Overstock Loses Its Fucking Mind: Requires 'Make It Mine' Price to be 2X Opening Bid

[iron_chick]

Well, this should go pretty far towards totally killing off the auction site.

Dear Sellers,

I hope this note finds you all well. I took over the Auctions department upon JT's departure and have spent the last few weeks digging into our Auction customers' behavior and experience while on our site. We're learning a lot about what makes them tick and click and are hopefully finding some quick wins. One win for our customers, we hope, will come from the revisions of the Make It Mine policy.

We've always allowed sellers with a minimum business rating of ten or more to offer a Make It Mine price on their items. The intention of this policy is to allow a customer the option of either participating in an auction or purchasing an item immediately at a higher set price. Since the introduction of the Subscription Program, the auction starting price and the Make it Mine price have become very close to equal. For example: Starting price - $19.95, Make it Mine - $20.00. We hope you understand our feelings that this scenario doesn't offer a true auction experience and, as a result, we're revising our Make it Mine policy.

Effective immediately, the Make it Mine price must be two times the starting price. For example: Starting price - $15.00. Make It Mine - $30.00.

I sincerely hope this revision isn't an inconvenience to you. I assure you our only intent is to provide your customers a pleasant experience that will hopefully bring them back to shop with you again. We're confident that the implementation of this new policy will help us do that.

We appreciate your continued support and hope to help you with a successful holiday season. If you have any questions regarding this policy, please email sellershotline@overstock.com.

Thank you again for your partnership.

Humbly,

Stormy Simon
Overstock.com

Maybe it's different if you are a TM, but I've had . . . oh . . . maybe three sales with more than one bid. 

I'm not willing to give things away at half my MIM price.  And double my bottom line auction starting price will price me out of the market.

Did eBay pass the stupid pills over there?

[amy]

Effective immediately, the Make it Mine price must be two times the starting price. For example: Starting price - $15.00. Make It Mine - $30.00.

I won't be using MIM anymore.  There's a very good chance I'll be downgrading my subscription plan and cutting way back on my use of Overstock.

Even eBay hasn't had enough bidding activity in our categories for the past 3-4 years to set an opening bid of half the buy it now price and consistently get enough bids to make a profit.

Very stupid move on Overstock's part.

I sincerely hope this revision isn't an inconvenience to you

FUCK YOU OVERSTOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Overstock thinks multi-channel sellers are going to create a separate 'no buy it now price, or 2X opening bid MIM' inventory item just to list on their site they are fucking nuts.  I don't have the time to create separate inventory items that are priced to fit O's new rule. Creating separate inventory items for each marketplace would double my workload.

[iron_chick]

Yeah, it's certainly not inconvenient to take MIM off your listings right in the middle of the holiday season. 

Holiday shoppers are so patient, anyway.  I'm sure they won't mind waiting two or three days for a listing to end.

[amy]

I'm sure they won't mind waiting two or three days for a listing to end.

I'm sure the 80% or so of our O buyers who use Make it Mine will welcome the chance to extend the buying experience for an additional 2 or 3 days when we drop MIM from our listings...NOT.

Overstock has definitely outdone Amazon's holiday FU to sellers (shipping prices display changes).

[iron_chick]

Well, the change is certainly getting some notice over on the O boards.

No one from the O has stepped in to field the concerns.

Uh . . . there's some thought that the "effective immediately" means they want us to edit our existing listings.  They can cancel mine, if they'd like. 

[amy]

there's some thought that the "effective immediately" means they want us to edit our existing listings.  They can cancel mine, if they'd like.

Ditto.

[thentavius]

Oh, fuck Overstock.

I haven't sold anything there in ages, anyway because I'm not a BuySafe bonded seller.

I'll be cancelling my bulk subscription.

[sneakymagenta]

:angry017:

[stardust]

That has GOT to be the most idiotic thing I've heard yet.  Worse than anything ebay has come up with.  :

[rho]

No joke, stardust. At least when eBay screws ya', there's something left to pay the mortgage. Overstock takes your customers and your $$...and they're quick to tell ya' they're cheaper than eBay!

BTW, I posted a short post on one of the threads at Overstock and one of the cheerleaders threw me out.  It's not the first time she's told me to go away. Of course, I linger like a big greasy fart.

I pretty much stopped selling on O in 2005, but I did put some items up this October. Items that were selling on eBay, and a couple of the other alternatives. Not even a nibble at O-Auctions. I still have a couple of bucks left on my account. Eventually, I'll use it.

Had toyed with the idea of getting a subscription, now that I'm selling purses and messenger bags...but think I'll put off even thinking about it until Q3 of 2007. By then, they outta' be a pile of smokin' rubble anyway, considering the idiot MIM policy and timing. Customers are forced to either wait out an auction, and get the item dirt cheap to reasonable...or pay an incredibly inflated price. Why bother when they can tab over to retail?? duh.