@justkidzbiz wrote:
Whilst I hate the fees on postage, I get why they did it.
What I loathe is the sellers who get the "bumped up" listings because they offer Express Post and charge $299.00 for Express Post! Yep, you read correctly $299 for Express Post for an under 500gm itemt. That really irks me, hence I refuse to buy from these types of sellers, even if it was the only item in the world!
They do it because eBay gives them the shiny "Premium service" badge for meeting all the requirements (which include 0-1 day handling, free post, and an express option - they don't want or expect anyone to select express for whatever reason, if they did the prices would be closer to reasonable).
I personally reject most theories as to why eBay introduced FVF on postage that have to do with what sellers did or did not do in the past, or what they want them to do - particularly because a FVF on postage does absolutely nothing to discourage the practice of inflated postage costs, because incentive is still there.
If I inflate my postage costs by just a couple of dollars, that's a couple of extra dollars in my pocket if someone returns something for change of mind, because I only refund item price in those cases. FVF on postage may have reduced the dis-incentive (if that's a proper word or phrase) to switch to free post, but it did nothing to increase the incentive. If I have separate postage and can minimise the postage a buyer pays, I also minimise the fees I pay. (And while "free post" may maximise profits on a per-sale basis, I doubt it does so overall or in the long term for a lot of sellers, particularly those who count on multiple item orders for sustainability, unless they can manage postage-inclusive prices, or provide discounts, that remain competitive with sellers who reduce via combined postage rates).
If eBay really cared about inflated postage costs, they wouldn't have removed the policies that they did once the FVF on postage was in place. If they cared about making site policies to genuinely encourage sellers to provide buyers with net positive onsite experiences, they would have done something about all the other issues and practices that drive buyers away (fixing item location misrepresentation, variation format abuse, cart issues etc. well, they're probably still looking for a way to profit off a "fix" that doesn't actively work to fix the problem, but can be passed off as their attempt to address it).
