Getting sick of sellers advertising items for a false price.

[petesean2316]

sellers advertising items at a shown price, then as soon as you choose a colour or size the price shoots up. And theres nothing in the drop down for price advertised. This is false info, good to attract buyers but a waste of buyers time. if they are lying about price are they lying about other things described ?

[i_failed_my_dna_test]

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@petesean2316 wrote:

sellers advertising items at a shown price, then as soon as you choose a colour or size the price shoots up. And theres nothing in the drop down for price advertised. This is false info, good to attract buyers but a waste of buyers time. if they are lying about price are they lying about other things described ?

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It certainly is a problem .

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[stormatic2015]

I hate this too.

eBay can combat this by making an exception rule of only 100% difference from the lowest price, since variant are only ment to be colour / sizes or styles.

So if they list a multi that is £0.99p they have a max sale price of £2.00 for any other variant. £5 t-shirt cn go up to £10 which is enought for a varant.

I'm sure there are exceptions where a higher price would be needed, you weould need to make another listing for that, which eBay should be happy as its another fee.

They could running an algorithm on long term listings to see if the lowest variant has sold any and the ratio between the the lowest and other variants to determine if the multi has been falsely represented.

At the moment I boycott most multi lisitings and scroll down the the nearst cheapest single priced listing.

[bravergrace]

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@petesean2316 wrote:

sellers advertising items at a shown price, then as soon as you choose a colour or size the price shoots up. And theres nothing in the drop down for price advertised. This is false info, good to attract buyers but a waste of buyers time. if they are lying about price are they lying about other things described ?

 ______________________

Perhaps the seller had sold out of the real good bargains by the time you saw the listing? 

Unfortunately, the sellers cannot control what price eBay shows for these listings with variations.  Suppose you want to buy some of eBay's branded packaging from the official supplier.  

They sell envelopes in packs of different sizes.

Suppose one of their listings shows:

- Pack of 25......£8

- Pack of 50.....£12

- Pack of 100...£20

- Pack of 500...£50

eBay sometimes shows the "price for that listing" as £8, and sometimes £8 to £50.  It's eBay who decide this, not the seller.

But if they've sold out of all the small packs, eBay will still show the "price for the listing" as £8, not £12.

This is stupid and misleading, obviously, but it's the way the system works, and there's nothing the seller can do about it.

I have used the example of official eBay supplier listings because it shows that eBay DO consider it OK to have variations with different prices for different quantities, although many sellers don't think this should be allowed, it is actually allowed.

[24-7onlinebargains]

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@bravergrace wrote:

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@petesean2316 wrote:

sellers advertising items at a shown price, then as soon as you choose a colour or size the price shoots up. And theres nothing in the drop down for price advertised. This is false info, good to attract buyers but a waste of buyers time. if they are lying about price are they lying about other things described ?

 ______________________

Perhaps the seller had sold out of the real good bargains by the time you saw the listing? 

Unfortunately, the sellers cannot control what price eBay shows for these listings with variations.  Suppose you want to buy some of eBay's branded packaging from the official supplier.  

They sell envelopes in packs of different sizes.

Suppose one of their listings shows:

- Pack of 25......£8

- Pack of 50.....£12

- Pack of 100...£20

- Pack of 500...£50

eBay sometimes shows the "price for that listing" as £8, and sometimes £8 to £50.  It's eBay who decide this, not the seller.

But if they've sold out of all the small packs, eBay will still show the "price for the listing" as £8, not £12.

This is stupid and misleading, obviously, but it's the way the system works, and there's nothing the seller can do about it.

I have used the example of official eBay supplier listings because it shows that eBay DO consider it OK to have variations with different prices for different quantities, although many sellers don't think this should be allowed, it is actually allowed.

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If the cheapest option or oprions are out of stock then ebay do not show the that options price - they show the next price up for a option that is available

We all know what the OP is talking about - for example 10 variants of  nice new Trousers at 10.00 and old pair of tatty ones that no one is going to buy  at 4.00

So the cheapest price on search will show as 4.00 which of course drives buyers into the listing 

Ebay do combat this to a certain extent by telling sellers that there is to much price difference between their variations which means they are unable to list the item until this is corrected but sellers still civumvent this and it's a huge huge problem

eBay sometimes shows the "price for that listing" as £8, and sometimes £8 to £50.  It's eBay who decide this, not the seller.

I have just done some searches and they are only showing me the cheapest price in search in both the list and gallery view and the same when you click on the listing - it's only when you start to chosse the variants in the listing the prices begin to change

As I said a huge problem for buyers who think they are getting the nice new trousers for 10.00 but then recieve the old tatty ones - i have seen plenty of feedback from buyers who have been caught out by this

[bravergrace]

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@24-7onlinebargains wrote:

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@bravergrace wrote:

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@petesean2316 wrote:

sellers advertising items at a shown price, then as soon as you choose a colour or size the price shoots up. And theres nothing in the drop down for price advertised. This is false info, good to attract buyers but a waste of buyers time. if they are lying about price are they lying about other things described ?

 ______________________

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If the cheapest option or oprions are out of stock then ebay do not show the that options price - they show the next price up for a option that is available

We all know what the OP is talking about - for example 10 variants of  nice new Trousers at 10.00 and old pair of tatty ones that no one is going to buy  at 4.00

So the cheapest price on search will show as 4.00 which of course drives buyers into the listing 

_____________________________________________

That isn't what the OP said.  The OP said that the price is shown but is NOT available on the drop down menu.  So I don't think that the OP is seeing the same format of search results as you.

And it isn't permitted to list NEW items and OLD TATTY ones on the same listing - because all items must have the same item condition.

[elmo7676]

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@24-7onlinebargains wrote:

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If the cheapest option or oprions are out of stock then ebay do not show the that options price - they show the next price up for a option that is available

We all know what the OP is talking about - for example 10 variants of  nice new Trousers at 10.00 and old pair of tatty ones that no one is going to buy  at 4.00

So the cheapest price on search will show as 4.00 which of course drives buyers into the listing 

Ebay do combat this to a certain extent by telling sellers that there is to much price difference between their variations which means they are unable to list the item until this is corrected but sellers still civumvent this and it's a huge huge problem

eBay sometimes shows the "price for that listing" as £8, and sometimes £8 to £50.  It's eBay who decide this, not the seller.

I have just done some searches and they are only showing me the cheapest price in search in both the list and gallery view and the same when you click on the listing - it's only when you start to chosse the variants in the listing the prices begin to change

As I said a huge problem for buyers who think they are getting the nice new trousers for 10.00 but then recieve the old tatty ones - i have seen plenty of feedback from buyers who have been caught out by this

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Ebay now demote such listings in best match search results, but many sellers are (as usual) one step ahead. Once search order is changed, MVL abuse is immediately apparent (gamed by an irrelevant 99p option) and now relevant items can be much more over priced as heavy sponsorship will allow them to be widely advertised.

Another win for those sellers, loss for honest sellers and loss for the buying public. Ebay will receive a fee from every sale made on these listings, but how much is lost in fees from buyers who give up and buy elsewhere?

[petesean2316]

my searches show items and if out of stock, it says out of stock but prices still change as explained before.

[petesean2316]

or is it that seller lists at a cheap price knowing he or she immediately will say its out of stock. without a sale.

[elmo7676]

We seem to be discussing separate issues.

What I thought you were referring to is where sellers add a low cost, spuriously related item in order to gain maximum visibility and draw in potential customers with the promise of a cheap item which turns out to be barely related to the listing title.

What you seem to be referring to is the range of prices displayed in search results, over which sellers have no control. Generally I find the prices displayed in search reflect the range of price for items which are actually in stock, although this seems to update quite slowly and can reflect items which are no longer in stock. Perhaps some sellers are adding items, then quickly removing all stock of those, in order to game search results - maybe this would work for a while, but it would have a detrimental impact when items were restocked as a similar delay would occur. Honestly, I've no idea!

[24-7onlinebargains · Accepted solution]

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@bravergrace wrote:

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@24-7onlinebargains wrote:

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@bravergrace wrote:

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@petesean2316 wrote:

sellers advertising items at a shown price, then as soon as you choose a colour or size the price shoots up. And theres nothing in the drop down for price advertised. This is false info, good to attract buyers but a waste of buyers time. if they are lying about price are they lying about other things described ?

 ______________________

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If the cheapest option or oprions are out of stock then ebay do not show the that options price - they show the next price up for a option that is available

We all know what the OP is talking about - for example 10 variants of  nice new Trousers at 10.00 and old pair of tatty ones that no one is going to buy  at 4.00

So the cheapest price on search will show as 4.00 which of course drives buyers into the listing 

_____________________________________________

That isn't what the OP said.  The OP said that the price is shown but is NOT available on the drop down menu.  So I don't think that the OP is seeing the same format of search results as you.

And it isn't permitted to list NEW items and OLD TATTY ones on the same listing - because all items must have the same item condition.

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You obviously have no idea of this issue

What the OP means is that for example the gallery photo and price will show for example a Mens Shirt at 10.00 - you are drawn in to the listing and when you first open and look at the sellers listing the price shows 10.00 - then you change the variation to the colour you require and the price changes to 20.00 - why is this? Because the seller has put a Tie in the listing for 10.00 to make the listing look cheaper but the Shirts are actually 20.00

Of course sellers will list a pair of tatty old trousers in the listing - you don't have to put each variation as new just the 1 item specific so the scenario is exactly the same as above - it doesn't matter what they put in - they just put a random item in at a cheaper price to make the listing look cheaper and draw buyers into the listing

The Shirt and Tie is just a example to show the issue - they normally just put a random item in 

[bravergrace]

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@24-7onlinebargains wrote:

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Of course sellers will list a pair of tatty old trousers in the listing - you don't have to put each variation as new just the 1 item specific so the scenario is exactly the same as above

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Item condition is not an item specific, and it is not possible to list items with more than one "ITEM CONDITION" on the same listing - except perhaps in a few categories such as antiques, where the category does not support an item condition at all.

[24-7onlinebargains]

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@bravergrace wrote:

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@24-7onlinebargains wrote:

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Of course sellers will list a pair of tatty old trousers in the listing - you don't have to put each variation as new just the 1 item specific so the scenario is exactly the same as above

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Item condition is not an item specific, and it is not possible to list items with more than one "ITEM CONDITION" on the same listing - except perhaps in a few categories such as antiques, where the category does not support an item condition at all.

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Of course it is a item specific - sellers have to specify if the item is new or used - that is a specific of the item

You are totally missing the point - which is in the variations anything can be listed - the variations DO NOT have to specify if that variation is new or old so yes sellers can and do list 10 pairs of brand new trousers but then list one pair of tatty old trousers that they know nobody will buy at a CHEAPER PRICE - this leads to the cheaper price item price being shown in search to buyers - drawing them into the listing - it's only when they choose the nice new Trousers from the variations that the price changes

So another example would be sets of golf balls at say 10.00 - the seller will list a face towel (that golfers use) at a cheaper price - ebay show buyers the Towel price in search - when the buyer opens the listing the towel price is still shown - it's only when the buyer chooses the golf ball set they want they see the price change - they see all this because the seller knows EXACTLY what he is doing - listing a lower price item in the listing to draw buyers into the listing

This is a huge problem on ebay but it's hard to see how they can stop it

[sheba-knows-best]

Hi

I completely agree this is annoying. However it forces me to take a direction which should be positive for sellers...

As I cant easily search lowest price when buying leather cleaning stuff - I pay close attention to feedback and knowledge displayed in the listing - so the 'best' seller should stand a chance.

As I cant easily search lowest packaging materials - I get an idea of price from those that come up ebay's 'lowest price', (which yes, can be the charlatan listers we are moaning about) then scroll down til I find my favourite previous sellers (who have sent good stuff)  and compare them against each other and against ebay's chosen 'lowest price'. I then tend to go with my cheapest 'favourite'.

In both cases - it means quality sellers are getting sales... precisely because the 'lowest price' search isn't working. I cant help feeling other buyers may do the same and so the good sellers are benefitting?

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. What gets me is when the cheap 99p item has no relevence to the listing title or description whatsoever. You try and report a listing but none of the carefully selected options from ebay really identify the issue.... so nothing changes.

Fed up of seeing page after page of listings starting at 99p for expensive items! My key now is to set the price guide at say £2 or whatever you feel is the lowest price that item should go for. That wipes the fakers out even with lowest price search. Of course they may still have been cheaper, but why reward them?

[date80211]

Last night I wasted hours on the phone to eBay - doubly wasted, since by mistake I was talking to eBay in the US, which landed me with a phone bill for £80! Still, I mind the time eBay staff wasted and the insults eBay staff offered very much more than the cost.

Among other **bleep** eBay staff tried to foist on me, I asked not one but four supervisors - not ordinary agents; supervisors - whether speaking for eBay, they thought it was OK for liars to advertise false prices.

Guess what? Two supervisors said - and happily - Yes, that's withiin our policies so of course it's acceptable.

What follows? You and I know but too many of eBay's staff refuse to acknowledge that false pricing is tantamount to Fraud.

There are mny jurisdictions in which "mere" false pricing doesn't legally constititue faraud and hey! Who thinks eBay makes a distinction?

[date80211]

Who Posted that irrelevant drivel, please?

Who thinks it's aceptable to post false prices, please say so now.

Who thinks it's not aceptable to post false prices, please say so now.

[petesean2316]

i click on size and colour now before viewing if the price jumps. so do i. Yes its false advertising, some more blatant than others. Ebay only interested in their cut. shuting accounts down for using this practice would be an easy fix. but using resourses to monitor it is not going to happen. so i,ll stick to what i`ve been doing. no sales heading this way from the con artists.

[date80211]

To you and I and all reasonable people, advertising items for a false price amounts to fraud…

Far, far worse, more than one e-Bay supervisor told me last night that that's fine… liars offering false prices is acceptable within e-Bay's policies…

That is to say, many of eBay's staff are happy for crooks to cheat buyers.

Duh?

[date80211]

Wakey uppey!

To you and I and all reasonable people, advertising items for a false price amounts to fraud…

Far, far worse, more than one e-Bay supervisor told me last night that that's fine… liars offering false prices is acceptable within e-Bay's policies…

That is to say, many of eBay's staff are happy for crooks to cheat buyers.

Duh?