eBay sellers boost prices more than vouchers and discounts

Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 12:05
Last edited 05/06/2017 - 12:18

Just for me, I noticed an item I was watching jumped $10 on the same day vouchers started.

Then a scanner I had already bought from an eBay seller went up 20% on the same day the store became part of a 20% discount deal code CRACKA20. The scanner is now $165, and I bought it 10 days ago from them at $129 (so MORE than 20%). It had still not arrived so I contacted the seller and asked where it was, or where is my tracking number, and his response was

Unfortunately I have been advised by our warehouse team that due to an error on their end this order hasn’t been dispatched as of yet

In other words, I did not send it because I can sell it for more to the patsies who buy with the discount voucher and even those who buy without using the voucher.

See proof of this here: http://i.imgur.com/q1iU7Ar.png

From this thread, it appears to be common practice to boost prices.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/310175

Moral of the story: if you want to buy something on eBay, save it to your WATCH LIST and note the price down (there is a little "Add note" feature in the watch list). That way you can tell when they boost prices to match the bogus "discount".

This price manipulation is illegal in retail brick-n-mortar stores, and it's high time it was made illegal on eBay too.

General Discussion

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Comments

  • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 12:29
    +10

    I'm so shocked that they would do this!!

    • Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 12:35
      +20

      I presume that's sarcasm, the lowest form of wit. FYI, I've been buying stuff on eBay for 17 years or more, and I was not aware how deeply corrupt the discounting process has become … until now.

      Not everyone is wise to the scams.

      • dfaktz on 05/06/2017 - 12:43
        +5

        Honestly, with your 17 years of use, I feel like them having a banner during every sale saying just "We're fkin you, sir!" wouldn't even do the job for you :P

      • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 12:55

        Every time there's been an eBay sale like this, there's a lot of posts from people who have seen sudden price hikes.

        It would be quite hard to miss these comments if you look in any of those posts.

        So either my conclusion is:
        1) You're new here or;
        2) You don't read the comments.

        • Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 12:57

          Or option 3, I am too busy to come here much. I did note that some of the comments in the thread I linked above indicated that the discount process is widely corrupted, but I felt it needed highlighting here. Are there any other threads highlighting it here?

        • tomsco on 05/06/2017 - 13:28
          +3

          @Joe Sixpack:

          Are there any other threads highlighting it here?

          Yes

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 13:33
          +1

          @Joe Sixpack:

          From this thread, it appears to be common practice to boost prices.

          You've highlighted the issue in your original post.

        • Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 13:48
          +1

          @bobbified: Yes but I was talking about threads that specifically address the issue. Tomsco has linked one above, and quite good it is too

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 13:53
          +5

          @Joe Sixpack:
          Arguments aside, it's a pretty bad practice and I'm not sure if there's much eBay can do about it. You'll see that a lot Ozbargainers are not that excited over these sales anymore.

          (I apologise for my initial sarcastic reponse! haha)

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 14:04

          @bobbified:

          if there's much eBay can do about it

          What can they do? It isn't an offence for a seller to change the price for an item.

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 14:14
          +3

          @whooah1979:

          What can they do? It isn't an offence for a seller to change the price for an item.

          I said that I'm not sure IF there's much eBay can do about it.

          It's not an offence to change the price, but the first thought that came to mind was that eBay could potentially partially freeze the existing listings in a particular store prior to the announcement or put something in the Terms and Conditions that forbids the jacking up of the prices at the announcement of the sale. I'm not saying they're workable solutions because I obviously haven't considered every scenario - it's just my first thoughts that maybe there is something they can do.

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 15:09

          @bobbified:

          Ebay is merely a marketplace for sellers large and small to sell their items. They have no legal rights to force a sellers to sell items at a certain price. They tried to regulate shipping in the days when fvf wasn't charged on shipping. That didn't work.

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 15:28
          +3

          @whooah1979:

          They have no legal rights to force a sellers to sell items at a certain price.

          Yes, they have no legal right to force anyone to sell anything at any price. But they can make their own rules about who can and can't sell on their "marketplace". It's called their Terms and Conditions - have a read if you get the chance - there's lots of things in there that aren't law, but they're enforced by eBay as a requirement if you want to use their "marketplace".

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 15:44

          @bobbified:
          You're right that ebay can include a lot of clauses in their t&c. Including clauses that can ban a seller from using their platform. What they can't do is include clauses that regulate prices on items that isn't regulated by either federal, state or local governments.

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 15:48

          @whooah1979:

          Why not?

          Regardless, an entity as big as eBay with a powerful legal team could easily come up with ways around it.

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 15:49

          @bobbified:

          Look up price fixing.

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 15:49

          @bobbified:
          Price fixing.

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 15:52
          +1

          @whooah1979:

          If that's your justification, then you're obviously not understanding that term properly.

          "Collusion" is a key point in Price-Fixing.

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 15:55

          @bobbified:
          The collusion is between ebay and the other entities that are party to the arrangement.

        • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 15:59

          @bobbified:
          It doesn't really matter what our opinions are on this matter. Price changes by sellers has been going on for years and the accc hasn't done anything to stop. The acc can't because it isn't an offence. Ebay can't because it isn't an offence.

        • bobbified on 05/06/2017 - 16:19

          @whooah1979:

          Price-Fixing involves the collusion and setting of a minimum price (rather than a maximum price).
          It won't be a bad thing for the customers if eBay were to stop sellers from raising their prices at the time of a supposed sale.

      • Ryanek on 05/06/2017 - 14:06

        How is it a scam? Businesses are in it to make money. These sales increase shopping traffic so raising prices targets those that don't know any better.
        The distinction here is that it's NOT the store offering the 20% off, otherwise you would have a fair point.

        It's like an ice cream man increasing his icy poles by 10 cents on particularly hot days. If he can make more money when there is a demand then why not? You can always vote with your wallet and buy somewhere else.

        • Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 14:12

          It seems to be a grey area. They are selling under the eBay umbrella, and eBay is offering the vouchers. If eBay were both offering the vouchers AND fulfilling sales, there'd be a clear case, but I take your point that there is a distinction here, and perhaps a need for new case law.

        • Ryanek on 05/06/2017 - 14:31
          -2

          @Joe Sixpack: Err I was not expecting a rational reply, I was expecting an argument haha.

          I think you'll find eBay is not against stores increasing their prices. Unless anyone can tell me otherwise, I believe eBay swallow the discounts so stores increasing their prices would help alleviate that expense.

    • skillet on 06/06/2017 - 10:57
      +5

      We just need post a Blacklist here everytime it happens and boycott them when theres a sale. Ozbargain must stand up against these greedy dumbwits.

  • nocure on 05/06/2017 - 12:34
    +1

    Are you new here ?

  • Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 12:41
    +1

    Postcript: I was able to buy the same scanner from another eBay store, also part of the CRACKA20 voucher, for 135 less 20% = $108.

    So not all sellers are manipulating prices.

    • PVA on 06/06/2017 - 18:28

      But didn't you already buy one. Could you cancel the original eBay order?

      • Joe Sixpack on 12/06/2017 - 08:37

        Cancelled the original order (thank goodness!)

  • Diji1 on 05/06/2017 - 13:09
    +4

    This is why I don't get excited about eBay sales, it just means prices will stay the same.

    • Baebs on 05/06/2017 - 13:21
      +4

      Going to have to agree with you; the recent "extravaganza" was quite pathetic.

  • thetrain on 05/06/2017 - 14:16
    +2

    Almost certainly illegal for Australian based Ebay sellers operating under Australian law.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/business/pricing-surcharging/display…

    Report them if want it to change.

    • whooah1979 on 05/06/2017 - 14:48

      Almost certainly illegal for Australian based Ebay sellers operating under Australian law.

      A seller changing their price on an item isn't an offence. It's certainly not two-price comparison advertising like you suggest.
      https://www.accc.gov.au/business/pricing-surcharging/display…

      • thetrain on 05/06/2017 - 15:12
        +5

        "Statements such as 'Was $150/Now $100' or '$150 Now $100' are likely to be misleading if products have not been sold at the specified 'before' or 'strike through' prices in a reasonable period immediately before the sale commences.

        If a business has a policy or practice of discounting goods when not on sale and uses two-price advertising in relation to sale periods, there is a significant risk that the use of two-price advertising will involve conduct that is misleading. The business would be representing to consumers that they will make a particular saving if they purchase the item during the sale period, when this is not necessarily the case.

        Similar considerations apply to the specification of dollar amount or percentage savings such as 60% off."

        Changing a price on an item isn't an offence. Changing it so that it then reverts down to a similar price after a % off certainly is. If it happened to me and I had proof I'd be reporting them for sure.

        • points4life on 06/06/2017 - 18:03

          The discount is offered by Ebay, not by the seller. Therefore your example is invalid I think.

        • Kangal on 06/06/2017 - 18:22

          @points4life:
          It's not really invalid, because the buyer is still paying the same amount AND the buyer could have been mislead that they are getting a significant discount.

          The only way around this for sellers is for them to raise their prices at least 8 days in advance, and after the sale ends, to keep their raised prices up for at least another 8 days.

          Such a tactic would still work on the foolish, but it would possibly eat a little bit into their sales figures before and after the discount period. But they'd still be making more off it.

        • thetrain on 06/06/2017 - 18:37
          +1

          @points4life:

          I think what we need is an investigation by the ACCC (and court action if required) to determine the legality of this within the current laws. I agree that it isn't 100% clear cut.

          From a misleading or deceiving consumers I'd say there is a very strong case, and reporting to ACCC helps them find out about these dodgy behaviors.

        • [Deactivated] on 07/06/2017 - 08:39
          +4

          @thetrain:

          It is 100% clear, as you say, people just need to put the effort in and actually report it…

          https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/kogan-pays-32400-penal…

          “It is simply unacceptable for businesses to raise prices before applying a discount in order to give consumers the misleading impression that they are obtaining a larger percentage discount than is actually the case," ACCC Acting Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

      • [Deactivated] on 07/06/2017 - 08:41

        https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/kogan-pays-32400-penal…

        "It is simply unacceptable for businesses to raise prices before applying a discount in order to give consumers the misleading impression that they are obtaining a larger percentage discount than is actually the case," ACCC Acting Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.

  • stargalaxy on 05/06/2017 - 15:22
    +3

    Price raising during the so call FAKE ebay sales is common, which is why I have not buy anything in the last few fake sales. I found Good Guys sales more genuine but they seem to have disappear since bought by JB Hifi. These sales still attract a lot of sales as a lot of people see price in the shops and see prices here and it is cheaper and they thought it is a real bargain.

    **The recent 15% off EBAY wide did offer genuine discount as a lot of sellers did not adjust the price quickly enough.

    • OneIdiot on 06/06/2017 - 10:34

      You are right, the recent sale of 15% off on 1st june, was an actual saving. I had few items in watch-list from 3-4 weeks ago, all of them were similarly priced on the day of sale, or even lower. I applied the code, and saved 250$ overall.
      That was an actual SALE.
      Again, i would assume, 1st June was a way of ebay to take a day's loss by capitalizing on the good word of mouth and marketing it would receive from those sales, and later on mislead people by hiking prices and offering 20% discount.

  • Halo375 on 05/06/2017 - 15:40

    I understand why eBay sellers are raising their prices… because they can. What I don't understand is why the hell eBay is letting them get away with this crap. eBay run and pay for these promotions in their efforts to grow their user base to ensure eBay continues in a post-Amazon-world. These sellers are screwing eBay which is why I'm baffled eBay is letting them do that - if this is the case then eBay and their management are incompetent and will soon find themselves out of a job.

    • Joe Sixpack on 05/06/2017 - 15:43
      +1

      Amazon loves this sort of bull, gives them a weakness to exploit. I'm going to RUN to Amazon when they come here.

      • OneIdiot on 27/01/2019 - 22:35

        Looking @ your comment for Amazon.
        2019 and Amazon still to have a big impact on oz e-commerce.

        This tells me how we have big expectations and they don't always materialise.

    • JimmyF on 06/06/2017 - 12:04

      its because they can, its because they have to!

      These 20% off sales is a 50/50 split between ebay and the store. Plus the 10% ebay fees and 3% paypal fees, means the seller ends up giving the '20%' discount, in the way of 10% ebay fees + 10% special fee to be part of the promo + a near 3% paypal fee.

      • tomsco on 06/06/2017 - 12:32
        +2

        So are you saying a company has to pay for advertising for greater exposure?

        • JimmyF on 06/06/2017 - 12:49

          Basically yes, and with any increased advertising 'budget', you have to follow through with a higher price if there isn't much fat in there to cover it!

          On these 20% sales, the seller basically has to pay 23% in 'fees' to ebay/paypal, compared to normally paying 13%. So where does that extra 10% advertising as you put it come from?

        • tomsco on 06/06/2017 - 13:50

          @Level380:

          By being proactive and calculating their advertising budget into the normal price of their product.

          Do you see Coles increasing the cost of a product from $4 to $8 than offer it 50% off. Why can't they justify the fact they have to publish catalogues, print tickets, pay for advertising, etc.

          Look, I admit it gets a bit grey as technically it's an eBay promotion, but as you said, the business takes on half the discount. So essentially they are raising their normal prices and offering 10% discount (20% combined with eBay's share).

          The ACCC have said:

          It is simply unacceptable for businesses to raise prices before applying a discount in order to give consumers the misleading impression that they are obtaining a larger percentage discount than is actually the case.

        • JimmyF on 06/06/2017 - 15:23
          +3

          haha don't kid yourself if you think 'coles' is the one taking the hit on that 50% off sale. Coles/woolies is well known for pushing the 'sales' cuts onto the producer.

          The difference is these ebay seller/companies are already selling with slim profit margin, that there isn't the 'fat' in there to suck up the sale discount being offered.

          On a $100 normal sale, ebay/paypal sucks up $13 in fees + postage costs

          On a 20% off sale, a $100 sale, gets lumped with $23 in fees + postage costs.

          I don't disagree, its wrong to price increase, these sales cost ebay nothing (they are handing the fee they collect back to the buyer as a discount), but the increased traffic is massive and buyers often end up buying product from sellers outside the 'sale', so they ebay wins as they pocket the 10% selling fee!

          I also agree, that if they can't do it, they shouldn't enter the promo.

        • whooah1979 on 06/06/2017 - 16:50

          @tomsco:

          Do you see Coles increasing the cost of a product from $4 to $8 than offer it 50% off.

          http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/terry-mccrann/who-pays-…

          But there's also been a dark side. Somebody has had to pay for those lower prices, and it has been the suppliers.

          Coles and Woolies have been ruthless with them. Forcing them to cut their prices, to switch to supplying house-brands, and so even cheaper products - milk is the standout example; and making it hard for their branded products to get shelf space.

        • tomsco on 06/06/2017 - 19:04

          @Level380:

          haha don't kid yourself if you think 'coles' is the one taking the hit on that 50% off sale. Coles/woolies is well known for pushing the 'sales' cuts onto the producer.

          This is true. Probably wasn't the best example to think of. :p

          I also agree, that if they can't do it, they shouldn't enter the promo.

          It's sort of similar to failing businesses signing on to Scoopon/Groupon, thinking that they will see an influx of customers, without thinking of their margins.

        • tomsco on 07/06/2017 - 08:48

          @whooah1979:

          1) Level380 already made that point.

          2) It's a completely different matter. yes, it's very unethical, but this topic is about stores marking up prices to give the illusion of a discount. So in relation to this topic, my comment was spot on.

  • justdigi on 06/06/2017 - 07:45

    The new scam that I've noticed for this particular sale seems to be adding postage charges to an item that previously has free shipping to cover for the loss on the discount. That way they aren't raising their prices (so you can't report them to the ACCC), they would argue that free shipping only happens on full priced items. For example:

    1 - I had an item in my cart before the sale at $30.02 with free shipping. Sale came on with 20% off price (excluding shipping) and price was also reduced to $28.52 (4% off) at the same time. However they added $9.80 shipping, which means that the total comes to $32.61 or $2.59 MORE than the price before the sale.

    2 - A second item I wanted was $69.99 with free shipping, so should come down to $55.99 after 20% coupon. The store added $7.99 postage for the sale, so it only comes down to $63.98, for an 8.5% saving, not 20%. Different seller, same technique of lessening the discount (as shipping costs aren't included in the 20% off).

    • netsurfer on 06/06/2017 - 12:29

      Item #2 could be due to seller has exhausted his allocated volume for final fee discount (or they have expired). The increase done by the seller was about 11%, which is within the norm (bear in mind that when you increase the price, both the final fee and the PayPal fee will also increase).

      Item #1 - the price increase was too much. That was bad.

      The final fee discount to the seller tends to have a bigger factor on the price than the discount voucher. Not saying sellers won't take advantage of discount vouchers. However, it is possible for sellers to discount more items than what eBay allocated to them (honestly, just the final fee discount won't be enough to sell the items quickly, normally you need the discount promotion to the buyers too) so the sellers might apply the 10% discount to more items (in hope that majority of them will still sell to use up the allocated volume). As soon as sellers know about the promotion event, sellers need to ensure they don't go over what feeBay allocated to them (otherwise it is essentially losing 10% for every item going over the allocated volume). Trust me, when a promotion is on, and items are priced with the final fee waiver factored in, those items sell very quickly (thanks to OZB).

  • cyrax83 on 06/06/2017 - 10:05
    +1

    Either sellers are in it for greed, but more likely is eBay has an agreement with their sellers where in a 20% of a sale, the sellers absorb 5-10% of it. As a result the sellers increase their price to compensate. They have probably signed confidentiality agreements so can't disclose the terms of the agreement.

    • netsurfer on 06/06/2017 - 12:34

      It's not that complicated. It could be more to do with fee waivers (the quantity eBay provided to the seller) than the voucher. For me, whether the buyer gets a voucher or not makes zero difference to the price I list on eBay. The final fee waiver from eBay (which has a time limit) plays a bigger role - 10% difference. eBay will give you some final fee discounts from time to time, but like vouchers, fee discounts have a maximum limit too. And, if those discounts expired in the middle of a feeBay promotion to the buyers (or the sellers used up all discounts feeBay gave them), the sellers are pretty much screwed.

  • netsurfer on 06/06/2017 - 10:15
    +1

    Not necessarily. As an eBay seller, I can think of one situation where this happens. eBay offers me $1 fixed final value fee for about 1 week. During that week, I pretty much lower all my items by 10% in price. Now, when that finishes, is it wrong for me to bring them up by 10%?

    The thing with this stupid final value fee discount is that it is applied on the date you sold the item. So, any item remained unsold after the final value fee promotion ended, the seller loses that discount.

    It can be a real pain for seller. Right now, I have an item that costs 10% more, and a potential buyer saw one that was sold during the promotion and wanting to get it at that price. Anyway, I am sure the potential buyer won't buy it at this price (perfectly understandable).

    My experience is that the discount vouchers (to the buyers) and the final value fee discounts really help me sell my items. The people who bought my items recently benefited from both final value fee discount AND the voucher. Essentially, saving 25%.

    There could be sellers taking advantage of the voucher. However, there are ones which don't (I don't). I see that letting the buyer having both final fee discount + voucher is a win-win for both of us. I get to sell my item and the buyer saves up to 25%.

  • OneIdiot on 06/06/2017 - 10:27

    I was reading all those comments asking why ebay would not ban or restrict sellers who hike price during sale events. It is funny thing that most of us do not know, that ebay plays as much role in this as anyone else. As an ebay seller myself, i know, prior to conducting sale events, ebay encourages sellers to take part and have dynamic pricing. Not that it would stop them from hiking prices, but instead, ebay asks big sellers weeks before a planned sale ( Sometimes eBay even reimburses its listing and final value fee back to sellers to support a Mega Sale Event), so that sellers can prepare with not just stock but patterned price hikes.

    Ebay does not give a shit about prices, as long as a seller is able to make a sale. Secondly, a Buyer cannot return a product based on lower price somewhere else, unless a seller allows it.

    EBay gets huge exposure to general Australian population from such sale events. so waiving off seller fees, is just another investment in marketing goals.

    • netsurfer on 06/06/2017 - 11:27

      One annoying thing with eBay for sellers is that they don't tell you a week in advance they will give you the final fee discount. As soon as that discount is available to the seller, the seller should list as many items as possible. Now, there is also a finite quantity eBay give you. Let's say eBay give you 10, and you have 15 items listed. You probably shouldn't lower all 15 items by 10% because 5 of them won't get the fee discount.

      For most sellers, our main goal is to sell the items. We definitely welcome the final value fee discount from eBay, as well as the vouchers to the buyers. The price generally has more to do with whether we will get a final fee waiver on the item, rather than whether there is a voucher promotion in place. For big sellers, I reckon they will exhaust their final fee value waiver credit for the given month rather quickly during any special promotion. Hence, you may see the price hike half way through (or sometimes right before) a big promotion. It can also depend on which items the seller want to sell / get rid of first (and price them so that those will most likely sell quickly to take advantage of the feeBay fee waiver).

  • Briefcase Mong on 06/06/2017 - 12:18
    +2

    Kogan is the main culprit

  • BertieBrown on 06/06/2017 - 13:30

    I can't really blame them, as far as I can tell they're only making the most advantage of a seemingly imperfect system.

    I'm not suggesting it's a not bit of a shitty thing to do, but let's face it these businesses, any business really, is in it to make money.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/06/2017 - 15:45

    I saw jbhifi do this coupel of years ago. Was looking at there site for sales and knew what i was after then the price jumped up the day before the sale.

    I went to the store and confirmed it but didnt have hard evidence of this.

    Harvey norman do the same thing i purchased a fridge from them and the online price was cheaper by 200 bucks plus a 160 dollar eftpos card and i hammered them to match the price because that how i decided to purchase from them and drive to the store and pay and pick upat the same time.

    • PVA on 06/06/2017 - 18:32

      Same with us buying a cooktop from Harvey Norman.
      Online had a price plus $200 of wine. In store was the normal rrp and no wine until I mentioned it - then it dropped to the online price and we got the wine.

  • 2ndeffort on 06/06/2017 - 16:00

    Just like any other seller or marketplace there will be good and bad sellers. True bargains come to those that do their homework, Rip offs come to those that are lazy and trust false hope like discount codes.

  • centrelink on 06/06/2017 - 17:31

    I beleive eBay offers this promotion to select sellers In Exchanged to be featured on front page.

    I assume eBay does not pay for the discounts as it would for smaller sellers like the 15% sale last week, so the featured companies get around this by jacking up the price within legal reason.

  • thatguy82b on 06/06/2017 - 17:38

    I've noticed this as well, but luckily it hasn't affected the items I've bought.

    What's worse? Free shipping! Free shipping does have advantages. It doesn't mean much if you purchase one item at $30 instead of $22 with $8 shipping, people think they are getting a deal but there really is none. In some ways it also helps to hide how much the actually spend on shipping. People don't like getting charged $14 if the shipping label says it costs $10 for example. The advantage comes with these discount deals, but ONLY if the retailer hasn't jacked up the prices. The reason for this is the discount code doesn't apply to shipping, however if there is free shipping the discount code is applied to the total price, meaning the postage component does get discounted.

    Free postage IS BAD when you purchase more than one item from the same seller, as you pay for the full postage multiple times. If you bought four items that normally have a postage of $8 (seller charges $10 because the cost is hidden), sending them together might cost the seller $12. However, you pay the total postage on all the items. Whereas another seller may combine discount the postage down to to say, $18 inclusive of the additional items, you pay $40 for postage becuase you're paying complete postage on all items.

    I beleive eBay tries to encourage free postage because the fees are applied to the sale cost, meaning when there aren't discount codes used eBay can make more fees. It also entices people to jump on a perceived deal instead of looking elsewhere. The good free postage sellers? If they give a discount for additional items it just means you aren't paying full postage for them, in some ways it can encourage people to buy more items from the seller.

    HERE'S MY TIP!

    If you ever need to buy multiple items from a seller that does NOT discount additional items when offering free postage. DO NOT buy them together. Buy one item, have them post it, then buy the next item and continue until you have bought all the items you want. At least that way you are actually getting a service you pay for. I guess in many ways this free postage thing is illegal, since you are paying for a service (multiple postage) that you do not receive.

    What's 'worse' in terms of free postage is GST is already applied to the postage, however when GST will be applied to sales you will only be paying GST on the sale price. For free postage, it means you are paying for the GST twice on the postage component! When the GST comes in sellers will also likely jack the prices by more than 10 percent and use GST as an excuse. Technically GST should have been applied from day one on online sales, but that's a different matter. Applying it to individual sales separately doesn't make sense, the easiest way for them to have done it would be to apply GST on all of eBay's (and other sellers) revenue, and take that money from eBay directly, and just have eBay etc apply the 10 percent along with their fees.

    Anyways, moral of the story is to ask sellers with free postage if they can do a discount on multiple items. They will most likely say no (or give you some insultingly bad discount), in which case buy the items separately. If they then catch on to what you are doing and don't send the items right away, expecting another purchase, just don't do anything. You can then give in feedback that they were extremely slow in sending the item out etc. Be a little realistic though, if the item is $1.25 with free postage (and that's a really good deal) I wouldn't do it, but if it were much more than that I would.

    • jenkemjunkie on 06/06/2017 - 19:35

      Free postage is illegal when buying multiple items together with free postage because you pay for free postage - got it! You'd rather receive items later and have them sent separately to ensure no one is getting a leg up on you. I bet you have no friends.

      Lol seller beware: Buyer acts like a child that breaks his toys so other kids can't play with them.

      • thatguy82b on 06/06/2017 - 20:45

        It's not free postage, it's just the illusion of free postage because it isn't itemised separately. If you buy 5 items, you are paying 5 full lots of postage even if the item is sent in the same package. You think that's fair on the consumer? It's only an issue with multiple item purchases at the same time from the same seller of course.

        Most of the time things with free postage are items you are likely only to buy one of (like free postage on a TV), and I wasn't referring to be an AH about it. However, if it's something that you will very likely buy more than one of at a time, which the seller would be well aware of, the buyer should be wary of the free postage because you will end up paying full postage on all your items since it's part of the items cost.

        You are therefore paying full price on each individual item for a service that is claiming to be 'free', whereas if the postage is itemised you would have received discounts on additional items.

        • jenkemjunkie on 06/06/2017 - 21:11

          You are insufferable - and just don't get it. You'd rather buy items separate from the same seller so you're 'getting what you pay for' and wait longer for the items (and increase the chances of one being lost in transit) because the seller wouldn't give you a discount because of the small benefit they get from shipping your items together?

          If I was the seller I'd cancel all your orders. Hell I wouldn't even bulk sell to you.

        • Tuba on 06/06/2017 - 21:49

          Not so as far as Im aware re: delivery costs for some sellers. Some sellers have arrangements whereby they prepay a set amount annually to a carrier(s) (say, $20,000), and all their carrier costs are covered by that. Of course nothing is free, but you cant get a discount on it. The total cost of the sellers bulk shipping fees will be spread across all prices, as would rent for a store front.

        • thatguy82b on 06/06/2017 - 22:02

          @jenkemjunkie:
          You just don't get my point! Free postage can be a benefit to the consumer, but it can also be abused. I'm talking about the abuse side of things, where the seller knows you will be buying more than one item, so they charge you $31 instead of $22 plus $7 postage. It's a great way of masking the postage cost to make more off the product. If you buy more than one of them, you are effectively paying $31 for every item, not $22 + $7 + $3 each additional item, for example. If you buy four items, that's $104 total if the shipping is separate, but $124 with 'free postage'.

          That is basically you're CRACKA20 code difference right there!

        • jenkemjunkie on 07/06/2017 - 07:47

          @thatguy82b:

          People get your point ( and the lack of upvotes shows how stupid your 'tip' is)- you have a pre-school understanding of cost assessment - eBay sellers baking total postage cost into their listings. Which not all do. You are just scummy, you wouldn't dare let a seller catch a break and save money by posting your items together, even though your choice in buying them separate or together would cost you exactly the same. But you'd rather buy them separate to prove a point and wait longer. Boohoo the seller didn't want to give you a bulk discount. All because you're a prick that if you can't benefit from a cheaper price because ultimately postage should be cheaper - then the seller sure as hell cant!

          This is you in a nutshell:

          An eBay seller has multiple listings all with free postage. You want to buy a few of these items. You query the seller for a discount because of your postage beliefs that it will be cheaper to send and therefore you are entitled to a discount. Seller denies this request. You proceed to buy items separately instead of together (which makes no difference to what you actually pay anyway) trying to hold the eBay seller at ransom with your feedback instead of looking for another seller that offers discount on bulk purchases.

          .

  • justwii on 06/06/2017 - 18:03

    This aside, why do some sellers jacked the price of the last item in a multi-sale to some ridiculous price?

    • El Grande on 06/06/2017 - 20:54

      Because they are sold out and if they say they have 0 stock they would lose the XXX sold which is worth its price in gold. So they dont sell the last piece and set the price 5 to 10 times to discourage people from buying and if someone does buy at that price they make many times the price in profit.

  • El Grande on 06/06/2017 - 20:52

    I see posts about people complaining about prices here all the time. Let me put it this way. Say an item has RRP of $999. A business would like to get as much money for it as it can. The business you are buying form is not there to offer you the best bargain. It is there to get as much money out of you as they can while they make a sale. The goal here is to make a sale and make a profit.

    Say the RRP $999 item is available at another seller for $799. As a business I would try to match that price the best I can or come as close to it as possible to stay competitive. Many times for small sellers they sell things at a loss hoping for a volume discount from the supplier. Say all of a sudden that seller decides to put the prices up I am under no obligation to keep selling at that price. Similarly if there is no stock then RRP or above RRP is also possible as RRP is indicative and not binding.

    With the example on eBay the items are priced as per market rates. Say a TV is selling for $999 at Seller A online and that is the best price for that TV in Australia. Seller B on eBay has the same Item for $999 and all of a sudden there is a 20% off sale. Seller B would automatically know that this item is going to sell like hotcakes even at $900 after discount. So they bump the price up as they only have a limited amount of that product. However this is not the main reason for price hikes.

    The main reason for price hikes is that many supplier set minimum pricing. Suppliers want sellers to buy a TV for 900 and sell for 950-1000. They are happy for you to pick your margin in that range as that would dictate your sales volume. Most sellers know that they might sell 10 Tvs with $50 a piece profit or 2 tvs with $100 a piece profit. Now a seller may know if they only make $10 a piece they can sell 100 Tvs but if they do this they would loose the agency as they would be hurting other dealers.

  • Tuba on 06/06/2017 - 21:43
    +2

    At least some of the discounts are paid by ebay, not sellers. BCF had a sale via ebay, and when I returned the item they refunded the full price, not simply the discounted price. To BCF the item was sold at full price. When I asked BCF about it I was told they do not provide the discount, ebay does, or at least at the time they did.

    I purchased significant amounts of oils and coolants from Supercheap ebay, SC was offering a discount on the items as they were no longer stocking the brands, and some was just one of their own sales, to which ebay had also offered a 20% off voucher. Price was not hiked to cover it. The stuff was stupid cheap.

    Im certain Ryda did jack prices to match the discount though. Told them so, now cant buy from them via ebay lol. They tried to tell me the wholesale price increased but several other sellers stocked the same item and their price never changed. Rydas pricing returned to the old price after the voucher expired.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/06/2017 - 08:35
    +1

    I've said it before and I'll say it again, report it to ACCC if you actually care that much. Complaining here won't do much. They will do something about it if someone actually puts the effort in and reports it.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/kogan-pays-32400-penal…

    • d39833 on 21/06/2017 - 15:04

      How do you complain?

  • imahapyboy on 07/06/2017 - 09:55

    buy or no buy, up to you, this is life

  • shangoz on 12/06/2017 - 08:44

    Some do but some don't, keep checking and write down the price, so you can get true saving. (amazon price as a guild line, if aus sell cheaper then amazon, that more then likely is good value).

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