posted on August 2, 2000 04:24:05 AM new
Hi everyone, I just decided to try an item on Amazon. It has been selling fairly well, and I featured it a few times. My question is this. If you have a 5-day auction, and you feature it on say the 2nd day so you pay for 4 days, and it sells on the 3rd day ("Take-It" Price), can you get a credit for the 2 days you paid for feature that it actually wasn't featured because the auction was closed? I have done this a few times and see no credit on my account and I'm starting to feel a bit "taken" since there are no credits on my account for days not featured.
posted on August 3, 2000 04:55:33 PM new
Well I e-mailed them first thing this morning with the question... Still no answer... I will keep you posted...
posted on August 5, 2000 04:58:23 PM new
Well, I finally got an answer from Amazon through e-mail. They said they will NOT refund or credit accounts for Bid For Featured Placement charges if an auction is won early for the TAKE-IT price. Personally, I don't agree with it. They quoted the following, which apparently is available somewhere in their help pages:
"Bid for Featured Placement runs for the duration of your listing. When you select a daily fee, you are agreeing to spend that amount until your item closes. If your auction ends early via Take-It price, you will be charged for the full duration of the auction and your fee will not be refunded. (Of course, using Bid for Featured Placement increases the likelihood that someone will see your listing and "Take-It" that much sooner!)"
Hmmmmmm...... I think they're contradicting themselves. They say in the first sentence that you agree to pay for the featured placement for the duration of your listing. Well, common sense says that if your auction is won for the Take-It price on the 2nd day, the duration of your auction was 2 days, not 5 or 7. So if you went and paid for Featured Placement when the auction began, you're paying the for 3 days that they are not providing any service for, since the auction was closed! I'm beginning to see why so many people don't want to waste their money on this particular service on Amazon...
Thanks for the suggestion to come over to Auction Watch! Maybe I can take off my bullet proof vest now
Regarding paying for Features - I find them expensive however, I still use them - very carefully.
I say very carefully because Amazon made changes in the features listing screens without notifying sellers of the impact.
I shortened the time in almost all of my auctions to 5 days so I could spend a few quarters to see how features did for me. At some point, Amazon changed the way they handled features relisting, and were automatically adding $.25 to the next auction I relisted, and even when there were only 12 items in the category. I contacted them and was basically told to be more careful when I posted ads.
I found that if I paid for features along with the initial posting, the features cost reappeared everytime the ad relisted. I had to tell the ad to stop and I had to manually relist it to get the features cost to go away.
Now, when I pay for features, I go all the way thru the posting of the ad and then enter the features posting later. Usually when there is just 1-2 days left.
As I said, I hate to pay for moving the ad to the top at the end of the auction - something that should be done automatically for the $39.95 a month.
posted on August 6, 2000 09:19:44 AM new
Since I'm not a big spender on these I usually wait till the last day or two also.
If your on the merchant program up to $20. of those get refunded. I figure my merchant cost will be around 20 this month Still not a bad deal.
BTW welcome whatafind! Boy it's been strange reading this morning elsewhere.
posted on August 6, 2000 09:43:52 AM new
Even with the $20 Features allowance for Auction pro Status, I ran up a big bill last month. These late nite gambling binges with $.05 or so at a time add up. Glad I don't live in Las Vegas or I'd be truly pooooor.
Regarding other readings - wonder if Sentinal (big brother)is watching too? Terms of Service must cover this...
posted on August 6, 2000 07:03:44 PM new
The one thing that I really don't agree about it, is that you expect that you are paying to have your item near the top. Yet, have you noticed that when you do a SEARCH for your item, it puts all the ones that already have a bid at the top under "Hot items for this search", even though they are not featured, and yours still sits underneath... I don't like that. I think that if mine is featured and the others of the same item aren't, when a search is done mine should be at the top. It's like a catch-22, you feature it to be at the top and get more bids, but it still won't be at the top unless it already HAS bids...
posted on August 6, 2000 08:31:18 PM new
I have been using the feature bids only for my little zShop. That way I have more control over the monthly fee. I want to keep it under $20.
posted on August 9, 2000 11:30:32 PM new
I love bid for feature, I thought I was the only one using it tho. my only question is, if anyone has noticed that when they place a bid it says for instance there are 850 listings, your items current placement without the bid for feature is 850, every single item of ours says that, I have quite a few catagories, how can it be that they are all the last one? Does anyone else notice this? are we all the last ones? Am I being punished? if two folks have the same catagory in amazon please check, let us know if you have the same placement as each other. Amazon may be unaware of it, I am sure they would appreciate knowing this.
So they can Fix it.
The best part of bid for feature is for 5 cents a day I am putting alot of shills out of work! less default bidders for amazon sellers!
posted on August 10, 2000 07:10:32 AM new
I've noticed that too I'm always the last one... or so it says. If I go and look I'm really on a few pages in not the last page last item. I think they are playing with us. You see that message "your listing is 850 out of 850" you think I better get bidding! Also when you listing and your auction goes "live" but really it's just waiting to go live...You might be last because your not really on the system yet.??? (clear as mud?)
posted on August 10, 2000 10:56:33 AM new
Pandoras:
I believe you are right about features. When you initially list or if you go directly to improve your standing, you are given a high number to encourage you to buy features, and also, when you initially list an item you are given the highest number (listed at the bottom) because you are not live yet and have not found your place.
One other way, besides finding your item and counting down to see where you are currently, is to click on modify your ad (or edit, I forget which) and just click accept all the way thru it to the last page where you go live. They will give you your current # standing out of total number of auctions, and invite you one final time to use features. This appears to be a truer way to find your standing (at least for the hour).
posted on August 10, 2000 01:10:31 PM new
Well I guess I am not the only one then, if someone could explain this to amazon better then I can, please do, I dont think they understood me,Or they haven't had any other complaints on this matter. I really doubt they would deliberately make us think this to bid, amazon knows most of us are smarter then that.
Yes you do have to go back and forth after bidding to see wether you landed where you thought you were bidding to be placed.
I really have no-one to compare it to, I have outbid myself for placement!!!!!
unfortunately it is costing us to work with it, maybe they should offer it for free until amazon can work the bugs out, much like the pro merchant increase, we were warned long before it happened it was going to increase. everyone had a chance to make it work at a minimum cost
