EBAY fee changes / increases

[ItsJustRyan]

Smoke and mirrors indeed.

 

It's going to be like 15% + off the top when you factor in fees and PayPal transfer.

[jjeanius]

hey, at least they are "simplifying" it for us, right...? 'Cause the previous math used over hte last 15 years was so damn complicated I could never grasp it. Yeah...right. All they simplified is that we all receive the same "one size fits all" giant eDildo in the posterior.

 

I am going to have to call and get someone to explain to me exactly how I will be benefiting from this new fee structure.

 

It's amazing how they get away with raising fees every year. It's a PERCENTAGE, so the fees you collect are always proportional to the sales. As such, there should never be a need to change them (except for, you know, overwhelming greed).

 

Maybe we just all need to agree to start listing our books in the video game category. ;p

 

That begs another question: Why does one category benefit from lower fees than another? Is there a difference in the services provided? Of course not. We pay more than twice as much just because it's considered a "collectible"...?

[toytastik]

I never understood the complaining about ebay. Try running a website to generate sales. You will spend thousands a month in advertising.

 

Ebay is providing you with a market place where all you have to do is list an item for sale. They will work to bring the buyers to you.

 

Do I like increasing fees? Of course not, but I pay attention to their strict guidlines and receive a 20% discount each month. Helps defray the costs and it is actually a fantastic program.

[jjeanius]

Just as they raise the fees on a regular basis under the guise of making things "simpler" for users, they also continually raise the bar on what is required to qualify as a top-rated seller. Now it's one-day handling and uploaded tracking info. They say that it's all about offering customers the best service possible, but I go one step further and allow my regular buyers to start a "hold" with me so that they can combine shipping costs with future purchases. I have spoken to eBay about this, but they don't care. The whole point is to weed out those who would qualify for the discount in the first place.

 

The only reason that eBay gets away with all of this is that they have a monopoly on the market. Buying Papal and requiring sellers to accept Paypal only further locked everyone down. I dream of a day when a new challenger will step up and offer a comparable service at a reasonable price. When eBay first started, fees were much closer to 3%, and they did really well with it. I don't understand why 3% (or 5% or 6%) wouldn't be enough of a profit margin given their volume of sales and the fact that they HAVE NO INVENTORY.

 

A flat 9% is absurd, especially now that they are eliminating the tiered fee structure that decreases as the sales price of the item increases (again, for the sake of "simplicity"). Funny how all of this "simplicity" only benefits Feebay. And oh, btw...I used their "fee calculator" to see what fees would be on a $100 sale. Currently $6.20, this fee will now be $9.45...and that's WITH a store subscription! So that 's only a 50% increase! WTF?

[Pete Marino]

Tons of really nice auction sites start up daily, and sellers will go to them. The problem? No buyers....

 

Here's a link to a site that will give you tons of places to list other than ebay..

 

http://www.powersellersunite.com/forum-8.html

 

Unfortunatly, if you want to make sales, you need customers, and Ebay has name recognition.

 

It's is litterally the Walmart of dot com's at this point. My 90 year old aunt knows ebay! what are the odds she knows bonanza.com?

 

Just pass the "savings" on to your customers...

[ItsJustRyan]

eBay is doing this because they can.

 

We can complain. Makes no difference. They have us by the *spoon*

 

No one that has an established eBay business is going to say, "well I'll just list less" because that makes no sense either.

 

"Necessity is the mother of invention." A competitor always has, and will in this case, rise. Not a matter of if... when?

[jjeanius]

Yep, that's pretty much it.

 

Just the same, I'm going to call them to express my displeasure. I'm going to ask them to show me how I financially benefit from the new "simplicity" of it all. And then I will let them know that they have ZERO customer loyalty from me, and I cannot wait to jump ship as soon as another option surfaces.

 

They should value their customers more...but they don't, because they don't have to. So...they can treat us this way because we have no other option at the moment. Happy to call them on it.

[jjeanius]

I also plan on asking why fees are so much higher for collectibles than, say, electronics...when the service is EXACTLY THE SAME.

[CBT]

volume, the more you sell, the more they charge

 

Ebay is the top website for collectibles in the world. They actually have competition from retail outfits in those other categories, so they have to discount.

[CBT]

the answer is simple, pass it 100% on to the buyer. only when prices get high enough to decrease sales, will they stop. They are probably working with some equation, testing how high they can push fees.

 

I have no doubt they have a mathematical model they are trying to maximize.

[Garf]

All they simplified is that we all receive the same "one size fits all" giant eDildo in the posterior.

 

Brilliant summary!

[Hekla]

To Stichem's point, I ran a small booth at an antique mall selling 'vintage' comics and comic strip art for a couple of years and it was a lot of work; specific labeling, following the mall owner inventory guidelines, driving over once a week to restock, i had to do supplemental advertising (usually Craigslist) etc. it was fun, not very profitable, and I eventually decided eBay was easier and more profitable.

[Garf]

I guess in one way it really is a good thing that they are doing this IF they open themselves up to competition from the likes of Ebid or other operations... I think the "shops" community has a great chance of being able to break free if enough migration happens.

[Hekla]

Does anyone here sell on Amazon? I've only bought trades from them and last time I searched for floppies, they seemed pricey.

[jjeanius]

Yes, I have heard that their fees are higher.

[Zaitsev]

BOHICA!

[manetteska]

For non-store sellers, the part where there are benefits for doing lower priced BINs.

 

That is about the only place where the fees are lower now than before.

 

For instance a $40 BIN with $4 S/H now is $4.40 in fees (10% of $44) where it was $5.34 previously (save $0.94).

 

That same item in an auction ending at $40 with $4 S/H is now $4.40 where it was $3.96 previously ("donate" an extra $0.44).

 

Conclusion: The new structure benefits BIN listings under $75 or so including S/H on collectibles. What this means is that there will be fewer auctions out there (how eBay started this whole thing) and more BINs on lower priced goods - if people are actually watching how/where the fees come from.

[jjeanius]

Right. And if you sell a higher priced item, you are now rewarded with MUCH higher fees. If, for example, you sell a $100 item at auction, you are now rewarded with a fee of $9.45 rather than the current fee of $6.20. That's an increase of OVER 50%.

[ItsJustRyan]

And I thought my eBay bill was high now...

[ThoseBackPages]

there's always the BST boards here