I just put my store on vacation - wouldn't it be great if ebay halved our store fees.

[musicyouneed]

Due to possible postal issues as I sell both here and internationally, I have put my store on indefinite vacation.  They just did a lockdown in California and I suspect NY and Washington to be next.   Flights to England are stopping on Sunday. 

When my gym closed down they stated that for however long they would be closed they would extend my gym membership, so if they close for 2 months, my gym membership would be extended 2 months.  I have been getting all sorts of emails from businesses offering different things, extensions etc. 

I would like ebay to do their part and possibly reduce store fees by 50% while this is going on.   You can sell items that can not be delivered.  I don't want to have to cancel my store and then restart it when this is all over.

[rosscd57]

Lock downs are not as critical in the States as they have door to door delivery for the whole country.

[pjcdn2005]

Not everyone has door to door delivery. There are many US residents in smaller towns who have to pick up their mail at their post office box. Some areas also have community mailboxes.

But....those who do have door to door delivery have the definite advantage of having pick up at their home as well as delivery...for free. 

[thunderclawz]

Are you sure about this?
https://pages.ebay.ca/stores/subscriptionterms.html
There are mentions about Quebec residents for terms, renewals, etc. but nothing in the cancellation section.

[brettjet38]

Quebec residents who initially subscribed for a yearly subscription will automatically renew for an indeterminate period at the then-current monthly rate.

Quebec Residents have no contract and can cancel anytime, we pay a "Monthly rate" it's not bound to any contract.

eBay has no power in Quebec and has to follow our laws...

We use FRENCH CIVIL LAW not English Civil Law

"For existing users (except Quebec residents), your continued access or use of our Services after these terms take effect constitutes your acceptance of the amended terms noted above. If you do not agree to these changes, you must stop using the eBay sites and terminate the User Agreement by closing your eBay account. Instructions to close your eBay account are listed on our Closing your account help page or you may also contact eBay by phone by following the instructions listed on the customer support page to obtain assistance with cancelling your account. If you reside in Quebec, you may send us a notice thirty (30) days after the amended terms come into effect to indicate your refusal of the amended terms and to request termination of the User Agreement by closing your eBay account, without any cost or penalty."

[brettjet38]

"Deferred" only means you will pay later...

CREDIT ALL FEES FOR ALL SELLERS FOR 2 MONTHS. put your money where your mouth is eBay!

Support your "CLIENTS" every SELLER!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@brettjet38 

And the deferred amount is only 50%. It's only delaying the rent on a building that is basically closed for business.

An alternate plan and  the right thing to do would be reduce FVF's for ALL sellers. Big or small!!  Will it happen? Who knows!!! Before too many sellers just call it quits altogether!!!

-Lotz

[tryubik-useonlyasdirected]

Another alternative could be to offer a 'Pause' button on store accounts. That way a member could place their store on a temporary hold for X amount of months, then, when things start to turn around *knocks on every piece of wood in the room* they can reopen. During the pause period there are no fees; the catch could be adding the amount of time spent on pause to the end of the contract?

ie. 2 months paused, contracted extended to add 2 months onto the end of annual term making the new renew date ie April 1 instead of Feb 1.

Though I wholeheartedly agree during this period there should be a complete moratorium on store fees, with no contractual obligations to extend.

We closed shop two days ago as it was cheaper to close than stay open. One shop remains open and has not had a sale since March 11th. In checking our competitors sites, it appears they are in comparable situations.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@tryubik-useonlyasdirected 

Those solutions would work fine too. Most definitely. Sadly it should NOT be sellers coming up with these suggestions.

-Lotz

[sarahsales88]

Agreed. This is the time for eBay to step up to the plate and hit a home run. Devoted sellers who have weathered the storm of eBay of constant policy changes through the years which have cost store sellers 1000s of hours of work to edit listings to adapt to constant changes need this reassurance that we really do matter!! Those of you who work for eBay and see these pleads, please give us a well deserved break. That will show us good faith and give us hope. Please, do whatever is in your ability to help us during these trying times. My store has applied and received permission to delay 1/2 fees for a month, thank you, but you know it really doesn't do the job well. Now is the time to let us know you really care about your sellers, much more than delaying 1/2 store fees of a month. As you can see, our stores are increasingly being put on vacation because we are fearful of delivery problems, "lost" packages, negative feedback etc, based on previous experiences fearful we will be penalized again in some form for poor performance during this time over which we have no control. Plus we are all fighting for our precious lives now. EBay policy makers, please make it so.
Thank you conscientious eBay employees who try to help us. Best regards, keep safe everyone, sending love, xoxoxox hugs (from a distance).

[mrdutch1001]

as someone who has 0.00 balance in eBay fees and not listing on eBay at this time,won't help me until I start listing again, but that would have been a hopeful move...

and altho' not calling it quits on eBay, yet...at least not until that Managed Payments is forced upon us Canadian sellers, I'm all for a reduction in FVF's at anytime... as long as I have sales to qualify.

[thunderclawz]

But are you sure there is such a law. I know for telecom (wireless, internet) that's the rule for INDIVIDUAL. I don't believe it's applicable to everything. Also not sure at all if it's applicable to businesses. I currently have a contract with Bell for BUSINESS internet and there are penalties for early termination.

"Quebec residents who initially subscribed for a yearly subscription will automatically renew for an indeterminate period at the then-current monthly rate." This is them charging you at the higher monthly rate. So it's basically like if you picked monthly subscription. You're not paying the yearly rate for an interminate period. I had to switch back to yearly to get the lower rate.

[brettjet38]

There is no contract in Quebec for any Seller, it's all "monthly" we get the yearly price charged per month. They cannot charge any fees if we close our store as we have no contracts in Quebec.

Our consumer protection laws also influence all contests, free things and prizes in the province, it's why many things say "Not valid for Quebec Residents", too much trouble to adapt to our laws so they just exclude us...

[femmefan1946]

@brettjet38 

The annual payments in the ROC are also paid monthly.

I tend to think of the subscription to a Store as my rent for space,and there are not many landlords who want the year's rent in advance or indeed at the end of the rental term.

Any business is better off with a monthly stream of small payments than a single lump payment once a year.

https://pages.ebay.ca/seller-centre/selling/ebay-stores.html#packages-pricing

The difference is that by agreeing to an annual subscription, those monthly payments are smaller.

By $5 a month for a Basic Store.