cover fees, but inflating something thats retails for $699 to $919 is just insane and even after the 20% discount it brings the item to $36 over retail. Sellers like that are free to do what ever they like but they should not be apart of the promotion.

Maybe eBay is well aware of this and knows no one will buy from the inflated sellers so they wont have to pay out. They probably focus on the less valuable stuff. Either way I think they have lost the plot. I personally use ebay to get a good deal on something or look for something hard to find. The good deal bit is history so it will just be to find something hard to find or discontinued in stores. Pretty sure having a Plus membership for that reason isn't worth it.

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$36 over retail think about that statement   <<<<   this is the seller recovering EBAY fees and they are still under retail when ya take off the fees...   lets say they fee is 15 percent without knowing what the fees are in that area.   there fee total is about 105-115 that what sellers have to deal with.  

[mallaaaaa]

@silver-fox-bullion

I am glad YOU responded coz I felt I had a little more absolutely pointless ranting left in the tank.

Hmm... I know what you are trying to say but maybe you should have thought more on your statement lol... I don't think much thought has gone in to that response of yours or you have not read through and understood.

This thread is just discussing some frustration about how eBay is handling benefits for their Plus subscribing members and The subscription itself being ever more pointless every year.

In reality a I am not going to think about the seller fees on eBay. I doubt anyone does. You are aware that it's there but you are definitely not going to pay extra for it if the item is still available in retail stores. I support my local hobby shop and pay premium because I want to have a shop I can walk in to in the future. If I am on eBay I am looking for things I cant find elsewhere or because I am after a deal. I am going to take the retail price of an item and see if I can get a better deal. Especially if I have a paid subscription to something like eBay Plus. Pretty sure that's how the world works. So my baseline is $699, say $715 with postage with my example. Of course with eBay plus I also expect to have free shipping but lets keep it at 715.

If I have a PAID subscription to a service that gives me benefits like discounts, then I am looking at getting the item for $714 or less (of course no one looks for $1 discounts when its easier and quicker to buy at retail but lets go with this for this example). I hope we agree on that. The item can be listed for $10,000 for all I care as long as my "benefit" drops it to less than $714. This whole thing is about a "Members only" promotion being of no use to members.

Lets look again at the statement you asked me to "Think about". They are selling at $220 over retail. $36 over retail is after the eBay Plus discount. This makes the discount pointless for me as a Plus member who was told I have a special early bird Black Friday discount of 20%. The seller still gets the $220 over retail because eBay covers the 20% off. The total fees for the item listed as $919 is closer to $120. So that's $100 over retail of $699 after all fees have bene paid. Lets keep in mind retail of $699 is sold for profit anyway. Starting to look like some sellers taking advantage of this to get greedy?

No seller is going to sell at a loss and that's a given. So it cant be justified that some sellers have it for $775 (Reducing their retail profit margin to sell on eBay most likely) while others have it at $919. And eBay gives the discount to the sellers who have listed the item for over $919 and none who have listed it for $800 or under where the 20% will mean something.

Which comes to the other area of my rant: eBay giving the discount to the wrong sellers. As I said sellers can sell at what ever price they want to and there are sellers out there who list at a more acceptable price and we as buyers can take advantage of the so called "Benefits" we subscribe to.

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@silver-fox-bullion wrote:

$36 over retail think about that statement   <<<<   this is the seller recovering EBAY fees and they are still under retail when ya take off the fees...   lets say they fee is 15 percent without knowing what the fees are in that area.   there fee total is about 105-115 that what sellers have to deal with.  

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[big.guns7]

Totally agree with the OP.

I can actually right now point to an item where the price was jacked immediately upon commencement of the current BF20% off sale.

It is outrageous. Does eBay provide an quick and easy way to report such sellers? No.

[mallaaaaa]

You are right. No! They dont. I was told that the sellers are allowed to have a mark up. Agreed. Mark up to cover fees but discounts ate given to sellers with absurd mark ups. I was told my a non ebay plus member that they got the same discounts as me after black friday. So the earlyvird **bleep** was just a scam. Sorry I have got my self worked yp iver all this way too much

[davewil1964]

You certainly have. Especially when the 'u' and the 'y', while close together, are nowhere near the 'b'.

It always pays to proofread before posting. It helps not only with the legibility, but also the credibility. After all, if somebody checks their spelling before posting, it would tend to indicate that they pay attention to other details.