How can we stop listings that put in a fake item option to make the listing appear lower in price?

[suthosplif]

Ebay these days is facing stiff competition from sites like Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, and their failure to take effective action on listing practices that hamper finding the product I want is going to push me to the competition.

Pretty much everything I search on ebay for the last year, I have to wade through dozens of listings, mostly from China and Hong Kong, that have a drop down of options that varies the price. They will usually have a fake item, such as a colour that's 1/4 the price of the other colours but sold out, or 'packing box' or for example 5 different colours of $30 dog leads, and a $1 dog collar tag. The items are clearly not related besides both being for a dog, I'm looking for a lead but getting hits for tags.

I think ebay need to devote some resources to scanning listings for these fake listings, issue a warning, and then ban 2nd offenders. This may be difficult to do, but I am eventually going to stop using ebay if these practices continue.

[nootherbids]

This reckless practice will eventually turn against Ebay. The other day I was searching for a memory module, usually costing around $15 and sorted the results by price. On top of the list and in the first 4-5 pages there were modules stating sale price: from $1 to $18. The deceitful sellers came first on my search results based on the advertised price of $1 but when I made my selections from the drop-down buttons, I discovered that they have included in their sale an irrelevant item – not mentioned in the title, such as a SIM removal pin or a key ring etc. priced at $1. The item on the title was either out of stock or priced well above the $15 – let alone the advertised $1 sale. Result: After looking at a number of misleading sale nonsense on ebay, I gave up and went to a retail shop to get my item.

I strongly believe that a reputable place like ebay should not be proud of this practice.

[davewil1964]

Given that memory capacities are regularly exaggerated by online sellers, why would you not buy from a B&M?

There are a lot of things it is wise not to buy online. Storage devices don't top the list, but they're certainly up there.

Did you read any of the suggestions on how to negate this? Like starting your search at, say, $12, if you know they're worth $15? That eliminates the $1 multi-choice listings and gives you more chance of finding what you want. It's not really that difficult. There are a whole list of refinements you can use. On the left of every search.

[nootherbids]

Dear davewil1964,

Yes, I agree, what you say is all right however I still believe that this is a bad and deceitful way of attracting attention and gaining priority in ebay searches.

And if this is not an issue to experienced buyers like you, it is definitely a trap for new buyers and a negative for ebay.

[suthosplif]

True, but it’s hard to tell these days. I’ve got decent stuff for prices I wouldn’t have dreamt of years ago. Often when I’m looking for something I really can’t anticipate what it should cost.

[suthosplif]

p.s. <Removed> is now once again my place of choice for electronics/gadgets.

[davewil1964]

Mine is a big B&M retailer. That way I get warranties, I can look at the item before I buy it, I can easily return it if there is a problem. But I'm not wedded to the internet.