A change at eBay
 

I made an offer on eBay a couple days ago. EBay asked for my payment info when I made the offer, not after the offer was accepted as they have in the past. The seller accepted my offer, and I was immediately checked out.

I can see the upside of this. No more deadbeat bidders / buyers, you submit a bid, you win, eBay collects the money. No more buyer's remorse. No more bidding up something and then disappearing. On the other hand, I appreciated the separation of eBay and my payment method. One set of credentials for bidding, one for paying, and never the same. If my eBay password was ever compromised, they couldn't check out, my money was somewhat safe. Now that's gone. I'm not sure I like that. What do you say? I wonder if I could add two factor to either.

I agree. I would prefer more control. I don’t like the automatic payment deductions, but I’m
Not a deadbeat.

It makes sense for those “lookey loo” bidders.

Hmm. I've never made an offer on something before. My last purchase was Sep 24, and I'm 99.9% certain that ebay required me to login to PP once I won. I wonder if it's just for certain types of transactions or all of them.

Did this happen with an auction with the "Make an Offer" button?

Yes (for me.)

It was a "make an offer" for me as well. I haven't bid on a normal auction for a couple months now. My eBay profile now shows "Preferred payment method". I suppose I could try to remove that payment method and then try to bid on an auction, but I think my buying streak is done for a while.

I've bought stuff outright using BIN - even though there was a "Make an Offer" button also available.

Just because I thought it was fair price and I didn't want to weasel the seller out of a buck or two.

I have and will continue to use "Make an Offer" features in the future as I see fit.

I just don't automagically flock to them like moths to a light bulb...lol.....

I'll look at the seller, and how many items they have for sale, and decide whether to use "buy it now" or "make an offer", if offer is available.

A guy with a 100 or less items, I'll probably just "buy it now". I just bought a 1985 Watkins Glen race program from a seller selling off one each from several years, to me it looks like a personal collection.

Someone with thousands and thousands of items for sale, I'll look for a deal. One of the items I bought a couple months ago was from a seller with "Estate Sales" or something like that in their name, and a couple thousand items. I talked them down from $200 to $125. I'm sure they gave next to nothing for the estate items, and turning it over quick was better for them than holding on to it to get close to their asking price.

I haven't bought anything on ebay for a very long time. I used to buy quite a lot 20 years ago. The last time I used it, it seemed like it had become mostly commercial and left the buyer behind in the experience.

From my experience, if I make an offer on an item listed on ebay, the seller has some time to review the offer, it isn't instantaneous. The seller, after reviewing the offer, may either accept, or submit a counter offer. I have never been asked to submit any payment until after the item has been purchased.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Submitting payment with an offers is a good way to root out the time wasters so yes I can see the benefits but like everything else it cuts both ways. How relevant is Ebay now anyway? Let's be honest... It's not like it was just a few years ago.

Facebook market place seems to be the thing but you have to be careful (I only buy smaller stuff for cash locally).

The good old fashioned Pawn Shops are still around and there are bargains to be had.

Pretty sure it's been this way for quite a while. If you click Make an Offer, and the seller accepts your offer, you just bought the item. There is a 24-hour window for the seller to accept or reject your offer, otherwise the offer disappears. And even if there is an item with only a Buy It Now price and no Make an Offer, you can still send the seller a private message with an offer. It works exactly the same as Make an Offer.

Also, did anyone else hear about the Government's $2 Billion lawsuit against eBay for allowing sales of Rolling Coal devices? I saw an article last week but haven't heard more.

I love eBay.

Bought 3 different cars from eBay auctions and all 3 purchases turned out better than one would expect. Certainly exceeded my expectations. I never laid eyes on any of the 3 cars in person either - just went by the auction pics and seller's description.

This morning I had a doctor's appointment so took my front-click magnetic readers, just in case. I keep them in the Volvo and have a pair of safety glass readers in my work truck. Several other pairs of regular readers in the home and garage.

Got to thinking....why don't I get a second pair of these front click magnetic readers so I'll have one for the work truck.

Do a Google search and Amazon of course comes up. $55 for what I'm looking for. Check eBay (why not?) and find some from China for under $7 incl. shipping. Will they be the same quality as the ones on Amazon? Of course not. Will they suffice for what I need? Hey we'll see. Feedback ratings were all good.

To finish out this thread I bought something at a regular eBay auction.
If the wife asks, I'm blaming all of you. I was doing research.
It was a normal checkout, I was able to select the method of payment after the auction ended. It's just offers that changed for me. Maybe it changed a while ago. My eBay buying seems to go in streaks, I'll buy a few things, then nothing for months.

I'm more into the down-sizing mode now. If it's easily mailed, it goes on ebay. If it's bulky or heavy, it goes on Craigsllist.
I always have better luck with CL...plus no extra fees.

I buy stuff on eBay stores. Welding stuff is a little specialized for Amazon. If I want some silicone bronze wire or rod, there's a place south of me too far to drive that ships same day. Another item I buy on eBay is Mohawk Finishing supplies. I have an account at Mohawk but they have a $75 min order. Even the sales dept there said just go on the bay for odds and ends. Amazon is NOT the place for those items.

One more note: it pays to look hard. I've seen stuff priced from what I would pay if I had the 75 min to 10x that.

I don't know, I've been thinking of bidding on this. Think it will be worth it as an investment?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175254336244

I learned the same thing when you make an offer, and seller accepts, Paypal is charged automatically now. I like the idea of making a personal message to them to make an offer......

I think if you can find "Ecino" on a CA map at that zip, it is.

Another change
 

eBay must really be pushing the seller's offers now. Or they've automated the process.

Works like this - I look at a buy it now, don't save it to my watchlist, obviously don't buy it. Shortly after, sometimes a day or two, sometimes only hours later, I'll get a seller's offer. Usually 10% or 20% off, but the best I've seen so far is 47% off. They must send it to everyone who views the item, and they'll give you a set time, usually 48 hours, to accept (buy it), counter-offer, or decline the offer. I think since Christmas, I've had about 5 or 6 offers sent. Maybe I need to get off eBay.