THIS was posted on the US Seller Central board re: new fees

[moltencore]

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y11/m03/i15/s00

oh boy. X-(

[moltencore]

It's now official.

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/feeupdate2011.html#fc

[soobeadoo]

My head is spinning trying to figure it out.:_|

[moltencore]

digging through the myriad of info on eBay.ca I found this (copied below) which helps ME somewhat when I ship 7" singles as I can ship them Lettermail in Canada, and I take that to mean that that cheap rate will be also used to calculate my shipping FVF for USA and International customers. Of course, that won't help me when I ship larger/heavier items.

I see ALOT of listing revisions in my future.

"How can I reduce my Final Value Fees on sales to US and International Buyers?
If you can offer free shipping or lower shipping costs for your Canadian buyers than for your US or overseas buyers, consider listing your item on eBay.ca instead of eBay.com. If an US or overseas buyer purchases your item and your Canadian domestic shipping costs are lower than the international shipping cost, you'll be charged the Final Value Fee on your lowest Canadian domestic shipping service. Lower domestic shipping costs will reduce your Final Value Fees and you won't be at a disadvantage if you sell to US or overseas buyers."

[pierrelebel]

"My head is spinning trying to figure it out"

The changes are not so complicated:

[moltencore]

I don't think the head spinning part is what you posted Pierre. That IS pretty straightforward. It's the FVF's on shipping to me that don't make sense for Canadian sellers.

If my Canadian "FLAT" rates are lower than my USA and International rates I will be charged the Shipping FVF based on the CANADIAN Shipping cost.

However, if my Canadian Shipping cost is HIGHER then the FVF will be calculated based on the ship to location's ship cost.

Needles to say most shipping within Canada is based on the postal code of the recipient (unless you're shipping something like a postcard or sportscard which can go lettermail).

Whereas in the USA in MY category MEDIA the most U.S. sellers can charge to ship domestically is $4.00 USD (and the ACTUAL postage cost is LESS than that for a CD, LP, 7" single).

Here in Canada the ACTUAL postage for ME to send ONE SINGLE LP the CHEAPEST way by Canada Post is $8.05 CAD to MY OWN postal code from my local post office and it goes UP from there. So eBay will be grabbing a 13% FVF OFF the shipping I charge my domestic customers based on their calculated rates. I cannot afford to charge $4.00 USD shipping domestically when it actually costs me $13.30 CAD to ship to Vancouver just so I can get a break on USA and International shipping FVF's.

So essentially US .COM sellers in media get favoured treatment, since their worldwide FVF's on shipping will be based on the $4.00 MAX amount they are allowed to bill for shipping. ($0.52 USD FVF).

Or... should I just boost all my vinyl prices by about $10.00 USD and charge a flat $4.00 USD shipping within Canada so that USA/International buyers FVF's on shipping will only be the 52 cents??

It's a Catch-22.

[soobeadoo]

Interesting chart.

It's not just the new fees. It's trying to figure out how to list so it works better for me, what to do about combined shipping with the shopping cart etc..

[moltencore]

Interesting chart.

It's not just the new fees. It's trying to figure out how to list so it works better for me, what to do about combined shipping with the shopping cart etc..

Yes.
I'm setting combined shipping by weight through the listing form based on Canada Post rates. My question is... If I'm offering USA and International buyers small packet rates on an individual item for sale... will the service for multiple purchase automatically change (say to Expedited Parcel or.. Xpresspost) when the weight passes the small packet limit? ( i.e. 1KG to USA or 2KG Internationally)

[craftycatsattic]

I am working full time for someone else now but just bought a whole bunch more inventory. Somebody smack me on the upside of the head!

Just got to love eBay's usual cloak and dagger and how they disguise the rate increase and spin it as as if they are doing us a huge favor.

Well this is my plan:

Increase my selling price to reflect the extra fees. I have had it with bending over backwards for peanuts...mange la colle!

Oh and somebody smack me on the upside of the head again to remind me that it is time to leave this lemon factory!

[craftycatsattic]

So in a nutshell...I am selling a pattern in a fixed price listing as an eBay store seller:

$2.95 Pattern
$2.95 Shipping to the US (not clear if they use the Canadian shipping or not for a .com listing...if you know please post!)

Now: FVF = .35
July: FVF = .65

Almost double!

Guess I better start doing my homework...cause we all know I am already making next to nothing on that $2.95 item.

[axe_n_gear_music]

FEEBAY....that name really fits, doesn't it?

They took away the 10% discount. Now they are taking away the 5% discount and making it harder to reach 20%.
They reward non store owners by giving them 50 free listings, plus free buy it now feature no matter what the amount. Store owners get shafted again.
Owning a store is making less sense....

I just met two more eBay sellers today at our post office who both say they are cashing in their chips and moving on. Too many fees, and all the profits going to one company (paypal and eBay).
Their items also are too big to include free shipping and try to make profit, and both agree that the shipping time DSR is JUNK.

Now eBay is going to give the buyer an estimated time frame for every single shipment.....which we all know CP cannot meet at the best of times.

Does eBay think we do this just for fun? X-(

AXE

[momoftwingles2]

I am working full time for someone else now but just bought a whole bunch more inventory. Somebody smack me on the upside of the head!

Just got to love eBay's usual cloak and dagger and how they disguise the rate increase and spin it as as if they are doing us a huge favor.

Well this is my plan:

Increase my selling price to reflect the extra fees. I have had it with bending over backwards for peanuts...mange la colle!

Oh and somebody smack me on the upside of the head again to remind me that it is time to leave this lemon factory!

Oh, I'm so glad that I'm retired. I honestly don't think I could handle any more revisions if I still had my 4000 listings!

Susan

[soobeadoo]

As a Cdn listing on .com not .ca, my main confusion seems to be 'who is my domestic'? Up to now the US has always been treated as my domestic, does that now change?

I don't believe this will work well, I no longer believe much works well on here. ie: I'm currently not a TRS(this month and last), however they are still giving me the 20% discount?:|:^O

[soobeadoo]

Got an answer from a pink on the Int'l board.

If you're listing on eBay.com, your first domestic service is a US shipping service, regardless of where you're sitting.

This could work for me, I was mainly concerned about the shipping cost shipping larger items accross Canada.

[craftycatsattic]

I did some tinkering last night and found that out too and if you sell to a Canadian they will use the lower of the US domestic or of the Canadian shipping.

Now that I have vented out my frustrations, my resolve is to start an action plan.

First and foremost I will not be changing my shipping fees, up or down. I have capped a lot of my shipping to fit into a price point. The $3.60 200gram lettermail for example has and will be $3.95 for a long time, despite the fact that when I factor in all the extra costs associated with shipping that one item, it really costs me about $4.30 (not factoring in the 11% FVF). If I do factor in the 11% FVF, then that's an extra 47 cents in eBay's pocket (crazy money for one item but anyway!). So, what I plan to do is up the cost of my items by about a dollar...heck I might even do more than that (and should considering that I am already losing big time on the currency exchange). I am also going to take a good look at lumping smaller ticket items together. The ultimate goal though, is to get out of the eBay business (Susan lucky you!). Life is much too short to live with the aggravation of eBay. When things you once loved are no longer loving you back, you move on right?

The biggest losers in this situation are going to be the buyers though. I think most of us have already pushed our profit margins way down to appease the eBay powers that be but this final deepening blow cannot be absorbed by most of us and prices overall are going to go up.

I also feel that ultimately eBay will lose too. Sellers of unique items (the ones that bring buyers here in the first place) are the smaller sellers and more and more of them are going to leave. So while ebay`s financial growth may look great starting out, it`s eventually going to drop again. And then what are they going to do next year to try and top this year's increase? Of course we all know the answer to that one. I think the answer for most of us here is to start looking at other selling venues if we haven't already done so. Even if we choose to stay on eBay, it's clear where the future of eBay sellers is heading and has been for a long time now.

In the present, I do have one question though that I hope to find an answer for soon. Will they refund the FVF if a refund is given for shipping? I have lots of buyers that pay on the spot without ever asking for a combined invoice and always wind up refunding them. I may have to consider blocking checkout unless an invoice is sent directly by me and that is IF and only IF that option is still around.

[westernstargifts]

In the present, I do have one question though that I hope to find an answer for soon. Will they refund the FVF if a refund is given for shipping? I have lots of buyers that pay on the spot without ever asking for a combined invoice and always wind up refunding them. I may have to consider blocking checkout unless an invoice is sent directly by me and that is IF and only IF that option is still around.

I was searching for the answer to that question last night & today. Other sellers asked the same question on the board eBay set up to field questions. I did finally find one answer but I don't remember where I saw it. It doesn't matter though because it was typical eBay-speak. I still don't know the answer. She did say the fee would be canceled if the transaction was canceled but she did not say what would happen if PART of the money was refunded.

[craftycatsattic]

I listened to the town hall tonight and the same question came up from a few people.

If your buyer buys 5 items from you at $2 shipping each and goes to checkout paying $10 for all 5 items, you are charge FVF on the entire $10...EVEN IF YOU LATER REFUND.

They will not be refunding the 11% on the refunds you give your buyers.

I will be starting another thread about this.

[westernstargifts]

What a blatant rip-off that will be! They know that buyers do this all of the time so it is just another money grab...or another way to make us give free shipping no matter where the item is sent.

Was there an uproar when that answer was given?

[soobeadoo]

If you refund in full and then reinvoice with the correct shipping.. they will charge the correct FVF off your invoice.

However there are 2 problems with that. 1. Paypal keeps the .30 transaction fee & 2. how many buyers will end up not paying the 2nd invoice? or if they do pay it how many will be ticked at the extra work on their part?

[craftycatsattic]

If possible. can you please link to an official source the info with regards to a full refund with correct shipping.

Also, not true that paypal keeps the .30 transaction fee on a full refund. Unless there were recent changes, they do keep it on partial refunds but not on full refunds.