eBay are announcing today that they will offer a Price Match Guarantee on more than 20,000 deals on their marketplace in the UK. The Price Match Guarantee is also being launched in Germany, France, Italy and Spain following the recent launch of the program in the US.
eBay say that their Deals already represent some of the best prices available. Soon, if a shopper finds a competitor offering the same product for less, once verified, eBay will offer a coupon for the difference in price that can be used towards the purchase of the item.
Price Match Guarantee Eligibility
Items eligible for the Price Match Guarantee in the UK must be:
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New
One of the over 20,000 new items available in eBay’s deals programme in the UK
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Identical and Available
Both items must be exactly the same and currently in stock
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Competitors
Amazon.co.uk, Currys.co.uk, Johnlewis.com, Argos.co.uk, Tesco.com and Asda.com
“We know that customers in the UK want the best deal when they shop. Our eBay Deals Programme has grown exponentially since its launch in 2009 and is now a firm favourite with the millions of customers who regularly shop on eBay. We are confident in the strength of our deals already. But we’re giving our customers that confidence by also matching the price of our competitors.”
– Rob Hattrell, Vice President of eBay in the UK
How will it work?
If you find an eBay deal cheaper on one of the five competitor sites then contact eBay customer service. eBay compare the item’s purchase price (excluding P&P but it’s worth noting all eBay Deals are free P&P) on eBay UK and the competitor’s website and confirm the price match on the spot. They’ll instantly issue you with a voucher which can be used towards the purchase of the price match listing valid for the next 24 hours.
Why offer a Price Match Guarantee?
This is less about giving out vouchers and more about confidence and letting consumers know that eBay is a great place to shop. For instance one of the competitor website (Argos) are already active sellers on eBay and they already sell at the same price on eBay as they do on their own website. It feels a bit churlish to point that the Price Match is nothing new for Argos but consumers don’t know this. With the Price Match Guarantee they will.
If there’s one site that eBay do want to be more competitive than it’s Amazon and they’re probably the trickiest to Price Match against – mainly because many of the retailers (and Amazon themselves) use repricing technology so price on the site can fluctuate regularly throughout the day.
eBay will be working with all the sellers (both large and small) who offer deals on the site to ensure that their prices are keen.
Ultimately the aim is to tell consumers that eBay is a great place to shop and if they see a deal then it really is a deal. Consumers that buy deals buy other products in other categories too and all sellers will benefit from any increase in traffic to eBay.
14 Responses
Further confirms my and many others thoughts that ebay is trying to force out the small private and other sellers who they have unilaterally deciced must be business sellers
So these so called “deals” must be on the eBay deals page. Where I just had a look and first 3 retailers came across was Argos, Dixons, and Music Magpie.
As it is well known eBay subscription service really is just for Large chain stores.
Another headline grabber than in reality will amount to nothing. The big sellers will use it to further their dominance and the little guy will be further squeezed out. Oh hang on…. but who will answer all the techy questions that the big guys never answer?
I find a widget on Amazon for £10, on eBay it’s £12.
eBay expect people to go through the inconvenience of contacting eBay customer service just so they can get it for the exact same price as it is on Amazon where I could just checkout in one click?
Whatevs
Can’t agree Norf on this occasion, buyers are savvy as fuck these days, price match with no upside is pointless.
I get your drift though ebay are obviously making an attempt to compete,
probably over complicated,
I miss the days when people would just buy something for a good price because they liked it..
ebay did not show ‘other buyers also viewed’ all over your products…
As said above, buyers are savvy nowadays and there’s huge pressure from marketplaces to be the cheapest
Anyone else wondering how many buyers will call up for a voucher on purchases which aren’t part of the deals programme — a tiny part of the inventory on site? I’m all for more marketing and more buyers on site and used to using ebay. But isn’t it a touch confusing to have some guarantee that applies to some part of inventory?
It’s a bit like some items having no returns, some items being shipped from China etc etc.
The current item page is a disaster as a buyer for seeing which trick you’re going to get done-over with on the deal that’s in front of you right now. The glory of ebay is the vast array of inventory and spectrum of value.
The challenge they need to address is how to show that spectrum clearly to buyers.
eBay wonder why people find sales falling. They also see their own revenue falling. So go down the ever failing system of. The train that travels every day with only 40 people on it. Increase the fares!!! Oops now there is only 35 passengers and so on until the service is scrapped.
The massive shop fees increase then a few poxy pounds voucher to buy poor quality products of Packaging from the most expensive shop on eBay.
As a small business we cannot compete with the big boys on nearly all of eBays demands for higher exposure.
Such as same day dispatch, 30 day returns, Free shipping, discount items that are slow selling. And make all the changes they keep demanding for listing compatability etc.
Parcel companies tell us what time they will collect from us not the other way round,. We pay all our UK taxes and are not in avoidance schemes, and cannot tell suppliers they will take back items after 30 days, Plus we do not have an IT department to deal with changes and glitches there system keeps demanding.
So we keep falling by the wayside why do they not just offer paid for promotions which the big boys will gladly pay for.
Our sales have dropped by 70 percent over the last year since eBay started messing around with everything. They are supposed to just be a 3rd party website offering a trading platform but keep trying to totally run our business.
They keep telling people where else a buyer can get the item on “MY” listing then to make matters worse. they allow a product review that often is wrong and about a completely different product.
We sell a unit that requires a pump in a listing yet some shop sold a customer one with a pump which is another item/ listing altogether. But the customer reviewed di not need to buy a pump as it has one with it. Now we keep getting buyers moaning there is no pump with it.
What a farce sort out the basics eBay and stop spoiling what worked.