@diamond-halo wrote:
Hi Clarry, May I ask,
Why does it bother you that eBay will be charging a fee based on the amount a seller charges to meet the delivery terms contained in their sales contract, but not concerned with them charging a fee based on what the other terms of the contract are?
It is true, eBay don't provide the method of delivery, but they don't supply the product either (which as I have recentl;y learned can be a service such as accommodation), yet you seem more accepting of that.
When they currently charge FVF's, they charge fees on the cost of the product and your profit margin, neither of which has anything to do with them.
HALO - most of your comments are fairly narrowly focussed on the immediate technicalities of the decision. If taken at this level, they may be justified........... I think many people are looking at the wider picture and the general affect that the recent decisions will have on small traders and ebay as a total business model. I have several concerns about this current FVF on postage.
The first is that the real price increase in commisions for the avarage sale means a jump of more like 30% in total FVF compared to previous charge. ( this is due to the postage component on small sales which make up the largest number of total transactions being a large % of total item price. ) By introducing it as 10% on postage it just sounds like a 10% rise. It is not transparent.
My second concern is that this will drive many small home based sellers and non commercial sellers from the site. This will affect all sellers big and small, as many people use the money from their small sales to purchase items from larger sellers and more expensive items from ebay that they may not otherwise be able to afford. They also window shop other items when logged in to see how thier own auction items are going. Small private sellers are the foundation that larger traders businesses are built on. The loss of these small sellers is a major structural change to the whole ebay business model and will reduce the money circulation "pie" for everyone.
My third concern is closely related in that I do genuinly care about other, often small ebayers who rely on making a few dollars from ebay to help their already stretched budgets pay for the kids shoes, fridge breaking down, gifts for the grandkids etc. I realise that ebay is not part of the social services, but is currently indirectly assisting these people. It may not be ebays job, but Hey if it is working and not effecting anything, does it hurt to leave it the way it is ??? ( Large corporation, social responsability verses corporate greed stuff. )
My fourth concern is the general way that ebay is heading. I feel ebay is activly discouraging small to medium sellers from using the operating platform. It seems to be setting the site up as a large International shopping mall with large businesses selling new items. My concern is that small to medium, sized traders ( virtually all of the people using the forums YES, YOU & ME ) often selling used items will not be welcome here at all at some point in the future. These are all "big picture" concerns not related so much to ebays individual decisions and policies, but clearly illustrated by the recent announcement of FVF on postage.
I personally wouldnt be able to use Gumtree or QS. to operate my business from, as I rely on high product churn rates. If I had to answer the phone all of the time, put up with the silly offers, collect the money myself ( even with direct credit ) it would take too much time and I simply couldnt process enough orders to be viable. And all of this is for reasonably high value items. Lower price points just wouldnt work. So my concerns are partly self interested ( I have a good business here and I want to keep it going ), Partly socially based ( small sellers making a few bucks to help with stretched budgets ) and partly broad based concern that ebay is making a large mistake that will affect the total ebay business structure, weakening the system ( and then back to my first concern INCLUDING MY BUSINESS )
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