Amazon introduces ‘Make an Offer’ feature to outbid eBay for consumer attention
Amazon has launched the ‘Make an Offer’ feature, allowing consumers to negotiate prices on thousands of goods.
Amazon allows users to 'Make a Bomb'
Shoppers will now be able to negotiate the price of selected items with sellers, whereupon agreement, they will enter the users’ shopping cart for purchase.
The ‘Make an Offer’ inventory features over 150,000 items, hosted on a dedicated Amazon microsite.
Peter Faricy, vice president of Amazon Marketplace, said: “The new ‘Make an Offer’ experience is a game-changer for Amazon customers looking for great prices on one-of-a-kind items, and for sellers looking to communicate and negotiate directly with customers in an online marketplace environment just like they do normally in their own physical store or gallery.
“In a recent survey of our sellers, nearly half of the respondents told us that the ability to negotiate prices with customers would be important to drive more sales on Amazon.”
Steven Costello, executive vice president of Steiner Sports Memorabilia, a firm participating in the pilot, said: “The negotiation experience will hopefully get more communication between us and our customers to help us better gauge the price for certain items. We love the 'Make and Offer' program, and it is only going to get bigger. Once customers know this is an available feature more offers will come, leading to more sales.”
Although the price flexibility brings Amazon closer to eBay’s business model, negotiations will be conducted in one a one-on-one basis between buyer and seller – and not in the auction format.