Offer FREE Domestic Shipping and receive 15% off total Final Value Fees

[whatnerds]

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200805221835302.html



Let me say this again.....a joke! Thanks.

Sukh
(Dream About Comics)

[itrecovery]

Is this another e-bay scam?

What is bigger 15% off final fee or final fee price on shipping cost you have to pay anyway? Anybody who good at math here?

[lina-mallows]

Overheard in the dining room-

QUICK- someone's rearranging the deck chairs on the TITANIC.

Maybe, if we get up there first we can get a better view!

[lina-mallows]

I have already removed our scheduled auction- including those with FREE North America wide shipping.
I will not waste time to relist them for this 'so called' promotion.

[sunnyvoip]

Hi Ebay, thanks again for nothing. Ebay must be running by people who never list/sell anything on ebay.com

[acofa]

What's a great offer!
It is very valuable for sellers who ship $1000 items by lettermail. :^O

[westernstargifts]

:^O

Nice try......

[tea_past_times]

Ok I was going to post about what a stupid offer this was, but it seems like they are fooling no one!!

[tea_past_times]

Free shipping would cost me $11.00. 15% off my final value fee is $0.25. What a deal!!!!!!!!

[tea_past_times]

So let's see.

Cost of item $2.00
Listing Fee $0.15

Sells for $10.00

$10.00 - $2.15 - $11.00 + $0.25 = a loss of $2.90 per item?

EBAYNOMICS 101

[cartoonsinabox]

:^O:^O:^O

Ebay I know you think we are all stupid !!!

[rainhillrocket]

I wish I had what they are smoking at ebay.
Obviously they have no clue as to what shipping costs.

[snoopwiz]

What's wrong with the promo? I would only lose from $10 to $20 per item this way. I am sure I could somehow make it up in volume. Ya, that's the ticket. Volume. (slaps forehead) Why didn't I think of that?

[shari_nat]

I opened that message up and laughed too. Now I'm wondering....is there anyway to make this work? Lettermail items only? I don't have enough expensive lettermail items to make it worth my while.

Is anyone able to utilize this new promo and still make a little profit?

[momoftwingles2]

Is this being offered on .com as well?

I don't list on .ca and I've not run one auction or fixed-priced auction this entire year as I've been to busy in my store.

However, it is a promotion that I would be able to benefit somewhat from if I had the extra time to do...and if it were on .com

Have a great day!
Susan
momoftwingles2

[coxengines]

It will work for BIN items where you increase the price to reflect shipping costs.

For auctions? Unless you are selling more expensive items with inexpensive shipping (i.e. lettermail), not likely a good proposition.

However, interesting to see how eBay is trying to get sellers to buy into the "free shipping" concept. There were some prior threads in this respect.

Xena

[cartoonsinabox]

They want us to offer free shipping and absorb the cost. And at same time lower the value of items we sell (Become more competetive sellers / Be more like Walmart or Costco with markups of 10% to 15% AND be able to pay Ebay's full selling & listing fees.

I am starting to rely less on ebay. And starting to sell more out side of the box.

Frederic

[*stealthtech*]

Wow.... i am really starting to shake my head at this 'promo' ... I think everyone above has said everything I was thinking, GOD, why can't these folks at eBay have a CLUE?

[bare_bright]

WoW I must admit I Got Taken rofl I never Noticed in the promo that FREE SHIPPING was a requirement

I was even wondering if one also gets the 15% of with all
4.8 in the all to famous Star System

Mind you it's good to have at least one Listing with free shipping just to drive some traffic

:)

[pierrelebel]

Yesterday, on CTS, this question was asked from Andrew Sloss, eBay.ca country manager:

---

Last night, eBay.ca announced a ten day promotion for sellers offering domestic "free shipping".

This promotion duplicates the 15% off FVF offered by eBay.com, also announced last night.

Luckily for me, I offer items where shipping is usually not a large factor. I already offer "free shipping" for all combined purchases exceeding $25 (and yes, I understand I pay eBay higher FVF for the privilege of offering free shipping to my customers).

We all understand "free shipping" really means offering the convenience to buyers of an "all inclusive" price; in other words, the cost of packing, handling and shipping is included in the price for the convenience of the buyer.

However, one does not need a doctorate from MIT to realize this kind of promotion benefits eBay at the expense of sellers.

By adding the cost of packing, handling and shipping in the price of the item, the buyer pays higher FVF and the 15% FVF discount will NOT (on average) reimburse sellers for the extra fees. Furthermore, including shipping charge in the selling price will also mean higher listing fees at times. Considering eBay's overall (and declining) "sell through" rate of about 40% it leaves sellers paying eBay more fees for a majority of items that do not sell.

Sweet deal for eBay but deceptive for sellers (and I use the word "deceptive" knowingly).

It gets worse.

It is bad enough for eBay.com to offer such promotion in the USA where shipping cost are substantially lower than in Canada, I simply cannot understand why you, the Canada country manager, allowed such offer to be duplicated for Canadian sellers on the same terms.

It does not make sense. It is unfair.

My question to you this morning is: why did you?



His answer:

"Timely question, pierrelebel. Marketplace data leads us to believe buyers are motivated by and respond to shipping deals even where the total item cost is no lower. The purpose of the promotion is to encourage sellers to try this approach if the economics make sense for them.

For some sellers, this price promotion may be valuable to them and their business requirements. For others, it doesn’t make sense. Plus, there are a number of potential benefits to trying free shipping, beyond the FVF discount. These include:
- Listings with free shipping may get additional exposure in Best Match
- Listings with free shipping typically earn higher DSR scores
- Improvements in a seller’s DSR score may lead to additional exposure in Best Match, and further FVF discounts if they are eligible.

eBay Canada is offering Canadian users the same opportunity to take advantage of this promotion as US users. Whether you take advantage of it is entirely up to you. "

---

.