EBAY'S NEW HEALTH CHECK - I think it is seriously SICK!!

[6508.froggy]

Just received eBay's latest assistance to sellers *Ebay's NEW HEALTH CHECK* .

This may be old news but they are moving timed BUY IT NOW and will move all my listings to GOOD TIL CANCELLED. Well that is not what I want but then again we have no say. 

This does not suit me for many reasons with something new I like to use 10 days as an option. The rest are 30 day listings which gives me the option to adjust the listings if they are not attracting buyers or watches. I will sometimes group them with other items etc. 

I find the 30 day listings far more manageable for my business needs. 

So if all fixed listings are good til cancelled I dare say the next step will be for those with ebay stores will be reduced with the amount of fixed listings in their subscription. 

Good til cancelled also means there will be a hell of a lot of old stock on there for years or if I remember correctly they were bringing in limited time for listings.

I have had my vent but OH SO FRUSTRATING makes me wonder why I am doing this. 

[egglesdtp]

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@wide-world-of-stamps wrote:
Luckily we read this thread yesterday, and realised that (contrary to the email we received) our listings wouldn't be changed to GTC without charge.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon editing the 700+ items over our non-store sites to untick the auto-relist box.

Checking this morning, this seems to have worked as listings ending have not been re-listed.

Thanks to everyone who posted about the re-lists as it saved us a lot of money and angst.

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And yet, as recently as last weekend, this offer was available:

It clearly states that it's free to relist.  Apparently not any more.

[brerrabbit585]

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@egglesdtp wrote:

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:

Lots of non-stores have had unlimited listings with no fees for the last 14 months and it's unrealistic to expect ebay to keep giving without expecting anything in return.

If people think they don't get enough sales to justify a store, look at it from ebay's point of view - those sellers don't get enough sales to justify giving them hundreds of free listings for slow selling items that clog up the site.  I personally am tired of looking at the same listings all the time when I search some categories by newly listed, so I think it's great that only auctions can auto relist or be on short durations now, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.  Buyers are being turned off ebay in droves because of the same things constantly relisting but putting everything on GTC will help a lot because many sellers won't bother to make the effort to constantly end and relist.

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I have been stewing over these comments since reading them a couple of hours ago.

>>it's unrealistic to expect ebay to keep giving without expecting anything in return<<.

Oh, so the final value fees that the sellers pay when they make a sale is 'not giving anything in return' to ebay?

>>those sellers don't get enough sales to justify giving them hundreds of free listings for slow selling items that clog up the site<<

You make it sound as though somehow this is the seller's fault.

Who has been offering unlimited free listings (AND 8 free relists) for several months?

Not the sellers, but EBAY.

Of the many infuriating effects this change has made, the one where as recently as last weekend:

ebay was offering sellers the opportunity to list as many items for free. Which I did - and was able to check the 8 free relists box on each listing as well - and yet when the first 30 days is up, I will have to pay to relist all those items if they haven't sold.

How can ebay do this???? To offer free listing and free relists just 4 days ago, then implement having to pay listing fees if you exceed the 40 per month?

And don't say that ebay told us about this coming change a month ago, because it was all so incredibly vague and badly written it was impossible to understand the implications. And didn't Dave also say something along the lines of those items that had had the free relists checked would be honoured?

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You've been selling on ebay long enough to know that any extra listings they give aren't permanent and that you can't rely on getting them forever.  Just because ebay give extra listings doesn't mean they're happy to have everyone list items that take years to sell, nor does the fact they've been giving extra freebies to a small number of sellers mean those sellers are ENTITLED to always get them.  The extra freebies were never meant for people to start up mini-businesses that aren't profitable enough to be run as a business (by having a store).

As for charging when they converted to GTC, they said they wouldn't charge fees for it so that was probably a glitch and will be rectified.  If it wasn't deliberate and if they refund the fees there's no point getting all emotional about it and accusing them of all sorts of underhand, illegal activity.  There's enough proof that they said nobody would be charged when they changed that I'm sure the ACCC will soon deal with it if ebay doesn't fix it.

Oh, so the final value fees that the sellers pay when they make a sale is 'not giving anything in return' to ebay?

What these small low-volume sellers give in return to ebay is a pittance compared to what those with stores pay, and I don't just mean the store fee.  Many stores have a lot less listings than non-stores but contribute much, much more to the running of the site.

those sellers don't get enough sales to justify giving them hundreds of free listings for slow selling items that clog up the site<<

You make it sound as though somehow this is the seller's fault.  

Well, who else's fault is it than the seller?  Ebay isn't responsible for what you choose to list, so how is it ebay's fault if a seller chooses to list slow-selling items?

I'm definitely in favour of the 'user pays' principle, whether it be ebay listings or paying for my water usage or garbage collection.  If I'm efficient, why should I pay for someone else's inefficiency?

[lyndal1838]

[lynne8221]

Just putting up a new listing & under the GTC box (obviously the only one now available) it quite clearly states "Listings renew automatically every 30 days, based on the listing terms at that time, until all quantities sell or the listing ends. Each time a listing renews and when an item sells, you’ll be charged applicable fees."

Each time a listing renews...that says it all!!

Listing fees every 30 days after freebies have been used.

[5kazam]

wrote :

“I'm definitely in favour of the 'user pays' principle, whether it be ebay listings or paying for my water usage or garbage collection.  If I'm efficient, why should I pay for someone else's inefficiency?”

Hang on a minute.  We are all ‘user pays’ whether we have a store or not. 

We all pay our FVF on sale and postage (plus PP fees).  Just because non-stores don’t contribute the volume of $’s doesn’t mean they are less efficient.  They are just not selling as a business as you are.

I’m sure that other non-store sellers will be as annoyed as I am with your comments.

[imastawka]

Just putting it out there - it won't affect me.

Never got any freebies - well, I did back in the good ol' days when ebay gave stores

unlimited free listings or 10,00 free listings and about a week to do it.

My numbers aren't affected because I haven't reached my limits yet.  They've all rolled over to GTC now.

As a buyer, I think it will be good to see 'New listings' that are in fact, new and not boring old re-lists.

I'm goin' with the flow.  

Spoiler

[*tippy*toes*]

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@5kazam wrote:

wrote :

“I'm definitely in favour of the 'user pays' principle, whether it be ebay listings or paying for my water usage or garbage collection.  If I'm efficient, why should I pay for someone else's inefficiency?”

Hang on a minute.  We are all ‘user pays’ whether we have a store or not. 

We all pay our FVF on sale and postage (plus PP fees).  Just because non-stores don’t contribute the volume of $’s doesn’t mean they are less efficient.  They are just not selling as a business as you are.

I’m sure that other non-store sellers will be as annoyed as I am with your comments.

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Yes, I am one of those non-store sellers who is also annoyed by her comments. Some months I can't keep up with the posting. Other months I sell nothing. I may sell nothing for 3 months, then sell 50 or 100 items the next month. Often on those big months, items that are "stale" get sold. This year alone I have sold a lot of items that had been relisted for several years. One buyer went nuts. 

If I sell nothing for 3 months on all 3 accounts, that's nearly $100/mth I'd be spending on store fees for absolutely nothing in return. I believe in user pays too, but I don't feel the need to pay for nothing. If I use water or gas I expect to pay for it. If I didn't use it, then I'd be miffed if I had to.

Thankfully I'm not one who went nuts when promotions were on, because I know that they could end at any time (and they usually do). However, even without the promos, with 40 free listings and free relists, I could have 120 active listings (when it was 3 free relists), without ever needing a promo. Now I could be potentially charged for 80 listings because eBay decided to change the rules.

Spoiler

Sits back and waits for an eruption.......

[brerrabbit585]

But you still pay a service pay to have access to water and gas, even if you don't use it. Why should stores pay a 'service fee' (store fee) while other users don't? If a store sells $10-20K a year, why should ebay make them pay $27.45 a month for 600 listings while other sellers can have the same number of listings for free even if they only sell $1,000 or $2,000 a year? That's hardly user pays when it comes to how much space/maintenance a seller's listings require.

[merfar2107]

It's not compulsory to have a store. It's a choice. 

[5kazam]

SNAP - I was in the middle of typing the same thing!!!