Opinions on “free gifts” with orders?

[emilylouiselock]

Without going into too much unnecessary detail, I want to sell some collectables/TCG items on eBay and pondered on the idea of giving free gifts (most likely cards) with my orders.

I wanted to know if other sellers have tried and tested this and whether it is actually beneficial for sales, feedback and/or building relationships with buyers to make them return. 

[four_mid_able]

Over the years iv'e had a few parcels arrive with small packets of sweets included.

It always made me smile and i saw it as the seller being human and going that bit extra.

Iv'e never thought of it as a bad thing 😊

[emilylouiselock]

Thank you for this!

I've heard lots of horror stories from people saying they were demanded returns to exchange the free gift, people complained they didn't want it or were dishonest and used it to claim they sent the incorrect order.

I too only see it as a positive (I love free stuff, who doesn't?) but wanted to make sure the eBay community agree before I decide to go ahead with it.

Thank you so much for your time and reassurance!

[*vyolla*]

Going against the grain, I really hate the free sweets that arrive with a pre-owned t-shirt. I bin them, it's just more landfill so annoys me. I wouldn't eat sweets from a stranger on the internet.

On the other hand, if I've bought craft supplies (beads, for example) and the seller has included a few extra different ones then that's great. 

[emilylouiselock]

It won't be sweets, don't worry!

I worked with children for a long time who often had allergies or dietary requirements which prevented them being able to eat them. I imagine much is the same for the wider adult population!

The gifts would be trading cards, keyrings or stickers in relation to their purchase. Nothing wasteful or inappropriate!

Being completely transparent, I wasn't always keen on sweet gifts either. I always wondered how long they had been sitting in someone's home or if they had expired...

[*vyolla*]

If it's something relevant to the item that's been bought then I'd say that's fine, it's not something I'd ever do though unless I was selling something like craft items and just adding some extra samples of what I had available. Then I can see that it's a good marketing exercise and pleases the buyers. More of an 'Etsy thing' I feel though. 

[emilylouiselock]

That's totally fine! I value your insight, thank you for your honesty.

[btr.style]

IMO if it's unrelated to the item, *bleep* and unnescasary. It does depends what it is though. 

If someone is given a free pack of Haribo (tiny 10p bag) or whatever cheap freebie with their order, why? The outcomes are:

- They'll bin them and not bother seeing them as anything
- They'll eat or bin them and give feedback saying what they would say plus thanks for the freebie (so others may expect or will end up disappointed if they don't get the same freebie).
- They'll eat or bin them and it won't affect the chances of feedback or what they put. 

Gotta think money overall. It's a waste of money including a freebie for each sale and the benefits aren't going to bring rewards. Yet for customer retention, the ones who have bought many times, it's good to give them the occasional free item. 

We tend to have behind the scenes tiers. Normally it's 6-7 purchases (depending on spend value) and they'll get a free pack of Ralph Lauren bear socks at RRP of £20 and it increases in value to normally some sort of luxury scarf at 20+ spends. 50+ spends gets them a £200 voucher. 

[emilylouiselock]

Great feedback! Luckily it's not edibles I will be gifting, but extra TCG cards to help collectors (as well as free up some stock!)

Thank you for your time!

[4_bathrooms]

I think sending freebies is a bad idea full stop.

Sending anything edible is definitely a bad idea...I certainly wouldn't eat anything sent to me by a complete stranger. Even if it isn't an edible item you're still sending the buyer something that wasn't mentioned in the listing so it's probably only a matter of time before one of your buyers finds the "Return this item" button then uses (or abuses) it as they see fit.

[btr.style]

I can see the forecasted beenfit from relevant items, but it probabaly won't have the desired effect. Keep them those that are loyal to keep them on board. If they just aren't of great value anyway (and there aren't enough loyal buyers you wish to retain), bundle them as a job lot at some point (You'd have to declare whats in the job lot as mystery/lucky dip/chance boxes aren't allowed on eBay)

[emilylouiselock]

I thought about this also, but the way I look at it is that the buyers that abuse the system will always find a way to, freebies or no freebies. Should that stop my legitimate repeat buyers from enjoying some free stuff? I'm not so sure.

A few bad apples shouldn't ruin the bunch!

[emilylouiselock]

Joblots are a good idea for the low value stuff, but even similar listings aren't selling. It's a tricky one.

[*vyolla*]

Just make sure that you don't accidentally send a trading card that turns out to be worth top dollar!

Mind you, you'll have loads of repeat buyers once word gets out.

[emilylouiselock]

I hope so! I genuinely love the community and want to make it a better place. A lot of my collection comes from eBay and the generosity has been outstanding over the years!

[btr.style]

Haha true. 

Great to see the OP doing some market research unlike a lot who just go with an idea and find out the hard way. They will go far on that mantra alone. A gamble is often necessary but the risk can almost always be reduced. 

[technthread]

Until you said TCG cards I was thinking no, but I can see the benefit of including free ones to get returning buyers. The only thing is people may then expect it and if you run out of them you might feel obliged to start including more expensive ones for repeat buyers who get used to it. 

With food, I have had people send me sweets in the parcel and it seems a bit odd if it isn't in the listing. At some stage they are going to gluten a coeliac or something and have WW3 in their eBay inbox 🤣.

I sold a piece of clothing to someone on another platform and saw they were taking old pieces and adding their own artwork to them. It was naff to be honest but I have a lot of time for people trying to be creative so to be nice I reached out to them and arranged to send a few cool sweatshirts with issues and perfect for re-working for someone with a bit of vision. They were over the moon with that... then they got the parcel and never left me feedback or even sent me a courtesy thank you message. So personally never again, I just send what I have listed and keep transactions as easy and hands off as possible. 

[emilylouiselock]

That's the hope! I've never really sold collectibles before so wanted to double check the etiquette so to speak. I give my friends free cards to help with their collection all of the time, so I wanted to incorporate it here too!

[emilylouiselock]

One of the reasons I feel able to send free stuff is partly because I have over 2500 cards just sitting in my binders untouched. I open product to build my own collection but have a lot of spares! Plus my partner also has a different collection of his own. Product isn't an issue, but the fear of negative feedback might be!

[1956glyn]

I have to laugh everytime my son orders his contact lenses from an opticians online they always put a small packet of sweets in the box 😁  He is early 30s and still eats and enjoys them 🙂

I agree with what you say about not including sweets but i would be quite happy to receive the other things you mention.