How Ebay Is Giving Away Your Sales Leads On Watched Products
Like myself, as an online seller on eBay, I am sure that you have noticed below your product listing descriptions, how eBay sells space to competitors for the exact same product you paid to list. Often times, these prices are lower than yours, and are third party sellers (like us) except they sell via Walmart, Best Buy, Target or other retail stores via there website. If you have ever clicked those advertisements, then you certainly have also realized that the products are not sold or available at those retail locations, but are instead third party sellers with enough inventory leverage, drop shippers and others who pay to be sponsored on those website.
What you may not be aware of, is eBay has introduced a new source of competition that competes 100% directly against your product, to shoppers who have "watched" one of your products!
I had never heard of this until recently when I "Watched" several DVD/VCR units a friend of mine who sells on eBay had listed. I had let this friend know I was watching some of his items, since the more people watching your product, the better search results and placement your product receives.
The following day, when checking my e-mail, I saw an intriguing e-mail from eBay showing my friends product that I watched, and when I opened the e-mail I was shocked to see that eBay was directly sabotaging my friends product sales by showing an advertisement on eBay for a different seller who had the product listed for $9.00 cheaper.
Now I didn't check to see if the product was of a similar condition or quality that my friend was selling, but it did make me mad as a seller, to learn by accident that eBay has been undercutting the sales of sellers on products being watched.
It is hard enough to get a shopper to watch our products, but now we also have to deal with being undercut in prices by a few dollars by eBay pushing that lower price product from another seller to those watching the products.
As a marketplace reviewer for online sellers, I had to give you a heads up about this new tactic by eBay which of course is wonderful for eBay shoppers, but an outright attempt to undercut sellers whose products are being watched.