eBay UK Introduces Brand New Fee that Worries Everyone

[tellephoto]

This summer Ebay UK will have a surcharge on all items that are re listed after 18 months of no sales.

Here is the link to the story.

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y15/m03/i03/s01

[nuvistors]

That should not be of too much concern since if an item has not sold for a year and a half it is unlikely to sell.

[tellephoto]

That might be true for small sellers, but not large ones.  A lot of the big sellers pride themselves in providing a very large selection of items to choose from.  Sorta like comparing a small Home Hardware to a Home Depot.

[mr.elmwood]

Neither Hardware nor Depot keep products on the shelf for 18 months.

[decal-fx]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:
Neither Hardware nor Depot keep products on the shelf for 18 months.

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That may be the case, but I manufacture all my items to order, and you can't sell what you don't list. This new policy would have a very bad effect on my business,

[reallynicestamps]

 if an item has not sold for a year and a half it is unlikely to sell.

Not true.

I sell postage stamps and vintage books. Some are sold in minutes and some take years to find a buyer.

The trick for me is to buy cheaply enough that the monthly listing doesn't eat up my profits.

[cumos55]

Book sellers with a massive amount of inventory do rotate their inventory.

Sometimes a million listings at a time....

Many sellers put a listing up on eBay and leave it ...Nothing is reworked or readjusted...  and then sales die....

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It depends on what the sell through rate is......

If sell through is 20 % in 12 months  it should be close to 30 %  within 18 months....

[cumos55]

A way to identify if a listing has been on eBay for 16 months was introduced several years ago.

They can be identified  under Selling Manager Pro  in a section called Alerts....

End and  relist ...  for these listings has brought them back to the front of a search  and they have,  in several instances, sold soon after a relist..

I have been thinking of reducing the exposure of some slow selling categories....  end them ... wait a few months  and then relist 

In turn...  several categories of listings have been removed.....  the Old Fogies of Hockey... anything with respect to the game of curling... biographies of Canadian authors.....  and several other categories  in past years....

Paying extra  for "old listings" in some categories makes sense..... especially a seller puts up a listing and waits for it to sell.

This action will force sellers to examine  what their listing strategy should be....

Constant relisting  does bring a listing  back up to the front of search.....

[cumos55]

Items do not sell

(1) Too many listings in a category.....  too much of the "same" type of item or exactly same inventory for sale..

.................eBay's problem....  Sellers might have to be limited as to how much they can list, based on their standing on eBay.....

Do we need close to 1800 listings of Da Vinci Code?  with sales equal to 10 % of total inventory over the last three months

(2) Priced  ... too... high, and it does not sell....

.................This is occurring with books throughout the internet.... Some of the prices are totally unreal!... definitely outrageous

and then  .....Even high prices are correct  for some books.....

(3) Too many sellers  list and leave it.....  and then **bleep** when it does not sell....

..................Mainly small sellers  ... as indicated on the boards on eBay.com... with sellers reporting ... Sales have died.....

(4) Maybe eBay wants more short term listings......  auctions perhaps???

[cumos55]

Maybe all sellers have to do is end and relist all listings every 12 months....

or every 6 months.

or every... whatever length less than 18 months....

[cumos55]

From the UK announcement ...

Anchor stores in the UK will have a maximum of 50,000 listings...

[recped]

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@cumos55 wrote:

From the UK announcement ...

Anchor stores in the UK will have a maximum of 50,000 listings...

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It used to be unlimited!

[38e_avenue]

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@nuvistors wrote:

That should not be of too much concern since if an item has not sold for a year and a half it is unlikely to sell.

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NOT TRUE! I list thousands of items and a lot of them sell after 2+ years of waiting for a customer. 

By the way - I often end my older listings and re-list them using "sell similar" feature, so HOW Ebay will know an item is more than 18 months old? 

Sounds like en early 1 April joke ..... 

[recped]

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@38e_avenue wrote:

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@nuvistors wrote:

That should not be of too much concern since if an item has not sold for a year and a half it is unlikely to sell.

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NOT TRUE! I list thousands of items and a lot of them sell after 2+ years of waiting for a customer. 

By the way - I often end my older listings and re-list them using "sell similar" feature, so HOW Ebay will know an item is more than 18 months old? 

Sounds like en early 1 April joke ..... 

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eBay are talking about listings that have been up as GTC for years with no sales. That does not included items that are ended, tweaked and listed again.

About two years ago eBay started to flag listings older than 16 months, they wanted sellers to take some sort of action rather than just letting them sit (while eBay collected fees). I guess that effort was not stimulating enough sellers to do something so eBay adds a fee that might motivate them.

This particular change in the UK is one giant "nothing to worry about".

[kcgwynne]

Anchor Shop listings (coming summer 2015)

Anchor Shop subscriptions will have 50,000 inclusive fixed price listings each month instead of unlimited listings. 

You’ll be able to list more by paying an additional 5p for each listing over your allowance. Alternatively, we’ll be offering an additional Unlimited Listing Pack which can be purchased separately for £250.

Anchor Shop subscribers will still be able to enjoy great benefits including use of our dedicated Customer Service team, free professional listing management tools and Selling Manager Pro, plus discounted international listing rates.

Look out for updates on the outdated listing fee and Anchor Shops listings nearer the time.

I took a look at The UK Ebay and they still can get unlimited listing per anchor shop just pay extra per listing or subscribe to another extra program.

[cumos55]

Many sellers come here with the view that they can do it forever....  without any change in what they sell and what they do....

and then sales reach a level  and then sales appear to slow down or even stop.

What next?  Usually it is too late..... 

Have they saturated the market... or  have their listings become "too old" for eBay to promote.

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Selling is an art.....Creating  an image

Selling is a science ......  System modelling......Establish a model for selling   and constantly adjusting the model to make it happen

Selling is a game........  working the system to become a winner

Selling is a gamble... just ask Target

Selling is an adventure... knowing what to do... and then what not to do...

Knowing when to continue  and when to end it and start new..  always looking for something new to sell, and finding inventory thast is complementary to what is already being sold...

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How many sellers know the meaning of ... Fair Market Value...

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The 18 month time period will be a wake up call.... 

How many sellers will know what to do?.... or in turn .... what NOT to do....

[cumos55]

Dealing with eBay's 18 month reality...

I have many stories to tell... but that is for me to know...

unique  and interesting happenings.....  finding new ways to sell... .in relation to....

Billiards, Mr. Potatohead, Triang, HO, Aurora, Cookery, How We Work, Namiki, Languages,  O' Connor, O'Connell, Seven, Chalet, 

Hockey, Soccer..... Music........ 

Beat the system.... being innovative... recognize when to move on to something new...

It can be fun!    and sometimes a frustrating experience...

[canuckchat]

I have items I've had for years - I do not "relist" - I use an auction manager to keep track of all the listings, and when a freebie promo comes along, I list either everything that I still have available, or pick and choose certain ones to list. Some items may be listed dozens of times (never a relist though, always uploaded as a new listing) - and then one person comes along and goes ecstatic to find the item available on eBay.

[cumos55]

One gets the impression that  if  a listing gets a new ID number ... It is considered  a new listing on eBay.

End  and then relist .....The listing has a new ID number, and a new start date.

Revising a listing does not give a listing a new presence on eBay... No new ID...The count continues to 18 months.

Some adjustments to a listing affect how the search engine treats that listing....

End  a listing and then relist,  almost immediately,  is one such activity.... Cassini is tickled

[imbuzzy]

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@canuckchat wrote:
I have items I've had for years - I do not "relist" - I use an auction manager to keep track of all the listings, and when a freebie promo comes along, I list either everything that I still have available, or pick and choose certain ones to list. Some items may be listed dozens of times (never a relist though, always uploaded as a new listing) - and then one person comes along and goes ecstatic to find the item available on eBay.

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What "auction manager" do you use? - if you don't mind me asking...

I am looking for something that does pretty well what you have explained.