eBay is running a flash sale on sneakers today, January 13th. The 6-hour sales offers shoppers 20% off eligible a single pair of athletic shoes of $200 or more, with a maximum discount of $100.
eBay announced the sale on Twitter, where it wrote, “6-hr FLASH sale! From 8am PST – 2pm PST, shop this exclusive sale only for eBay fans. Code: PHATKICKS. Must be a registered eBay user. Offer is for a single pair. US and Canada only. Get your grail”
eBay seems obsessed with high-priced sneakers these days. Last month, it eliminated selling fees on any sneakers sold at $100 or more – be sure to read the details on the Athletic Shoes Fee FAQs page on eBay.com.
And shoppers should be sure to read the terms of today’s flash sale, which ends at 5 pm Eastern. It’s also interesting to read the comments on eBay’s tweet announcing the sale.
Apparently having learned their lesson from the botched eBay-subsidized 20%-off sneaker coupon last month (which eBay abruptly cancelled early due to abuse), eBay explicitly EXCLUDED guest-checkout from participation (this is the first time we’ve seen this).
Hopefully disallowing guest accounts from participating will reduce fraud and abuse legit sneaker sellers have to deal with this time around.
If it’s good for eBay it should be good for their sellers.
We think it’s smart to occasionally exclude zero-feedback and guest accounts from higher-ticket and/or other items prone to fraud.
Excluding Guest & zero-feedback buyers is a buyer requirements feature eBay should make available to sellers on account-wide, or selectively for certain listings of their choosing.
“We all started somewhere” (eBay’s favorite retort to this request), but that doesn’t mean every seller needs to open up each and every high-potential for fraud listing (cellphones, laptops, etc) to high-risk,new/guest accounts.
eBay must think it’s good business to lose 20% out of their own bankroll on each of these transactions only so they can add to their fake GMV numbers. That’s all this about. They’re not gaining any real buyers this way either. Buyers are only going to wait for more promotions like this which eBay will lose more money on. This company is in full desperation mode. Customers are leaving this dumpster fire in a mass exodus and all eBay can do is keep coming up with more gimmicks for buyers and tricks against sellers. They’re rolling downhill fast and they know it.