Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

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Message 1 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

acofa
Community Member
The initial drop happened 1 week before September 16, so it was not include multiple item listings.
It means that sellers HAVE INCREASED prices in advance to cover future higher FVF and buyers HAVEN'T ACCEPT new prices.
An actual dilemma is: who will pay additional FVF: buyers or sellers?
Message 21 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

"who will pay additional FVF: buyers or sellers? "

It does not matter what you sell and where you sell it: merchants (sellers) always include their costs of doing business in the price of the goods they sell.

While FVF increase substantially for fixed price listings, the listing fees decrease substantially in most cases, depending on your "sell thru" rate and pricing structure.

We all know the "sell thru" rate on eBay to average 35%-40% (some items do better - some do worse). Using the average, it typically took three seven day listings (with three listing fees) to get a sale at fixed price.

Using US$35 selling price (about eBay's average), a seller would have paid US$6.00 in listing fees and US$ 2.54 in FVF under the old schedule.

Now, with one listing fee of US$0.35 for 30 days (4+ times the duration), the FVF for the same sale goes up to US$4.20 or US$5.25 (depending on category).

Whether the new structure reflect a fee increase or decrease depends on what you sell, the price you sell and your sell thru rate (or turnover for listings with multiple quantities). .
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Message 22 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

canadabeltbuckles
Community Member
Ok, this is just my interpretation of course, and I may be way off track, but...

A lot of sellers have moved the 'lions share' of their Store Listings to the new 30 day 'BIN' format. Some have moved all of their store listings and have closed their stores...

In the past, I would list a few items of a specific product line as auction items to entice byers to visit my eBay Store. Now I have zero items up for Auction, and all of my items are now 'BIN', but I have implemented a 'free shipping' format to increase exposure even more...

If I interpret the graph Pierre has provided above, then in less than a week, the number of 'BIN' listings have increased from 15,600,000 to approx. 18,600,000, a difference of 3,000,000 BIN listings... (approx. 16%)

If that in fact is the case, then when a buyer searches for a specific item, then instead of getting 1,000 results he is now getting 1160 results, depending on the item of course, it could be less or more, but you get my drift...

(ie)Search on Butterfly Earrings now renders 1,480 results, yet, for example sake, before the 16th, the results might have been 1243...

I find that the 30 day 'BIN' items are interspersed with the auction items... So, a couple of my items are coming up on page 1, maybe 1 on page 2, a couple on page 3, etc... (Using the Best Match) As opposed to all coming up on page one as auction items when the time for the auction closes approaches...

Forget about 'Ending Soonest', because my 'BIN' items don't show until page 10 or 11... Depending on whether your item is unique or not of course...

So, is the new 'BIN' 30 day option going to be a blessing or a burden to powersellers??

More 'BIN' items, means more pages of items after a search is initiated by a Buyer. Best Match search criteria intersperse our 'BIN' items, and Ending Soonest search criteria puts our listing out into oblivion...

Your thoughts on my interpretation please...

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
Message 23 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

"have moved the 'lions share' of their Store Listings to the new 30 day 'BIN' format"

A small portion only; in fact less than 10%.

"when a buyer searches for a specific item, then instead of getting 1,000 results he is now getting 1160 results,"

Hopefully, buyers are smarter than that and will narrow their search to yield less than 1,000 possible selections.

In most of my searches, the Search yields less than a full page. .
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Message 24 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

I should add that while only a small portion of eBay store listings has been moved to fixed price listings on the core, this is only the beginning.

As store listings get less visibility in the next few months, I expect more eBay store owners to move their inventory store listings to fixed price listings or close shop on eBay and find other venues to market their products. .
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Message 25 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

Here is something to check... and see for yourself.

I check Canadian history.

Books > Non-Fiction > History > Canada

and I get a search report.

I click on the tab just above the search and this is what I get.

The FP30 are pushing auction listings aside... while stores are right in there...

and look at the order for listings in Best Match.

http://listings.ebay.ca/_W0QQa23713Z18915QQa23715Z1216QQalistZa23715Q2ca23713QQdfspZ1QQfasiZ1QQfbfmtZ1QQfromZR2QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ32QQgcsZ1127QQpfidZ1432QQpfmodeZ2QQreqtypeZ2QQsabfmtsZ2QQsacatZQ2d100QQsascsZ2QQsbrbinZtQQsbrsrtZdQQsocmdZListingItemList
Message 26 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

Now scroll down in that link and find the stores inventory in Canadian history.

Stores inventory is showing up in newly listed order under Best Match.

The FP30 listings show up first following by stores listings.

The FP30 listings are also in a newly listed order.... with 7 day listings in an ending soonest order...



I have the feeling that FP30 is a temporary, transition to full FP30 for all stores inventory with a different fee structure...just look at what has happened in the UK.

The UK went straight to full FP30.. This did not happen in North America because of the size of eBay.com plus eBay.ca together. This next few months are a learning-transition period.
Message 27 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

The searches on eBay.ca are only useful for the few sellers selling primarily on eBay.ca where Best Match unfairly favours Canadian location.

Most buyers seach and buy on eBay.com (including Canadian buyers)

Most sellers list and sell on .com (including Canadian sellers) .
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Message 28 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

eBay has been promoting FP30 for stores inventory... the best from stores and not necessarily everything.

In some categories shifting to FP30 would be advantageous... while in a category such as books.... where that one buyer must be found, it is much less advantageous.

In some categories FP30 is advantageous for some sellers that do not have a store...

and for some sellers... moving store inventory to FP30 could be suicide... reducing exposure for stores inventory overall...

How many sellers will find FP30 to be ineffective as a selling format.. and in three months everything will be different...

One should remember that FP30 is just another version of a store... a corner store and not the mall that is there for stores inventory.

Finally go back to my first posting in this discussion.... FP30 are equal to stores inventory... So why list FP30 if you already have a store?

Lots of questions to ask... Lots of things to think about... Maybe in three months we will have the answers...
Message 29 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

The search on eBay.com is the same...

except for the possibility that Best Match is more aggressive on eBay.com

Here is the same search on eBay.com

http://books.shop.ebay.com/items/Nonfiction-Books__W0QQCategory6dd211eZHistory9a787c74QQSubCategory2620422bZCanada77df12eeQQLHQ5fBINZ1QQLHQ5fIncludeSIFZ1QQ_catrefZ1QQ_dmptZUSQ5fNonfictionQ5fBookQQ_flnZ1QQ_sacatZ378QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em301?_trksid=p3286.c0.m301

Some differences but the essentials are the same..
Message 30 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

acofa
Interesting summary, hopefully the BIN decline will stop at the auction level of 40%.
Message 31 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

business is definitely down for me.

and people who buy are clicking on my store inventory instead, i think that's due to the 30 days listing that does not come up to the top until closer to the end date 😞
Message 32 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

" i think that's due to the 30 days listing that does not come up to the top until closer to the end date "

That is incorrect. Best Match does not take ending timne into account for 30 day fixed price listings.

For example:

http://electronics.listings.ebay.ca/Home-Theatre-Projectors_Screens-Material_W0QQfclZ3QQfromZR11QQsacatZ48655QQsocmdZListingItemList .
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Message 33 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

acofa
Community Member
There is something illogical.
Before September average sale rate was 40%, BIN and auction sales were the same, so it means that total number of BIN and auctions were 50-50.
Now we have: average sale 42%, auction sales 52%, BIN sales 18%, simple math - let's say total number of listings - 100, then BIN 30 x 18% = 5.4% of total sales, auction 70 x 52% = 36.4% of total, total average sales 5.4% + 36.4% = 41.8%.
So, it means that total number of BIN listings dropped at 40%, but it is illogical. Please pay your attention: BIN's drop happened before September 16, so multiitems BIN auctions doesn't affect to these figures.

Some ideas: 1. Medved's charts is not accurate; 2. Somebody wants to improve listing stat and added a lot AUCTION listings.
Other ideas?
Message 34 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

"BIN and auction sales were the same, so it means that total number of BIN and auctions were 50-50."

That is a big assumption.

The problem is that there is no breakdown between auction listings with BIN (may end with BIN or may sell at auction or may not sell at all) and fixed price listings.

There is also a timing difference between listing dates and selling dates, more so now that most fixed price listings will be for 30 days. .
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Message 35 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

lina-mallows
Community Member
"Evidence Without Context Is Not Evidence"
What is the methodology behind the chart posted?
Message 36 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND .
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Message 37 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

acofa
Community Member
"The problem is that there is no breakdown between auction listings with BIN (may end with BIN or may sell at auction or may not sell at all) and fixed price listings."

If item is sold by "BIN", BIN sales get +1, if it is sold as "auction", auction sales increases, so even it was combine "auction+BIN" listing, finally it is counted regarding sale type, combine listings cannot disfigure sale stats.

"There is also a timing difference between listing dates and selling dates, more so now that most fixed price listings will be for 30 days."
The itinial BIN sales drop happened almost 3 weeks ago and today's BIN sale rate is still below 20%.

Actually, if medved's stats is reliable, it looks alike somebody manipulate stats data.
Message 38 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

Take a look at the sell thru rate for September:



You will notice that the overall "sell thru" rate has remained relatively steady at 40% or so (about the same as September 2007). The real difference is a huge increase in the auction sell thru rate offsetting the substantial decrease in BIN (and fixed price). I suspect many auction sellers simply removed the BIN option from their auction listings and moved their inventory and listings to fixed price.

Since fixed price listings now offer 30 day duration, you will see a dislocation for a while. .
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Message 39 of 49
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Sellers are responding to eBay's new fixed price fee structure

acofa
Community Member
Well ... sellers remove BIN listings, buyers do not use "Buy It Now", because sellers added additional FVF to selling price, auction style listings are September's hit ... but:
"Listing Fixed Price items is more affordable than ever..." (Lorrie Norrington, August 20th announcement)?
What is wrong?
Message 40 of 49
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