Update to Category and Price thresholds The following categories will have Longer Lasting BIN w.e.f 10/17/2007 with a price threshold of 50%. 1. Parts & Accessories (eBay Motors) 2. Tickets 3. Clothing, Shoes & Accessories 4. Cell Phones & PDAs Price Threshold: 50% i.e. The BIN option will be available on an item till the current bid reaches or exceeds 50% of the BIN price. Note: For reserve price auctions, the Buy it Now option will continue to be available till the reserve price is met. The price threshold is only applicable once the reserve has been met or exceeded.

I had a watch with a buy it now and then I received one bid. The BIN disappeared. Why, isn't the watch considered an accessory?

What category did you list it in? Jewelry isn't part of the "Clothing, shoes and accessories" category.

ceck, take a look at the date on the first post in this thread. This "new"policy has been in place since October 2007.

Unfortunately, there seems to be an intermittent issue occuring now that we've made the change, where instead of the BIN disappearing, it's sticking around when it shouldn't.

We're restoring things to the way they were and will revisit this change once we have found the cause of the issue.

> When you do finalize your decision and your programming, would you please take a moment to Announce it formally? Thanks.

Sorry bostongrammy, should have done that first this time, and will do so next time.

I'm glad I opened this thread today, because I have come to expect the longer BIN feature on some listings. A widespread announcement to sellers would be a good idea.

This is an excellent example where the KISS principle needs to be applied.


Make the rule, and apply it uniformly across ALL categories. eBay should not pick & choose.

The eBay rulebook is thick enough without establ;ishing all sorts of exceptions.

That said, I don't care if the BIN disappears when the bid price reaches 50% on the BIN. Just make that rule apply to everything.

Quit trying to reinvent the wheel--and don't make the site confusing!

There are 10 kinds of people: Those who understand Binary, and those who don't.

History is written by the literate

My auction was at $202.50, and then in the last few minutes BUY IT NOW reappeared, and the auction ended at $135.00 (the BUY IT NOW price), netting me a loss of $67.50 (and not to mention what other last second bids would have amounted in the auction from those many others watching my auction). I'm pretty sure this breaks the user agreement on eBay's end somehow. If eBay does not fix the auction to correct it so that the winning bidder of $202.50 won my auction, rest assure I expect eBay to make up the difference. If eBay refuses to make up the difference and gives me some BS about user policy, rest assure that I will take them to small claims court for the difference, while getting those others who have lost value in their auction to join me.

Ebay item: 120430631932

That is an awful hit jackets, that wouldn't sit well with me either. Grrr. I agree that it is unlikely several bidders had the same proxy bid of $135. So ebays machine changed those numbers in an attempt to cover? Hmmm.

I keep myself well abreast of the constant changes, including the change w/ BIN feature from the very beginning. My pricing strategy changed along with it, I'm sure it did for a lot of sellers. How frustrating for a seller that takes the time to rework there business plan, only to have unannounced changes that completely blow the work that went into the reworked plan. Double time waster, and huge potential monetary loss that sellers had absolutely no control of.

My biggest gripe from the get go with the BIN changes is the lack of buyer education. Sure there were/are pages upon pages on the subject, found only if a buyer/seller took the initiative to find out whats new. Why would your average buyer expect such changes though? They can't be expected to search announcements each and every time they buy. There should've been a huge flashing banner on the subject since its obvious had all been properly informed there would've been different choices made on whether to use BIN or bid.

As if ebay doesn't already have a problem with buyer/seller distrust. Its a huge issue for buyers in regards to fakes, and SNAD purchases. I've received countless emails from buyers asking why it is I have the right to pick and choose when my BIN leaves. I can't be the only seller that was accused of doing something under handed. Despicable, really, that it all led to more distrust. And that individual sellers had to spend countless hours walking buyers through the new process. I couldn't convince them all that it was a positive, or helpful change. Many saw it as an attempt for ebay to collect more fees, rather than as a tool to the make the buying/bidding process a better one.

Any successful retail operation has in its plan to simplify and make a more pleasant buying experience. What about that is so difficult for ebay to understand?

What should have been on the listings is a NOTE at the bid & BIN buttons area is "if bid is less than 50% then BIN remains in effect" notice of some sort so that it's obvious (with fewer words & better wording) to the bidder that their LOW bid can be overridden by a BIN on the item.

LOTS of times I've had bidders ask me the BIN amount and make an offer to buy it immediatly rather than wait for the auction to close. The bidder could be trying for a "lower" price than what it might go for.

This has good points for both bidder and seller so the "sticky BIN" is a good feature. But it should be universal, and announced properly too. I agree with funboy1227 on that!

I want it badly for my listings and in rare cases for something I'm buying.

Everything that happens on Ebay seems "unfair" to someone so that just needs to be addressed with kind, courteous, and attentive where Ebay actively tries to answer everyone's concern but NOT change policy and procedures (aka: "coding") until a set decision by management and announcement through a good process, not just by the whim of employees as an earlier statement seem to indicate!

This is the way I perceive the buy it now feature ands the way it should work.
-
A seller lists an item for sale, he includes a starting bid (or a reserve price) and then sets a *Buy it Now* amount for what he expects the item is worth and what he would be happy getting for the item. Now the item goes up for auction and Buyer #1 places a bid hoping to get the item for a cheaper amount. Buyer #2 comes in, notices the item for sale, notices the current bid, notices the *Buy it Now* price and realizes the *Buy it Now* price is a good deal and then buys the item. Now if Buyer #1 comes and notices the item is gone, and that someone used the *Buy it Now* feature to buy the item and gets mad, shame on them. Too bad for them, they had the same option to *Buy it Now* if they would have paid the amount in the first place, they should have if the item was that important to them. The person that used the feature, Won the item and is sitting there with the item Happy as a kid with candy. The buyer should be happy as well, They got the money they "Desired" to get from the item and all is well.
-
NOW Here are all the complaints I see from this feature.
-
Seller puts an item up for auction. Seller sets a starting bid or reserve price and then he also sets a *Buy it Now* price because he hopes that he gets this much money for the item he is selling and if he gets the *Buy it Now* price for the item he will be happy and all is well. Buyer #1 comes in and sees the item and places a bid on the item because he doesn't want to pay the full price for the item. Buyer #2 comes in and sees the higher *Buy it Now* price and the current lower bid and places a bid on the item that is higher than the one currently out there. The *Buy it Now* option goes away. During the bidding, the bid goes up and is getting close to the *Buy it Now* price, in some cases it may have gone past the *Buy it Now* price. The seller gets all excited cause he may get more money than he expected to get. That is great, however at some point in the transaction, The *Buy it Now* feature returned to the auction, a Buyer saw the price the seller set in the *Buy it Now* and decides to buy the item. The buyer Buys the item. Now all should be well because the Seller just sold the item for the amount he desired to get in the first place, But "No" The seller is not happy because he thought maybe, just maybe, he would get More than what he wanted from the item in the first place. So instead of being happy he got what he wanted for the item originally he is sour and upset.
-
Let me put this into another real life situation to show you an example of what this was.
-
Buyer #1 walks up to a car lot, notices a nice car *it's a 1980 Renault Le Car* for sale and looks around for a salesperson to assist him. After 2 seconds (they do not take long) one runs up to him sweating and says "She's a beauty isn't she, I was stalking you and noticed you seemed interested in this sweet baby" So the guy say yeah, how much would she cost me. The Salesperson says "She normally would sell for a lot more, but since you are who you are, even though I do not know a darn thing about you, I will sell it to you for $2995.00. Now you being who you are, realize this could just be some game, the car IS a nice car, IS worth the money he is asking most likely, but decide to try to get the best deal you can get. You proceed to *Haggle* by telling the guy you have $2395.00 on you and would gladly take it for that. Now for the next hour you and the salesperson are working on the price. As they are coming close to the end of the *Haggling* in which the price is at about $2691.76, the salesman realizes someone else is looking at the car, so the salesman tells the buyer they need to go use the washroom. The salesman the proceeds to walk outside by the car and strikes up a conversation with Buyer #2. Now Buyer #2 REALLY likes this car, and the salesman can see the gleam in the new buyers eye, and since he knows for sure he can get $2691.76 from the Buyer #1 he decides to take a chance, and sure enough as Buyer #2 asks "Hey, how much is this worn out wreck that I almost did cartwheels because I liked the way it looked so much selling for?" and the Salesman noticing the way Buyer #2 is fidgeting says "Oh I believe the price on her is $3995.00." The man gets frown, but being who he is in the world and not wanting to seem cheap he says "Wow, that's a lot more than I wanted to spend but maybe we can work something out." Now buyer #2 has just offered the guy $3293.76 first offer, and the salesman, being the college educated mathematical genius that he is realizes by doing the math in his head that the new buyer not only offered $298.76 More than the actually price of the vehicle and not only that, he also just offered $602 more than Buyer #1. Salesman #1 (yes his name just changed for reasons unknown) just realized that this buyer is going to make him more money on commission and he is going to be able to take that nice trip to Las Vegas that his wife has been so badly wanting.. So forgetting entirely about Buyer #1 he proceeds to haggle with Buyer #2. Now as all this is going on, Buyer #1 realizes that salesman #1 isn't taking a crap after eating at an all you can eat buffet and starts wandering around. He notices salesman #1 talking with Buyer #2 right at the car he is trying to buy. He realizes that maybe, just maybe this new guy might be trying to buy the car he wants. Buyer #1 realizes at this point that the mere 303.24 he would have saved from haggling is not worth losing the car over. Buyer #1 walks over to an other salesman on the floor *Salesman #2* and says "Hi my name is Gone with the Wind, and I like to buy and leave as fast as my name implies. So tell me, that 1980 Renault Le Car, how much is it?" and salesman #2 says "let me check my books" then he turns around without stopping because of course he already knew the price of the car, he says "Why that car is $2995.00." Now realizing you REALLY want the beautiful 1980 Renault Le Car, you tell him "It's Sold. I will take it. No need to go see it. Just give me my receipt and the keys and here's the money." So after 25 minutes (It takes longer to do the paperwork than it actually does to do any other part almost), Buyer #1 gets the Title, Receipt, the temporary plates, and the keys. Buyer #1 walks out to the 1980 Renault Le Car and starts putting a temporary plate on the car, then he notices salesman #1, buyer #1 waves at salesman #1, opens the door to the car, puts the keys in the car, starts it and drives off in a beautiful cloud of tire smoke, or oil smoke that is. Salesman #1 and Buyer #2 are unbelievably mad, they walk in to find salesman #2 smiling saying "Yay we sold that 1980 Renault Le Car" NOW... salesman #1 starts explaining to buyer #2 what just happened, after telling buyer #2 "Yes the price WAS actually $2995.00 but you looked like a sucker and a source of extra money to me" and then telling salesman #2 "What the heck, I had the car sold for $3293.76." storms off into the backroom to drink a cup of coffee and try to relax and do the "What if, Man I should of done this, Why did that guy have to do that" chain of thoughts.
-
Anyhow Moral of the Story.
-
If as a buyer you Don't Want to sell an item for a certain amount, or are unsure if you can get more out of an item than what you can, Do NOT set a *Buy it Now* price.
It seems foolish to me to have to explain this, but this seems the way the system should work.
-
Starting Bid -=- The lowest allowed bid on an item to get the ball rolling.
Reserve Price -=- The lowest price the seller is obligated to sell the item for.
Buy it Now Price -=- The Price the seller feels the item is worth. The price the buyer would be happy if he received for the item.
-
If you will not be happy with the money you get from the Buy it now price. do NOT set a buy it now price. I mean if a Buyer buys it for the Buy it now price, would you be mad? No the only reason people are getting mad is because Sellers are realizing their item may just sell for more than what they expected to get and hoped to get, and more than they could have got had someone used the buy now feature. If a buyer is UNSURE how much their item is worth or expects the demand for it is so high they might sell it for more, then do NOT set a buy it now price. Buy it now should be used to help end auctions early and to help the buyer get the price which he hopes to get and will be happy getting. People are using Buy it Now in a way that it was not intended. Buy it now is Buy it now, plain and simple. It helps take the haggle out of haggle. If you do not want to haggle, people use Buy it now. That's why people search for only listings with Buy it Now. If you do not want to sell something for a set price, you want people to bid and get the best price for an item, but do not want it to sell for too little. Use the reserve price. that way you make sure you get the money you want for the item, but also allow yourself to get more if people are willing to bid on the item.
Seems like basic common sense, *Buy it Now* If you weren't willing to sell it for that in the first place. Why did you set the price that way to begin with?