Ebay Premium Services - Top Rated Seller

[omahkulo]

Hi Everyone,

I am sure this is a gripe thats probably been mentioned a few times here, but qualifying to have the Top-Rated Seller and/or Ebay Premium Service logo's in your listing would be nice if it was handed out equally.

The one sticking point for me is that I dont offer Free Shipping and I dont plan too, as I want to offer my customers the best value possible, and with Free Shipping, its a Rip Off for them, as we all know there is NO SUCH THING as free shipping, even though many custoimers cant see that.

I just wish ebay would offer these services to sellers that qualify in the other fields except for shipping.

Yes i know ebay is a pure commercial operation and they want make money, and they make a hell of alot more if an item is free shipping than if it isnt, especially if multiples are sold.

But many sellers here want to make a living and also offer value.

Anyway, thats just my little venting session for now.

Happy ebaying to all out there..

Mike.

[yeoldecoinco]

eBay Premium Service Badge. A poisoned chalice if I have ever seen one.

You are expected to send all items by free post on the same or next day and offer a 30 day return.

With an estimated delivery time system that is completely stacked against you and takes little account of Australian conditions and distances.

Your reward for achieving all this? An eBay Premium Service badge. Whoopee Do!

20% discount on fees for achieving these lofty hoops like Americans get? Fat chance, not even 10%, always has been a big fat nothing.

Whilst I watch my fees disappear each month into a Swiss tax haven, as I fork out over $10,000 a year in GST to the Australian Government. Not only can I not claim any GST input credits on my eBay fees, BUT they rip an extra 3% out of account each month because it (paying fees to eBay) is considered an OVERSEAS transaction even they are supposed to be eBay Australia...

Don't get me wrong, eBay has been good for me as a seller (and dare I say, I have been good for it) over the past 15 years, but they give sellers less and less incentive as the years go on. This is because they have too many sellers and not enough buyers these days. 

They are at an interesting stage. For their size and the amount of employees they must have, not really that profitable and the other players that begin with an A are taking a substantial share of the market.

I think I saw their overall nett profit (eBay USA) was 6.93 billion last year. Whilst that sounds impressive, much of it gets paid to shareholders and it is quite a lot less than say, any of the four major Australian banks.

[desolate-sellable]

Hi I read most answers briefly so if i cover something that's been said sorry.

Offer free postage you pay fees on them anyway........

Your items are fairly low value & light weight Use regular envelopes Australia Post Pre paid is the best way to go.

you can post 500 grams for a dollar at 6mm thick larger thickness two dollars depending on weight.

yes sure that's not tracked but its my experience i save BIG on postage.

This way out ways the scams that say they didn't receive it maybe 2 a month for me,

doesn't matter if its tracked you have to pay them back anyway per paypal policy so you cant win just adapt.

My rule of thumb is set a cost of your item that you are NOT happy to loose in a dollar value to loss and theft send those items regular tracked post about $7 for me.

you will save many dollars and sales will increase with mutiple purchase per buyer.

I don't offer any premium service.

I don't offer express. I give express as a freebie to high dollars buyers.

I offer 3 days handling time.

I offer 7 day returns. --- I have dealt with 5 returns in two years.

I don't offer click and collect as that has to be tracked.

Last tax year eBay sales for me made more than my carpentry as a subcontractor.

IMO free postage has been the driving force in my sales and not all my listing are free postage.

Buyers will purchase more items and your sales will go up.

Free Postage works and we all no we pay for it.

Cheers Happy selling

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

If you are registered for GST (as you claim) then you do not pay GST on your Ebay fees.

[brerrabbit585]

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@desolate-sellable wrote:

Hi I read most answers briefly so if i cover something that's been said sorry.

Offer free postage you pay fees on them anyway........

Your items are fairly low value & light weight Use regular envelopes Australia Post Pre paid is the best way to go.

you can post 500 grams for a dollar at 6mm thick larger thickness two dollars depending on weight.

yes sure that's not tracked but its my experience i save BIG on postage.

This way out ways the scams that say they didn't receive it maybe 2 a month for me,

doesn't matter if its tracked you have to pay them back anyway per paypal policy so you cant win just adapt.

My rule of thumb is set a cost of your item that you are NOT happy to loose in a dollar value to loss and theft send those items regular tracked post about $7 for me.

you will save many dollars and sales will increase with mutiple purchase per buyer.

I don't offer any premium service.

I don't offer express. I give express as a freebie to high dollars buyers.

I offer 3 days handling time.

I offer 7 day returns. --- I have dealt with 5 returns in two years.

I don't offer click and collect as that has to be tracked.

Last tax year eBay sales for me made more than my carpentry as a subcontractor.

IMO free postage has been the driving force in my sales and not all my listing are free postage.

Buyers will purchase more items and your sales will go up.

Free Postage works and we all no we pay for it.

Cheers Happy selling

---

I'd like to know where you get your figures from, but it's definitely NOT from Aust Post!  A small letter is no larger than 130 x 240 mm, no thicker than 5mm, and no heavier than 250g.

[ozstockman]

Free postage is a rip off for buyers especially. 

1) You cannot combine postage if postage is included in the item price as there is nothing to offset combined postage discount on eBay invoice. eBay does not allow to set a discount of the listed price.

2)It is ok for letter postage and parcels under 500g as postage rates are the same no matter where items with this postage services is sent as long as it is sent within Australia. However when a package is over 500g that's where eBay is forcing you to either loose on postage or overcharge those buyers who are closer to you or leave in metro areas. 

A simple exlample that will show how eBay is forcing you to rip your buyer off or yourself.

[ozstockman]

Sorry I did not finish my  last message. If anybody need an example I will provide one.

As for the penalty for not offering free postage and 1 day processing ebay has stated in their emails that my items without these two will be lowered in a search result. I can actually see it is working this way when my sales dropped almost 4 times in the last 3 years.

I am stil trying to find those emails just to see exactly how ebay has worded it but it is hard to find them among 100 000s of emails I have in my imbox.

[digital*ghost]

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@ozstockman wrote:

1) You cannot combine postage if postage is included in the item price as there is nothing to offset combined postage discount on eBay invoice. eBay does not allow to set a discount of the listed price.

---

You actually can now, via promotions manager: http://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/grow-your-business/promotions-manager

For example, let's say (for the sake of simplicity) all of the items in my store are priced at $20 with $5 flat rate postage. With promotions manager, I could switch all items to being $25 free post, and then use promotions manager to give people a $5 discount for each addional item they buy. 

ETA: I still find it less than ideal, as it only works if multiple, eligible items are added to the cart, and eBay's purchase process / cart still leaves a lot to be desired, but it's a step in the right direction for those that find free post works, but don't want to charge full postage on every item a buyer purchases. 

[ozstockman]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@ozstockman wrote:

1) You cannot combine postage if postage is included in the item price as there is nothing to offset combined postage discount on eBay invoice. eBay does not allow to set a discount of the listed price.

---

You actually can now, via promotions manager: http://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/grow-your-business/promotions-manager

For example, let's say (for the sake of simplicity) all of the items in my store are priced at $20 with $5 flat rate postage. With promotions manager, I could switch all items to being $25 free post, and then use promotions manager to give people a $5 discount for each addional item they buy. 

Thanks I will look into it. If it allows to create different groups of items with  a particular  discount for each group that is a way  better than nothing.

[justkidzbiz]

Came across this flaw in eBays Top Rated Premium status

To qualify for eBay Premium Service, you must offer all of the following on each listing:
Free postage to AU buyers
Same business day or one business day handling
30+ day money back return policy
Express postage option - offering delivery within one day

seller offers "free postage"

Seller offers Express Post but charges $99.00

What an absolute croc!  No one in their right mind would pay $99 for Express Post, but hey I guess the seller gets his Top Seller Premium Status.

[davewil1964]

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@ozstockman wrote:

Free postage is a rip off for buyers especially. 

1) You cannot combine postage if postage is included in the item price as there is nothing to offset combined postage discount on eBay invoice. eBay does not allow to set a discount of the listed price.

2)It is ok for letter postage and parcels under 500g as postage rates are the same no matter where items with this postage services is sent as long as it is sent within Australia. However when a package is over 500g that's where eBay is forcing you to either loose on postage or overcharge those buyers who are closer to you or leave in metro areas. 

A simple exlample that will show how eBay is forcing you to rip your buyer off or yourself.

---

I have found short distance prices to be no better than flat rate for over 500g. eg - One side of Canberra to the other counts as N2 to N2, which equals an arm and a leg.

Admittedly, I don't live in Melbourne or Sydney.

There are 1kg, 3kg and 5kg options available from AP, so fixed price is certainly an option, which I use. The only times I use calculated postage are for eBay 500g and 3kg satchels. Even then that is not particularly satisfying, as eBay haven't amended them to reflect last October's increases.

So, using calculated to avoid having to amend over 2000 items every time there is a postage increase hasn't really worked. It used to...