Multiple Listings - Query?

[terry5732]

"but deliberately offering one completely identical item at a lower price to draw in a buyer, is actually known as bait and switch tactics"

It is NOT B&S if the product is there for sale at the lower price
B&S is advertising a low priced item and then saying it is out of stock and offering to sell a somewhat similar but higher priced unit

What the OP is describing is accurately termed a "loss leader", which is a good deal for the buyer

[bestassets]

Hi kedo

No, It's not the visibility in the sense you mean, as with the last store we had, but dropped it like a hot brick on the BIG fee hike

We just want to get a few more looks at the store. We've just got offers running on everything (except the new listings) or put in bid option with up to 25%.discount.

We are prepared to sprinkle a few items at cost or less to do this

Don't really want to get into the B & S (or even BS ) discussion.

Yes these would be genuine auctions of available items.

Buyers are savvy. They see lots of other limited offers, limited numbers, different price selling in other areas of business. They know they are frequently used gimmicks to attract new customers. How many people order their search results lowest price 1st?

Additionally, if others did this it might encourage proper bidding? There is something people like about competing on bids for an item. It attracts bargain hunters for the 1st time and really need a bit more of this activity on eBid?

In the end if they get a genuine bargain with lower price / lower financial risk, are pleased with the experience, they like what they get & trust you to complete the transaction, there is a chance they might come back & buy more at your normal (but still reasonable - checked against e*a* ) prices.....

At the end of the day we just wanted to confirm if it broke the current rules & if it did, perhaps argue there was room for a well defined exception or two to be added ? We think some of the arguments for above are valid, and would benefit us & eBid

I'm "on call" and trying to chill, so I'm off for a brew.

[Idealproductsales]

I can see your point.. and it is a valid argument.. Myself, personally Ive seen stores that have different prices on the same items , but the items are in different areas of the store.. what I'd do is check the UPC code - and then all items with that same code have to be sold at the same price as advertised - so if the store then tried to sell me the item at the higher price on display, they would be in trouble.. that sort of thing is bait and switch .. and if your items that you offer are the same UPC - Identical in all respects then I, as a buyer will walk the other way if you tried to sell me the same item at the higher price...

Your tactics are sound, in theory, but in legal terms , at least in the USA, a buyer can come up and demand that you sell them the item at the exact advertised price .. you can actually make the items a different SKU, and set aside the item in your inventory as that particular SKU, and list it as different from the items you have listed under BIN , and for all intents and purposes, they can be considered different items, as long as your auction titles are different and you make it clear the items are not identical (similar, perhaps, but not identical) then I can see the logic of that strategy, and in fact I dont see how it would go against the rules..

Sell the one item at lower price and list it as a "demo" unit, or "unused" vs. "new" for the others , etc.. that does actually make sense, and would be seen as a good bargain, it keeps within the rules, and U.S. Law, (for U.S. Sellers) and does the intended job of attracting interest, bidders, and buyers, which you can then advertise your store where they can buy the same item in "brand new" condition if they are picky about condition/quality/etc.

I've had to deal with this issue before, having owned a brick and mortar business.. selling outdoor power equipment.. often it is necessary to take a unit from inventory and set it up to demonstrate the features, etc.. but once that is done, even though they have the same SKU/UPC , the item is considered "used" .. and that item was never actually sold, however, until the new season's inventory came in, and the demo would then be sold as a demo unit, and generally would have to sell at, or even below, the cost of the unit , because it was considered "used".. even though it came with full factory warranty and everything.

I'd also done some research to look into a retail outlet store (clothing store) and during that, is when I came across that law dealing with advertised prices (check the Federal Trade Commission if you like.. should be there somewhere) stating that if you have identical inventory anywhere in the store, and have two advertised prices , you must sell at the lower advertised price (even if it was some leftover ad from a previous sale of older inventory) Thus, if you look carefully - almost any ad you see in a store for sale prices, is going to contain the SKU or UPC code of the item , which protects the store...(chances are the older inventory has a slightly different UPC or SKU from the new, similar inventory) But to offer an identical item at a low price, and then have the same identical SKU/UPC items elsewhere at higher prices is, in fact, bait and switch... any way you slice it - it is not a loss leader - loss leader is when you sell ALL of an identical item at the low price in the hope of making an up-sell to a better quality, similar, but different SKU/UPC item at the profitable price.

So, I think the rules present a fine line when it comes to listing identical items - one used/demo/unused unit out of an inventory of all new stuff , can be considered a different item - and of course, used as a loss leader to get interest on the new inventory... but selling an item as new, while the same exact new inventory besides that one, is sold at higher price.. is bait and switch any way you cut it..

[FBNeNotes]

For those who want to read and/or re-read
RE: via eBid
All Q&A reponses must be made within 24 hours of the original question. Unanswered questions will deem the seller and thus the auction to be inactive.
read......
#29 and #30
http://us.ebid.net/help_selling.php#28

[birdwatcher2008]

Ideal, thanks for the explaination. Very informative post. On the note of duplicates, I have been reporting some duplicate listings every day for weeks, but these auctions still remain active. Why? There was a post by Gazza stating that the problem detecting duplicates would be fixed by last Saturday, but I guess not.

[bestassets]

We've read the rules.

Where it says "We currently allow one auction, be it a normal or dutch auction, to be placed in a single category. Do not place the same item in many different categories." you have to assume "auction" = "listing" as we can't find anywhere that suggests otherwise & the 2 terms are seemingly randomly interchanged throughout the rules.

Again just to point out what already happens. You can currently list at 2 different prices - everybody that does a bid or BIN on a single listing does this all the time ?

All we want to do is split these out into 2 different listings / auctions (one with a bid option, one without even if it means putting the same BIN on both listings

[bykimbo]

We've read the rules.

Where it says "We currently allow one auction, be it a normal or dutch auction, to be placed in a single category. Do not place the same item in many different categories." you have to assume "auction" = "listing" as we can't find anywhere that suggests otherwise & the 2 terms are seemingly randomly interchanged throughout the rules.

Again just to point out what already happens. You can currently list at 2 different prices - everybody that does a bid or BIN on a single listing does this all the time ?

All we want to do is split these out into 2 different listings / auctions (one with a bid option, one without even if it means putting the same BIN on both listings

It seems to me that you've been told by your fellow sellers that this isn't allowed, but you want to keep asking the question until you get the answer you want. If you believe that it *is* legitimate, then why not just list and see what happens... if you get reported, take it on the chin. If you prefer to be cautious (dare I say "sensible"? ) and you don't want to accept what other sellers think, why not just email support and ask for clarification? Tell them exactly what you want to do, and they'll rule for you one way or the other. Then you can tell us what they say!