eBay Extends Offer Expiration To 4 Days In Unannounced Change
Sellers are frustrated with yet another unannounced change as eBay extends expiration time on Offers from 2 days to 4 days with no notice.
eBay community members expressed their dismay with the change, saying it interferes with business operations because the listing is locked and can't be edited as long as their are open offers still hanging around waiting to be accepted or expire.
why is ebay automatically setting the time limit to 96 hours when I make an offer to a buyer? I noticed this change in the last couple of days. It's not all items either. Anyone know what's going on?
I haven't noticed that. I just sent offers moments ago, and when I check, it does say "3d 23h" left, so 96 hours from the time the offer was sent! That's frustrating, since we can't make any other changes until it expires or they respond! I'll look and see if there's a new setting for it anywhere.
Edit: there does not seem to be a setting, either globally or per offer. I just sent feedback through the offer tool, I suggest anyone else annoyed by this do that too.
In the latest unannounced change instituted by eBay, sent offers now expire in 4 days (96 hours), instead of 2 days (48 hours). Thanks for letting us know.
I just tested this by sending an offer and you are correct. There is no information anywhere on the send offer pop up to tell a seller how long the offer will stay open, yet after sending it, when going to the listing and viewing offers, it shows it's valid for 4 days on the countdown timer.
Others shared that 4 days may be disruptive to discounting practices, which will likely result in less offers being sent.
Friend of mine says they time their offers and their sale events.
They won't send offers more than 3 days before a sale event because they don't want buyers thinking the offer isn't a good deal if the item is on sale. So they leave a 24 hr gap between offer expiration and sale.
They said the new 4 day window means they'll send fewer offers since they won't send them in that window before a sale which has now increased by 2 days - which is not a big deal, but they were grateful for the heads up I gave them since it affects their business function.
And some said since there was no notice, unaware sellers could get stuck with late shipment dings or have problems if they need to set their account to time away.
All the hallmarks of a slimy company. How many sellers are gonna get caught unable to process orders that come in after the 48 hour window they are expecting? What happens when sellers put their accounts on time away not knowing/realizing their offers from 72 hours ago are still active?
I fully agree with the time away issue you brought up. I sent out 5 offers this morning, naively expecting those offers to expire in 48 hours. I'm leaving on time away on Monday morning (72 hours).
So my choices appear to be ending the listing early or taking a ding for late shipping if someone purchases an item. I had planned to send out more offers today, but the new process will limit my ability to do so.
What do you think of eBay changing offer expirations to 4 days with no notice? Let us know in the comments below how this will impact your business!
