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I don't really 'get' the ebay store


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Sorry, this is going to be a long post.  The eBay store was introduced around the time that all the big changes in bottling and pricing occurred (a couple of months ago).  So in that chaos, I may have missed the explanation for starting the eBay store.  I thought it was supposed to be a replacement for the “Clearance” section that was deleted from the Adam’s Polishes website.

 

Now I’m starting to think I was wrong about the eBay store replacing the “clearance” section.  The eBay store has had the same 5 products on clearance for a long time now and, oddly enough, only 2 are actually clearance items (Old Americana & Waterless Wash).  Buttery wax is listed as a clearance item on the eBay store but is $2 more than what I can buy it for on the AP site.

 

I had some time this morning so I compared the prices between the eBay store and the AP site and most are within a few cents of each other.  In fact, of the 37 items listed on the eBay site, 25 items are either the same price or within 4 cents of each other.  If you’re interested, the eBay store had 6 items that were significantly ($1 or more) cheaper than AP, and AP had 4 items cheaper than the eBay story.  (I’ll give the best values for each site below.)

 

This is not to say that there are not good values to be had at the eBay store.  The PC Basic Polishing kit at $250 is a very good deal.  The comparable kit on the AP site would be $350 because the eBay kit includes Visco Clay and the American Pride bag.  Also, a gallon of Super VRT is $20 cheaper on the eBay site (although with free shipping available on AP site, the difference would actually be $15).

 

I guess my point in this tirade is that I really miss the “Clearance” section on the AP site.  There were always good values to be had with items that were either being revamped or discontinued.  With the exception of a few items, I don't see the value in the eBay store (for me) and I don't see many real clearance items.

 

Biggest price differentials:

 

eBay products:

  • Car wash trio--$5 cheaper than AP
  • 2 Bucket car wash kit--$20 cheaper
  • Glass cleaner (16 oz.)--$3 cheaper
  • Undercarriage spray (16 oz.)--$3 cheaper
  • VRT (1 gallon)--$20.04 cheaper
  • Waterless Wash combo (old formula)--$5 cheaper

AP site:

  • 10" car wash pad--$2.96 cheaper than eBay
  • Brilliant Glaze (16 oz.)--$3 cheaper
  • Buttery wax--$2 cheaper
  • New Waterless Wash (16 oz.)--$1 cheaper than old formula on eBay
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Us Canadians still have a clearance section. Yay, something we have you don't :) 

A bunch of retailers are using ebay now I noticed. I recently used Neweggs ebay to buy a SSD for cheaper than their website. Not sure why they do it. Different audience perhaps.

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The 10" wash pads are less expensive through AP as well. They're $10.95 each on Ebay, but only $24.99 for 3 from AP.  Best thing to do is compare and shop where it's less.   :2thumbs:

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Us Canadians still have a clearance section. Yay, something we have you don't :) 

 

A bunch of retailers are using ebay now I noticed. I recently used Neweggs ebay to buy a SSD for cheaper than their website. Not sure why they do it. Different audience perhaps.

Jerome, that's the best argument I can think of for the ebay website: a different customer base than what can be reached with the AP website.  If they're trying to reach an international market with the ebay store then I can understand the weird pricing scheme with some products cheaper on the the AP site and some on the ebay site.

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The 10" wash pads are less expensive through AP as well. They're $10.95 each on Ebay, but only $24.99 for 3 from AP.  Best thing to do is compare and shop where it's less.   :2thumbs:

Rich, I appreciate the reply.  I actually mentioned the wash pad as being one of the good deals on the AP website but I can understand how it might have gotten buried in my long rant.  My real question is why offer the ebay site unless it's for international customers exclusively?  And, if the ebay site is intended to be a clearance mechanism, why don't we see more actual clearance items?  For example, Adam's just introduced a new line of single-, double-, and triple-soft towels but we haven't seen any sale for the old models that just got replaced.  (Apologies if this has all been explained before and I'm just behind the times.)

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Our eBay store has actually been around for several years, much longer than when we had the new label change, but that was a quick, efficient way for us to clear out the old label inventory and keep those separate from the main website for less confusion during the launch of the new labels and new products.

Now that the majority of that clearance inventory is gone, our eBay store is shifting back more towards retail for the time being. As others mentioned, it's another avenue to reach customers that may not browse our website, just like we have an Amazon store. With the constantly evolving daily sales pricing and specials, it is sometimes difficult to update prices on a daily basis in real time.

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Our eBay store has actually been around for several years, much longer than when we had the new label change, but that was a quick, efficient way for us to clear out the old label inventory and keep those separate from the main website for less confusion during the launch of the new labels and new products.

 

Now that the majority of that clearance inventory is gone, our eBay store is shifting back more towards retail for the time being. As others mentioned, it's another avenue to reach customers that may not browse our website, just like we have an Amazon store. With the constantly evolving daily sales pricing and specials, it is sometimes difficult to update prices on a daily basis in real time.

Dan,

 

I always appreciate when a member of the Adam's family responds because I know you guys (and gals) are really busy, especially this time of year.  It sounds like you're saying (nicely) that I was mistaken about the ebay store being the replacement for the old clearance page on the AP website.  I totally get why you would have several digital storefronts and why the pricing doesn't always align with the AP site.  Thanks for clearing that up for me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey everyone.  Newby here. 

I actually had a similar question about the eBay store:

I was interested in buying the "2 Bucket Kit" and saw it on eBay for $129.99 ($5.99 Shipping).  LINK
The AP Store has the kit for $149.99 (Free Shipping).  LINK

Other than the price, the only difference I can find is one has 2x10" Wash pads and the other 1x9" and 1x11".

 

It seems that eBay has the better price at first glance.  Then again the AP Web store uses coupon codes extensively and I know I can take a percentage off that price fairly easily.   Is that the reason for the price disparity, or am I missing something?

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Hey everyone.  Newby here. 

 

I actually had a similar question about the eBay store:

 

I was interested in buying the "2 Bucket Kit" and saw it on eBay for $129.99 ($5.99 Shipping).  LINK

The AP Store has the kit for $149.99 (Free Shipping).  LINK

Other than the price, the only difference I can find is one has 2x10" Wash pads and the other 1x9" and 1x11".

 

It seems that eBay has the better price at first glance.  Then again the AP Web store uses coupon codes extensively and I know I can take a percentage off that price fairly easily.   Is that the reason for the price disparity, or am I missing something?

 

Barry,

 

The eBay store is another retail channel. My guess is that they update prices and update promotional pricing in each retail channel individually. There are a number of likely reasons for this, but I suspect it's because, as Dan mentioned above, it's labor-intensive to change pricing. I don't think you're missing anything. Buy from the channel you're most comfortable with!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hey everyone.  Newby here. 

 

I actually had a similar question about the eBay store:

 

I was interested in buying the "2 Bucket Kit" and saw it on eBay for $129.99 ($5.99 Shipping).  LINK

The AP Store has the kit for $149.99 (Free Shipping).  LINK

Other than the price, the only difference I can find is one has 2x10" Wash pads and the other 1x9" and 1x11".

 

It seems that eBay has the better price at first glance.  Then again the AP Web store uses coupon codes extensively and I know I can take a percentage off that price fairly easily.   Is that the reason for the price disparity, or am I missing something?

 

That auction actually had two 10" Wash Pads as well, as we discontinued the 9" and 11" sizes to consolidate to one size about 2 years back. The kit description must not have been updated, so we do apologize about that.

 

Either way it was a great buy for someone as I see it's sold now!

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