Clarifying Negotiations in Grailed

Pat Glass
Pat Glass
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

Grailed is a marketplace that allows people to sell new and used streetwear directly to a buyer. Sellers can sell for a designated price, accept offers on an item, or both. I’ve created a design solution for an issue I’ve run into while using Grailed.

The Problem: Hidden Math

As a user, I’ve identified a disconnect in the negotiation process. An item’s price is displayed as the asking price only, with the shipping cost hidden halfway down the page. If you purchase at the asking price, the shipping cost is automatically added during the checkout process.

However, if a buyer makes an offer, Grailed states that all offers must include shipping cost. In my experience, this caveat seems to be overlooked in many negotiations. For example:

  • I am selling a $50 item with $10 shipping, totaling $60
  • Somebody makes an offer for $40
  • I counter-offer with $50, which is the original list price, but is actually me conceding that I will pay the shipping cost.
  • Negotiation stops, I assume because the buyer takes my counter offer as a statement that I won’t budge from the list price.

This has happened a number of times, and while I don’t have research to back up my theory, I believe that anything to make negotiations clearer is good, and could result in more completed transactions for low price point sales, where shipping is a significant percentage of the total.

Solution: Shipping cost everywhere!

Making an informed offer that includes the shipping cost requires that the buyer is aware of the shipping cost in the first place. I’ve moved the shipping module up above the fold, so that it’s immediately visible.

The shipping cost is now also visible on the offer screen, and is added in real time to the offer for the item, so that buyers are aware of the true cost of their offer to the seller. As a reminder of the original total, the asking price + shipping is the default text on this screen.

My hypothesis is that by putting shipping information above the fold on the item listing, and including the item + shipping math on the offer screen, the number of successful negotiations would improve.

Bonus Problem: Accidental Purchase

While exploring the app, I also noticed an issue where the user is misinformed about their place in the checkout process. When I hit “purchase” on a $50 item, I was taken to a shipping address screen, and then to PayPal.

The total on the PayPal screen was $80. Having not seen the shipping cost on the item listing screen (it’s halfway down the page), I was confused. Under the “continue” button on PayPal, it is stated that “the user will have an opportunity to review the transaction before checking out”. I figured that this was where I would see a breakdown of how the cost went from $50 to $80. I hit continue to find that I had just accidentally purchased the item.

Solution: The screen PayPal promised

Grailed can not control what’s on PayPal’s purchase screen, so I added the screen I was expecting.

The Review Your Purchase screen shows the item cost, shipping cost, total, address, and payment method. This transitions seamlessly to the existing Congrats on Your Purchase! screen.

Moving the shipping module above the fold, as explained above, also helps to clear up this confusion.

My hypothesis is that by making these additions, Grailed would reduce the number of erroneous transactions that cause lost time for buyers, sellers, and Grailed support.

I love Grailed

To be clear, I love Grailed. I just thought a few things could be improved, so I set out to see what that would look like. I think it looks pretty good.

Pat Glass

Written by

Pat Glass

UX designer, drummer, dog lover, sci-fi fanatic, sneaker collector, moss aficionado

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