How eBay Selling Prices Can Be Deceiving

by: lessthanthreerecords

I think it would be very helpful in sourcing inventory to show the actual selling price, however, I can understand some counterarguments.  What I cannot understand is how eBay gets away with saying an item sold for a certain price when it actually sold for a different price or went unpaid entirely.  That should be illegal.  If eBay wants to hide purchase history, that's one thing, but they shouldn't be allowed to show FALSE purchase history.

by: Bill

eBay has been reporting false sales data for years.
They should be investigated by the SEC bit it won't happen since they make large political donations.

by: toolguy

This works both ways!

If a seller has an item for $20 1st bid or make offer.

If I make an offer of $50 and the seller accepts eBay shows the selling price as $20

by: Snapped

Interesting point about how revealing a true sale price below a BIN or BO ‘start’ might reveal a given seller’s strategy.  As if it would be the same for every transaction and situation?  

That’s easily overcome though.  Just don’t reveal the original BIN as part of the history.  As for knowing what it ‘was’ DURING the active listing - well, that ship already sailed so….

Point is, the “protect buyers and due to complaints” excuse is propaganda.  Complaints?  The disparity IS the complaint.  And the ‘buyer’ is not made public in any event, so what’s to protect?

No, eBay does this to puff their own chest out.  Perhaps entice the next seller with inflated expectations.  And they could not care less about your ‘research’ needs.  No money in that.

Incidentally, they also consider and show an item as ‘sold’ regardless of whether it actually gets paid for or not.  Because if it’s not, then relisted and sold again, they can say ‘they sold’ two of ‘em now.  

eBay’s a magical place.  Smoke and mirrors.  

by: BackOff

If you search on Terapeak, you'll usually see the actual sold price. On the ebay listing page you'll usually see the seller's asking price. I know this from my own sales and also when I research sales of other sellers in my county. Try it out, you'll see that I'm right.  

by: 227272

I've made a Best Offer purchase where the seller bumped his original price *UP* from the original Buy It Now price *just before* accepting my offer. I assumed that was a ploy to show a higher sale price in the  history of the item since he had others for sale.

As someone else mentioned, Terapeak is now the best source for actual sold prices.

by: Rexford

I don't use Best Offer and I turn down offers than are sent via eBay messaging.  My price is my price.  If I decide to lower it I will but this isn't Let's Make a Deal.  

Now if only Poshmark would require a bundle to actually be a bundle and not one item.  I enjoy selling on Poshmark but I get more low ball offers there than anywhere.   No I can't give you a $125.00 retail item for $10.00.

What eBay is doing is smoke and mirrors.  I am never surprised by anything that they do.

by: Shanna

When researching a price for an item, I look at both the active listing and the sold listings. But there is a problem with the sold listings, my items, so I assume others, never show up there as I use the zero stock option. When my item sells and I have one left, it does not end, it will show item currently out of stock.  I have to manually end that item. Until I do, that item will not show when searching sold items.

by: toolguy

You know a sold item price is right when it was a item that was bid on over a BIN item. With a buy it now you don't know if the seller accepted a lower price, the price or a higher price.

Most of the time the item has a strike thru on the price but no actual sale price listed.

Best solution is to know the product you're buying or selling

Hit refresh and hit it often is my motto!

by: pace306

NO WAY THIS IS TRUE

Just ask a certain poster here who has said MANY times that eBay is %100 above board and that they WOULD NEVER LIE OR DECEIVE people or the government!

2 sets of books/numbers?

Which books/numbers are presented to the IRS - how much did items sell for? the REAL number or the fake puffed up numbers?

Of course eBay cooks the books.

The LOWER numbers go to the IRS. They pay less taxes on SMALLER numbers. Since Wall Street NEVER penalizes eBay for slipping numbers - it doesnt matter. They cant ever be Amazon, so why try to match their numbers?

The HIGHER numbers are what they tell people they "actually do". Mix those numbers in with advertising money, back end money and you have a TOXIC STEW that all of eBays lawyers protect.

Search isnt honest, reporting isnt honest, and even eBays own seller punishment stats are wrong and they "refuse to fix it" (just copy the data from the same place and stop making stuff up) "eBay Mobile Metrics Out of Sync".

AKA the San Jose Mafia .... any questions?

by: Mbrj201

It took me a minute,  but I learned to look at the not ''best offer'' prices above & below the item to get an idea of what it sold for using sold listings hightst to lowest. It was quite a while before I knew about terapeak, which is a great tool, but not available on my phone.  

by: smallstuff

I didn't realize Terapeak is free to eBay sellers.  Thanks for the tip.

by: Marie

@Bill
The article is NOT talking about Sales data.  Certainly not numbers you see on Financial statements for Ebay.  

by: Goodfella2016

Does it really matter if the selling prices that eBay quotes aren’t 100% transparent?  If a buyer pays my asking price on a BIN listing, then eBay will already show that as the selling price (the same as it does on auction listings). If I accept a lower offer, then eBay will show my original asking price with a strikethru to indicate I’ve accepted a lower offer. It’s no one else’s damn business what I’m prepared to accept, and I’m not on eBay to make life easy for people researching prices or the terminally lazy. I also don’t want other potential buyers to know that there’s a good chance that I might accept offers, say, 25, 30, or even 50 percent below my asking price. The skill is in knowing your product, knowing your market, knowing your competition and knowing your costs and overheads…and not in taking an eBay selling price as gospel.

by: speechisntfree

Why worry?.....

How long do you think eBay has left to be in business?.....

How much more can they raise their rates while at the same time the Post Office keeps raising theirs?.....

Personally..... I can't see how the majority of sellers make any money as it is.

by: ffi89

As already stated by BackOff: If you search on Terapeak, you'll usually see the actual sold price.

eBay falsely reports higher sold prices in order to entice new sellers onto eBay. Only except eBay loves suspending and banning loyal sellers over bullshit reasons and fabricated rules.  

by: BackOff

Another thing about Terapeak, it won't show a "sold" / never paid for item. I know this from my own listings, dealing with deadbeat bidders and also from watching other seller's listings that are listed a second time after bids are placed but the buyer doesn't pay. I confirmed this recently too.

I always tell my fellow sellers to stop using the app on your phone or at the least, log in to ebay and choose "desktop view" on your phone browser settings (on Android). I cannot stand the limited mobile view of the ebay website, it leave out a lot.  

by: acertainblue

For me the most consistently confusing thing, when searching prices, is Ebay's practice of hiding shipping until one clicks through to the listing.  Let's see - here's a lot of vintage marbles for 10.00 - fantastic! - click through - 10.00 + 17.00 shipping (high shipping prices tacked on to give the seller a sort of ''reserve''.) I never buy from sellers who do this, BTW...  

by: Marie

@acertainblue
Shipping isn't hidden, it just has it's own page on the listing.

by: Rexford

"Personally..... I can't see how the majority of sellers make any money as it is."

it is called "buy low, sell high".  Just like the stock market.  I actually had a pretty good year on Ebay in 2022 and my sales beat the previous years' sales.   I buy quality items at the lowest price that I can and I sell them for what they are worth--very close to the retail price.   I also look for items that other sellers don't have.  If there are hundreds of items just like yours your likelihood of making a profit on your item is quite low.