Hi everyone - there's a new feature on the horizon that I thought you all would enjoy some advance notice of. It's optional, so there shouldn't be any 'what happened?' surprises, but given that it impacts offers I'm expecting that there will be a few questions.
The new feature will allow you to setup an instant offer price (AKA an ‘IOP’) this will be automatically accepted on any item where you accept offers (OBO). An IOP is the minimum price you will accept via an offer and it can be set on an item-by-item basis. It's kept hidden from the shopper so they don't know you might automatically accept an offer of a certain price.
Here's how it works - in the new item form you will soon be able to set an IOP. Have an item listed for $12.00? Now you can automatically accept an offer of $10.00 (or whatever price you want) for that item. If the prospective buyer makes an offer of $10.00 or higher the offer will automatically be accepted, allowing the buyer to buy-it-now. No fuss.
Alternatively, you can also set a %-based instant offer discount in the batch editor for several - or all - of your items. Want to accept any offer that is just 5% off of the full price? No problem. Please note that the % discount is really just a convenience feature for batch editing many items. It will take a percentage off each items' price at the time it is applied, but it will not automatically update if you change the price of your item later.
Why introduce this feature? The offer process, and it's back and forth nature, is more complex than the typical buy-it-now transaction. And with complexity, no mater how simple and clear the experience, comes a greater chance for abandonment. So we thought you might appreciate the ability to expedite the negotiation process by setting a hidden minimum price on an item-by-item basis for OBO items. No one, other than you, will see this price. And, it's optional of course.
I suspect there will be a few questions so I've tried to anticipate them below:
I'm not interested in lowering my prices. Is this optional? Yes.
Does use of this feature impact my placement in search? How about my tokens? No, not at all.
What if I don't accept offers or 'OBO?' Then you cannot set an Instant Offer Price (IOP) on your items. Every item where you wish to set an IOP needs to be also set to accept offers (OBO).
Can I have an OBO (or best offer) on some items and a IOP (minimum accepted price) on others? Every item where you want to set a IOP must also be set to an OBO. However, you can set items to be OBO without having an IOP configured.
Can I still counter offer if the buyer meets my instant offer price? Auto-accepted offers are treated the same as buy-it-now offers as long as the minimum price that you set is met. We recommend you set your lowest price to one that you will be satisfied with.
Can anyone see my auto-accept price? No, just you.
What if I change my price later? Will the IOP auomatically update? No. Instant Offer Prices are not recalculated if you change your prices - we'd rather leave that in your hands than make assumptions. This is true for % discounts as well. The % discount in the batch editor it really is just a convenient method to avoid having to set IOPs for item after item. It takes x% off the item price at that time and stores the instant offer price until you change it or disable it. So, if you have an item priced at $100 with an instant offer price of $90 and then you change the full price to $110 you would have to change your instant offer price manually (assuming you want to).
What about shipping and tax? Shipping and tax are still included in the total offer price - if you have an item with an instant offer price price of $10 with $20 worth of shipping and tax, an offer must be for $30 or more to be auto-accepted.
If a buyer puts two or more IOP items in the same cart, will the total IOP be the sum of the individual IOPs for the items? Yes, the sum of the IOPs for all items in the offer is used. So a buyer could trigger auto-accept for an offer $20 less than the full order price if the offer has two items with IOPs that are both $10 less than their list prices.
If I have an IOP set on an item and then I batch edit all my IOPs will it over ride the item I set individually? Yes. The last action stands (so to speak). The batch editor really just changes the IOP price like the new item form - it just does more than one item at once.
When does this launch? In the next few days. We're testing it out and getting feedback It will only be available for users who are opted-in to use experimental features. Given the myriad of scenarios around offers we want to get feedback on it early before releasing to a larger audience.
This is a great idea to implement! I would say 25% of my sales are through OBO. Some of those times I do make a counter offer, and this will be a great way to save my customers’ time. Anyway to make the transaction process more simple for my cutomers is truly appreciated. Thanks! NMB
Is there a way in Batch Edit, to filter out the items that have OBO on them? That would make it easier to review and adjust, and to decide if you still want to accept offers on a certain item, or add OBO to others.
@SharsBoutique – great question! Are you try to ‘stump’ us at HQ? ; )
Instant offer prices are your lowest accepted price regardless of what else is included in the offer (shipping, tax, discounts, and coupons). Here is an example to bring this to life a bit.
Item X list price: $100.00
Shipping cost: $10.00
Rush discount: 15% (or $15.00)
Total Price: $95.00
Instant offer price: $80.00
In this case offers would be instantly accepted if they range from $80 – $94.99. Anything $95 or over would just be a buy-it-now from the start (assuming the Rush is active).
@BookbinEtc – there is no great means, that I am aware of, to use the Batch Edit to search and filter for items. It’s really more of a blunt tool to apply changes to items, but not to find or search for them.
The explanatory note that will show when you go to enter an IOP presently says that if a buyer “makes an offer above this price”. It appears that it should say “an offer at or above this price”.
I only take offers when you purchase something in groups. If I wanted to sell the tiem for alot less, I would price it that way to begin with. I for one am not going to use this feature. I already price it low, if you feel the need to make an offer, then do so, but am not making it so.
To those who will, I as a shopper feel you already marked the cost up so you could take an offer that is lower. Just my opinion.
Sounds interesting. My only concern is buyer confusion. Let’s say a buyer makes an offer to seller A and it’s within the constraints set by seller A and automatically accepted. Then later makes an offer to seller B who either is not participating or the offer is too low. How might a buyer react. Does the first transaction set an expectation?
Personally, most of my sales are for full price even when I have OBO. And when I do receive an offer, it’s often very low. I also agree with Allenai who said offers have more merit when several items are in the offer.
But since the whole thing is optional, I’ll go and sit down.
If buyer offers less than my IOP, will the offer still be shown to be as an OBO, so that I may optionally accept the price, EVEN IF IT IS LOWER than the instant offer threshold?
Or will the buyer receive a message indicating a refusal?
A nice feature for Sellers to utilize as they choose.
The “simplicity” for a BUYER however is still in need of attention. If you are a buyer and not an experienced seller, do you know what OBO means? If you are a buyer and you DO know what OBO means, do you know that you must click on the ADD TO CART link and then look for a TINY LINK at the bottom right corner that says MAKE AN OFFER in order for you to actually make an offer to a seller?
I’m confused. In Alex’s example up above on the $100 item, if the offer was for $80 and was acceptable, will the buyer pay $80 total or $80 + $10 shipping??
I don’t use OBO and won’t be using this feature. I hope the little box for “instant offer price” only shows if you select “price negotiable”. The listing form is already so cluttered less is better.
I just want more traffic instead of more options. I can tell them the price or leave it at best offer. I do not feel that I will use this option at all.
As it stands right now and after 4 months of Bonanza and making one sale, I might not have to use it all. Just not making sales. I have heard from others that are in the same situation. I do continue to sell the same items on Ebay for more money. When I send the Ebay item to the buyer, I insert a Bonanza.com self made flyer into it that directs them to try Bonanza.com.The replies I am getting are, “I have never heard of Bonanza.com”. Maybe instead of paying expertise to add features to selling, that maybe Bonanza could do some sort of advertising so that more learn of this much better site. Until then, we are stuck going against Ebay.
I want more traffic as well and I hope we can find a way to get Bonanza OUT there. What, as a group can we do more than tweeting,FB and yacking? Can we get some ads out in media?
I do not want to go back to another site- but we really need sales. The upgrades are fantastic- again- moving and shifting buyers our way is so important.
I wish offers only included the price of the item, with the shipping & insurance choices as additional costs to purchase the item. Just like Buy It Now.
And I agree, anyone willing to sell for less, has their asking price high enough to allow for the discount.
And I’m told currently, in order for our items to be viewed internationally, the Make Offer must be selected. I wish someone would address these issues.
We too wish you would put more money into advertising Bonanza, rather than into programming for these features. The features won’t work without customers finding Bonanza.
Nice Feature, now if I could get more than 2 sales per YEAR that would be wonderful! Until Bonz realizes that these features only matter if we are actually able to use them!
So, from a customer perspective, is the following a feasible shopping strategy:
$10 item, marked OBO (and secret $6 IOP)
Wondering whether an IOP is set for the item, I submit an offer of $1 then, 10 seconds later a $2 offer, then continue to rapid-fire offers (triggering an email to seller each time, but what do I care?) $3, $4, $5, $6 ~~ Aha! I’m able to snag the item at its bottom-dollar IOP price.
If the buyer’s offer is accepted automatically, do they have to pay immediately, like a regular sale? Best Offer has been stressful for me on the other site because the buyers don’t pay after I accept the offer.
Will be an asset But is this done through BATCH EDITOR as I see it is set to SOLD. Does that not delete the listing when set to SOLD? However, great idea!
@avamba – that’s a possibility, but a lot of work given that they won’t know if your item even has an IOP or what the price is. And a buyer still has to hit a minimum price that you think is satisfactory.
If this proves to be an issue we can add some restrictions to address it.
@ZanBreeze – if their offer is automatically accepted then they are prompted to checkout via PayPal, Google, or your checkout method of choice right away.
YEAH!!! I knew you could do it! I’ve been waiting for this for since I shut of OBO! This works so much better, I don’t have to feel insulted if a buyer offers a ridiculous price and a buyer doesn’t have to wait for me to accept or counter!
If the offer does not meet your instant offer price (too low) it will still go through as a normal offer. Then it’s up to you to respond as you see fit – counter or deny of course. ; )
We need More Traffic not features..only 2 sales since April Come on Bonanza team. Ebay traffic is killing you.. Help us get more trafficcccccccc twitting and facebooking can only go so far. Help your Sellersssssss PLEASEEEEE
Thank you Alex. I like the idea from the way I understood it. I have a question for you. Is there any way at all possible for listings that have Best Offers, that Bonanza could set it up to display Best Offer beside the price of the item. This would mean that the Best Offer is visible to the buyer right off the bat before having to click on the listing to find out there is a Best Offer. I really feel that it could help to increase the possibility for a sale while buyers are shopping for sellers who offer this.
51 responses to Coming Soon - Instant Offer Price
Sounds good!
I love it! Less work,less confusion for buyers and more finalized sales.
This is a great idea to implement! I would say 25% of my sales are through OBO. Some of those times I do make a counter offer, and this will be a great way to save my customers’ time. Anyway to make the transaction process more simple for my cutomers is truly appreciated. Thanks! NMB
“What if I change my price later? Will the IOP automatically update?”
Does that mean that every Rush I am in, which changes the price of my item, will need to be adjusted over and over when the Rush is over?
Is there a way in Batch Edit, to filter out the items that have OBO on them? That would make it easier to review and adjust, and to decide if you still want to accept offers on a certain item, or add OBO to others.
@SharsBoutique – great question! Are you try to ‘stump’ us at HQ? ; )
Instant offer prices are your lowest accepted price regardless of what else is included in the offer (shipping, tax, discounts, and coupons). Here is an example to bring this to life a bit.
Item X list price: $100.00
Shipping cost: $10.00
Rush discount: 15% (or $15.00)
Total Price: $95.00
Instant offer price: $80.00
In this case offers would be instantly accepted if they range from $80 – $94.99. Anything $95 or over would just be a buy-it-now from the start (assuming the Rush is active).
@BookbinEtc – there is no great means, that I am aware of, to use the Batch Edit to search and filter for items. It’s really more of a blunt tool to apply changes to items, but not to find or search for them.
Excellent!
The explanatory note that will show when you go to enter an IOP presently says that if a buyer “makes an offer above this price”. It appears that it should say “an offer at or above this price”.
Like!!
Wow, this makes haggling alot easier. I always hated that back and forth routine! I’ll definitely try this method!
I only take offers when you purchase something in groups. If I wanted to sell the tiem for alot less, I would price it that way to begin with. I for one am not going to use this feature. I already price it low, if you feel the need to make an offer, then do so, but am not making it so.
To those who will, I as a shopper feel you already marked the cost up so you could take an offer that is lower. Just my opinion.
Sounds interesting. My only concern is buyer confusion. Let’s say a buyer makes an offer to seller A and it’s within the constraints set by seller A and automatically accepted. Then later makes an offer to seller B who either is not participating or the offer is too low. How might a buyer react. Does the first transaction set an expectation?
Personally, most of my sales are for full price even when I have OBO. And when I do receive an offer, it’s often very low. I also agree with Allenai who said offers have more merit when several items are in the offer.
But since the whole thing is optional, I’ll go and sit down.
If buyer offers less than my IOP, will the offer still be shown to be as an OBO, so that I may optionally accept the price, EVEN IF IT IS LOWER than the instant offer threshold?
Or will the buyer receive a message indicating a refusal?
Or what?
Very cool! Thank you!
Sounds absolutely great!
Very cool feature! Makes OBO-ing so much easier!
I wish there was a way that shipping was added after the offer, not included in the offer. Or am I misunderstanding something?
A nice feature for Sellers to utilize as they choose.
The “simplicity” for a BUYER however is still in need of attention. If you are a buyer and not an experienced seller, do you know what OBO means? If you are a buyer and you DO know what OBO means, do you know that you must click on the ADD TO CART link and then look for a TINY LINK at the bottom right corner that says MAKE AN OFFER in order for you to actually make an offer to a seller?
Sounds great to me!
I’m confused. In Alex’s example up above on the $100 item, if the offer was for $80 and was acceptable, will the buyer pay $80 total or $80 + $10 shipping??
I hope the IOP process is applicable only to US buyers since I will need to adjust shipping for international customers.
@BocaHomeMedical.com – Thanks for pointing that out, we’ll fix that.
@jsgeare – If a buyer makes an offer less than your instant offer price, it will be sent to you just like any other proposed offer would be.
I already offer my products at the lowest price I can sell for and make a profit.
Whenever I participate in a Rush and offer a discount, IF someone buys something, I’m losing money.
I don’t use OBO, so I won’t be using IOP, either.
Carolyn
Like the idea that it’s optional to sellers.
Works for me!
Sounds like a good feature
@txskys4ever – offers include shipping.
@ILoveRecycling2 – IOPs are applicable to all buyers regardless of location.
I don’t use OBO and won’t be using this feature. I hope the little box for “instant offer price” only shows if you select “price negotiable”. The listing form is already so cluttered less is better.
I just want more traffic instead of more options. I can tell them the price or leave it at best offer. I do not feel that I will use this option at all.
As it stands right now and after 4 months of Bonanza and making one sale, I might not have to use it all. Just not making sales. I have heard from others that are in the same situation. I do continue to sell the same items on Ebay for more money. When I send the Ebay item to the buyer, I insert a Bonanza.com self made flyer into it that directs them to try Bonanza.com.The replies I am getting are, “I have never heard of Bonanza.com”. Maybe instead of paying expertise to add features to selling, that maybe Bonanza could do some sort of advertising so that more learn of this much better site. Until then, we are stuck going against Ebay.
Yet a new great feature !
I want more traffic as well and I hope we can find a way to get Bonanza OUT there. What, as a group can we do more than tweeting,FB and yacking? Can we get some ads out in media?
I do not want to go back to another site- but we really need sales. The upgrades are fantastic- again- moving and shifting buyers our way is so important.
makes no sense to me.
Nice feature. Keep’m coming!
I wish offers only included the price of the item, with the shipping & insurance choices as additional costs to purchase the item. Just like Buy It Now.
And I agree, anyone willing to sell for less, has their asking price high enough to allow for the discount.
And I’m told currently, in order for our items to be viewed internationally, the Make Offer must be selected. I wish someone would address these issues.
We too wish you would put more money into advertising Bonanza, rather than into programming for these features. The features won’t work without customers finding Bonanza.
Nice Feature, now if I could get more than 2 sales per YEAR that would be wonderful! Until Bonz realizes that these features only matter if we are actually able to use them!
God Bless Our Troops!
SOUNDS, really good
@McGester – you are correct. The instant offer price only shows if price negotiable is selected. We’re not fans of clutter either. ; )
So, from a customer perspective, is the following a feasible shopping strategy:
$10 item, marked OBO (and secret $6 IOP)
Wondering whether an IOP is set for the item, I submit an offer of $1 then, 10 seconds later a $2 offer, then continue to rapid-fire offers (triggering an email to seller each time, but what do I care?) $3, $4, $5, $6 ~~ Aha! I’m able to snag the item at its bottom-dollar IOP price.
If the buyer’s offer is accepted automatically, do they have to pay immediately, like a regular sale? Best Offer has been stressful for me on the other site because the buyers don’t pay after I accept the offer.
Will be an asset
But is this done through BATCH EDITOR as I see it is set to SOLD. Does that not delete the listing when set to SOLD? However, great idea!
@avamba – that’s a possibility, but a lot of work given that they won’t know if your item even has an IOP or what the price is. And a buyer still has to hit a minimum price that you think is satisfactory.
If this proves to be an issue we can add some restrictions to address it.
@ZanBreeze – if their offer is automatically accepted then they are prompted to checkout via PayPal, Google, or your checkout method of choice right away.
So, if they don’t pay, the sale doesn’t go through? That’s fantastic!
YEAH!!! I knew you could do it! I’ve been waiting for this for since I shut of OBO! This works so much better, I don’t have to feel insulted if a buyer offers a ridiculous price and a buyer doesn’t have to wait for me to accept or counter!
LOVE IT!!!
If the offer does not meet your instant offer price (too low) it will still go through as a normal offer. Then it’s up to you to respond as you see fit – counter or deny of course. ; )
We need More Traffic not features..only 2 sales since April Come on Bonanza team. Ebay traffic is killing you.. Help us get more trafficcccccccc twitting and facebooking can only go so far. Help your Sellersssssss PLEASEEEEE
Thanks for the feedback everyone! If you have any further questions on Instant Offer Pricing please ping support@bonanza.com.
Thank you Alex. I like the idea from the way I understood it. I have a question for you. Is there any way at all possible for listings that have Best Offers, that Bonanza could set it up to display Best Offer beside the price of the item. This would mean that the Best Offer is visible to the buyer right off the bat before having to click on the listing to find out there is a Best Offer. I really feel that it could help to increase the possibility for a sale while buyers are shopping for sellers who offer this.
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