ebay selling - Your prices are 29% higher than similar items

ANNA

I'm a private ebay seller.

I recently listed a number of my used household items for sale. I check sold prices to get an idea of pricing. Whilst listing, ebay also suggests a price, and shows if your price is low or high on a sliding scale. I've complied with all this and I'm getting a message in my "Manage active listings" that:

Your prices are 29% higher than similar items

Adjust prices.

With ebay's ludicrous price suggestions! What's this all about and how does it work?

I've got designer brands, pairs of items and ebay suggests I price like a single item from Primark.

jeffuk

I just ignore the eBay price recommendations.

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099230#Comment_82099230

So do I . As long as I’ve done my research and can see what prices are achieved, and also what items have been listed for ages with no sale , I’ll stick to my price. However I do always consider offers, and make them when the system prompts me as I do really want to get rid of my stuff.

retiredbanker1

Supply and demand will determine the price.

If someone wants your goods at the price advertised then they will bid - if not they will remain unsold.

Up to you after a given time to 'adjust' your prices.

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099240#Comment_82099240

I agree with that as well. If my price turns out to mean I can’t sell something in a certain time frame, and that depends on my item, then I’ll reduce my price. After all for private sales we are all just decluttering.

ANNA

I have all my items listed all as Buy It Now with Best Offer.

I'm selling at a rate of 1-2 every few days. I respond favourably to offers and get a sale. Making an offer to "watchers" hasn't led to any sales. I suspect they may be sellers, not buyers, eyeing the competition.

forgotmyname

The watchers may not be on ebay daily so may miss any offer you make, I have had that recently but had purchased elsewhere
anyway.

They maybe watching to see if it's worth selling the same item themselves so any offers will get ignored.

PocketWatchMan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099432#Comment_82099432

I stopped sending offers to 'watchers' for this very reason a while ago. I never, ever, had a single response, acknowledgement, counter offer, or acceptance from doing this. And many items had in excess of half a dozen watchers; at least one I recall had 16 watchers, another item had 22 or 23.
But I did sell these items in a reasonable timeframe, for the price I wanted (with the exception of one item, which I withdrew from sale).

I suspect that a lot of people are confused between the difference between watching and buying. Certainly some years ago, it became a semi regular occurrence that I received a messages after selling something, from buyers/watchers wanting to know why the heck I had sold it. where had it gone? who bought it? fuming mad… they had been watching that!

soolin

I do reasonably well with sending offers, not a big percentage perhaps 1 in 8 or 10 accept the offer, but since it only takes a second d or two I think it worth doing.

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82111828#Comment_82111828

eBay does this for all categories. As a seller one looks at previous recent sold prices, eBay will recommend a price 25-50% lower than that, claiming "Your price is X% higher than other similar items", when it objectively is not. I have had this on electronics, clothes, household items, random stuff. It is just a tactic to lower prices and get more sales, trying to win back buyers from Vinted, not an objective measure of price comparison.

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82111828#Comment_82111828

if you read my response in context I was replying to the comment about offers not working for some people. On my private account I sell anything I can find from me or from immediate family, apart from clothes, at the moment I’m working through boxes of books that have been in storage for many years (alongside other items of course) . As a business I would be foolish to say what I sell as I’m mainly in small niche categories and wouldn’t want to be able to be traced through posts on here or give competitors a heads up on what currently sells.