Category 9801 Merchant Bot
Subject: Suggestion for improving equal opportunities with Buy It Now vehicle listings
Dear eBay Team,
I have been working intensively with category 9801 (vehicle listings) for about 10 years.
Unfortunately, I increasingly find myself and others facing an unfair market situation, as so-called "dealer bots" buy up almost all bargain offers immediately, before regular interested buyers even have the chance to see these listings.
The problem is that with Buy It Now listings, the ads are often sold within seconds and are not even visible to the average user. I have noticed that the listings shown to us interested buyers on eBay are usually already 2-4 minutes old because they have already been run through dealer bots, as they were uninteresting. Fair access to the offers is therefore not given.
Interestingly, scheduled listings that are published at a certain time are visible to all users at the same time and therefore actually offer a fair chance to purchase the vehicle.
I would therefore like to submit the following suggestions for improvement to eBay:
Mandatory option for sellers: When creating a listing, require sellers to schedule the offer (for example, today’s date 12:00 PM), so that all users receive access at the same time and equal opportunities are restored.
Publication in real time: Alternatively, eBay could ensure that all listings become visible to everyone within half a minute. This would effectively prevent dealer bots.
A personal example: I recently listed my wife’s vehicle and my own via Buy It Now. Both were sold in less than a minute – and neither was visible to any interested buyer, let alone to me as the seller. The buyer was the same person, someone from Berlin-Spandau (Mertenstraße), who officially bought as a private individual but was clearly acting commercially. This strongly suggests improper conduct.
I ask you to urgently take this issue into consideration and look forward to your response. It is important that eBay, as a platform, offers all interested buyers fair and equal opportunities.
Kind regards,
funforcesgermany
kometenhuhn
·1 year agoDo dealer bots even exist, at least in connection with instant purchases?
I’m wondering right now how this would be supposed to act when an item is listed, but then the description mentions that some parts are missing or defective?
How is a "bot" supposed to factor that in, whether the offer is still financially worthwhile?
A simple "if / then" function doesn’t really work for things like this anymore.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoHello @kometenhuhn,
apparently it works like this: by using multiple proxies or machines, the eBay IDs are searched quickly and automatically, giving the bot about a minute to check the listing and buy it immediately. I tested this several times myself with posting and found that such offers aren't visible to normal users at all.
It's hard to understand why someone would be against a fair solution like the planned publication of listings – that would benefit all users and create more equal opportunities.
hasjana
·1 year ago◇◇◆◇◇◆◇◇◆◇◇◆◇◇
at least some time ago there was already irritation that scheduled! offers that had not yet started were getting views (and it wasn’t the seller themselves)
that offers that have already started are not always seen by everyone at the same fixed start time, however, is no secret
thbeck_de
·1 year agoSo much effort because a mentor actually replied twice to a topic that was posted twice, with no fewer than just 6 words each time! There must really be something big behind it...
Still, it would be nice if differing opinions didn’t have to be dismissed as a conspiracy right away.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoHello @miriam@ebay, thanks a lot for the quick response!
It would be really great if listings in category 9801 could be visible to all interested parties at the same time in real time going forward. That way everyone would have a fair chance, which would definitely make browsing and buying on eBay more fun.
I think the option to schedule offers is very beneficial – especially for sellers, who then know exactly when their vehicle listing goes online and it is equally accessible to all interested parties.
With cars, that makes perfect sense too, and it would be easy to implement as a mandatory option with just a few clicks of the mouse.
I love eBay all the more because it strongly shaped my youth. It would be great if eBay again becomes the platform where everyone has a fair chance at bargains.
Thanks again, and I’m excited to see the further developments! 🙏
Best regards
funforcesgermany
voli-maus
·1 year agoThere is no right to bargains, @funforcesgermany .
funforcesgermany
OP1 year ago@voli-maus
nobody here has demanded a "right to bargains."
It’s about creating fair competitive conditions for everyone, so that every interested person has an equal chance at offers.
It does seem a bit strange that you’re following my comments here so intensively and commenting twice. Maybe you do care more about the topic than you’re admitting?
voli-maus
·1 year agoWhen and where?
thbeck_de
·1 year agoIn the first thread of the original poster, whose title still begins with the completely inappropriate (clickbait!) “corruption”?
If you didn’t reply twice, could it maybe be that the moderators duplicated parts of this thread with a toned-down title and some deletions?
Disclaimer: I’m not here to discuss any decisions by the moderators, just to understand what happened there. That confused me too.
thbeck_de
·1 year agoThat’s of course nonsense if the timestamp 30-10-2024 22:19 of the local bargain comment is correct.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoSad but true!
thbeck_de
·1 year agoThat also clears up my confusion: you did actually open two topics, and it wasn't the moderators.
That just makes me wonder, if you're already posting twice, why are you then complaining that others are replying twice?
miriam@ebay
Hello @funforcesgermany! Thank you very much for your feedback on equal opportunities on eBay in the vehicle listings section. I understand your concerns regarding quick purchases by dealer bots, and we take these seriously. Your suggestion of mandatory start-time scheduling in this area is currently being reviewed internally.
We appreciate your active participation and your commitment on eBay, and we will keep you informed about updates on this topic as long as further information becomes available to us that we are allowed to share here.
Best regards
Miriam