eBay AU Launches $49 Annual Membership Program

by: Silver Ice King

In other words it sounds like a nice quick $49 fee with absolutely no cost to Ebay.  One way or another Sellers are going to pay for the shipping whether its through their current Free Shipping or if they can opt in they will pay the shipping charge but Ebay will get the fee.  

If it works there be ready for it to hit here as Ebay will do anything it can to get free money.  I think its kind of funny that this announcement comes the day before the Shareholders meeting.  I guess they really are hurting for positive topics to discuss this year.

by: ebayout

Wenig will have to channel Fred Astaire to tap dance around the 18.7% drop in stock price since Feb. 1.
Powerpoints raise hope, not the stock price.

by: iheartjacksparrow

eBay Plus launches in the U.S. in 3.. 2.. 1

by: P.Dorf

"......premium customer service" ROFL

Do they have ANY original ideas?

As Silver Ice King states, a quick money grab (OK, they'll give you at 15% reduction in fees), but compared to the services Amazon offers for Prime....

by: Rexford

So funny that Wenig sees eBay as being viewed in the same way that Amazon is viewed by the shopping public.  It's like Fat Burger trying to serve a Ruth's Chris steak.

Monkey continues to see and "attempt" to do.  As others have said--pure money grab.

by: pace306

AAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA !

1) RIC, MING, REXFORD, MYSELF and others said this months ago. eBay will try to copy Amazon with a PRIME type service!

Until now they didnt have the CAJONES to charge $49 or $99 for NOTHING - but things must be REALLY bad over in San Jose!

2) IF ANYONE IS DUMB ENOUGH TO PAY FOR THIS - YOU HAVE THEN MENTAL CAPACITY OF A BLADE OF GRASS

3) Its outright theft since eBay does NOTHING for the money. Go to a bar, order a drink, pay for it - get an empty glass!

You have to have a certain level of "hutzpa" to charge a fee for nothing ... another case of eBay FRAUD!

by: Ina

Please note, the 15% reduction in fvfs was for the German program when it launched in 2015.

According to eBay's announcement in Australia yesterday, under "How do sellers benefit," eBay included the following:

"No additional fees to participate in the program – We won’t charge you any  additional fees (including final value fees) to display the Plus logo on your listings."

And will buyers realize that they are paying $49 for "free shipping" for items that *already* offer free shipping to those who are *not* members of the program?

by: maxmad

I really don't understand what you're getting for $49

I can only imagine that ebay will start hiding items with free shipping and only show them to paying members.

it will interesting to see how they pull this off, but at the end of the day, the $49 will come out of sellers pockets,  

by: Ina

I added the following update above:

"In the seller FAQs about eBay Plus, eBay writes: "Listings can still qualify for eBay Plus if you've specified a postage cost. eBay Plus members get free delivery as one of the benefits of their subscription, so we'll cover the difference." We're not sure which items that will impact."

eBay needs to provide more details to buyers and sellers about that statement!

by: pace306

Geez, its just another eBay money grab.

eBay is USED to doing nothing for their sellers, now they have taken it to a new level  - that simple

You already pay for listings, and MAYBE if all the stars align and the Cupcake has taken his meds/got up on the right side of the bed - will show your listing. NOW, eBay wants to charge the buyers money for the same nothing.

Just when you think eBay cant go any lower - they surprise you with another low life stunt.

by: leathermermaid8

Not sure this will make sense UNLESS eBay is going to source and stock the items you would be paying member ship to buy.  A "no questions asked" return policy will doubtless be in effect.  They could have done this with the late Half.com and spared themselves a lot of trouble.  

There are probably retailers they have in mind to participate though and who are interested in such a program.

It's been said many times eBay doesn't own, store, source or manufacture anything themselves so it will be interesting to see how this will play out.

Who knows, eBay may have a revelation about what it's really like to do the work if they do try this.    

Seriously, there are things on Amazon that do not qualify for free or faster shipping even WITH Prime.  I shop there seldom but as I've said before, Hubbs managed to click himself into a Prime membership.  The membership fee pretty much balances out any savings he gets from the prime prices. Having this "membership" makes it seem like a bigger deal than it is.  

I'm sure if you shop Amazon exclusively, then it does pay.  Just not for us.

Since I don't shop on eBay as much as I used to, no, I 'm not willing to pay to shop there.   And I have the feeling we may be forced to "join" if they don't get the result$ they want.  

by: pace306

Its a con game to change returns for AU sellers as well:

"eBay Plus is about making shopping easier for loyal eBay buyers. With that in mind, we will speed up the returns process for eBay Plus orders.
eBay Plus buyers will still need to open a return request and indicate the reason for their return. However, we'll go ahead and automatically accept their return request and give them a return postage label straight away"

However, we'll go ahead and automatically accept their return request and give them a return postage label straight away <----- is the important thing here

LMFAO

How do sellers benefit from eBay Plus?

1) Prominence in search results – eBay Plus listings will be highlighted through a search filter. An exclusive eBay Plus badge will also be displayed

So its another left sided switch designed to hurt sellers who have heavy items or who dont fit into eBays nutty ideas - THANX PARTNER!

2) Extensive marketing – The program as well as eBay Plus listings will be advertised through eBay’s extensive marketing and retail activities

Which is basically nothing - they dont even show up to most trade shows ... so its a suseless promise

3) No additional cost to participate in the program – There are no additional fees (including final value fees) to display the Plus logo on your listings.

I should think not. eBay is getting the free cash - why should sellers have to pay (for the Cupcakes new home or jet?)

And the BEST reason of all ....

4) Potentially increased sales  (their words not mine).

True, Im not in the land down under, but I feel for my fellow brother and sister sellers who have to deal with Devin the terrible, and second - if it works there, they may bring it here ..... best off to try and nip it in the bud.

DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY PROGRAM EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO THIS.  

by: ebayout

Ticky tac...but...is that Aussie dollars or US dollars?
$49US is $37.01AU
Did they literally mean "$49" with no qualifier?

by: Ric

Based on this, it would appear that eBay has realized that they have bled their sellers dry so now they are turning their sights on monetizing buyers by offering nothing for something.

In fact, eBay is synonymous with offering little or no value for the costs associated with using their platform.

They already charge sellers fees for listings and the company flat out tells their sellers in the UA that those listings may not be seen.

Now they want to bamboozle their buyers into paying a membership fee so they can get free shipping on items that already sell with free shipping?

Mr Wening has already expressed his frustration over sellers who not jump through each and every hoop eBay holds up yet he does not realize that the reason for this is that real sellers see eBay as having become a zero sum game in which the company creates new standards, policies and/or systems that do nothing to improve sales.  Who sails after a rudderless ship?

Imagine how concerned he will be when buyers do not jump at his latest nothing for something scheme aimed this time at buyers.  It is not hard to see that Mr Wenig is approaching the point of desperation where he will assess a ' buyer premium' type final value fee which he will expect buyers to pay on top of the purchase price.

Bottom line is that no matter how many times he attempts to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, they are all going to end up on the bottom when the ship goes down.

by: Rexford

"now they are turning their sights on monetizing buyers by offering nothing for something"

Brilliant as usual, Ric nails it.

by: RL15

delusional ceo once again using smoke and mirrors to try to fleece Wall Street

by: iheartjacksparrow

@Ric - Fabulous post, which clearly sums up DW's latest scheme.

eBay must be in dire financial straits if they now want their beloved snowflake buyers to start paying money to them. I guess the next plan is for everyone (sellers and buyers) to pay a fee to have an account on eBay.

by: bitbybit

Pace306's comment in another post about Seinfeld is so fitting. A show based on nothing.

Let's compare the two:

Amazon Prime includes a lot of perks besides free two-day shipping. Prime unlocks features like Amazon's vast digital library of music, movies, television, and books; one-hour restaurant delivery; and unlimited cloud storage for your photos. Plus special discounts at Whole Foods. Let's see..there is Prime Pantry, Prime Wardrobe, Prime, Prime Early Access, Prime Video, Prime Now, Twitch Prime, Prime Photos......more

Of course, all of this is at a higher cost for $119 but.....

EbayAU: $49 for free shipping on items that already have free shipping with no membership fee. Oh, there is free returns without the Amazon crackdown. InOtherWords NOTHING

by: pace306

Say what you want, but PRIME offers 22 benefits:

1. Free 2-day shipping (or better)
2. Free release-date delivery
3. Free 2-hour delivery (PRIME NOW)
4. Free (or flat-rate) grocery and household item delivery
5. Alexa deals
6. Restaurant delivery
7. Whole Foods benefits
8. Unlimited video streaming
9. Limited music streaming
10. Unlimited photo storage
11. Access to Amazon Elements
12. Access to Amazon Dash
13. Early access to Lightning deals
14. One free ebook per month
15. One free ebook per month, part 2 aka Kindle First
16. Free books and magazines
17. Free Washington Post
18. Free audiobooks
19. Free games
20. Ad-free Twitch
21. Exclusive phone discounts

eBay PLUS offers you FREE SHIPPING on goods that already have free shipping.

FRIGGIN BRILLIANT

Hats off to RIC for his excellent post btw!   =)

by: pace306

bitbybit  GMTA !

you beat me to that idea - thank you for your more complete post on the topic!