New way EBay to take more money in fees

[locall1961]

Great, just got an email from EBay regarding the way ad fees are going to be calculated. Gee it is just getting harder and harder to sell on EBay. They may not charge us listing fees to list an item but if it’s a pretty popular item and you do not pay extra to get it promoted it gets lost right down the bottom of listings and I am an above average seller, so you feel you need to pay extra money to get it up the list, very sneaky way of us really paying insertion fees. Now they are going to wait till the end of an auction or once it’s sold to then charge a percentage not only on the sale price but on the postage charges and any fees they charge the buyer if overseas, it all comes out of your final sale price. I do not understand why I am charged fvf’s on tax they charge a buyer who lives overseas oh and don’t forget the GST on top of all that. It’s no wonder more and more people are turning to other options to sell their items

[twyngwyn]

eBay Raises Ad Fees on June 1st (ecommercebytes.com)

[jellybirddesigns]

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it all comes out of your final sale price. I do not understand why I am charged fvf’s on tax they charge a buyer who lives overseas oh and don’t forget the GST on top of all that. It’s no wonder more and more people are turning to other options to sell their items

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Nobody should be relying just on Ebay for an income. Diversification is key.

I have 2 Ebay stores, 2 Etsy stores, my own website and I list on FB Marketplace.

If sales are down on Ebay, you can bet they are going gangbusters on Etsy regardless, so either way I'm still moving product and still making an income.

[0420*whitaker]

I totally agree it is just a cash grab. I mean if you have a item for $5.00 and use it prepared to lose .50c from the sale fine but if say that is going overseas and adding $20.00 postage suddenly you are losing $2.50 for the promotion alone, and all other fees on top of that. And is it any surprise that when i currently try to remove the promoted aspect from adds it glitches and fails. 

[eol-products]

Nobody should be relying just on Ebay for an income. Diversification is key.

I have 2 Ebay stores, 2 Etsy stores, my own website and I list on FB Marketplace.

If sales are down on Ebay, you can bet they are going gangbusters on Etsy regardless, so either way I'm still moving product and still making an income.

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I find just doing ebay takes up most of my time and feel I am better to concentrate on one platform and make the most of it. Lately I have managed to keep a 5% sales conversion rate which seams to be making a difference. I know some people say if they shut you have nothing to fall back on but the odds of that happening are slim especially if you know what to avoid to reduce the chance of it happening. 

[jellybirddesigns]

@eol - If you have a situation that is working for you, that's good! Your items are mostly suitable to Ebay anyway, unlike mine which are handmade and can therefore fit perfectly into a platform like Etsy too.

There was a time before November 2020 when this Ebay store was growing year on year and my Etsy store was having sales, but way less so. I would estimate that the ratio was Ebay 70% and Etsy 30%. Now, not only has that flipped around, but Etsy is far, far outpacing Ebay, with the current ratio of 90% to Etsy and 10% to Ebay. Since I work from home anyway, I have the time to invest in both platforms, so for me that's not an issue.

If I was to rely solely on Ebay at this point in time, I would starve.

[locall1961]

That’s great you can do that. I only sell stuff that I have at home so it’s not a lot and for me, it’s not a business, just a way to earn a little extra cash. The only other place I sell on is Marketplace. I have no idea how to do Etsy and have never purchased on there either. Is that free? Do you get much interest and sales?

[glenbankloel]

Hi Jellybird, how on earth do you manage all those sites?

We are on eBay and Etsy and we struggle with just these 2, our sales are not huge but enough for us. But we would never be able to cope with what you are doing. 

I tip my hat to you for all the work you must be doing. (do you sleep?).......ha ha ha

[jellybirddesigns]

@glen - this Ebay store, my main Etsy store and my website all sell mostly the same thing, so for me it's just a question of managing the orders. I do a lot of prep work at the beginning of each week for my handmade stuff so when an order comes through I just have to put it together and sew. The secondary Ebay and Etsy stores have things which are not handmade, so I just have to pack them. I have found the workload to be manageable by myself, but only because I've set up my studio to be very efficient.

@locall1961 - have a look at the other platform - you can sell handmade or vintage if it over 20 years old, which is fine for some of your items. It's not free, but not any more expensive than Ebay. I would have it as an alternative/backup. 

[roaminghigh]

I cancelled my promoted listings campaign as soon as I read that email, don't want any nasty surprises come 1st June. Will reassess the situation when I get some time, but thoroughly disgusted with eBay for this move.