Sellers with higher feedback verses sellers with a lower feedback rating

[zelly888]

Why do sellers with a higher feedback rating seem to sell an item for alot more money than a seller with lower feedback rating even though the items that they sell are identical,is it because the lower rated seller isn't trusted as much as the higher rated seller? To me this just doesn't seem fair enough because the items are the same so why do buyers wish to pay more for an item to a seller that has a large amount of feedbacks/higher rated seller.Also good luck to the buyers that got the same item for less,but I have noticed this happening alot and I feel for the new sellers as they should be getting alot more for their items.

[clarry100]

We just sell a little under our competitors in the same category as a plain matter of competition. Nothing to do with who has the higher or lower score.

We happen to be newer, yes, but we are breaking into the marketplace and are happy to sell slightly under the rest as a competitor.

We also do our best to make our items a little bit more unique too.

So even when/if our FB scores get up there with the rest of 'em we will still price our stuff to sell, not in accordance with our FB score.

Isn't that how it should work?

[zelly888]

Yes you are right that's how it should work,but it doesn't seem to as I have studied this closely and the higher rated sellers are receiving way more money for the same items than the lower rated sellers for example in an auction style listing a seller with a better rating in most cases gets more money for their item but why? the lower rated seller had the same item up for auction so why didn't the buyers bid higher? I have also noticed that sellers that sold an item for x amount of dollars to a buyer,this buyer has then decided to resell the same item and mind you this buyer is also a seller and now they have received a higher amount for the item than they bought it for and yes they have a higher feedback rating.So to me buyers must think that they are getting a better item or deal by paying more for an item from a more experienced seller.

[zelly888]

So the bottom line is that you should never list anything for less than you are happy to recieve for it

[thesoulyearns]

Exactly. I've lost way more than I've ever made (my fault not eBay's) by starting things at 0.99c and hoping they'd sell for more. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

Regarding higher vs. lower feedback sellers, I wouldn't necessarily say they sell for higher prices just based on their score. It probably does help but eBayers seem pretty happy to buy from anyone aslong as it's a good listing/price/item, etc. Higher feedback sellers may also have more repeat customers who don't mind spending a little more to buy from a particular seller. Also, sometimes an item is sitting for months before it sells.

[clarry100]

Rather than price it that way, we choose to price to what the market dictates.

If our items are selling too fast for us we will bump up the price a tad and that usually backs it off a bit. Overall profits don't really change that much but we are getting about the same overall profit for a little less leg work. If that makes sense!

And the converse of this is true too.

And whilst doing this we just keep an eye on our competition as well.

So that's why I say what we do in pricing our stuff is independent of FB score. And we don't have lots of auction listings either unless eBay give freebies like this weekend with 200 FREE, then we flood with auctions. LOL!