Amazon’s new feature to let customers bid below item’s initial price

PanARMENIAN.Net - Amazon.com on Tuesday, Dec 9, introduced a new feature on its site allowing customers to bid below an item’s initial price, an attempt to boost sales for collectibles, art and other one-of-a-kind items, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The new option, known as “Make an Offer,” allows sellers to accept or reject bids on items like a currently-listed $449 Seattle Seahawks jersey signed by quarterback Russell Wilson. The new option could help sellers move items that they didn’t price competitively, for instance.

Sellers have three days to respond to bids, which are made privately, and can make counteroffers, according to an Amazon statement Tuesday. The company says about 150,000 items are eligible under “Make an Offer” including fine art, sports collectibles and coins, representing a small fraction of the millions of goods it sells on its site today.

While the new “Make an Offer” option is generally reserved for exclusive items, it could help more broadly bolster Amazon’s low-price reputation, the Journal says.

The Seattle company is becoming more reliant on third-party sales, which some analysts estimate represent more than 40% of unit sales. Amazon takes from outside sellers a commission based on an item’s sale price, generally about 10% to 15%.

Amazon built its reputation in part on offering lower prices than brick-and-mortar retailers. But it has faced stiff competition from rivals which have placed a heavier emphasis on online sales.

A survey in October from pricing data firm 360pi and Wells Fargo tracking 100,000 items over the course of a year, found that that the websites of Target and Wal-Mart had 5% and 10% lower prices, respectively, than Amazon. Amazon bested Kohl’s online prices by as much as 20%, the survey found.