Would it upset you to receive an eBay coupon in your eBid order?

[TexasAda]

I'd like to think I'm more a seller than a buyer here but several years ago i bought something here that I need to buy repetitively in regard to shipping. I was happy with the price and quality. However, the seller included in the package an offer to buy directly from them at their own web site. I was slightly offended mostly because I want eBid to succeed and have more fame. I would prefer to have the seller's fees go to eBid not only to enrich eBid (SLIGHTLY) but to encourage the seller to continue selling on eBid, increasing the number of items available.

I have almost no loyalty to eBoy. The reason I left them is because of their obvious greedy harassment of smalltime sellers. Sadly, they are stlll the place most likely to offer things i want.

It's like my parents living in their tiny Midwestern town. They deliberately shop there, knowingly paying higher prices, in an effort to keep the merchants viable. They might pay more for items but they pay less in gasoline to drive to bigger towns. I'm not equating this to encouraging sellers on eBid to charge higher prices. That wouldn't be justified as fees are less here. There's just something that rubs me the wrong way to see sellers offering me identical merchandise more cheaply elsewhere after I buy here. It's like they use eBid as a free classified ad. It might not be illegal or unethical but it peeves me anyway. As a lone individual, that is my opinion. Your results may vary.

[adruml]

Thinking of that situation you proffer - buyer on another auction site interested in your item, you offering to sell it cheaper on eBid - I think as a buyer I would be scared off because I am aware of the buyer safety parameters on my current auction site, but not of this other one you are urging me to come to for savings. So, as a buyer, if I received that communication from a seller I had contacted, I would suspect the seller wanted to get me to buy from him on an auction site that wouldn't protect me as a buyer from a bad transaction.

Obviously that is not what you are doing. But, honestly, that is what my buyer instinct would be if someone here offered to sell me their item for less at eNonymous (fill in the name of any auction site I don't know). Almost as strong a feeling as I would get if someone wanted me to send them cash in the mail instead of pay through PayPal.

I suspect that might be part of why this offer hasn't worked with your potential customers.

I remember back to when I first went on eBay to buy -- and then sell -- some things. I had seen a lot of eBay ads on TV, and that helped me to feel more comfortable about putting my few pence down in a transaction with an invisible stranger. I wish I could see some of those ads running here in the US for eBid. I only found out about ebid because I was doing research to find a new auction site after eBay started charging so much for listings. I found a site that compared about 10 online auction sites. It took a few months of considering before I was ready to check it out ... a toe in the door at first.

Now I am so glad I found this place, and recommend it to everyone. I have my husband check here first to see if an electronic item he needs is for sale here before he looks elsewhere (so far hasn't found them for sale here, sadly). But I am comfortable with this new site because i have gotten to know it over several months, and find the setup fosters trust and safety for buyers and sellers alike. People who haven't heard of this auction site from happy friends don't yet have a trust factor for it, I guess.

I do always mention Pay Pal offers the same protection on ebid as ebay which they do. Folks need to realize it's not ebay who offers the support it is Pay Pal.

[Virtueandpraise]

I do always mention Pay Pal offers the same protection on ebid as ebay which they do. Folks need to realize it's not ebay who offers the support it is Pay Pal.

That is an excellent point.

[FirstGreenIsGold]

As a buyer I would not be offended by the coupon. I would be interested and glad of the discount. Sellers also put flyers with information about their websites in their packages. I usually go have a look. Good luck with your sales,

:-)