Changes to meet buyer demand on eBay.com.au (26/07/2011)

[CmtyGuide@ebay.com]

Changes to meet buyer demand on eBay.com.au (26/07/2011)

This thread is to discuss with other eBay members the **Changes to meet buyer demand on eBay.com.au** announcement made on 26/07/2011.

These changes include:
· Changes to fees on eBay.com.au
· Introduction of eBay Top Rated Sellers

Please feel free to use this thread to ask any questions you may have about these upcoming changes, as well as other changes mentioned in the announcement.

Please remember, eBay Community Guides are here help you find what you need on eBay Forums but cannot offer advice pertaining to other areas of eBay or engage in conversation. You can find more information about eBay Discussion boards and how they work here: Discussion Board's Help Page

[leader-of-the-band]

Without publicly letting on what I buy and sell, your method is the same as mine. Buy from sellers who are listing in the wrong category for their item and sell in a category that will get far higher prices.

hey mission and cjm . . . . maybe eBay is full of buyers like us who sell what they buy to buyers who then sell it again. If one link in that chain breaks . . . . ZERO paid in fees

[col52]

it also says "To enable eBay to offer this fee structure on a more permanent basis, we're rebalancing and simplifying fees by removing insertion fees and slightly increasing final value fees – from 5.25% to 7.9%"

I think the use of the words "slightly increasing " is deceptive on the part of eBay. Why wasn't it backed up with examples comparing current fees paid on an auction item that sells for $500 with the slightly increased fees under the proposed fee structure? My guess is that it would have shown that "slightly increasing" was a little bit of a porky.

That porky is a big one, will keep many fed!

[missionsellit]

hey mission and cjm . . . . maybe eBay is full of buyers like us who sell what they buy to buyers who then sell it again. If one link in that chain breaks . . . . ZERO paid in fees

Maybe I already know perhaps 3 or 4 other music sellers who have this methodology. If we stop buying due to the risk of only breaking even or even losing on the sale, the first sale goes cheaper than we would have won it for, and our subsequent sale never happens, they used to get say 5.25 % of a low AND a high subsequent sale, plus two listing fees.

NOW they might get 7.9% of one low(er) sale ,coz I won't be bidding anymore, with .......NO Listing FEE :^O:^O from that well meaning occasional seller!!

And my possibly higher sale with a listing fee has just PFFFFT DISAPPEARED !! coz I won't be listing the item I never won cheaply

WHICH CLEVER Actuary employed by ebay even factored that scenario into their projections. (if they can't answer the question, show them the door.......)

Ebay kept (keeps) getting bigger as they were the first site, and critical mass keeps it plundering (apt verb me thinks) on . But you put enough leaks in the 'Mass' and some other site might get the momentum, and THAT will be fun seeing ebay getting 7.9% of less and less.

If I was still selling on eBay OZ, my current cheaper listings would be put aside for higher value items upto 22 sept, then the cheaper items would be run out through a non powerseller registration.but as I sell on UK site for the better visibility of my target market, I will just keep doing what I do. NO OZ seller in their right mind targeting international sales would hang around and pay these new huge fees when better listing visibility is obtained listing on UK or USA for the same money. I know, that's what I have been doing for over 12 months now.
All this also pending the financial Abyss the US gov't is trying their darndest to throw us all into with that debt ceiling impasse. Let's see what Tuesday's deadline brings!

[cjm2589]

If we stop buying due to the risk of only breaking even or even losing on the sale, the first sale goes cheaper than we would have won it for, and our subsequent sale never happens, they used to get say 5.25 % of a low AND a high subsequent sale, plus two listing fees.

straight from the announcement "the fee changes are aimed at encouraging professional and business sellers to list more Buy It Now items in Stores" and by default the little hobby/occasional sellers will get squeezed out.

Do eBay care about us occasional/hobby sellers? I would like to see more responses from the Original Poster (i.e. eBay) seeing as the OP stated "Please feel free to use this thread to ask any questions you may have about these upcoming changes, as well as other changes mentioned in the announcement".

Well eBay, how about it? How about some answers as mooted in the OP? We know that there is some modertion of the posts as some have been removed for mentioning alternative selling sites (like post 105).

When eBay started this post they invited members to ask questions. One of the eBay Community Values is "We encourage you to treat others the way you want to be treated". Well . . . . when I invite others to ask me a question I feel that I am honour bound to provide a reponse in a timely manner.

[pandora_z_box_123]

All I can say is you lot are a LOYAL lot!! You might as well go put your items on Pay It Forward and give them away for free!

Noticed everyone has forgotton you are also paying paypal fees on top of this??

hmmm I am supposing it won't be long before we also see a paypal final value fee slightly rising too ?:O

[col52]

Me loyal to ebay? :^O
Not since 2006.

[dgr2312]

I am disgusted and appalled that ebay are ignoring the people who put them on the map -the honest buyers and sellers. Without people like us they would be nothing. Ebay Australia already has a really poor reputation for high fees and has been abandoned by many potential sellers because of this. This new fee rise to me is the final nail in the coffin. I will no longer use ebay to buy and sell, I will find an alternative.
If ebay wants to change into an online shop to buy cheap Chinese electonics, ripoffs and flatpaks why not just make another website to do this e.g. ebayshop.com - why change an already existing and succesful product.
As a regular user I feel abandoned and exasparted as to why ebay would do this. I am sure someone out there will start a new company and take over where ebay have ignored the real consumer. Then they will lose their share in the market and there will be nobay.

[imagemelbourne]

How does charging Mums & Dads who list at auction a higher FVF encourage new members?

Where is our Top Ranked Seller 20% discount? Put your money where your mouth is eBay and reward your best sellers as you do in other countries.

I remember the eSayers survery : the gist of it was which fee increase do you want? I'm sure many people did as I did and left a comment saying eBay needs to reduce fees. That means lower prices and better variety - surely thats what buyers want!

[budawangs]

So eBay....have you earned an increase? Have you improved productivity or made the site better for all? In most industries you earn a pay rise if savings or improvements are made elsewhere. So whats on offer here??
(And I type this as a "consumer seller")
Increased item character length...tick.
No insertion fees and free gallery photo....tick. (Yes, this is an advantage to sellers and buyers but its also a BIG plus for eBay themselves. I know of buyers who only look at items with a gallery photo. No photo items get bypassed totally. Perhaps stats prove items with gallery photos sell better so offering this is better for their bottom line, not just for the customers.) It also saves lots of silly entries on the monthly account.
Increase in FVF....XXXXXXX
Do eBay honestly think the above 2 offerings equate to a 50%+ increase in fees?
Add to that previous decisions that have reduced search capability, reduced or amalgamated categories, limited postage in some categories and not others, etc etc etc.
SO NO THE INCREASE IS NOT JUSTIFIED.
Could you imagine eBay employees getting a 50% pay rise for such minor savings??
eBay...past decisions have cost you a lot of valued customers. Perhaps you are now losing money but increasing costs will NOT win them back or increase income.
Getting sellers and buyers back in the good books will.
SO HOW ABOUT THIS?
The above 2 tick improvements are great and help everybody.
Having one flat FVF is also easier accounting wise.
So how about me as a seller offer you, eBay, a flat FVF fee of say, 4.5% for my custom.
I'll put up a lot more items with nice long titles and a gallery photo which aids all buyers and hopefully I'll get a fair price for them, which will be good for me but also you, as you will earn more the more I sell.
And maybe other sellers will join in.
How about we implement it for a trial period from Sept 22 just in time for the Christmas buyers!!

[tropical_scene]

Eric, you still need public liability to cover yourself should a buyer hurt themselves on the product you sell them. Its not just an insurance for B & M stores.