eBay

aa-surplus · ‎01-12-2005

Hi all ok whats with the large increase in the ebay rates?
wow they are really going for a big one this time

I would like to know how other people feel about this and if anyone from ebay can inform us to why the large increase in fees???

they are all in effect feb 18,2005

Cheers,

aa-surplus

systemagic · ‎01-12-2005

I was so upset by these increases that I was unable to work and was pacing the floor. I therefore decided to get out and sold my remaining inventory of trading cards to a fellow I met on Monday at a trade show. I made more money than I would have on eBay not even counting the fees and my buyer will make exactly six times this amount selling them wholesale in the bricks and mortar world. This illustrates the pricing challenges we face even without rapacious rate increases.

The US exchange rates increased this year at a rate faster than at any other time in history. Canada Post increases over the last 2 years total 50% in some package categories. Now these increases come without any improvements, to sellers, whatsoever. I've been as big an advocate of eBay as anyone but it's evident that such respect isn't recipricated.

The best way to state your mind, I believe, is with action. I've just looked up the top ten alternative auction sites. After eBay there's uBid Online Auction, then Bidz.com, Dealspin, Bargain and Haggle, Haggle Online, City Auction, Auction Addict, and Bid2Bid. Yahoo didn't even seem to make the list. I wonder which of these deal with Canadians? Whichever site prooves most beneficial to the seller's bottom line will, in the end, be the site that wins out.

0biwan · ‎01-12-2005

What is going to hit me the hardest is the over 500% increase in the Feature Plus fee. I have used it for about 75% of my auctions, but no longer.
EBay might as well discontinue it as an option, as I cannot see very many sellers using it any longer. They charge $19.95(US) on the US site, but few sellers use it.

llee2 · ‎01-12-2005

Nuts.

Am I ever glad that I decided not to open a store.

shoplineca · ‎01-12-2005

We were planning to open a store this week. I even posted that fact in one of the threads however I am now doing a 100% turnaround on that decision.

It simply is not worth it for me.

What is interesting is that I represent alot of products as a wholesaler with the international rights to sell to dealers, stores and other Power Sellers.

For the last few days I have been deliberating about my backing away from selling other Power sellers in competition with myself.

Thanks to eBay I am now planning to back out of selling on ebay and simply supply others who want to sell musical instruments in eBay.

I figure that I will make the same profit per instrument by not paying any listing or final fees, having less than a dozen customers to deal with, no longer worrying about getting negative FB, and probably realize a much higher profit in the end from an increase in sales.

Thanks eBay for raising your fees a 2nd time in the 2 years I have been selling on eBay to the point that I will now move completely out of retail and into wholesale.

I regain my silver status this morning followed by this greedy price increase a couple of hours later. Oh yeah, no bogus emailed Christmas card recieved this year either. Of course we (Canadians) also didnt get the package of goodies the Americans got either. Its clear to see what eBay thinks about Canadian Power Sellers.

Malcolm

shoplineca · ‎01-12-2005

US Power Sellers are calling for a Non Listing Day on February 18th which coincides with their fee increases.

I think that I will plan something in line with that date with my listings. I was about to list 5 or 6 more items tonight, some multiple for a total of perhaps 40 items for sale but am going to cut that back to perhaps 2 new listings.

I will see if I have anything listed on eBay in February to be pulled for the 18th.

There are actually several US Power Sellers almost praising the increases claiming that the increses will weed out some of the ocassional sellers and others selling similar products to theirs for less than they sell their products.

Those same US Power SELLERS claim that this is a good excuse to force all sellers to sharpen their pens so they can cut back in some areas and decrease other costs to absorb the impact of the fee increase!

Excuse Me??? What the hell business school did those people attend? The University of Extreme Stupidity????

One cuts down on expenses to increase ones profits NOT to put more money into the hands of a 3rd party supplier of a service to your business.

There is NO Partnership with eBay. We are NOT members of an old boys' school or a fratenity. We are businesses paying for a service that has seen a DECREASE of services over the last 2 years while increasing front end fees which are not attributed to anything beyond lining their own pockets.

I am also glad to say that I prefer the Canadian Power Sellers that post on this board. There is, for the most part, common sense, business sense, comradship and loyalty amongst each other, something sadly lacking on the US PS board and with eBay to its Sellers.

Malcolm

betterthanstore · ‎01-12-2005

We only just got our Power Seller status, and this is the "congratulations" from ebay! SUCKS!!!! We really need to think hard about getting a merchant account with a bank (even though we don't like them very much either) and open a website. Any suggestions, anyone?

**niko*** · ‎01-12-2005

There are more auction sites than that and many have stores as well. I've posted this before but here it is again. Get a table of auction fees for all sites at www.auctionbytes.com

Some interesting views. Are we all in for the Feb 18th boycott? To have real impact, there should be some soladarity.

shoplineca · ‎01-12-2005

If it is to be a boycott, everyone will have to make certain that all auctions end on the 17th or pull their auctions at the end of the day on the 17th so there isnt alot listed on the 18th.

What the boycott will do is help the 95% of Sellers who will keep their items listed and have little to no effect on eBay at all.

An update on the US Power Sellers are that some are canceling their stores immediately.

What really burns me is the eBay statement how the increase is with us in mind as they spread their business world-wide. Oh great, open up Nigeria for us. The majority of North American Sellers sell into North America and at leats 95% of what is sold on eBay in North America stays in North America so who gives a rats a$$ about our paying their development costs for some 3rd world countries. Get a Government grant but dont expect me to finance it.

Or better yet, put the fee increase on people selling into those countries that you want to open.

Malcolm

Malcolm

dragonimpact · ‎01-12-2005

What a shame.

My business plan for 2005 was to do the following :

1- List a minimum of 500 items at all times in my eBay store.

2- List bulk Fixed Price auctions items as Featured Plus! with large links to my eBay store.

Now with the increase of $5 to $25 for Featured Plus!, well, not going to do that now, and I'm already sitting around 450 items in the store so I'm kinda stuck there and will have to grin and bear it. My store now costs $5 more per month and another $2.75 ($8 from $5.25) per hundred sold in fees as most of my items are under $25.00.

The one that has me laughing is the Highlight Fee from $2 to $6.50 ... who was using that in the first place? I feel sorry for those who use the Buy-It-Now feature, those hikes really suck and doubling the 10 Day fee? Didn't use these features before, definitely not going to use them now.

iOffer, UBid, Yahoo!, Amazon are looking better every year.

Alex.

marcopoloca · ‎01-12-2005

those who praising for the increase must be working for or affiliated with ebay. 60% increase in store rate, 500% increase in featured plus! Nortel should take a lesson from ebay, why fake sales when you can simply increase the price?

sunward-hobbies · ‎01-12-2005

I saw the first post on the US board and I thought it was a joke beacause of the large fees.

Came to ebay.ca and still going over the fees. Some may not matter but I will look at all listings and the way I sell to take care of the problem. A 6.00 increas in the store fee doesn't mean much when you list 500 items, but some of the increases are just plain stupid.

Costs are going up. It doesn't matter if online or in real world. Look at all expenses. Cut back when you can. Cut lines. Bring new ones. Look for other sale channels.

This is a business. ebay is being a lousy supplier.

Angelo

lynxamania · ‎01-12-2005

Maybe we are all in a dream or maybe its a january fools joke.....

antoine-watteau · ‎01-12-2005

I was going to list more than 100 items to my store this weekend. I took all the pictures and wrote the descriptions in turbo-lister. And now this - the new ebay fees. I am more than mad, hold on, I will just throw my computer out of the window..... This is the end of my ebay store, I will close that thing tomorrow. But the best are those 8% commission, plus insertion fees, plus gallery, plus 10 day listing, how should this work for sellers ? Most of it costs over 50% more. How should we make profit ? "Profit", what a great word, haven't heard this for a long time. Well, I think that's it for me with ebay. Good luck to everyone.

deltone · ‎01-12-2005

I was reading about a new site that is launching next week. It's actually VERY interesting. You can read about it if you type wagglepop into a google search. A strange name but some real interesting information. I just spent the last couple of hours reading about it and the guy who is starting it up seems to really have a good handle on what people need and want. I think the timing is perfect.

systemagic · ‎01-13-2005

Actions speak louder than words. I've just removed a number of my store listings and will look into removing more tomorrow. I sure don't feel much like posting any new items. Diversifiation is always a good financial plan of action and I believe that an en masse power seller sign-up to wagglepop (and, perhaps, other auction sites listed in this thread) will have more affect and seller benefit than the proposed single day boycott. Notwithstanding I'll probably take part in the boycott as well. I'm also considering taking my many individual items to the flea market.

rd1000 · ‎01-13-2005

Under this new pricing scheme, if I list an item in auction starting under $9.99, and it sells for $20.00, it ends up costing less than if I list it in the store and sell it for $20.00. I thought selling from the store was supposed to save money. Way to go Ebay.

I guess I will be selling everything in auction if I am confident that the item will sell over $12.00. Under $12.00 items go in the store. Better still, higher priced items are going to start selling elsewhere.

Rob

systemagic · ‎01-13-2005

It looks like seller sign-ups at wagglepop are going through the roof today.

acurael · ‎01-13-2005

It looks like the 8% thing is only on stores no?

I don't see any mention of an increase on auctions or fixed price listings.

recped · ‎01-13-2005

It looks like the 8% thing is only on stores no?

If you don't have a store, don't sell on eBay motors and don't use Gallery then it's only the BIN increase to be concerned about.

"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.

shoplineca · ‎01-13-2005

BIN is used for all of my listings.
Sorry, BIN WAS used on all of my listings.

What really upsets me is that I got into eBay a little over 2 years ago by learning how to buy on it for a couple of months and then started selling on it.

As a Business Consultant, I took the time to lay out a detailed and comprehensive business plan with financial projections and for the first 3 months was very pleased to see that I was right on the money.

Then the Iraq war hit and I lost 85% of my customers (the Americans) and in that same month CP levies a gas surcharge, the month after that CP introduced cubing charges and for the next 6+ months made cubing errors that resulted in overbilling and shutting down my online sale of guitars for over a year.

A few months later CP, eBay and PayPal introduce price increases at the same time the Canadian dollar begins its path to strengthening. And now into year two, a 2nd CP increase, a 2nd eBay increase and an aticipated 2nd PayPal increase.

My Business Plan was rewritten so many times in year one that I threw it out the door before Year two came around.

If people dont start looking at alternatives, they are fools.

Malcolm