20% off SELECTED retailers

[perfume_merchant]

Can someone eloborate on this promotion.

Is eBay taking a hit (due to re-imbursing retailers) in regards to any sales that fall under this promotion '20% off selected retailers'?

Or is this a paid marketing strategy implemented by big box retailers without eBay taking a financial hit by covering part of the sale?

It's hard enough to compete on a fair playing field as is, but if a 20% advantage is 'handed' to some of your competition that sells identical products, then there is something unjust going on.

I am frustrated that eBay isn't including every store in this promotion (atleast those that share the same catergories). 

Thoughts?

[lyndal1838]

It is a promotion whereby ebay pays 20% of the invoice total when a buyer shops with certain sellers.

There are various terms and conditions which you can see for yourself.

There have been a number of similar promotions....some are only applicable to cetain sellers/shops while others allow buyers to shop anywhere on ebay.   For the most part the discounts are only applicable to the item prices and not the postage. Often there are terms including the spend amount.

All the promotions that I have taken part in are funded by ebay....the sellers loses nothing.  When you go through checkout you put in the voucher code and the discount appears. When you pay with paypal the transaction shows as your chosen funding source + the voucher amount paid by ebay making up the total of the item being paid to the seller.

In the past there have been similar promotions where the buyer can shop anywhere on ebay or in one particular shop.....have you seen those?  The last one was for Bing Lee and previously Dick Smith.

You seem to be just jumping on this promotion as excluding your category.

I am sure there will be a promotion soon where buyers can shop anywhere on ebay.

[perfume_merchant]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm aware of this type of promotion in the past as I have been included in the general discoutns including all sellers.

If you click on the home page and navigate to: Promotion > Fragrances & Beauty > Fragrances and browse the fragrance listings, you will bnotice there are only 2 sellers included in this catergory.

That is why I thought maybe there was some negotiated marketing campaign derived from these 2 businesses. When other major big box retailers have their sales, I'm sure there is some negotions being played out between themselves & eBay. 

From my perspective, It's a question of bad timing & ethics.

Did they not take into consideration the effects it will have on the majority of other sellers in the same catergory leading into Valentines Day. 

[lyndal1838]

Maybe they have got some sort of agreement with the sellers included in this promotion.....they are unlikely to tell us anyway.

[chameleon54]

I doubt that any of us believe that any major retailer treats their suppliers fairly. Various government commissions have found both C0les and W00lw0rths guilty of placing undue and unfair pricing preasure on their suppliers to reduce cost prices to unsustainable levels ( think $1.00 a litre milk and vegitable / fruit supplies )  Small suppliers such as Australian conserve and sauce suppliers are squeezed at the expense of larger players with higher brand recognition. Suppliers pay for all shelf space and further kick-backs for high visibility, eye level shelves, inclusion in promotions and weekly specials arrangements.

The small supplier will never have the same negotiating ability to be included in special deals and promotions as larger suppliers. Wether we agree or not, the ebay parent company sees itself as an online retailer and the sellers as its suppliers. We can argue that " No Ebay is different " all we like, but one thing that is not different is that ebay is a global company adopting the same systems and practices as all other global brands. This includes alighning themselves with other major household names and brands and a sell cheap and maximise profit from suppliers policy. ( you and me )  

Wether we like it or not you cant really blame them. Either we adapt as sellers, filling niche markets the major brands cant supply, or we find something else to do with our time........ Is it fair ?..... Probably not, but if we play with the big boys, we accept that they make thier own rules.

[*chrismac*]

I wanted to know the same thing. There is a 20% off sale for selected retailers, of which I am not one. I am meant to be in my peak selling season and I cannot compete because my competition are able to offer 20% off.

How does one get invited to such a party? It is a serious question - does anyone know?

Here is the advertised sale:

http://pages2.ebay.com.au/Buyer_coupons/cheer20

[lyndal1838]

The sellers are not offering 20% discount.....ebay is paying the discount amount.  The sellers get the full amount of the sale price.

I doubt that anyone here can tell you how sellers get into the promotion.   Only ebay could tell you and I doubt that they will do so.

[*tippy*toes*]

My guess is you need to be a multimillion dollar company and be able to pay ebay a lot of money to get special privileges. Way more than us small fry can afford in our lifetime.

[luvyourphone]

Correction lyndal, the bulk of that 20% was paid for by the merchants.

[lyndal1838]

I have no doubt that any and all discounts are ultimately paid for by the sellers but for the purposes of the current promotions the buyer only knows that the discount amount is paid for by ebay, not the seller....the seller receives the full payment.