eBay

canada-direct2000 · ‎02-20-2015

It wasn't too long ago that eBay was offering great seller discounts, often two per month. Now it seems it's all about the money.

Like many others I've been selling on eBay for years and now it's not so exciting anymore. Recently, I Un-Checked the AUTO RE-LIST on every one of my items because at first it was free and now it's not. Be careful if you use that feature because you may end up paying for it. eBay started the auto re-list to LURE their sellers into using it free at first. In addition, they offered what they called some great listing promotions but unfortunately it never applied to RE-LISTS.

Anyways, as far as I'm concerned, eBay may have gained a lot of money adding the auto re-list feature but I'm sure they may have lost a ton money doing this to their loyal sellers.

Arthur

recped · ‎02-20-2015

There has been one promo so far in February and I expect there will be another this coming week.

As for the free relist thing, it was an experiment for a few months and now it's over (the free part). Sellers survived for years without it, I'm sure they will survive now that it's gone (after being in effect only for about 6 months).

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-20-2015

I have to disagree.

First because if you can't afford to list (and re-list and re-list) an item because selling it will not be profitable, perhaps that item is not suitable for eBay.

Perhaps you paid too much to procure it. Perhaps you are not asking enough for it. Perhaps the market for that item is too small or oversupplied. Think about it.

Second because. Seventeen cents a minute.

That's the ON minimum wage. If it takes you longer than a minute to re-list manually, then there is a good chance that manual relisting to get a 'free' listing is more expensive than the automatic service.

pierrelebel · ‎02-20-2015

reallynice - The Ontario minimum wage went up in June last year to $11.00 an hour or $0.183 per minute!

73rhc · ‎02-21-2015

When the promotions come around, use "sell similar" instead of "relist". It applies to pretty much all of the promotions. And the items can be modified before being listed. When not changing anything in your listings, a batch "sell similar" takes about 30 seconds. You should then delete these items from your unsold folder. So that they don't accumulate and you don't, eventually, end up with duplicate unsold listings.

P.S. some items can take years to sell. It doesn't mean that the price is too high, not right for eBay or anything else. Sometimes, it's timing. Sometimes, the item has been overlooked. Sometimes, it sell to a newcomer. The reasons are endless. But if you do your research, list at a fair market value, list honestly and have reasonable shipping costs. The item will most probably sell.

reallynicestamps · ‎02-21-2015

But I'm here in BC now. *pout*

And I should be in the garden picking camellia blossoms for a dinner party centrepiece.

Drawback to living in Victoria, you have to mow the lawn in February.

vintagenorth · ‎02-21-2015

Quit bragging! (I just got in from shovelling snow off the driveway again!)

recped · ‎02-22-2015

@recped wrote:
There has been one promo so far in February and I expect there will be another this coming week.

eBay are so predictable!

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

decal-fx · ‎02-22-2015

@reallynicestamps wrote:
But I'm here in BC now. *pout*
And I should be in the garden picking camellia blossoms for a dinner party centrepiece.
Drawback to living in Victoria, you have to mow the lawn in February.

That is just SO WRONG to rub the noses of the rest of Canada in your nice weather. If Rose-Dee could get out of her house she'd be shaking her fist at you 😉

canada-direct2000 · ‎02-28-2015

That makes a lot of sense so I totally agree.

canada-direct2000 · ‎02-28-2015

We can't QUOTE when items will sell or not sell. It all depends on timing, demand, price, title, description and good old fashioned luck. It's not a matter of if an item is suitable for eBay or not, that has nothing to do with my statement. Some real wacky items items have sold on eBay, new and used so suitable is not the issue.

All I'm saying is it would be nice to see more free listings. eBay makes enough as it is.

julieo459 · ‎02-28-2015

I had an interesting conversation with customer service this week about a few items.

The listing special came up (I wasn't Invited) and so I asked how marketing selects sellers. I got quite a long story, but the agent admitted that ebay is not interested in sellers that sell postcards, postage stamps or sports cards. I sell postcards. ebay doesn't make enough money on these small items and it's too much trouble when things go wrong. He said ebay is swamped with these kinds of items and the sell rate is too low.

I have enough unsold items to make it worth opening an anchor store. He actually told me not too bother!!

That was on Monday. Almost all my items has ended. By Tues I was set up with another site and am in the process of transferring about 3000 items to the new site.

I will still use ebay, but mostly for non postcard items.

I guess I was told!!!

mr.elmwood · ‎02-28-2015

Free listers and nickel and dime sellers to not pay the bills. I pay the bills. I have a store. I sell regularly at an average of $30. I pay fees. I go over my monthly allotment and pay more fees.

Folks that only list with free offers, sell little or nothing, phone eBay with questions, have not paid anything for the services. Then you wonder why you get fewer and fewer services?

I pay for the privilege of selling. I get all the options plus offers. I have never talked to an eBay rep outside of North America.

eBay used to be 100% pay. They are simply going back there.

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julieo459 · ‎02-28-2015

Interesting comment, but perhaps you missed the point. I was willing to pay $200 month for an Anchor store, go over the 2500 free listings and ebay told me not to bother.

I have sold a lot of postcards for up to $60 - $90 - for one postcard. My lots go for over $200

So yes, I pay lots of fees.

pierrelebel · ‎02-28-2015

" ebay told me not to bother."

Frankly I think you misunderstood the comments by the customer service representative you spoke to or he really blew it.

I have been a stamp seller on eBay for sixteen years with over 100,000 transactions. Yes, postage stamps and postcards do sell on eBay. The market may be more crowded than it was ten years ago but you will find the same issue everywhere else.

And yes, I regularly get invited to "free listing" promotions. Not all of them but one in two on average. It does not really matter to me. Sellers who wait for "free listings" promotions are, in my opinion, missing the boat.

Whenever eBay offers a "free listing" promotion, obviously many sellers will take advantage of it resulting in more listings available on eBay - in other words more competition for the same dollars available from buyers.

Now, the fact eBay offers a listing promotion does not give buyers any more money to spend, does it? It simply results in lower auction result prices and lower overall sell-through-rate. Same buyers with the same amount of money to spend with more listings available is not a recipe for success. A seller cannot build a business on that.

Keep in mind that eBay advertises 800,000,000 listings, every day of the week. That is a lot of competition and many other sites will have much less competition. They will also have fewer eyeballs.

Good Luck

If ever you decide to use eBay again, I suggest you review your sales and shipping policies to make them more "buyer friendly". Charging more than Cdn$ 2.00 to mail a postcard within Canada may result in many buyers hitting the back button. Have you checked what your Canadian competitors charge? "14 day" return policy is OK; 30 day would be better. Offering "free shipping" for all additional purchases paid at the same time would help generate more multiple sales.

rose-dee · ‎02-28-2015

@decal-fx wrote:
@reallynicestamps wrote:
But I'm here in BC now. *pout*
And I should be in the garden picking camellia blossoms for a dinner party centrepiece.
Drawback to living in Victoria, you have to mow the lawn in February.

That is just SO WRONG to rub the noses of the rest of Canada in your nice weather. If Rose-Dee could get out of her house she'd be shaking her fist at you 😉

Here I am, and I think I'd like to rub "reallynicestamp's" nose in the snow! Just don't mention those freaking sandals again.

We did manage to get out of our house this week, but it took a neighbour with a backhoe and a snowplow attachment to extricate us. By then our car battery was dead and he also had to give us a boost.

The snow was piled so high along the secondary highway in front of our house they had to send huge road graders out at 2:00 a.m. last night to shove it further off to the sides. We now have an 8 foot high wall of snow as a new privacy wall.

What was the subject of this post again?

pjcdn2005 · ‎02-28-2015

It's possible that you misunderstood the cs rep but even if you didn't, I'm surprised that you would cut back your business here because of the statement of one rep. There must be much more to your decision.

You read the boards so you should know that cs reps are often say things that are incorrect. I wouldn't base any business decisions on what one rep told me.