eBay

asporty · ‎23-12-2023

A question about selling under current ebay promotions

Some years ago ebay started a push towards offering free postage which I mostly ignored. Then ebay started 'Ebay Plus' and included only items with free postage in their promotions. So I changed all listings to offer free postage.

Now for the past one year I have been participating in ebay co-funded promotions. So for example if ebay offers 17% discount to buyers then I fund 12% and ebay funds 5%. Most of my listings still show free postage, which means my postage cost is added to the item cost. I think that now I need to separate postage costs to sell under these promotions, as that will reduce my item cost and thus reduce my out of pocket discount offerings.

Interested to hear if anyone else also has compared free postage with paid postage options with these promotions?

countessalmirena · ‎23-12-2023

Many buyers - myself included - are not induced to get an eBay Plus subscription; it just doesn’t offer me any value.

You may find that ditching the eBay Plys requirements won’t affect your sales negatively.

Perhaps try mixing and matching…? Try one listing that Plus-compliant, and similar one that’s not. Monitor results.

davewil1964 · ‎23-12-2023

I don't do promotions and ensure I don't qualify for eBay Plus

springyzone · ‎24-12-2023

My understanding is that ebay plus is not just about offering free postage. Sellers need to be offering an extremely quick service between capital cities as well. That's an extra stress for sellers.

I am like countess and not interested in ebay plus as I am not convinced I'd get the use out of it. Most sellers I seem to buy from are not in it and I am not a massive buyer. I don't know how much of a draw it is to other buyers. You'd think they would judge purchases more on what they want rather than if a seller is signed up to ebay plus but I guess it could be a factor for those signed up. I am not sure how many buyers (% wise) are signed up to it though.

If I were you, I'd probably not worry too much about qualifying for ebay plus as I am not convinced the majority of buyers are in it.

The promotions I think can work, in that an item can look more attractive if on sale & that will work with any buyer, ebay plus member or not. But with those, I think a separate postage cost would definitely work in your favour.

Maybe try out both options and see how they go.

asporty · ‎24-12-2023

Just to clarify, I never bothered to join Ebay Plus as a seller. I am simply ensuring that I stay informed on how to sell with ebay's latest promotions. And at the moment it seems like offering free postage is not working in my favor as the higher item price attracts higher buyer discounts that I have to shell out.

danieh_6 · ‎25-12-2023

Really depends on your business model, As a buyer eBay plus is great discount wise, its paid for itself + more its worth it for me.

As a seller it really depends if you want to clear some stock its nice however for the most part its extra work for less profit, it purely about volume and sales numbers and being eBay plus buyers can return for w/e reason in w/e condition with no recourse,

springyzone · ‎26-12-2023

@asporty wrote:
Just to clarify, I never bothered to join Ebay Plus as a seller. I am simply ensuring that I stay informed on how to sell with ebay's latest promotions. And at the moment it seems like offering free postage is not working in my favor as the higher item price attracts higher buyer discounts that I have to shell out.

No, it wouldn't be working in your favour at all.

Just a note about postage, from a buyer perspective. Or my perspective anyway, not sure it applies to everyone of course.

But I personally am fine with separate postage, it is the total cost of an item that counts.

But also I think I am influenced by the ratio, postage cost compared to item cost.

I can't see what you are selling. And I do appreciate that PO charges are high, postage isn't ever free.

But eg if I saw something at $8 with postage of $12.95 or whatever, I'd think long and hard before I bought it, I'd be thinking I'd be better off trying to find it in a shop.

If I saw it at $21 total with free postage, I wouldn't know the breakdown, although I might still think the price was a bit stiff.

On the other hand, if I wanted to buy something worth eg $45, then the $12.95 postage might look a lot more reasonable & if I could get a bit of a discount on the item cost, I'd be happy.