Amazon is known for being a marketplace. After all, it seems to have anything and everything you can think of. So in that sense it is a marketplace. That said, there is one more association people make with ‘marketplaces’ and that is the ability to haggle. This is not something Amazon offers. The price is the price. You can look for an alternative seller on the next (virtual) stall but that is about it. Well, in the true fashion of a marketplace it looks like Amazon are about to bring in a haggling option.
Yes, today Amazon announced that they are introducing a new ‘Make an Offer’ service which will, as the name suggests allows its users to make sellers an offer. Apparently, the service already has roughly 150,000 items partaking in the make me an offer service, although Amazon are expecting to greatly roll out the service to a far bigger number of products in due course. If you are already starting to lick your lips at the proposition of picking up some Amazon goodies for next to nothing then you should know that the feature does not work with Amazon’s products. This will only be available via the marketplace (aka third party sellers). That said, it is an interesting idea.
So how will it work? Well, when you visit a third party seller page you will see a small radio button marked “Make an offer”. Once clicked, you will enter your offer, the buyer will be notified and can make a decision or return with their own counter-offer. From here negotiations continue until a price is settled. Once the price is set, then you will see an “add to cart” button appear for you on the page. So in short, it will work rather similar to what we already see on eBay with “make an offer”. If you are a seller and already not liking this idea, then down worry. The service is not compulsory and as such you can choose if you want to receive offers or stick to your guide prices. Either way though, it does seem Amazon are becoming a little bit more marketplace like today.