Topic: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Hello,

I have thought some more on the topic of implementing a possibility for sellers to opt for "non-instant orders" - where buyers need to first open the order for discussion before payment [1]. This would allow the seller to double check on inventory availability, card condition accuracy and pricing issues, thus avoiding the fees and annoyance of refunds.

I have tried to sketch a couple of options, ranging from a simple info flag that would highlight sellers that ask for such a discussion before payment, to an option that does not allow the buyer to pay before the seller "confirms", much like the trades have a "propose" - "accept" flow on both sides.

I have decided in the end that all the solutions have a bit too many downsides, and in the name of simplicity we will remain with the current system. In all cases there would be too many loopholes where sellers could lowball the pricing, only to then later bump it up after an order is discussed, or be negligent with inventory since cancellations would not incur negative feedback, etc...

The interface is also getting complicated, since the "special seller flag" needs to be displayed (and also explained) on card pages, on marketplace pages, on seller profile pages, on seller tradelists, on order pages, and on multi-order pages, where you'd have some of your orders be "instant", others "wait to discuss them" before you can click on "pay for all".

I'm not saying the feature request was not reasonable, and I do empathize with the issues of keeping accurate pricing and inventories for occasional sellers that have a job and life outside of magic, and not much time, but I could not find a solution that felt clean sad

All I can promise ist that I will try harder on keeping deckbox pricing more correct, and less "laggy" in catching up with price spikes, as much as i can.

[1] https://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31339

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

sebi wrote:

Hello,

I have thought some more on the topic of implementing a possibility for sellers to opt for "non-instant orders" - where buyers need to first open the order for discussion before payment [1]. This would allow the seller to double check on inventory availability, card condition accuracy and pricing issues, thus avoiding the fees and annoyance of refunds.

I have tried to sketch a couple of options, ranging from a simple info flag that would highlight sellers that ask for such a discussion before payment, to an option that does not allow the buyer to pay before the seller "confirms", much like the trades have a "propose" - "accept" flow on both sides.

I have decided in the end that all the solutions have a bit too many downsides, and in the name of simplicity we will remain with the current system. In all cases there would be too many loopholes where sellers could lowball the pricing, only to then later bump it up after an order is discussed, or be negligent with inventory since cancellations would not incur negative feedback, etc...

The interface is also getting complicated, since the "special seller flag" needs to be displayed (and also explained) on card pages, on marketplace pages, on seller profile pages, on seller tradelists, on order pages, and on multi-order pages, where you'd have some of your orders be "instant", others "wait to discuss them" before you can click on "pay for all".

I'm not saying the feature request was not reasonable, and I do empathize with the issues of keeping accurate pricing and inventories for occasional sellers that have a job and life outside of magic, and not much time, but I could not find a solution that felt clean sad

All I can promise ist that I will try harder on keeping deckbox pricing more correct, and less "laggy" in catching up with price spikes, as much as i can.

[1] https://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31339

Trying is all we can ask for. You do a better job at taking care of this site than most people realize. As a frequent seller who has to deal with people trying to swipe in before I can correct spikes I don't mind dealing with it on my own. Though I wish that cancelling a sale with full refund wouldn't give us a negative feedback, they get their money back and they can re-buy if they so choose but I feel that a negative feedback should only be used when the buyer is actually out something. This could mean that no refund was given, rude seller behavior, mislabeled conditions, etc. Especially in the cases where a buyer made a profile strictly to undercut sellers. Just food for thought though big_smile

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Agree that there should be some solution to the buyers who always just snipe spiked cards leaving negative.

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

I think your idea of adding a proposal to a buy order is spot on!  No reason to advance to the point of transferring money if the sale isn't going to happen...that's the most annoying thing to need to undo anyways.  Only adds a small amount of lag to the process since I'm assuming that proposed buy sends an email, which then gets one sent back well the seller hits ok and then the buyer can finish the transaction.

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Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Thank you so much for working on this Sabi, I too wish there was a way that the pricing on cards were automated and up to current prices especially for us sellers who have a massive database. It becomes extremely difficult to manage that many cards for sale as well as most of the sellers also sell on different platforms as well so checking inventory becomes crucial as well. I wish that a buyer didn't have the option to leave and neg FB because we have a card that's out of stock or the card has spiked more than 10%. ~love of love for all your hard work, tho!

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Sadly this likely means the end of my selling on this platform. Since most of the sales I was getting was when a card spiked and I was unable to adjust price in time since I work a full-time job and them time and have a family. I don't mind giving people a bit of a deal since im not a retail outlet, but I find here most people only buy if they catch you on an " I got you" deal, im better off on Facebook where I can simply list pictures with a 10% off low or some sort of tag, that way I'm ensured to keep up with the spikes much better. Thanks for all you do, I'm sure running this site keeps you busy and I'm sure ill still make an occasional trade here and there.

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Yes, please add this. I’m sick of people trying to scalp card price spikes. I can’t watch card prices 24/7.

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Ok this is the upmost frustrating thing. I really dislike having to chase an admin to change my Feedback because the bulk of orders that go through are not discussed and leaves me with very little choice when I have to check my inventory for conditions prices and availabilities and have to cancel that order and have them go back through the system only for that person to leave me a negative feedback. Either fix this at all orders are discussed or Please find a better solution for auto site pricing system that keeps up with flexes and spikes. sad

Last edited by Sandra (2021-09-27 17:54:57)

Re: Decision on the 'discuss orders before paying' feature

Feinitely needs this to happen. This is not TCGPLAYER, nor anywhere near the level of exposure. A lot of sellers do have the opne discussion clause in their policies/terms of service. Also, a random card going from 1 to 2$ is not the issue it's really for stuff that's like 1-2 going to like 5-10$ that's pretty frustrating.

In most scenarios, when discussing with other fellow sellers - it's the same spike buyers that buy more than 1-2 playstes accross sellers on this platform. Not a fan of getting scalped. I offer good inventory at fair prices and my feedback reflects that. Most of the 'bad' feedback is 'buyers' salting over how they couldn't profit from some huge spikes at our expense.