eBay

dutchman48 · ‎03-15-2018

I asked the below for the spring updates and your reply is attached as well and I realize it is your best guess:

in reply to 02-27-2018 04:23:23 PM

@dutchman48 wrote:
On .com, they can downgrade or cancel stores in May without the early cancellation penalty.

Will Ebay .ca have the same, or we will be like always, out in the cold and shafted because we are in Canada?

As with above, this is my best guess as I'm not a Product Manager, but I would be very surprised if we handled it differently from the US. We don't have an exact date for these tiers to launch but they should be coming this year, and with them, a lot more (Canada-specific) information.

This question was asked in yesterday's chat on the US boards and here was Alan's reply in post 88:

As far as I am aware, the new store tiers are for the US platform only. So the above wouldn't apply to Canadian sellers.

Thanks.

I gather that would mean as Canadians we get the short stick again?

happy_pigeon · ‎03-15-2018

Alan is not correct in this case. New Store tiers (Starter as well as Enterprise, as laid out in the SR) will be coming to eBay.ca in 2018.

I have also, since I wrote the passage you quoted, spoken with both our lawyer as well as the lead PM for the Stores project. They confirmed that those who are under contract to an existing Store subscription at the time of the upcoming fee change associated with the introduction of the new tiers will have a window of opportunity to downgrade or cancel their subscription without penalty.

We are getting the entire stick.

dutchman48 · ‎03-15-2018

@happy_pigeonwrote:
Alan is not correct in this case. New Store tiers (Starter as well as Enterprise, as laid out in the SR) will be coming to eBay.ca in 2018.

I have also, since I wrote the passage you quoted, spoken with both our lawyer as well as the lead PM for the Stores project. They confirmed that those who are under contract to an existing Store subscription at the time of the upcoming fee change associated with the introduction of the new tiers will have a window of opportunity to downgrade or cancel their subscription without penalty.

We are getting the entire stick.

I just reread the part of the Spring Update referring to stores and everything refers to .com and not to .ca, other than coming later in 2018 to .ca.

This is why we in Canada have no idea what we can or can't do because what happens or is said on .com does not apply to us, yet it does as well.

This whole situation needs to be clarified because we have no idea when the new tiers will come to .ca so no idea when the contracts will change.

esclyons · ‎03-15-2018

so is this now a confirmation, that our store fees will in fact be going up, when they launch the new store tiers..

happy_pigeon · ‎03-15-2018

@esclyons wrote:

so is this now a confirmation, that our store fees will in fact be going up, when they launch the new store tiers..

Yes, there will be a fee update that coincides with the introduction of the new Store tiers.

@dutchman48: Yes--this was one of my biggest takeaways for the most recent Seller Update. With the increasing complexity of what's being introduced in SUs, it's becoming more and more difficult for Canadian readers to determine what's relevant to them and what is not. In the past we have tried to "split the difference" and be mindful of the fact that many Canadian sellers list on .com as well, and so try to include relevant .com-only information in light of this.

Stores was a tricky one though, as it is definitely happening for .ca, so we didn't want to cut it out. However, we had to modify it with "on .com" to make it clear that the timelines offered did not apply to Canada.

dutchman48 · ‎03-15-2018

@happy_pigeon

Hence maybe Alan was correct that since the timelines are not taking place here as they are in the US, neither will the month of May for downgrade or cancellation?

happy_pigeon · ‎03-15-2018

@dutchman48 wrote:

@happy_pigeon

Hence maybe Alan was correct that since the timelines are not taking place here as they are in the US, neither will the month of May for downgrade or cancellation?

Does it matter? I'm not keeping score with Alan. He's a great guy.

To sum up:

Canada will be getting new Store tiers in 2018.
Accompanying that will be a fee change.
Store subscribers under contract at the time of the fee change will have a window of opportunity in which to end their contract or downgrade without penalty.

*assigns Helpful to self*

dutchman48 · ‎03-15-2018

@happy_pigeon

I am not keeping score, so please don't talk that way and yes, it does matter.

I am trying to find out, as a Canadian, when I can downgrade or close my store without penalty and it appears it won't be in May.

I am sure others are as well.

happy_pigeon · ‎03-15-2018

@dutchman48 wrote:

@happy_pigeon

I am not keeping score, so please don't talk that way and yes, it does matter.

I am trying to find out, as a Canadian, when I can downgrade or close my store without penalty and it appears it won't be in May.

I am sure others are as well.

I'm trying to keep things light in this conversation, but please keep in mind that I'm the Mod and I set the tone here -- not you.

dutchman48 · ‎03-15-2018

@happy_pigeonwrote:
@dutchman48wrote:
@happy_pigeon

I am not keeping score, so please don't talk that way and yes, it does matter.

I am trying to find out, as a Canadian, when I can downgrade or close my store without penalty and it appears it won't be in May.

I am sure others are as well.

I'm trying to keep things light in this conversation, but please keep in mind that I'm the Mod and I set the tone here -- not you.

I am sorry you feel that way as the lightness seems to have gone from your posts so I will just end this discussion now without an answer to a concern which seems to be the norm.

esclyons · ‎03-15-2018

on the .com update, it says there is no store increase in price, for the premium, and the anchor store, so can we expect the same here, on .ca

happy_pigeon · ‎03-15-2018

@esclyons wrote:

on the .com update, it says there is no store increase in price, for the premium, and the anchor store, so can we expect the same here, on .ca

Yes, you can expect the same--we'll follow the same changes.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎03-15-2018

Still sounds clear as mud reading through this message stream. Used to be when you locked in to a certain price for one year it was good for one year. That's the point of locking in. Shouldn't the charge be going up at the end of your one year period and that's when you would have the option to either renew or cancel? Your mortgage or car payments don't go up all of a sudden by surprise!! Is it possible it's just easier to up everyone's fees all at once?

-CM

momcqueen · ‎03-15-2018

...To sum up:

Canada will be getting new Store tiers in 2018.
Accompanying that will be a fee change.
Store subscribers under contract at the time of the fee change will have a window of opportunity in which to end their contract or downgrade without penalty....

Darn it, I was hoping this was one of those times sellers with store subscriptions on ebay.ca would fly under the radar for awhile. But okay. When I saw that section of the Seller Update didn't pertain to ebay.ca, I skimmed it, so now I'll have to go back and re-read it to see what to expect when it comes this way. Thanks for the head's up.

happy_pigeon · ‎03-16-2018

Speculation as I'm not overly familiar with our finance side, but my assumption is because it would be a billing nightmare if we were to wait for every Store subscription to end before adjusting the subscription price.

Plus, since there's been a bit of a heads-up on this one, wouldn't that just mean that a bunch of sellers would go ahead and sign up for 1-year Store subscriptions the day before the new pricing goes into effect?

amcdc79 · ‎03-18-2018

Actually, in this day and age, electronic billing is way easier than the old way (paper), mind you, it would be tough to offer incentives to the sellers so they keep their stores, while raising the rates at the same time.

Really the only sellers able to take advantage, would be the ones whose subscription was ending just before the fees were raised. Would sellers with stores risk losing sales, by waiting for the last minute to save a couple of bucks, probably not. There might even have been a few new sellers signing up to avoid the raise.

It is nice that ebay is offering to waive the cancellation penalty for sellers who want to close their stores. Iirc, in the TOS contract we all agree to, it says ebay can raise the rates any time they want.

I know I'm waiting with baited breath for the word on the starter store rates and benefits, such as when is it going to happen, cost, and how it applies to Canadians.

I'm sure ebay.ca will let us know as soon as they know.