EBAY JUMPING JACK PRICES

[mountainsport]

Can anyone here please enlighten me on this topic ? Maybe flecc would be kind enough to do the honours.
I am very puzzled and confused as to why the 18650 Panasonic batteries tend to fluctuate in price.

I am now becoming very hesitant in what to believe that if the foreign or local sellers are being true to there word,(genuine cells).
For instance, again the X2 NCR18650 Panasonic 3400mAh 3.7v which I am specifically referring to are being sold for £17.99 , £ 21.00 , £16.00 and the lowest price I have seen is as low as £12.00.

When you scroll down further shockingly, BAM! the price goes sky high to a whopping £ 170.89 for the same battery, now can someone explain this to me or is it just a typing error?

Also some 18650 batteries have different letters behind them such as A or B or PF. Any reason for this?

Love you all xx

MS.

 

[Fordulike]

Sometimes, when a seller's stock levels get low on an item, they inflate the price to an unreasonable level to put off buyers from purchasing.
This will help prevent the listing from ending early.
Once a listing ends, the number of 'items sold' shown for that listing resets to zero. An item that shows a high amount of purchases looks good for potential buyers, so a seller wants to keep the 'items sold' counter high and not reset to zero.
Therefore, inflating the price helps the seller in a number of ways.

1) Keeps the listing live for continuity of item listing exposure.
2) Allows sellers to keep the 'items sold' level active, without resetting to zero.
3) Potentially keeps listing high in search rank, as eBay uses the 'items sold' in its algorithm to determine its rank.

 

[flecc]

Sorry Mountainsport, I've no idea on the meanings of the 18650 suffix codings on Panasonic's production.
.

 

[awol]

It could possibly be down to foreign currency fluctuations against the pound.

 

[mountainsport]

Sorry Mountainsport, I've no idea on the meanings of the 18650 suffix codings on Panasonic's production.
.

Ok.

 

[mountainsport]

It could possibly be down to foreign currency fluctuations against the pound.

I had dug in further and was still the same price. Thanks.

 

[mountainsport]

Sometimes, when a seller's stock levels get low on an item, they inflate the price to an unreasonable level to put off buyers from purchasing.
This will help prevent the listing from ending early.
Once a listing ends, the number of 'items sold' shown for that listing resets to zero. An item that shows a high amount of purchases looks good for potential buyers, so a seller wants to keep the 'items sold' counter high and not reset to zero.
Therefore, inflating the price helps the seller in a number of ways.

1) Keeps the listing live for continuity of item listing exposure.
2) Allows sellers to keep the 'items sold' level active, without resetting to zero.
3) Potentially keeps listing high in search rank, as eBay uses the 'items sold' in its algorithm to determine its rank.

Thanks Fordulike, just pure tactics suppose and now I know.

MS.

 

[danielrlee]

Sometimes, when a seller's stock levels get low on an item, they inflate the price to an unreasonable level to put off buyers from purchasing.
This will help prevent the listing from ending early.
Once a listing ends, the number of 'items sold' shown for that listing resets to zero. An item that shows a high amount of purchases looks good for potential buyers, so a seller wants to keep the 'items sold' counter high and not reset to zero.
Therefore, inflating the price helps the seller in a number of ways.

1) Keeps the listing live for continuity of item listing exposure.
2) Allows sellers to keep the 'items sold' level active, without resetting to zero.
3) Potentially keeps listing high in search rank, as eBay uses the 'items sold' in its algorithm to determine its rank.

I have previous experience as an ebay retailer and can confirm that all three of these reasons are true and relevant.

 

[Wander]

Once a listing ends, the number of 'items sold' shown for that listing resets to zero. An item that shows a high amount of purchases looks good for potential buyers, so a seller wants to keep the 'items sold' counter high and not reset to zero

An even worse example of this being adopted by one e-bike seller on eblag is to completely change the description & price to a current model ............. which wasn't even available when the listing started!

Keeps their number of 'watchers' artificially high as well.

 

[danielrlee]

An even worse example of this being adopted by one e-bike seller on eblag is to completely change the description & price to a current model ............. which wasn't even available when the listing started!

Keeps their number of 'watchers' artificially high as well.

Wander, you have to understand the motivation here. This is common practice on eBay and is by no means limited to a few sellers. The way that eBay design their 'best match' search algorithms gives the seller little choice but to go along and use the system they are given.

 

[Wander]

Yep, I understand the motivation, but is it honest?

 

[danielrlee]

Yep, I understand the motivation, but is it honest?

I don't think it's intentionally dishonest, but I've never really thought about it from the perspective of a buyer. Nowadays my use of ebay is still quite heavy, but only as a buyer. I guess that subconsciously I am aware of both sides of the coin and just don't think about it any more.

EDIT: Just to add, I never saw this practice (which I did so quite frequently) as a 'con' because I was an honest seller, with a primary interest in running a successful long-term business.

 

[Kinninvie]

Ebay have recently changed its terms (again) so now, if you finish a listing early, they charge you for it, so, the answer is to simply revise the price up so no-one bids.