5X eBay Bucks Promotion -or- (Expletive Deleted) at the Top of My Lungs

So for the second time, I talked myself into using eBay to make a major purchase because of an eBay Bucks promotion.

I wanted a new city bicycle, and after researching, I found a model I liked. $329 shipped from Bikes Direct, $349 shipped from eBay, but I'd get $34.90 back in eBay Bucks. Snap!

After I made the buy, I remembered you need to activate the (Expletive Deleted) coupon. Why does eBay do this?

Last time I bought a Fugio and forgot to activate the stupid thing. Argh!

* - I deleted the expletives myself to save the mods the hassle... [emoji6]

 

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Jester - Your self-deletion shows amazing control over your anger! That policy is completely insane. You have the credit, it's on your account, they know it, BUT, you didn't follow the RULES! There should be a pop-up when you order asking if you want to apply your ebay bucks. It's a shame and you have every right to be upset. Neither the bike nor the Fugio are cheap purchases. You'd think they would bend over backward to court your continued spending. Instead, they bend you over and cite rules that make NO SENSE. Jack

PS - The mods gotta appreciate you (LOL).

 

As somebody who hasn't received an eBay Bucks promotion in several years, I... well, actually, yeah, I still feel for you.

But I sure wish they'd start sending me those promotions again.

 

Only one of my accounts gets these offer, and I am about to max that account out after tomorrow. I wish my other accounts got it too. I always check before paying to make sure I am getting it.

 

I too haven't gotten one in a very long time. Been about two years since I last got one. I think they only give them to members who don't buy often.

 

That's not how ebay bucks worked...
You can't earn and use ebay bucks on the same purchase, since the buck becomes activated and redeemable only in the cycle that followed.

The deal just meant you could only earn 5X ebay bucks (5% instead of 1% cashback) on that one purchase, however much the cost was. So use it on your most expansive single-checkout purchase to earn maximum amount of buck.

For example, I used my christmas/thanksgiving offer to buy something that cost 8K, so I received $400 ebay bucks instead of $80, which I was able to use in January. There's a tab in your "my ebay" that tells you the date your ebay bucks would become activated.

 

I think they know that and were wanting the extra Bucks for a future purchase. (if you are talking about OP)

 

umm, the 5X offer doesn't come with a coupon code?
you just click on the link in your email to activate it.

Also, ebay allows an hour or something to cancel an order that's buy-it-now. Go to your purchase, one of the choices on the pulldown menu to the left of the order number should be cancel. This is a function of ebay, seller cannot deny.

If it had taken you longer to realize, then email the seller and tell him to cancel. He can do it at any point choosing "buyer requested cancel" and there's no charge to him. A seller must accept cancel request, same as return, it's not a choice.

 

I wonder how often is "not often"? I bought a grand total of 4 items (three of them gift cards) in 3Q 2015, and one thing (a car stereo wiring harness) in 4Q...

 

That's a good question. I really don't know. If I had to guess I would say going a full quarter without buying might get eBay to send you one to get you to start buying again (based on what you said about having made at least one purchase each quarter). I really don't have any clue though as to what eBay's criteria is for receiving a Bucks promotion.

 

If the seller was a newbie, tell him to use this option, cancel with the "buyer changed mind" option (don't use other options as they would affect buyer rating).
Ebay (and paypal) refund everything, costs nothing to seller or buyer. So if you tell him you're doing it to get ebay bucks or something there would be no reason for the seller to refuse. Well, not like he could anyway.

 

Okay so I'm calling eBay now as I type this.

 

The extra ebay buck offer has no bearing on your purchase history. It's just a periodical thing. If you didn't notice it then you simply missed the email notice.

 

I never get the email. I check my spam folder regularly also. Any emails they send always go through to my inbox although I am aware that certain emails might originate from different departments. But again, I never see a Bucks promotion email in my spam folder either.

 

Okay just finished my phone call with eBay and the representative said the promotions are distributed randomly. I suspect that might not be a fact, although I really don't know. To be honest, I think even the rep doesn't know how they get distributed. They said they would look into any promotions I might be eligible for and send me an email within 24 hours. I have my fingers crossed.

 

NONE of my eBay-originated messages show up in my email, even though I've enabled the preference for them to do so. Messages from other eBay users do show up, as do the messages I send with "copy this message to my email" checked.

However, they do show up in my eBay Messages Web page. I just have to remember to check that page periodically. Even if I got an offer and didn't see it in time, the message would be retained for (I think) 90 days.

There haven't been any eBay Bucks offers for me, period.

 

the 5X isn't that often.
Probably missed a few myself but I only remembered seeing 2 or 3 in the past 12 month

 

Not sure you know as much about these as you believe you do. One of my buying accounts always gets them, my other accounts never do. I am not sure why (It is not because I am missing the email).

The OP stated he forget to click to activate before purchasing...

 

Try calling eBay customer service. I know they're usually useless, but I did the same thing as you last time I had an offer like that and called the next day and they said they would credit my account the extra eBay bucks, which ended up being something like $11.

 

They won't do it for me. Jerks. [emoji2]