topic Re: Ebay is so expensive!! in Selling

Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:55:56 GMT

Are Ebay trying to get rid of the little sellers? I am new to selling, just trying to get rid of some stuff to help pay for decorating my house.

I was lucky enough to sell a piece of jewellery and between Ebay and Paypal, I have paid over $104 in fees, to say that I am amazed is putting it mildly.

I read the fee structure but didn't 'comprehend' just how high the fees would be.

I have also noticed that there are a lot of watchers but they don't buy is this normal?

What can I do to reduce fees and entice sellers to buy?

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

phorum_junkie* — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:04:20 GMT

Why are you amazed? You paid just over 10% in fees, how much do you think you would have paid if you had sold it for the same price in an auction house, how much do you think it would have cost you to advertise it nationally in a newspaper?

IMO ebay FVFs fees are perfectly reasonable at 7.9% and Paypal is one of the cheapest 3rd party payment portals and I doubt if anyone would have paid that much if they couldn't use a safe payment method.

All the fees are there for you to weigh up before you list and nobody forces you to use ebay.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:17:23 GMT

I did not insinuate that I am forced to use Ebay, I have used auction houses, markets and newspapers and find that Ebay is most definitely one of the most expensive.

I do not mind paying an insertion fee.

I do not mind paying FVF but I feel that it should not be based on a percentage, that it should be capped.

I realise that you have an answer for everything Phorum Junkie,this is evident when reading other posts, but please respect my right to an opinion and do not be rude.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

*sparklz* — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:17:58 GMT

WOW lucky you to have paid that much in fees for 1 item.

You must have been please to sell 1 item for that amount.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:19:03 GMT

Capped at $50 max is what I meant to say. Why should Ebay benefit if a seller is lucky enough to receive a good offer for their items.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:54:12 GMT

What do you mean the FVF is capped at 30 listings per month?This was one of the first 30 items that I listed which I know are free, but the FVF is capped at $1000 and this INCLUDES the freebies.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

kopenhagen5 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:16:07 GMT

Ebay takes a little to learn but overall it's a very effective and reasonably priced format to sell.

I would have sold the Georg Jensen item with the fee built in as well as listing within the 30 free listings, then the fee is capped.

Watchers are often other sellers as well as buyers, curious as to whether you sell at a particular price.

As for enticing buyers, if your description and photos are good, then the price is all that needs to be right. Maybe some re-lists are needed for the time when someone looking for that particular item looks on ebay.

Looking at your sales, a very good start IMO. Very few advertising mediums get the traffic ebay does.

Happy ebaying.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

kopenhagen5 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:19:16 GMT

If it was sold within the 30 free listings the Final Value Fee is 7.9% and capped at 100.

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/fees.html

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:22:01 GMT

Thanks, I appreciate your advice and will look at adding the fee into the price if I have any other higher value items to sell.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

i-once-was-bump — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 05:06:28 GMT

kopenhagen5 you referred to the ring as being a Georg Jensen, I have to question that as the title is Georg Jensen style and I don't think it looks anything like the quality of an 18ct gold Georg Jensen "Fusion" ring.

Lets hope the buyer is not expecting a Georg Jensen ring.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:27:42 GMT

😮 You're right bump. Didn't notice that. Fingers crossed for both buyer and sellers sake.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

***super_nova*** — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:56:29 GMT

Just as auction house takes percentage of the sale price, except that B&M auction house takes 20% from the seller and another $20 from the buyer. Comparing to that 7.9% on eBay is very low.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:26:27 GMT

Bump it clearly states in my listing that the ring is Georg Jensen "STYLE" it also states VERY CLEARLY that the ring is 9carat.

I have not tried to pass this ring of as an authentic Georg Jensen and I am aware that it would not be possible to buy a Georg Jensen ring in this style for this price.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:28:26 GMT

Kopenhagen5 I have not tried to pass this ring off as an authentic Georg Jensen and I believe that my listing is pretty clear.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:33:34 GMT

I didn't think that for a minute. Only concerned the buyer knows that as some buyers tend not to read all.

Even I at a quick look thought it was a GJ from my home country.

But then again if I was buying, I would look more closely, so the buyer probably knows it's a GJ style ring.

🙂

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:35:51 GMT

Just to add, I know bump wouldn't have thought you were misleading either. We just know how some buyers can be. 😉

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

onei0403 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:53:14 GMT

I hope the buyer has read the listing properly and does realise that the ring is not an authentic GJ.

Furthermore, authentic GJ is very expensive, also very beautiful........sigh....and out of my price league.....big sigh.....

I was only concerned as I try to be extremely honest when listing, so as not to mislead anyone.

Thanks for your kind words....

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

phorum_junkie* — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:42:46 GMT

It doesn't matter what any of us think, saying something is in the style of X, is a replica of X or a copy of X in the title is not allowed, it is called keyword spamming, and despite the word style being included the buyer would almost certainly win an item not as described dispute.

If you are very careful how you word it you can make one reference to it being like a different brand in the body of the description but no brand except the actual one can be put in the title..

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

austeam — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:17:27 GMT

I hope the buyer has read the listing properly and does realise that the ring is not an authentic GJ.

We all learn from experience, and unfortunately the law will rarely recognise ignorance as an excuse. The rules for Keyword Spamming can be found here:

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/keyword-spam.html

These rules exist because eBay has learnt from experience that they can be sued if they allow sellers to breach copyright or trademark laws.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10451818-38.html

In response to your question: Are Ebay trying to get rid of the little sellers? It does appear that way. Years ago they purchased the Gumtree site and advertised it on TV, they introduced Best Match and year after year have continued to up the requirements to do well in searches and they restructured the fees.

However, think of it this way, if you were building up a business in the beginning you would happily take on any client in the hope to spread your name. However, once you are well established you would have to take a serious look at "profit leakage". One aspect to consider is the cost of staff to deal with customer service enquiries from small sellers.

Re: Ebay is so expensive!!

carly2579 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:29:49 GMT

i dont find the fees that expensive