Coupon Codes on Private Sellers Listings?

[vintique*violet]

Does anyone know why all of a sudden their are discount coupon codes on private sellers listings? 

I have not authorised this discount, and just noticed when I listed an item today.  

Do eBay cover the " shortfall?"

Or am I expected to take that hit? 

[bittyboy101]

I know ! - it is so comical !  🤣🤣🤣

[valueaddedresource]

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@brenata-uk wrote:

I still don't understand why it's only people with money sat with Ebay who qualify for these coupons, doesn't seem fair.

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@brenata-uk the short version of my post above is - because it benefits eBay to do it that way. 😂

[kempseykate]

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@bittyboy101 wrote:

Just this moment I received an email from eBay saying the seller has sent you an offer !

The item is £99.00 and the seller (or was it eBay ??) had sent me an offer for just £59.40 !... Well I visited the listing just for the sake of it !... and it says on the listing "get this item for £94.05 with coupon code"

This is so hilarious ! ..so seller sends me an £40 off offer from their buy it now item which I can use and pay by any payment option listed in the eBay checkout... but when eBay gives me only £5 off discount, they tell me that I can only use this offer if I pay with my eBay balance ?  Eh ?... someone's having a laugh aren't they ?? ! 🙄 

If the seller sent an offer for 59.40, and you want it at that price, you need to accept the offer - it won't show on the listing.
The 5% offer will show on the listing - it will show on every listing you look at until it expires tonight.. The Code is BALANCE5, because you have to use your balance, which is the whole point of the promo, ebay getting sellers to use their balance.

Not sure why it's hilarious? It's an offer by ebay to save 5% if you use your balance. Use it or don't use it.

[kempseykate]

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@brenata-uk wrote:

My head just exploded .... 🤣 what the hell is going on? I just wish Ebay ASKED first before messing with my listings .... whenever I get paid by Ebay for my stuff I remove the amount as soon as possible, I don't want my money sitting in wherever it is, I still don't understand why it's only people with money sat with Ebay who qualify for these coupons, doesn't seem fair.

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It's ebay trying to get buyers to use their balance - to keep money on site/with ebay sellers, rather than it going off site.

Why doesn't it seem fair? If you go to Tesco and their washing powder is on offer, do you complain because you wanted to buy toilet rolls?

[bittyboy101]

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@kempseykate wrote:

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@bittyboy101 wrote:

Just this moment I received an email from eBay saying the seller has sent you an offer !

The item is £99.00 and the seller (or was it eBay ??) had sent me an offer for just £59.40 !... Well I visited the listing just for the sake of it !... and it says on the listing "get this item for £94.05 with coupon code"

This is so hilarious ! ..so seller sends me an £40 off offer from their buy it now item which I can use and pay by any payment option listed in the eBay checkout... but when eBay gives me only £5 off discount, they tell me that I can only use this offer if I pay with my eBay balance ?  Eh ?... someone's having a laugh aren't they ?? ! 🙄 

If the seller sent an offer for 59.40, and you want it at that price, you need to accept the offer - it won't show on the listing.
The 5% offer will show on the listing - it will show on every listing you look at until it expires tonight.. The Code is BALANCE5, because you have to use your balance, which is the whole point of the promo, ebay getting sellers to use their balance.

Not sure why it's hilarious? It's an offer by ebay to save 5% if you use your balance. Use it or don't use it.

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You still don't get it ?

The seller (or was it eBay lol ) sent me a offer of 40% off the original buy it now item price which was £99.00... I could very well accept that generous offer and just pay with PayPal as normal via the eBay checkout IF I WANTED THAT ITEM.... 

However I do not need it or want it now as I have already bought a similar item for the same money (£60)  and have now received it before Christmas... My point was If I wanted this item - I am now able to save £40 off the seller's buy it now price and pay for it with PayPal or my debit card, but eBay's pointless coupon offer is for a measly £5 off that £99.00 buy it now price and only limited to an eBay balance which seems rather silly now and is a laughing matter !  🤣🤣🤣 when I just got a much better offer that is NOT LIMITED to having to pay with an eBay balance only before I can benefit.

Now do you get why this is so funny ?? 

[bittyboy101]

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@kempseykate wrote:

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@brenata-uk wrote:

My head just exploded .... 🤣 what the hell is going on? I just wish Ebay ASKED first before messing with my listings .... whenever I get paid by Ebay for my stuff I remove the amount as soon as possible, I don't want my money sitting in wherever it is, I still don't understand why it's only people with money sat with Ebay who qualify for these coupons, doesn't seem fair.

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It's ebay trying to get buyers to use their balance - to keep money on site/with ebay sellers, rather than it going off site.

Why doesn't it seem fair? If you go to Tesco and their washing powder is on offer, do you complain because you wanted to buy toilet rolls?

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With all due respect

When someone lists an item on eBay THEIR OWN ITEM for sale and it sells, The money is that seller's money once the buyer has their item and are happy.

What that person does with their OWN money is their prerogative, whether they wish to keep it on eBay in their eBay balance or withdraw it to their bank account.

eBay can only try to influence people to leave some of their money in their eBay balance to spend on eBay and benefit from coupon offers, They certainly CANNOT make them leave their money in eBay if they don't wish to.

And if eBay should make the big mistake of taking away the ability for sellers to withdraw their money to their bank - eBay will lose 80% of their sellers... and buyers too.  

[bittyboy101]

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@bittyboy101 wrote:

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@kempseykate wrote:

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@bittyboy101 wrote:

Just this moment I received an email from eBay saying the seller has sent you an offer !

The item is £99.00 and the seller (or was it eBay ??) had sent me an offer for just £59.40 !... Well I visited the listing just for the sake of it !... and it says on the listing "get this item for £94.05 with coupon code"

This is so hilarious ! ..so seller sends me an £40 off offer from their buy it now item which I can use and pay by any payment option listed in the eBay checkout... but when eBay gives me only £5 off discount, they tell me that I can only use this offer if I pay with my eBay balance ?  Eh ?... someone's having a laugh aren't they ?? ! 🙄 

If the seller sent an offer for 59.40, and you want it at that price, you need to accept the offer - it won't show on the listing.
The 5% offer will show on the listing - it will show on every listing you look at until it expires tonight.. The Code is BALANCE5, because you have to use your balance, which is the whole point of the promo, ebay getting sellers to use their balance.

Not sure why it's hilarious? It's an offer by ebay to save 5% if you use your balance. Use it or don't use it.

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You still don't get it ?

The seller (or was it eBay lol ) sent me a offer of 40% off the original buy it now item price which was £99.00... I could very well accept that generous offer and just pay with PayPal as normal via the eBay checkout IF I WANTED THAT ITEM.... 

However I do not need it or want it now as I have already bought a similar item for the same money (£60)  and have now received it before Christmas... My point was If I wanted this item - I am now able to save £40 off the seller's buy it now price and pay for it with PayPal or my debit card, but eBay's pointless coupon offer is for a measly £5 off that £99.00 buy it now price and only limited to an eBay balance which seems rather silly now and is a laughing matter !  🤣🤣🤣 when I just got a much better offer that is NOT LIMITED to having to pay with an eBay balance only before I can benefit.

Now do you get why this is so funny ?? 🙄

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[department28]

I think eBay has added a coupon code to private listings on a previous occasion - certainly long before the eBay balance was introduced.  I seem to remember thinking the same thing... why had it been added without any prior information etc.  Maybe someone else has a memory of this...? I don't think I'm imagining it... 🤔

As others have said, eBay just wants us to plough our sales money straight back into eBay.  I don't like being cajoled & prodded to 'Pay with your eBay balance' at every opportunity, so I'm sticking to paying by PayPal, as always, & withdrawing sales money asap. 😄

I also find it quite irritating that eBay have made 'Pay with your eBay balance' the default payment method at the checkout... they don't miss a trick, do they?!

[bittyboy101]

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@department28 wrote:

I think eBay has added a coupon code to private listings on a previous occasion - certainly long before the eBay balance was introduced.  I seem to remember thinking the same thing... why had it been added without any prior information etc.  Maybe someone else has a memory of this...? I don't think I'm imagining it... 🤔

As others have said, eBay just wants us to plough our sales money straight back into eBay.  I don't like being cajoled & prodded to 'Pay with your eBay balance' at every opportunity, so I'm sticking to paying by PayPal, as always, & withdrawing sales money asap. 😄

I also find it quite irritating that eBay have made 'Pay with your eBay balance' the default payment method at the checkout... they don't miss a trick, do they?!

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I remember a few years ago (about 2018 - 2020), I used to get money off coupons from eBay which were available to spend in certain categories only, they were usually £5 ,  £10 and £15 There was always a condition that the item had to be from a selected category only and it had to be over £30 for the £5 coupon,  it may have been over £50 for the £10 & £15 coupons as I don't remember offhand.

I did use a few of these, some were very helpful and some were for stuff which was irreverent to me so those just timed out...

I also remember back in 2009 - 2013 eBay occasionally used to give me a £10 and £20 money off voucher which I could use in any category of my choice to get money off buy it now listings with no restrictions which was very good and I appreciated this.

Now they just give you little money off coupons which can only be used if buying with your eBay balance.      

[valueaddedresource]

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@bittyboy101 wrote: I remember a few years ago (about 2018 - 2020), I used to get money off coupons from eBay which were available to spend in certain categories only, they were usually £5 ,  £10 and £15 There was always a condition that the item had to be from a selected category only and it had to be over £30 for the £5 coupon,  it may have been over £50 for the £10 & £15 coupons as I don't remember offhand.

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@bittyboy101 those were the discounts a mentioned earlier in this thread that proved disastrous for eBay.

The CEO at that time (apparently you can't say his name here so we'll just go with DW 👀) would regularly do flash sales and coupons like that at least once per quarter, sometimes more often than that, in an effort to attract new buyers and boost Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV).

What he didn't count on is human psychology - once buyers started to realize there was a pattern to the discounts and/or that they could likely wait a few weeks-month and another coupon would come around, many started to simply put off purchase they would have made otherwise, saving items in their cart for when the next discount dropped.

That was particularly true for higher dollar items like electronics, tech, home goods etc. and it quickly creates a vicious cycle where you have to keep handing out discounts (sometimes with increasingly greater frequency) in order to keep buyers completing check out.

And it also created a lot more "one and done" buyers who only purchased once with a discount and then never came back to eBay again.

Wenig was criticized for it at the time, including in a very public letter from activist investor Elliott Management that took a sizeable stake in the company and a seat on the board specifically in an effort to push for change at the company because they believed eBay was not performing nearly as well as it should (for many reasons, the lazy discounting was honestly just a symptom of much larger management mis-execution problems).

In fact the effect of those discounting tactics was considered so bad that current CEO Jamie Iannone felt the need to very explicitly distance himself from them when speaking to investors in 2021, saying:

"We've discontinued legacy tactics that led to low value, infrequent or one and done buyers. Our buyer base is starting to evolve based on this strategy. These high-volume buyers are growing compared to a year-ago and their spend on eBay is growing even faster. This higher-quality mix of buyers increases value for sellers and will lead to improved health of our ecosystem over the long-term..."

"..This is something that I laid out last July when we talked about the tech-led reimagination as being focused on turning buyers into lifelong enthusiasts on the platform and moving away from the tactics that we had in 2019 what was really just about the number of active buyers even low value buyers or one and done buyers."

That was supposedly the whole thesis underpinning the "enthusiast buyer focus vertical" strategy that hasn't really been working out too well for eBay.

Of course, he hasn't really given up on those tactics, he's just moved them around to different places, in my opinion - and it would absolutely delight me to no end if an analyst actually asked him on the Q4 call how he squares those 2021 statements with actions eBay has taken to goose numbers this year...though I won't hold my breath for that.  😂

[department28]

Yes, eBay used to be more generous with those occasional money off coupons, back in the good old days...😊

There is almost always a '10/15/20% off selected sellers' promotion going on, but it's not often I find something I would want to buy from that selection of sellers/categories.

[brenata-uk]

Still don't get this coupon thing, my original point was that I looked at my listing and there was a coupon offering up my cardigan for less than my listing price, I didn't ask them to do that - all my clothing also has 'best offer' anyway so what's the point of Ebay putting a coupon on without my permission?  I may have read this wrong but if these coupons are only for people who have money sat in their Ebay account (payments from items sold) - why don't they give them to every buyer? That's why I don't think it's fair.

[brenata-uk]

Yeah I've turned off that default setting - to pay with Ebay balance, I always transfer my money out after a sale, I NEED it to pay bills etc - why would anyone let it sit there?  Now, if it had a good interest rate ....🤣

[brenata-uk]

Wow!  I'm impressed - you know your (Ebay) stuff 😁  I can just about manage to do a listing and print a label, had a nightmare buyer recently whose offer I accepted on an £800 item then abruptly left me hanging for payment with no communication - had to wait 4 days to cancel then relist, I was frantically reading the forums as to what to do, wish I had just been able to come and ask you.

[pwyl4943]

Yes I spotted that the other day how does that work who decides on discount !!!!!!!

An absolute nightmare lets hope that trading standards in the UK step in. 

[vintique*violet]

eBay decide and cover it.. it does not affect the seller apparently. 

[grumpyl5]

I'm a buyer only. Coupons have been popping up for months, so I've ignored them assuming it was some scam or trick or virus. There's no explanation of where they are from or why or the catch.

Now they are listed in at the top of my watched items. 

Is it some sort of scam? I've read through these replies and am still confused. It doesn't really make sense to send discount codes and no reason or explanation.

(I'm not a buyer because I can't face the trauma organising postage).