The Unofficial eBay Fee Hike

by: maxmad

it's another unfortunate slap in the face, for ebay sellers, and really bad news for heavy items sellers.

But the good news is, the more these greedy corporations take, the more sales we get on private venues.
   

by: Rexford

My incredible low eCrater fees make me smile.  eCrater also do not take a percentage of my shipping fees.  They stay out of my business. They don't tell me what to charge, when to ship, what to charge for shipping, and they don't hide my listings.

Meanwhile eBay (and Amazon) keep pushing free shipping while shipping rates for sellers increase every year.  Free shipping costs eBay nothing, so it is easy for them to push this.  Moreover, forced returns by eBay where sellers have to pay a buyer's return shipping cost eBay nothing either.

by: Volvo351

Of course, this is no accident. The FVF on shipping was designed as a sneaky, underhanded, unethical way to pork sellers.  This is SOP for eBay [mis-]management. Sellers have learned to expect nothing better from these thieves.

by: ajeweler

here is the way I see this

ebay has their store fees, then extra listing fees then final value fees then fees on shipping

ebay the reason they promoted free shipping originally was simple buyers thought ebay was paying shipping and of course ebay charged sellers their 9% or what ever percent the fee happens to be so it was profitable to simply tell sellers they get more exposure with free shipping and ebay received the percentage in the total price , sellers paid the fees buyers thought ebay shipped free

now buyers became savvy with this and begun to list say a shirt with $1.00 and $9.00 shipping to avoid listing final value fees

ebay responds by charging a final value fee on shipping this stopped most of the fee avoidance on the listing fees,
now sellers started listing items like $1.00 and $99.00 shipping because the listing would always show up in the search as lowest price plus shipping, most new users do this to find best price

now the no seller protection is everyone knows the policy is buyers are right

what the sellers do not know is ebay charges fees on the final value of items but does not credit your fees on shipping when items are returned

now another surprise is that when a seller pays return shipping of a item there are shipping fees also to ebay that are not refundable so e bay wins again so weather or not a item has final value fees you still loose fees associated with shipping both ways, now if there is free shipping ebay does credit full value

however if ebay forces a return they still make fees on return shipping

there is so much one can see if they take their time to look at itemized bills that is why ebay just says bill too long to show to everyone

yet another lashing from ebay with the short notice fee increase

sellers need to really study their bills closely they will find lots of problems and hidden costs

I left ebay for this reason and will not buy or sell there

by: ajeweler

@Rexford
"Moreover, forced returns by eBay where sellers have to pay a buyer's return shipping cost eBay nothing either. "

of course, they force the return and still keep a percentage of the shipping fee and the return shipping fee (these are not credited to the seller)

if free shipping is chosen the seller still pays a fee on the return shipping so this is why ebay always sides with buyers

@toolguy

what you have to say about the ebay sales now?? they just dug deeper into your pocket I guess the $24000 monthly will now be 6-8% less than you received before so now sales will be down for you as well see when you post they read and listen to your concerns

again thank you ina

by: gizmo

Oh yes , that's connecting with your small sellers. You go boys , you will destroy ebay yet.

Got up this morning to see my other half shutting down auctions on ebay site. Yep , Im not the only one in my house, now waiting for the 180 day mark.

Our son did not list this week. He lives alone. He sees no since. I see no since. And now , well , no-one in my family is listing on deadbay.

I cannot wait till I can cancel , delete ect... my account. This venue is the most crooked , evil , faction on earth.

You will pay for your cruel ,evil intent ebay. I pray I get to hear , or see your demise ebay. The sooner , the better.

Good luck to all sellers who are honest, & struggling. I understand your pain. Ebay is no place for any good person , it will change you , & you will become a different person. Stay good , dont let these microbes get you down.

by: iheartjacksparrow

More money for eBay! More bonuses for JD and his buddies! More small sellers forced to leave eBay! It's all good! (In the eyes of the thieves that run eBay.)

As Rexford states, eCrater is the place to sell. In the last couple of months my sales there have been fantastic, even better than in the "good old days" of eBay.  

by: comments

It kind of sucks that the sellers keep complaining about EVERYTHING. It mutes our voices to real problems in the marketplace.

Charging fees on shipping prices was a necessary evil. This makes inflated shipping charges for fee circumvention useless. Lowering shipping charges DOES vastly improve the buyer experience. USPS rates are going up a few cents. That is the kicker not the "fee increase". Guess this was a slow news day.

Defects for doing the right thing and accepting a return....now that is a different story.

by: toolguy

@ajeweler

Most of my items ship Priority Mail (no price increase)

On items that ship first class: $2.82 going up 5.1% = about .14 cents

Ebay will reap an additional .01 cent on this type transaction.

by: Rexford

Comments says ''It kind of sucks that the sellers keep complaining about EVERYTHING.''

Give me a break.  This company has proven that it has no loyalty to its sellers and it never misses an opportunity to take more without giving anything back.  eBay took a fee on shipping prices because of their unyielding greed.  Paint it any way you please, but no one is buying it.  

Have you seriously not been paying attention to the out of control salaries and bonuses of John Donahoe and the C-level eBay management in the past few years while many small sellers have had to close their shops down?   Yes, sellers are complaining about EVERYTHING because there is honestly nothing to praise this company for.

by: ajeweler

@toolguy

that's good news, then you should be able to wrap it up in costs and your still in the good standing minority glad to hear your still able to function there I cannot, first class 3oz with delivery comf was 1.93 no insurance available on my items, great news I do not sell there too high risk for my stuff just lyre's and thief's and switchers

by: ajeweler

@toolguy
My apologies I thought you were upset over the shipping on ebay charging you too much money that is how I understood your posts so excuse me if I was incorrect

by: Ming the Merciless

Hardly the only "unofficial" fee increase.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have seen any free listings for relistings since ebafia went on their campaign to coerce new listings. What I get now are free listings on new listings only and free listings for extended durations.

I suspect the additional listing fees they're now collecting that they weren't before on these promotions are subsidizing the ebafia bucks lures. So any increased sales sellers see as a result of ebafia bucks is being eroded by lost free listings.

Devil Wenig must think we're really stupid.

Another wire in the small seller "re connect" program.

by: maxmad

FVF on shipping is gouging the consumer, it's a ripoff anyway you look at it, sorry not an ''evil necessity'' could have been changed in many different ways,

What's evil is this company.

 




   

by: iheartjacksparrow

@comments - Yes there was a problem with fee avoidance. Did eBay do anything rational to stop that practice? How many guilty sellers do you know were suspended for fee avoidance? Instead of actually doing some work to clean up the site, they make every seller, even honest ones, pay for the misdeeds of a few. Why should everyone be punished? But eBay has never cared about honesty, it's all about the fees.  

by: RKTOYS

I don't know what's worse, sellers like comments and toolguy or equally out of touch customers who get mean when stuff isn't free.

by: Ebay Seller-Ebay Buyer

Ebay doesn't profit from raising fees if they lose another wave of sellers.  It's Amazon who profits the most. For example: 5 years ago there was about 100,000 vinyl records on Amazon; now there are over 2 million.  5 years ago there also was about 100,000 sports cards.  Now there are close to 4,000,000.  And many other types of items that used to be mainly on Ebay are now on Amazon and selling better and better.

This never should have happened, but it did;  mostly due to ebay's yearly fee hikes with the shipping fee among the most unpopular. And while ebay raises fees every year; Amazon has the same stable, never changing fee structure in place for years. So on the surface it looks like ebay will profit from the next USPS rate hike, but that's only if they don't lose another wave of sellers.

by: maxmad

it's one thing to offer paid promotions, but by basing the cost on a percentage of the sale is going to ruin them, it will drive more sellers off the site, that do not make high enough margins on their items, more lost customers, equals less product variety, equals less buyers, and less profit for ebay.


I say let the stupid idiots at ebay press the self destruct button, they really got nothing else to loose,

by: RKTOYS

@SellerBuyer

That's just so bizarre to me.  I sell alot of toys below $30 and Amazon's fee schedule is ugly as sin.

I've got this Avengers 2 figure coming in with an MSRP of $25.  Amazon's already got me beat offering free shipping.  And their take, should I try to sell, is $6 or 24%...versus $4 or 16% on eBay.  Amazon's supposed to be more of a new/retail environment, so it's not a matter of "just make your crafty stuff cheaper."  And this is before Amazon's rate table has you shipping a "1 lb" bowling ball to Alaska for $4.99.

Believe me, there's something far worse than a run-of-the-mill shipping rate hike driving people away from eBay.

by: ajeweler

this fee hike effects the buyers no matter how you see it, and ebay increasing the fees ultimately gets pushed on to the buyers if free it is wrapped up into the sales price, if you charge shipping, its added into that price or the seller simply eats the percentage , the whole problem is ebay and their weekly changes one goes bonkers trying just to keep up and stay good with buyers ebay has this divide and conquer attitude , when the wave of sellers get tired they will then support other venues out there and there are several if sellers would only support others they may grow and become the future ecommerce and let ebay implode from the inside out, just spread out and look for venues that suit your business they are there