Ebay, PLEASE STOP THE "FREE SHIPPING" SCAM

[sunnyvoip]

Looks like nobody buy their "free shipping" idea and ebay have to extend the free shipping "promotion" thru March 31, 2009.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200812221215372.html

Ebay, please wake up and stop this kind of BS "promotion"!!!

[coxengines]

This is not a scam!!! (please look up the definition of "scam" per se.)

Whether you participate or not is your choice.

If you don't participate, there is no downside to you - just ignore it.

If you do participate, there could be an advantage or not, depending on your situation.

We have created a few listings with "free" shipping, simply tacking on the costs to the item price.

Surprisingly, the ruse worked in many instances, bolstering our sales.

Why is it that, every time eBay offers a "carrot", some posters react only with negativity? (like the 20% FVF discount).

Our take is "if you don't like the promo, don't participate - nothing lost, nothing gained".

Xena

[recped]

Ebay, please wake up and stop this kind of BS "promotion"!!!

I doubt the sellers who are getting a 40% reduction in FVF are complaining. For a fair number of sellers this is translating into a substantial chunk of cash.

It's not suitable for what I'm selling but that's hardly eBay's fault.

[celticstudio]

I think that what xenalook has said is very correct on the superficial level, if it does not harm us we can ignore it. The same as watching a mugging... it does not harm us so we just ignore it and walk away.
Sunnyvoip is taking the moral high road. We know that this is a "trick" making the unaware Buyer think they are getting a "deal" on shipping. It is an obvious lie because we all know that someone has to pay for the cost of shipping and as Sellers we can not ship for "FREE". Who benefits... not the Seller... not the Buyer... only eBay benfits because they get a percentage (FVF)of the cost of shipping now included in the price. EBay ultimately uses the Seller to make more profit on the backs of the Seller but only as long as we play the "game" they have created. They count on the "greed" of the uneducated Buyer's desire to get something for nothing without looking at the bottom line cost.
Once eBay gets enough naive Sellers to play the "game" and get used to paying for fees on what are truly the cost of shipping perhaps they will extend the "free shipping" to simply charging all Sellers fees for shipping.. why not? Sellers play their "game" and then they make it a requirement for all.
Some Sellers wised up to the eBay program of charging no fees on shipping and listed .99 cent items with huge shipping charges. We have all been caught in this "scam" if we are Buyers here. Not nice and as it creates uneasy Buyers.
Ebay have tried to control this type of overcharging but it is a difficult thing to do... so they took the process and turned it upside down to their advantage.
Offer "free shipping" and build the cost and the extra fees into your total costs and one day you will be paying fees on all shipping.
I think I'll try to avoid helping eBay with their mugging.
There are some moral issues here!
Louis

[recped]

There are some moral issues here!

No moral issues just money.....

Try this on for size:

Item selling price $100 + $10 shipping

buyer pays $110
seller pays FVF $4.81 less 20% = $3.85

Item selling price $110 + Free shipping

buyer pay $110 (no difference)
seller pays FVF $5.61 less 40% = $3.10

This is at Auction listing FVF, for Fixed Price listings the savings for the seller are even greater. In both cases the buyer pays exactly the same price, the seller makes more and it's eBay who picks up the difference.

[axe_n_gear_music]

Great example, Recped-
I have enjoyed a few extra sales on the higher priced items with free shipping for sure. All of my U.S. competitors offer it, and if people look outside of eBay, and look closer at the quality internet stores, most buyers today expect free shipping, particularly on the expensive items. On my website, I offer free shipping on items over $200.00, and people respond very well to it.
eBay is just one more extension of e-commerce- if you want to stay in the game, sometimes you need to give the people what they want!
And the 40% back on eBay FVF doesn't hurt, either!
As Xena said, nobody is forcing you to participate, and in many cases it does not make sense to offer it. But if you are selling more expensive items, it can have it's advantages.

Merry Christmas everyone!!! B-)
Cheers,
AXE.

[ampurtle]

Tis the season to screw over your customers...

Free shipping is only a scam when sellers turn it into a scam by inflating the item price to offset the shipping cost.

eBay is NOT responsible for what price a seller lists an item, ergo it's not an eBay scam at all, but rather a Power Seller scam. And you wonder why "Power Seller" has a bad connotation amongst buyers.

[coxengines]

Free shipping is only a scam

Lots of scammers out there, including Dell, Sears, etc.

Actually I love shopping with these "scammers".

Xena

[axe_n_gear_music]

Free shipping is only a scam when sellers turn it into a scam by inflating the item price to offset the shipping cost.

Because free shipping does not work for some people, why do those people who free shipping does not fit into their business model continue to knock it?
I sell musical instruments and related items, (on a very small scale) for example. One of the largest and most respected, multi million dollar internet musical instrument dealers on the web today is at www.musiciansfriend.com
Check it out. I invite you to tell THEM that they are scammers.

AXE

[kingoftradeonline]

could they not change it to "shipping included" - it would save some insurance cost as well as if anything did happen to the item the shipping cost would be taken into consideration.

dave

[celticstudio]

RECPED's example is indeed a perfect one! There is no FREE shipping and she has illustrated that she has just added the shipping into the price. The "moral" issue?? Isn't this a lie? The price has been inflated to cover the true shipping costs. For this NOT to be a lie then the Seller should NOT add the shipping cost to the price... maybe there are a few who do this but as Recped said, "It's about the money!" and there are some who are willing to particapate in the lie because they see financial advantage under these very limited circumstances. The limited circumstances are that the doubling of the discount on FVF is a program set by eBay (now extended!!! WOW) which can be stopped at any time. Remove the double discount on FVF and it is indeed eBay that makes the extra money not the Seller. Once a Seller switches all of their listings to include FREE shipping and the "program" ends are they going to go back and switch all of their listings??? 1000 listings take a long time to change. Most Sellers will simply let it go and now eBay has created a winning "game" to increase Sellers fees yet again. My guess is that not enough Sellers bought intio the FREE shipping idea... the bait on the hook needed to be left in the water a little longer. Once more Sellers bite and are used to paying FVF on shipping they will make it universal. Fees will be based on total selling price... Gosh, seen their stock and the negative press for eBay lately? They need the money!!
As for scammers like Dell and Sears... well have a closer look.. they don't sell for $100.00 plus shipping of $10.00 one day and then sell for $110.00 the next day with FREE shipping. Their FREE shipping is FREE ... a manufacturers discount not a false claim which is what Recped is doing. Sorry, about that. In the chase for more money we can indeed forget the "moral" issues.
If you don't sell an ongoing product that can be compared you can get away with it. For my products my Buyers can see what it sold for the week or month before and the "lie" would be obvious and I would prefer to stay an honest Seller rather that make an extra .75 on a $110.00 transaction which is designed to only be short lived by the "Boss" of us.
I don't like being led down this path. For those of you that do not inflate your selling price to cover the shipping costs... my respect for your honesty.
Louis

[craftycatsattic]

Yada yada yada. When you auction an item at a lowball price, in the end it's the buyer who decides how much it's worth. When you run a fixed price listing with "free shipping", (whether or not it's really "shipping included"), in the end it's the buyer that makes the choice to purchase the product over all the other ones available. It is not the seller's job to decide what's a fair price to the buyer compared to all the other listings out there. A seller should expect the make a reasonable profit on an item for the effort put into selling it. In any case, there are so many different factors to consider, more so to us Canadian sellers who are likley paying more to source our items than our US counterparts. It's the buyer's job to shop and compare.

[craftycatsattic]

AND....may I also add that some buyers do not care to shop and compare. They prefer to purchase their items from sellers they know they are not going to disappoint them.

[coxengines]

Thanks crafty!

Xena

[cottonwoodindustries]

Amen to that
Loré

[catubes]

In my opinion FREE SHIPPING is just another deception. I prefer to keep my ads as 'transparent' as possible and to the 'point'.
If there is one thing for certain, eBay has the reputation as being a very scary marketplace for most shoppers, and for good reason. (How many times have I heard the expression "I'll just dump it on eBay" for many unwanted and useless items. And the list of deceptions and tricks by sellers goes on....)
I prefer to show the cost break down.
I am the eyes and ears of the buyer as I describe my product. It is my duty and responsibility to them to be as accurate as possible.
Such deceptions as 'FREE SHIPPING" assumes the buyer is stupid or gullible. Shipping is NOT FREE, and telling customers it is is simply a lie!
I prefer to treat my customers with respect and not as 'dummbies' to be taken advantage of!

[faerywishes]

Well I am one of the sellers trying to figure out the best way for me to do this as it will bring more buyers to my store. Isn't that the whole point of this? But when you sell low end items, it's a bit hard. But I am looking at doing this for Jan for Canadian buyers only. Am I right in what I am reading as long as I offer free shipping for Canada I can still bill for US & International.

Also just because a Seller offers Free Shipping doesn't mean they will get most of the sales. Majority of buyers I would think would look at the bottom line. Whether that is cost, shipping time or anything else they factor into their purchase.

Instead of thinking something is a scam why not try it and see if it would work in some way for your store. Recped gave a really good example of how we can benefit and make more in profit.

Catubes You can still show your buyers respect by using the Free Shipping. You can still show them the break down and explain that Free Shipping means Shipping Included and that you simply want to earn more profit to keep your costs down and in the end keep your items low & competitive. I totally agree that we also need to educate buyers.

We are here to make profit right? I have only been selling in here a year and a year full of changes. Sellers can either complain and not go with the new policies, we can try to work with what Ebay has to offer, or you don't have to sell here. Bottom line is though Ebay give us the most traffic and is the most cost effective. I also like the protection I get from selling & buying in here.

All the Changes Ebay has made in the last year are all workable. It's the finding the best way it works for you that can be the challenge.

I'm still elated that for Nov I earned 20% FVF Discount and it almost paid for my store fee. I did this by educating my buyers as well as giving what I believed was 5 star service for each of the DSR's.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth or maybe 3 cents worth if I'm paying in USD...lol.

I hope everyone has awesome year in 2009!

Colleen

[bare_bright]

FREE Shipping is working great for me, 90% of my Listing do have free Shipping

All you do is add on the shipping to the cost, what the diff. you get paid the same money and the fees are less even though the sales value is higher

The only thing is once the promotion is over then you will pay more fees and your income for the year will go up, but I guess there is a way to fix the taxes for shipping in your tax return

Besides at the moment FREE shipping items show up First!
even good idea to list a few and get the buyers into your store etc.

Not a Scam at all

Cheers ! 🙂

[coxengines]

We just list a few. Top placement in search results and buyers are drawn to the other items (often the same item with no "free shipping").

Works great for us!

Xena

[ricarmic]

For me, I'm slowly converting 90% of my stuff over to free shipping as I incorporate all the other new rules into my listings. Interestingly, in the 30 years I've been in business, eBay was the only place that I charged shipping on top! All my other non-eBay product lines have always been shipping included anyway, so this wasn't a big leap for me! Certainly the improvement in search results is noticable for my stuff!