A post for those of us who, actually, don't care about the fee changes.

[van_werkhoven]

Well maybe not 'don't care' but at least aren't whining and leaving ebay.

Before anyone accuses me of not knowing what I'm talking about because I have a low feedback score, I used to sell on a different account, and recently returned to ebay after a break.

Lets look at the facts here

Ebay changes 10% fees on sales. 10% is not an absurd number. I would think most people would be happy to get 90% of an assisted sale. If I went to a consignment shop I might get 50%, and ebay is providing a similar service to a much larger audience. I'd get 100% if I set up my own store or sold at the markets but then there is a lot more work, and perhaps more cost, involved in those options too.

Don't like it? Then go to one of the other websites for auctions. Oh, wait, is no one buying from you on those websites? Exactly the point. You are paying ebay, essentially, for advertising. You are paying for access to a HUGE customer base and trusted brandname which gives trust in your product (i.e. the feedback system and the knowledge ebay tries to keep scammers off).  I for one am happy to pay 10% to have a readymade store, customer base, and advertising. And it isn't even risky advertising, you only pay to advertise what you actually sell. Show me another company or group which will let me advertise and only pay for the successful ones!

And frankly, this system is 10 times better than the old system for us small sellers, despite the small sellers being the ones whining. I sold on a different account way back when I had to pay an insertion fee on every item, even though my product (clothing) is the sort of thing which does not sell quick and I might have sold a 1/4 of my listings the first time around. Those insertion fees hurt. And people keep saying this new system makes low value items impossible to sell with profit? I would put forward that the old system was far, far more unfriendly to low value items because insertion fees could be a huge chunk of the profits for sub $10 items, and then there was still FVF on top of that.

I love the new system. With a bit of care, these days, with relistings and free listing promotions I never have to pay insertion fees, ever. I can list items and let them sit until sold, which for my stock, clothes and books, is exactly what I need.

Now, postage is the other big whinging point.

Fact is, many sellers have been paying fees on postage ever since the free postage system came in because it was impossible to seperate postage from the sale price. This was unfair to them. This extra fee was a big deterent to using free postage which, like it or not, is something ebay wants to happen and is something which isn't going away. They had to remove the deterent somehow. By charging the same fee to reveryone, those already using the system are unaffected and those not using it might switch, or at least are on even footing with the rest.

If you don't like paying a 10% fee to have access to what is essentually a huge online consignment store then go to another website and see how much your profits soar when you aren't paying that 10% fee, or do the math on how the old insertion fee system used to work (better for some, worse for others). Work the postage fee into your selling price like those using free postage have done for years. And stop whinging that you can't get something for nothing and you have to actually pay to have access to what ebay has built.

[kopenhagen5]

I also think it a priviledge to have access to such a system.

Hence I offer time in the answer centre to give something back.

It's funny how people complain but don't often mention when ebay are installing improvements.

I have noticed in the last month or so, ebay have added many new handy functions on the site.

Still some small features to be ironed out, but keep up the good work ebay. 

[digital*ghost]

I can appreciate your point of view - I do have a problem with some of the ways the FVF was implemented, but I am still here, with my store, selling successfully and paying the fees. I don't complain about the fees I personally pay.

The issue I take with the FVF, on postage specifically, is the removal of choice and the fact that it is charged on the postage the buyer pays, which can be a killer for those selling items that need to be sent by freight, thus incurring wildy varying selling costs depending on where the buyer is located, which makes it exceedingly difficult to price items accordingly (same applies when you consider things like international postage costs, which can mean more than $100 difference in postage costs in some cases, meaning eBay take a significantly higher amount from the same sale because the buyer is located elsewhere and has to pay more for postage - there are very few selling platforms, online or off, who will take a higher commission because of something like that). In the US, FVF is only charged on the first domestic postage option offered, no matter where the buyer is located, which only adds fuel to the "it's not fair" outcry. 

I am lucky, my items incur minimal postage costs, and I only sell overseas on another site, but this change has had a significant impact on some sellers, and for them it's more than just whinging about something deemed fair enough by someone else. 

[joxamara]

Agreed to both above

I have only been selling seriously for a few months after giving up on trying to earn even a small income through markets.  To be honest, this is great.  I can sit by my fire under a blanket and do all my online stuff in the night-time while catching up on telly I've missed.  I stuff envolepoes and pack packages each morning and drive to the post office each day at a very civilised 11am - sometimes still in my pyjamas!  In a little village lif is like that 🙂 And it's soooo much better than 5am starts in the frost to earn no money!  And all the tools available are awesome.

I also sell handmade goods through a not for profit shopfront - the org that runs the shop makes NO profit, they just take enough commission to pay the rent and insurance commitments and electricity bill.  But to do this and keep the doors open they still have to charge 20%, which in the land of galleries and consigment based businesses is tiny.  Imagine the oncosts if I was trying to run a physical shop and earn an income - not possible.  10% and aother small fee to cover an easy to use assisted e-commerce system that gets $$$ to me without me really having to do anything is a miniscule business cost well spent.

I've been watching the boards for a while since moving my business here in March and have to really wonder what a lot of people are complaining about.  If your business model is not working to ensure enough profit to make what you are doing worthwhile, then change it and make sure your end pricing covers ALL business costs including end of sale fees.

And I'm under no commitment to be here - this is my choice and I am aware of what that choice costs so factor that into my final pricing.  Ebay hasn't and never will make me do anything - I just pay for the service they provide and use it as I want and at the moment I am quite happy.

j

[griffinvale]

I agree with everything you say van.

I am a small seller with 2 id's and the type of item I sell are normally below $10 and postage does not vary - one cost for Aus and one for OS.

I now sell with my 40 free and whatever other free insertions I am offered, and am happy to cover the extra on the FVF as it only works out to $0.35c anyway.

I love Ebay and it certainly works well for me both selling and buying.

I guess if I did not like it I would just go away!

[pink-budgie]

i have been selling on 3 names for a few years now only my own unwanted items ( i am not a big seller ) if not for Ebay i would have no way of recycling my items and with the free listings i keep the cost down to 10% . 

i do think that most buyers do not understand how much it costs to post and now postage has 10% on top so i am doing most listings with so called free postage it makes it easier for me. so i love Ebay i would have no way to sell my items without it and it it worth 10% to me !!!

[i-love-my-sheep]

I too am just a small seller offloading unwanted items. Things I bought with good intentions a few years ago but then realised my good intentions were never going to come good.

Before our weekly Sunday markets closed for good, I had a stall there each Sunday for about 2 months. I stopped because it was costing me $20/wk to have my stall ($10 for the stall, $10 for insurance). Some weeks I would sell one thing for less than $10 and other weeks I'd sell absolutely nothing. Basically, I was losing money by having the stall.

I have priced my items on here the same price as what I had at the markets and have sold far more on here. The thing I like about here is, you get the 40 free listings a month, which for a small seller is more than enough, plus there are the free listing promotions that seem to pop up from time to time. Again, more than enough for the small seller (I haven't managed to use all the 150 freebies on the last 2 promotions). What I really like is, if I sell nothing, I pay nothing. Unlike the markets where I was paying regardless.

I think the big issue with the whingers is, they expect to get the service for nothing. Why should a worldwide company be allowed to make a profit? You hear people whinge about B&M stores too "I know you got that for $10 wholesale, how dare you try and sell it to me for $15". No-one but them is allowed to make a profit in their eyes. The market, both online and B&M is flooded with choice these days. If you don't like what something is priced at, don't buy it. Shop around. Don't buy it then whinge that you paid too much and someone is making a profit out of it. No-one is forcing anyone to buy from a certain place, same as no-one is forcing anyone to sell on eBay. 

Ebay is a worldwide company. They have employees and they have overheads, same as any other store. They have to make a profit to stay afloat, same as anyone in a B&M store. I'd like to know where anyone could get a B&M store, in a prime location, that costs nothing, where they could have millions of potential customers walking into their shop?

Put an ad in the paper and see how much it costs!!!!

[digital*ghost]

---

@ilovemychooks wrote:

I think the big issue with the whingers is, they expect to get the service for nothing. 

---

I disagree. 

Yes, there are people here that come to complain about ebay issues and aren't prepared to look for or listen to constructive solutions... But many of them aren't expecting to get a service for nothing, they're expecting to get something in return for the steeply increased investment.

eBay didn't suddenly become a better place to sell in return for FVF on postage, and I would like to spare a thought for all those who have been impacted significantly and negatively by the recent changes, with no real practical way to accommodate a lot of them. It's all very well and good to say "I'm all good, so everyone else is just whinging", but I think sometimes it's a bit difficult to look at the bigger picture, or from other's perspectives.

There are a lot of sellers who have been on eBay for years who suddenly found their FVF more than double and with absolutely no tangible, increased benefit (i.e. any seller whose postage costs are a greater percentage of the total price on an item). 

Some people can accept, some people can adapt, but you have to remember eBay is something of an ecosystem and the environment is unstable when there are continual changes that primarily impact on it negatively.

The more sellers whose items are no longer viable on eBay, the less buyers the site will attract, and if a seller thinks they're ok now and that the adverse affects on someone else's selling activities won't touch them in any way.... Think again. eBay is still pretty good, but there's a reason for that, and that reason is being diluted with the kinds of changes that not only 'cull' some sellers, but also make a significant percentage of seller who could actually stick around, but don't want to anymore.

[diecastcode3]

I have been selling on ebay for years.

my avarage invoice  over the past 5 years have remained around the same.

5 years ago you paid for every listing as there was no free listings offered.

now i list with mostly free listings hence saving $1.50 on each listing. which more than covers the rise in fvf.

the only real raise in fees that i have noticed is pay pal. but again banking fees have gone up 3 times as much in the same time. really a small price to pay for the security of both buyer & seller. ( use an other ATM other than the bank you bank with cost $2.50 soon to be $5.00) so really i have nothing to complain about selling here. 

[5kazam]

I agree with a lot of what you have said in your posts on this.

What a lot of sellers (in their particular categories) don't understand, is that not everyone is insulated, or aren't affected by the cost impacts of FVF on postage.  And that (up to) 9.9% can be a considerable amount.  

Whilst some sellers with same size, weight items are able to factor in real, consistent postage costs, there are many more, me included, who cannot.  

I do get a tad disturbed with the ostrich in the sand attitude of a lot of members who haven't a clue just how much this new FVF on postage has affected other sellers.