Oops!

[*lady*godiva*]

I came across a listing last week for a brand name product selling for $1.99 each. Free post. (from one of those eBay recommendation feeds at the bottom of your purchases list or watch list)

At my local outlet store similar items sell from about $30

The retail store sells similar from around the $60 mark

Other sellers on eBay were selling the same product for $54.99 - $69.99

"if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is" kept going through my mind. So I checked the listing again and scrutinised every line and picture,

Because of the price I was still concerned that it was a scam (500 100% feedback though with over 800 current listings and a well known B&M store/brand - a lot of feedback for this product), the items were fake, or maybe they were barbie doll sized and not really for adults - even checked to make sure I was buying a real item and not just a picture of the item - so many thoughts.

Because of the price, I decided it was worth the risk and purchased 4. (2 for xmas presents - 2 spare cos it seemed such a good price)

They arrived today. The genuine item, adult sized, perfect.

I went back to buy more.

Today the price is $69.99.

Sales history 140 sold.More than 10 available.

I think that someone made a mistake when listing.

Impressive that the seller chose to honour the sale though, I wonder how many others would have.

I am sitting here wondering if I should offer them more money, but then I wouldn't have bought them in the first place if they hadn't have been that price.

[digital*ghost]

^ Nevermind, I think I was looking at the wrong one (the one I was looking at sold 111 over the past weekend for $1.99, is $69.99 now, but the store has nearly 30k FB). 

[beach_and_home]

I don't know if it was the case this time. But, I have noticed that a lot of sellers start out a listing very very cheap and the put the price up after a few sales.

I believe they do this for two reasons.

Firstly, and most obviously, to gauge the market to see how much they can sell it for.

But most importantly to get some "sales history". Once they've got the sales history and have got their listing to the top of best match rankings, then they put up the price. It's actually a very smart tactic if you are planning to sell hundreds of the same item.

However, the difference in prices of your item shows it most probably was an error.

In relation to sending more money, I wouldn't worry about it. If they have sold 140 at that price they've had plenty of time to wake up if it was a mistake, and as you said, you only bought it because it was cheap.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Shows how important a well-thought out listing is to sales 🙂

I bought a TV from eBay, the price has been all over the place since it was originally listed. That appears intentional. Major retailer, and the eBay price can vary a lot from their official online store price. Hundreds less, here.

[cherry*135]

Modestbods:
" If however it was an advertising/promo deal, then for a large store/brand it may not have been all that expensive (especially given their actual manufacture/wholesale costs would have been far less than their normal selling price)."

It does sound like that could be the case, especially as the ebay store was new. Item could cost them $10 to buy. Wallets used as loss leaders.