isnt this blatant false advertising?

[gobigone2011]

Hi E1,

Handsfree Headphone Earphone Mic & Remote for Apple iPhone 5 3GS 4 4S iPad Mini

Look at the Aussie sellers trying to compete against the Chinese sellers of items like this.

In the search results it clearly says $1 however once you go into the listing you will see that you will only get a screen protector worth 3 cents. ( you can buy 3 x packs of ten screen protectors for $1 ).

Hasnt the OFT been made aware of this false advertising yet?

[chezzy]

I think I see the one you mean now but I don't think it is fraud. What you are seeing happens a lot. The price that shows up in the search listing is generally the price of the cheapest item in their list (in this case the screen protector or the other example I gave of the $1 winder). Perhaps someone else can shed some more light on these "drop menu" style listings. It is annoying and misleading yes but I think it's an ebay 'thing' more than a seller thing. Perhaps the sellers know this and are milking it for what it is worth. Jam packing in all the keywords to generate traffic and dangling a carrot with a cheap item. And of course offering free postage is going to move them up the ranks as sellers.

[gobigone2011]

It is good that you see now.

So you agree it is false advertising?

The item shows as $1 in search results however it is not $1 at all.

[chezzy]

Their drop menu listing shows in the search results with a price of $1 because that is the price of the cheapest item in that listing. I have seen this many times before where there is a choice of items. I guess if enough people were to complain then ebay might take note. Somehow I doubt it though.

[bsal6160]

Could try reporting them for "Avoiding ebay fees". That might make them prick their ears up and listen.

[imastawka]

How is it avoiding ebay fees?

When I wanted to buy my onesie

<<<<<<<<<<<<  over there,  I searched cheapest first.

It came up at $9.95.   I was very happy - until -

I started selecting size, which onesie etc. etc

Ended up at $26.95

 I bought it as you can see.

So variations in a drop down menu does not equate

to avoiding ebay fees

[jensmanchester-australia]

These are multi variation listings. If you search using best match the prices showing in the search results will relate to the item you are searching for. If you search using lowest price the lowest priced item available in the list of variations will show in the search results.

[gobigone2011]

Im searching price lowest first.

your comment makes no sense.

this is what i see ! $1.00 . Its false advertising.

handsfree headphone with mic $1.00.

[davewil1964]

It makes sense.

If you search by price you get listings that include the price, even if the price doesn't include the specific variant you want.

If you use 'best' match you will get items matching your search.

I think that's what Jen is saying and I agree.

Multivariant listings are allowed by eBay, the seller pays fees on the price of the item they sell, so there is no fee avoidance. You just need to work out ways (like 'best' match - the only time I've heard this to be useful).

[digital*ghost]

---

@gobigone2011 wrote:

Im searching price lowest first.

your comment makes no sense.

this is what i see ! $1.00 . Its false advertising.

handsfree headphone with mic $1.00.

---

Buyers actually have more control over how these listings show in search results than sellers do - yes, there is absolutely some abuse of the listing format by including cheap, completely different items in with the choices, and that makes it search manipulation, but it definitely isn't fraud, and not wholly false advertising, either. 

You can avoid these listings (or rather, the prices for the non-related items) from even showing in your search results with a couple of simple refinements - using a minus symbol before a keyword tells the search engine not to return results with that word in the title (the names of variations work exactly the same way as words in a title as far as searching goes), thus if you type something like earphones -winder you will not see the winder prices in search results. You can add any number of 'minus' keywords, so earphones -winder -protector will also work. Another simple refinement is to only show results from a certain price upwards, eg starting from $2 or more generally wipes out all the 'bait' from the bait n' switch listings.

[phorum_junkie*]

It is most certainly not only Australian sellers, there are hundreds of listings for wedding dresses etc from China at $1 but when you click on them the only one dollar option is a pair of gloves and the dresses are hundreds of dollars.

If nobody ever bought from these sellers they would perhaps give up but unfortunately enou8gh people are obviously interested enough in the more expensive items to make it worth the seller's efforts.