Update on eBay discount paypal coupon programs - Live search cashback and eBay Bucks

Back in June, I talked about the various discount/cash back programs that eBay was testing including eBay Bucks (eB) and LiveSearch (LS).  As a buyer, I've been experimenting pretty deeply with both programs and wanted to report back on them.

eBay Bucks, XXXX (well I would use a rhyme here but it would be in poor taste)

I was admitted into the eBay bucks program and made sure all of my purchases qualified.  I was able to get $71 in cash back which was all great. Here's what it looks like as you gain cash back:

Great! Then on August 22nd I was told that I had a voucher for my $71 and in mid September, made a $100 purchase that I was going to use my $71 voucher on (being mindful that it can only be redeemed on ONE item) and much to my shock and dismay, eBay only gave me a voucher for $16.68.   What the heck!? See the screen shot below for proof of the short-change.  The red box and arrow are my additions, but you can see right here how it is only giving a portion, but on the previous page it literally said $71!?



I hopped on livechat and they informed me they don't have anything to do with eBay Bucks so I have to send an email to rewards@ebay.com.  You can guess how fast I've gotten a response on that one.....

Live search cash back experience

The Microsoft Live search cash back program on the other hand has been a great experience.  I signed up with Microsoft and made sure that every eBay purchase was initiated from live.com and that I saw the banners on eBay that proved I was logged in correctly. While this was a little more work than eBay Bucks, on the back end it has been great.

I waited the requisite 60 days, the funds from the rebate were available and then I was able to transmit them to my paypal account and spend them on a number of eBay items.  Oh yeah - the amount was RIGHT too, they didn't short change me.

Conclusion:
eBay bucks is a good idea with terrible execution that initially made me happy as a buyer but because it essentially robbed me of $50, has eliminated all possible good will and led to a net negative experience.  eBay should cancel this program immediately, lest we have all these buyers during the holidays getting short changed and leaving eBay in droves.  It's a little easier on the front end, but even if I received 100% of the promised funds it has too many restrictions (have to use the $ in 30 days on ONE purchase).  Isn't it better to keep it simple?

Live search cash back is a little more complex on the front end but wins hands down because:

• It works (yes that's a requirement)
• It is flexible - I can shop with several vendors AND can use my $ back anyway I want to
• It is easy to use

SeekingAlpha disclosure - I am long eBay and Google

Comments

[Kelly Watts]

The is a really good offering from livesearch but i found another site which i have been using quiet often called http://www.rewardlover.com. I compared the cashback rates and on some offers they pay more than live so its always worth checking around before you buy for example rewardlover pays out 50% cashback for eBay. And cashout level is only $10 which they pay you by Paypal or Amazon e-vouchers. Plus they give you $1 for joining.

[P.O. Box 28]

Would love to get into this conversation but I cant get registered at live search. Seems MS has excluded 10s or 100s of thousands of people in rural areas from the system.
Here is the problem. USPO does not accept street addresses in towns with no home delivery. Everybody has to have a P.O. #. Live search sign up page will no-how no-way accept a P.O. # ( or a Box #). So I am out. Even the tax collector can't reach me via mail without a P.O. #.
Some organizations allow for a P.O. # with a legal address attached. Apparantly there are no programmers at Microsoft who can accomplish this simple task. Waiting time on the live search chat line is 36 minutes and who would I get if I waited?

[cashback]

I tried to sign up to livesearch cashback but they don't offer the service to the UK :(. Maybe they might expand in the future.

[eBuyer Feedback]

I had no problem redeeming my $121. I've already earned another $4 in the second offering. The only downside though is that they had to lay off 10% of their workforce to pay for these kind of discounts. At least that was the impression I got from the news I read.

[lovingit]

i had no problem w/ebay bucks...several $100 back and voucher received for the right amount.

btw, per my email exchange w/ebay, ebay bucks has been extended through mid-november. looking forward to another voucher worth several $100.

it's ABOUT TIME ebay reward its LOYAL buyers and i love ebay bucks.

[johndoom]

Nothing works at eBay anymore. Spoke to some eBay employees after a show at the san jose improv recently. wow is moral low and I mean LOW. Reminds me of the timewarner/aol merger in the record industry a few years ago, 2 large labels (american,maverick) and 4 offices of people pretending to be busy all day, knowing they were going to be canned any day. Being long on eBay stock, even if you received the stock free or as compensation seems completely insane, it's going to be a penny stock.

[Mae Ling]

Does ANYTHING at eBay work? As a regular reader of this blog, I don't know how you can keep defending this company. Why don't you take them to task more? I would love to know how much your company has been paid (if anything) either directly from eBay or by eBay sellers. Is this documented anywhere?

And your recent article implying that Google was somehow at fault for ebay listings not showing up in search was a stretch. In my opinion Google is a reputable company, eBay is not. Ebay is driven by greed like I have not witnessed since Enron. Just like with people, you judge a company by their actions and deeds, and with eBay, you can add how they treat their sellers. Ebay acts as if sellers are somehow priviledged to sell at their site. There is no priviledge in paying fees and never knowing if your product will be seen or not. I think they call that fraud, not glitch.

[Jleeman]

I had a very good experience with eBay bucks. No problem redeeming the coupon for the full amount ($62).

[Dustin Jones]

Is it possible that they're only allowing a certain portion to be used per transaction? Where you might be able to buy 4 more items and use $16 per transaction? This would make sense (but not really) to get you to come back and make repetitive purchases instead of free loading and getting one item for little to no cost. I agree, they probably weren't upfront about that if this is the case.

On another personal note, we had Amazon.com call us up today after a webinar they had yesterday wanting to get us up and selling before the holidays and have us reapply to push our application on rush status! :) very happy! ...if this works out, we are one step closer to moving forward with channeladvisor.

[BMX]

Maybe it was modeled after worst match.

WMX (formerly "BMX")

[Henrietta]

I had $5 eBay bucks, woo hoo. I made one purchase and was completely unable to get checkout to accept my voucher. emailed July 5th, again July 16th and got no reply to date, had to pay the poor patient seller on the 10th.

Ill will? Hell yes! I still get periodic emails reminding me to shop and spend my eBay bucks. Uh huh. Why set up a program that doesn't work and gips buyers out of what is essentially petty cash?
Ptah.

[Joe]

My Ebay bucks thing worked as promised. But I spent the nearly $90 (I bought a parts bike on Ebay), almost immediately after I was able to do so.

Just like Ebay to put an extra time restriction, or whatever. Ebay bucks likely depreciate with Ebay's stock price, who bloody knows.

I'm hardly ever disappointed, in that there's always another disappointment on the way...