May 2013 Fee Structure Changes

[CmtyGuide@ebay.com]

eBay will be introducing a new fee structure on May 1, 2013.

For some sellers fees will be going up, while others will see notable reductions.  We encourage you to take the time to visit the newly launched Seller Centre to see how the changes will affect you (http://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/fs5).

You will notice that to offset the fee change, we have worked to remove the major barriers to listing and have continued to reduce upfront fees to make selling on eBay easier and fairer. Most sellers should only be paying fees on an item after it sells – not before.

Your fees contribute to eBay’s ability to significantly invest in the overall experience for both sellers and buyers.  Enhancements on the buyer side of the equation are aimed squarely at driving traffic to your listings and ensuring the 7.3 million Australians who visit the site every month continue to do so. For example, investments in marketing, social media promotions and mobile commerce applications helped sellers to capture a greater share of online sales in 2012 and saw a 21% year on year increase of visits to eBay.

After reviewing the changes it should be clear that the new fee structure also encourages sellers to adopt the behaviours that we know buyers increasingly prefer (eg: fixed price over auction in some categories) – therefore increasing your chances of a successful sale.

In 2013 we will be working even harder to respond to the rapid pace of change in our industry and to ensure you are taken along on the journey. You will see a number of innovations announced in the coming months and throughout the year which support all of our sellers, no matter what their size or business aspirations.”

[digital*ghost]

We run a store without around 417 Listings on eBay. We have been around for quite some time. I have recently been in touch with our eBay Acc Manager in relation to the new changes and they believe we will save quite a substantial amount if we upgrade from a basic store to an anchored store.

While i feel sympathetic to the smaller sellers and I think it is completely wrong what eBay are doing I was wondering if anyone has actually run the figures for the larger power sellers to work out whether this will infact be saving us money.

The main drawcards I can currently see is no more listing fee costs on buy it now items which all of ours are. Ebay take a lower percentage of the final value sale. Also no more ongoing costs, every 30 days 417 of our items tick for another month for 20c each even on buy it now with the basic store.

Can any of the other powersellers please elaberate on this and tell me what kind of store you use?

I have requested more information from eBay however im not sure how long it will take them to respond.

I look forward to any feedback people have on this matter

Kind Regards

The maths is pretty simple.

After May 1st, a featured store is $49.95 with 200 free listings. With 417 listings your basic cost per month will be 217 x 20c + $49.95 = $93.35

A featured store means all listings are free, at a cost of $499.95 per month.

The 1% difference in FVF from a featured to an anchored store will only save you money on fees (overall) if your turnover is above around $40,000 a month (thus equaling a $400+ saving in FVF). 

[ilovefashion!]

In December last year I started noticing dramatic changes in my eBay sales and a huge decrease in my sales - as at end of March 2013 my sales are down 80% and I have taken most of my business elsewhere. It is highly unlikely now that I will continue selling on eBay despite once being the largest Vintage Clothing seller on Ebay Australia for more than 2 years, I have also maintained top rated seller status for over 18 months, and had in November 2012 got to Silver Power Seller status. I am continually disappointed that eBay has no loyalty or even interest in maintaining its sellers at whatever level they may be. Someone mentioned an account manager in this thread. Why was that not offered to me? and why was I told that the call centre in the Phillipines is the only point of contact? 

An answer would be nice, however i doubt i will get one. 😞

[gfh462]

Ebay have been working toward this for a long time and have finally got there. They don't want ebay to be an online garage sale anymore they want an online shopping mall. They don't want it to be an auction site but a fixed price site.  Most sellers will be selling cheap chinese junk but they don't care. Even though they will lose millions of buyers who still get a buzz out of bidding on cheap auctions and waiting for the last second they don't see it that way. I can't see how their line of thinking will make them more money but they must have done the Maths. Millions of items will no longer be listed on ebay because it is just not worth it as has already been stated. As an example someone might list old 45rpm records at $5 each. It will cost them $1.50 to list it, 50c FVF and around 80c Paypal fee so why would you bother by the time you pack it and post it? and there are millions of similar items listed monthly. Often some of these records would sell for a lot more if they were a bit scarce so hence more money for ebay. Anyway my whole point is that ebay is no longer viable for the sellers of cheap items even though they may have sold 100's of items a month. Very sad

[forwells-trading]

Very interesting .

Have Ebay got any idea?.

Now we have new rules .

Free postage , well that is never going to happen . Someone has to pay it. NOTHING is free. As much as ebay like to think that i have some deal with AP that they pick up the cost. People dont care so much about postage cost , more so that it is open before they buy a item.

But then we have Must offer express post in order to be a top seller . This is very interesting in itself and in fact i am sure this breaks some form of anti discrimation law. You see i live where ,yes i can offer express post but AP do not offer it . So what i am now to offer something that i can not supply in order to keep Ebay happy .

Can you just see the emails now "Wheres my item , i paid for express postage and its not here?"

I get enough emails now from people that seem to think that Australia outside a major city does not exist and cant understand why it may take a week for mail from here to QLD .

[gfh462]

Well said, I live in rural NSW and if I try to send anything express I can pay the extra but the PO puts a sticker on it "no express post guaranteed" I assume ebay want this so you get a tracking number but ALL parcels are now issued a tracking number.. Not everyone lives in a major city. When I post an item I always let the buyer know it has been posted and that I live in a rural area and may take 1 day longer. Most people understand but forcing express is not necessary now.

[bitdat]

@craftaholic-on-the-loose. Very well expressed!!

[itsmyshoe]

eBay has now become a super greedy sucker! You're digging your own grave! If only there is alternative to eBay, every seller would have left ages ago!

You're encouraging sellers to list with free post to get better "visibility" and as you know there's no such thing as free post, so you'll end up getting more fees in your pocket!! yeah right Australia Post with price increase and ebay fee increase, what a double punch on the face for Aussie sellers!!!

I'm totally disappointed with eBay!

[thesoulyearns]

I'm looking forward to trying out the free Scheduled Listings and free Auction w/ BIN options.

[putney32]

I'm looking forward to trying out the free Scheduled Listings and free Auction w/ BIN options.

are you also looking forward to the increased fvf of 9;9% capped at $250 not $100??

?:|

[phoneaccessories2000]

I'll just add my voice: on top of sales being atrocious the past few weeks, insertion fees are mutliplied by 3 making it impossible for me to keep selling cheap items. Goodbye eBay Australia and well done.

I've started selling in Europe, eBay is not as greedy there.  Insertion fees are lower, paypal doesn't take a fee on top of it... Six months now that eBay Australia is trying to screw up everything, I've had it.