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

[3buttercups]

Maybe we should all opt out and leave Ebay to the Americans. It certainly doesn't seem worth our while to stick around. My sales have decreased substantially over the past month - I'm selling 25% less - my items have been as good or better than items I've sold all year. I know the cost of living has had an impact, but Ebay's policy changes and pending policy changes, I feel, are also impacting. When Ebay Aust is open to the US, I'm worried my little shop will be lost in the wide ocean that Ebay Australia will be. It's sad, I've worked for years to build it up. Will all the fees I've given Ebay it's even sadder that Ebay don't let Power Sellers and Loyal Sellers like me have a say on these very important changes. That is, apart from this discussion board that I'm sure, even if they bother to read it, Ebay take the content with a pinch of salt. I can't help but feel that the whole schmozzle is run by a lot of narcisitic kids.
Deb

[4buyourbay]

Yes, alreday dabblilng with that and going well.
Facebook also has garage sale sites for local areas,
it's friendly and no fees !

[cmoffice]

[quote mid="504760733"]Thats right. No more multiple items per listing unless you open a shop etc.
As a "casual book seller" I will not be able to sell sets of books or a number of books by the same author unless I list them individually or open a store.

Sorry, but you do have this one wrong. You can certainly sell a set of books in one listing. You just cannot sell several sets of books, to multiple sellers, through one listing.

Oh GOD... Did I just defend eBay, (who are surely the spawn of Satan)...

[bonzo1981]

Man....

I've had a wild ride since I joined last year.

I made a couple of early mistakes that resulted in neg feedback (learnt my lesson, improved description and service), had a great pre-Christmas and a lame New Year.

Since Easter I've been taking a good look at whether it would be worth opening a store and going full time for a few months (the good life... working from home) and seeing what would happen. I developed a cold sweat when I realised that for the past 3 months I've worked at a loss! The fees had become so insidious that I hadn't noticed. Listing fees, final value fees, Paypal fees... I had even done the decent and applied for an ABN... Ha! What the hell was I thinking!

I'm now using ebay to have an early spring clean and then I shall ride my sorry bottom (sorry ebay, you won't get to give me a formal dressing down for using a four letter word on a forum again - this was after filing a non delivery complaint from a fraudulent seller - must have been coincidence!)

I don't need to look twice at the new fees, believe it or not ebay, most of us can do simple maths. I can see where myself as a small time Powerseller (now there's a badge of distinction) will be penalised for being a non(paying)-store with REAL "borders" when it comes to selling media items on ebay.

I wonder if there are any other sites that allow music, books, collectables to be sold for more realistic fees?

Hmmmm..... let me google that one....

[bonzo1981]

Deb, I couldn't agree more! I'm pretty new and it's been hard work to keep a decent balance of service, profit, feedback etc. You've been around a lot longer and built up what looks like a great reputation only to see it undermined. That would be so disheartening. I suspect that a spoon fed gen-y undergrad is overseeing this forum as I type (didn't mean that ebay.... don't take me to task for a forum post again, please... I'll be good). I'm glad I've been shocked to my senses early.
Paul.

[pomgonewalkabout]

I 've been a member for a while and when selling under an old User name Bluefox64 I built up a good feedback rating of 483 from memory. I used ebay to mainly sell my unwanted cricket memorabilia and general items to fund the buying of a new rooftop tent.

I've recently returned and have stated to sell items under my domain name and soon will be selling new items sourced from a wholesaler.
Items that I have in my hot grubby hands.
Items that are genuine, in stock and not drop shipped from overseas.

These new fees couldn't have come at a worse time really as I may have to rethink my strategy.

I can't help but think that some of of the complaints about the new fees from Powersellers are in some cases laughable.
I bet you have made a fortune from using ebay?
May I ask how much you pay your Landlord in renting a shop or paying Staff not to mention their Super. What about advertising and electricity? oh you have a shop? Well compare the ebay costs against the costs of that.

Insurance don't forget that too. Those customers tripping on the carpet will be putting in a claim so you need public liability insurance. At the end of the day these fees are quite small really when you compare the costs of having a high Street store.
Think about it. You are open 24 hours a day, every day.

Powersellers there is money to be made by telling the small ebayers the secrets of your success.

Ebay has definitely changed over the years and I miss the gargage sale feel that it used to have.

I dislike the listings that say located in Australia then I have to wait weeks whilst my Solar panels were delivered from China!

As for the alternative Auctionsites, I visited a few and they are like ghost ships. One of them is full of Adobe software selling brand new for $85? Adobe photoshop CS5 for that price, can't be real. Why is it allowed.

I remember the rant and raving a few years ago when ebay made it compulsary to offer payment by Paypal. But what a safe way to do business?

Okay I don't agree with the Paypal fees and charging fees on Postage!

Rant over.

Cheers Eric

[rugrats2009]

I received an email directly from Ebay on the 26/7/11 offering me the following:

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%. The final value fee will be capped at $49.95 for the first 30 listings per month.

This is an actual paste from the email so as I read it I can sell 30 items in a month and my fvf will be capped at $49.95 for all of the 30 listings. This is what they offered me personally and directly, isn't an offer by email legally binding?

[waterlilycat]

I hate the fact that paypal charge fees on postage, it's unethical & money grubbing.

[cmoffice]

Sorry to all and even to eBay for my last post. After investing several hundred thousand dollars, in a REAL business, paying GST and all taxes, and having a 5 year lease, I now face the challenge of either letting eBay make more money off my product than I do, or closing down...
eBay know they have so many of us over a barrel.
This is why Australia has always regulated against monopolies, however, until there is a valid SINGLE competitor against eBay, 100 smaller sites will never attract anywhere near the business that eBay does.

Good luck to all sellers, and may your desire for profit never reach the greed of your online selling platform...

There I go again... I'm so fired up about this, but feel I'm crying in the dark.

[missionsellit]

I received an email directly from Ebay on the 26/7/11 offering me the following:

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%. The final value fee will be capped at $49.95 for the first 30 listings per month.

This is an actual paste from the email so as I read it I can sell 30 items in a month and my fvf will be capped at $49.95 for all of the 30 listings. This is what they offered me personally and directly, isn't an offer by email legally binding?

Fantastic point rugrats !! KEEP THAT EMAIL ! I re read my email and you are right.........BUT

As soon as you question getting FVF fees on each item totalling more than 49.95, I fear they could read between the lines also and do this to small sellers.......

You list 30 items, 5 only sell for a total of 100 bucks. Under your definition, ebay may see fit to charge a final value fee capped at 49.95 for those 5 items.......... (oops)

well maybe I'm being a bit pessimistic about ebay fee potential, but in that email, as usual with ebay information they say a lot, without enough detail, and none of that particular paragraph (the first one we all read) defined that the 7.9 % or the CAP were on individual or the grand total .

Other people read it that the 49.95 was on the total of all 30 items way as well, see previous comments in this post

That's why they set up this discussion, so they could send out misinforming (or misleading by way of ommission) important news, and we all sit here sorting out the fine points ourselves. AND someone in ebay gets PAID to write that stuff. someone else proof reads it and they STILL sent it out !!! 😮

Must have been the same person/s that put together the help pages, lots of writing, very foggy definitions sometimes