eBay will now be offering a price-match guarantee.
The move toward offering a price match puts the marketplace in line with similar offerings from its competitors including Amazon, Walmart and others (including Best Buy and Sears).
eBay's price-match guarantee is only applicable to its Deals section and so does not include auction categories and other categories and is currently limited to U.S. residents. Like other price-match programs, the policies that govern it are quite strict.
Here's how it will work: If a customer buys a product for a cheaper price at one of the listed competitors, eBay will reimburse them through a coupon that must be used for the item in question. The coupon expires within 24 hours and eBay won't issue a second one after. The policy also doesn't take taxes and shipping fees into account, which means that customers looking for the best deal will naturally have to do a bit of math.
eBay is, in many ways, in a fight for its life and has released several programs over the past few months (including a customer loyalty program similar to Prime, and guaranteed delivery of three days or less).
There was a time when eBay was a major player in Web-based selling but has had a slow but steady decline over the past decade. Can features such as a price-match guarantee bring customers back? Share your thoughts in a comment below now!
