eBay

tigergirl1 · ‎08-06-2015

Several years ago, I upgraded to the Premium Store level at $49.95 instead of $15.95. For many months now, my expensive items have not sold, and it has been my books that have been selling, but not my expensive old books, just my $5 and $8 (average) books. So I am selling only around $25 a month (estimated, I have not done calculations to the penny), whereas before I was selling in the hundreds per month.

I want to downgrade my store back to basic but when I tried to do so, I got a message saying I will be charged an Early Termination Fee of $149.85!!!!

If I continue with the Premium Store, I might continue to lose money each month, unless my sales pick up.

What can I do? Thanks.

Kathy at eBay A Vintage Collectible

pierrelebel · ‎08-06-2015

Instead of paying $59.95 per month for your store (pay monthly as you go) you selected to commit for one year to save $10 per month and only pay $49.95. That is all good and well as long as you keep the store open.

If you want to terminate your annual lease, eBay requires a termination fee. It was clearly stated when you upgraded.

For more information please take a look at: http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/storefees.html

Looking quickly at your sales, I see well above $200 for the last month.

Now the level (basic or premium) for your store is not related to your sales level (dollars) but the number of listings you want to maintain. It is your decision how many listings you want in your store.

Good Luck

tigergirl1 · ‎08-07-2015

Hi pierrelebel, Thanks for this information. I undoubtedly kept a copy of the agreement when I upgraded, and forgot that detail. It wasn't mentioned on my Accounts pages so I wasn't reminded of it. But that would explain it. Thanks so much. After my mother died a month ago, I have been a bit distracted and absent-minded as there is a lot to do. Too bad I hadn't thought of this a month ago, because my store renewed itself automatically in July - eBay did send me a message about this.

Thanks for the point about number of listings. I had carefully evaluated all the "benefits" when I upgraded and I remember that the store level does give more listings. In any case, I'm stuck now for the next year, unless I pay the termination fee.

I don't want to downgrade, etc. what I want to do is sell more, especially in my expensive Designer and Fur/Leather sections. I don't know how to get more business or visibility to my store. I'm ill (this is not a sob story but a reason), disabled and alone and I also am not familiar with how to use google and/or how to drive business to my eBay store.

Did anyone have an opinion about that unique Canadian stamp I have with the blank white spot on it? Thanks.

Kathy at eBay A Vintage Collectible

pierrelebel · ‎08-07-2015

" I also am not familiar with how to use google and/or how to drive business to my eBay store. "

Frankly that is not that important for most eBay sellers. Concentrate on buyers coming here on eBay. When they click on your listings, what do they see?

I did take a look at a few and here is an honest and candid opinion (as a buyer):

1) your shipping charges are too high. It does not cost US $39.00 (approx. C $51.35) to mail a pair of shoes within Ontario (161591540991).

2) Your listings are way loo loooooooong. The point here is to describe and "sell" your stuff, not to write a book

3) Too many fonts and colours and underlines etc...

4) Too many conditions. What are you selling? restrictions? conditions? excuses "which is why my postal charge is higher..."? Lose all that. Sell your stuff.

5) Forget the gift. There is nothing wrong sending a gift with every purchase (I have done that for fifteen years) BUT there is nothing to gain by mentioning it in the listing. Nothing.

6) "if postage money is left over... i will refund..." Frankly I do see that from time to time and it really turns me off. Sellers are responsible to properly evaluate shipping costs. I do not expect them to ever overcharge me.

7) "If you DON'T WANT the box,..." Once again you make it more complicated than need be. KISS.

😎 "Will usually ship within 2 business days of receiving cleared payment" Why 2 days? Why not make it one day and get better placement in Best Match?

9) "The seller will not accept returns for this item." I would guess that half the viewers will hit the back button at this point. Sellers are obligated to accept returns when paid through PayPal for goods deemed to be not as described.

At that point I decided to look at another listing and picked a book at random (161420715097)

"Shipping: US $29.00 (approx. C $38.18)" You have to be kidding! It does not cost $38 to mail a book within Ontario.

I must admit I know little about sewing book but when I asked Mary if she would pay Cdn$ 106.00 for it, she looked at me and... remained silent, thinking I am crazy!

So, in conclusion, although I could write a book here I suggest you review your policies, your pricing, and make your listings sell your items. Forget your "friends" in the USA, in Eastern Europe, etc.. to be honest, nobody reads that stuff, nobody cares.

Good Luck.

pierrelebel · ‎08-07-2015

"Did anyone have an opinion about that unique Canadian stamp I have with the blank white spot on it?"

That question was answered last Sunday by two stamp dealers:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Any-Opinion-On-Value-of-This-Stamp/m-p/308904#U308904

You can always put the stamp at auction - for ten days - with a $5 starting price - with free shipping (lettermail/letterpost). I frankly would not expect a single bid but... I may be wrong. What was it that P.T. Barnum said?

rose-dee · ‎08-09-2015

I agree with most of the comments by Pierre in his Post #4, however those may not be the primary reason for your slowdown, especially if you were doing well up until a few months ago, using the same type of listing descriptions and shipping amounts.

I think many of us who are selling vintage, discretionary, or OOAK items have been really struggling over the past few months. I've seen a lot of references to this on the boards.

I've come up with no reasonable explanation for the rather sudden drop-off in sales volume, certainly not anything that I could attribute to my own doing. Normally July is a rather quiet month for me, and I expect that each year, but things have been remarkably slow now for months. August isn't shaping up to be any better. Items that were selling in a flash a year ago are now just sitting for months.

All the parameters of selling on eBay over which I do have control have not changed; if anything, I've worked on improving them. I can only conclude that the longstanding slump is due to factors over which I have no control, i.e. something eBay has done in the background to make the site and/or its listings less popular, or simply lack of discretionary spending generally.

It's a discouraging thought to contemplate, but perhaps the heyday of buying and selling anything but brand new, brand named, commercially produced or manufactured goods is gone. If so, eBay certainly had a hand in encouraging that trend.

By the way, store termination fees are on a descending scale from your renewal date. The cheapest time to get out of a yearly subscription of course is within the month prior to your renewal date. Since you mentioned you just recently renewed (July?), you may want to wait it out for a few months and check the termination fee then. It might be a bit more palatable and economical for you to end your contract, say, 4 or 5 months from now, and just pay for a monthly store fee at a lower level than Premium thereafter. At least you wouldn't be racking up excess store fees for the entire 12-month period.

pocomocomputing · ‎08-09-2015

@rose-dee wrote:
I agree with most of the comments by Pierre in his Post #4, however those may not be the primary reason for your slowdown, especially if you were doing well up until a few months ago, using the same type of listing descriptions and shipping amounts.

I think many of us who are selling vintage, discretionary, or OOAK items have been really struggling over the past few months. I've seen a lot of references to this on the boards.

I've come up with no reasonable explanation for the rather sudden drop-off in sales volume, certainly not anything that I could attribute to my own doing. Normally July is a rather quiet month for me, and I expect that each year, but things have been remarkably slow now for months. August isn't shaping up to be any better. Items that were selling in a flash a year ago are now just sitting for months.

All the parameters of selling on eBay over which I do have control have not changed; if anything, I've worked on improving them. I can only conclude that the longstanding slump is due to factors over which I have no control, i.e. something eBay has done in the background to make the site and/or its listings less popular, or simply lack of discretionary spending generally.

It's a discouraging thought to contemplate, but perhaps the heyday of buying and selling anything but brand new, brand named, commercially produced or manufactured goods is gone. If so, eBay certainly had a hand in encouraging that trend.

By the way, store termination fees are on a descending scale from your renewal date. The cheapest time to get out of a yearly subscription of course is within the month prior to your renewal date. Since you mentioned you just recently renewed (July?), you may want to wait it out for a few months and check the termination fee then. It might be a bit more palatable and economical for you to end your contract, say, 4 or 5 months from now, and just pay for a monthly store fee at a lower level than Premium thereafter. At least you wouldn't be racking up excess store fees for the entire 12-month period.

If you pay early termination fee to downgrade store now it is the same as waiting 3-4-5 months paying higher store level fees for those months and a lower early termination fee. Just spread out over more time. Just appears more economical to wait 3-4-5 months.

rose-dee · ‎08-14-2015

@pocomocomputing wrote:
If you pay early termination fee to downgrade store now it is the same as waiting 3-4-5 months paying higher store level fees for those months and a lower early termination fee. Just spread out over more time. Just appears more economical to wait 3-4-5 months.

That's actually partly what I was trying to get at -- spreading the pain out over a longer period rather than having to come up with a big lump sum in the middle of a sales slump.

However I was also thinking that if the OP dropped her high-priced store level in 3 or 4 months, she could then go to a month-to-month Basic store, and after that point discontinue the store completely whenever she felt it was too much, giving her more freedom to choose and perhaps saving some money over the longer run.