Meg Whitman plotted the course E-bay is currently on.

Nothing would change if she returned.

“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”

When comparing eBay stock price from one year ago it was $30.30 and this year $38.82.

mintrobmint wrote:

chzbga wrote:

Meg Whitman plotted the course E-bay is currently on.

Nothing would change if she returned.

 

Yea it would.......sellers would get mutual feedback options returned....FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE! .09¢

  Good one!

jlh1973mu wrote:

Here is the problem.....more policies and increased fees are causing sellers to move up prices.....buyer just posted over in Seller central how they found cheaper items on Amazon then here.........

I have a really nice multi-function printer in my business, over $3,000 brand new years ago, 45ppm and cartridges that do 15,000 pages at 5% coverage.  The model was discontinued a couple years ago and replaced with a new model.  I looked on hear and you can find brand new ones in the box from anywhere from $1,000 (which I am considering buying one at) to some jokers who have it listed for the original retail price.  I have some colletible items that I put on my watch list because they were in an ebay store and horribly overpriced more than a year ago.  In some cases, I've paid significantly less than 1/3 of what they are asking for a much better example at a well attended auction.

pctech463w wrote:

Can you please be specific about what policies you're talking about? Also, some examples of how they affected you?

 

I'm new to ebay selling, and just wondering what's in store for me.

 

Thanks.

Some time ago, FVF were less expensive, then they were raised.

Then they added FVF on shipping charges (again some time ago).

There is a policy against unreasonable "handling" charges.  Strangley enough, you may get some idea of what is not "unreasonable" by looking at what eBay does with respect to shipping charges.  If you read enough, you will come to find out that if you use Ebay to print USPS labels or UPS labels, Ebay is getting a discount on both of these that they are not passing on to all of their sellers.  So effectively, Ebay is adding a "handling" charge that increases your shipping costs when they don't even pack or buy any supplies used.

In other words, when you pay for shipping through ebay they often start out lining their pocket by charging you more than their discounted rate, then they charge you a FVF based on your cost, which they may have already inflated by not passing on their discount.  Obviously, Paypal (which Ebay owns) then comes along and also charges you 30 cents plus 2.9 percent of everything).

If you read the announcement concerning the currently voluntary policy of 1 day "handling" time and 14 days return policy in order to keep a hard earned TRS discount, by the way it is phrased it appears that it will stop being voluntary in the future.

Starting in this month!  Ebay "may" give a partial refund, instead of requiring a return and it appears you will have no say in whether it is a partial refund or a return.

Hal

chicagostreetsigns: The return policy is to ensure

the buyer receives exactly what they paid for used or new. The eBay/PayPal fees total approximately 13% which does not appear to be excessive when considering :

Overall Rating

The top spot for online auction service goes to eBay, the largest and most complete online auction venue in the world. But more than being the most popular and having even become a household name, eBay’s long time experience, exposure and membership gives them the clout they deserve.

We found eBay’s large selection of categories, detailed buyer information, custom selling options and user management features to stand far above the competition. And while eBay has suffered user complaints and has higher selling fees, it still offers significantly more for both buyers and sellers than any other online auction service available. That is why this is our Top Ten REVIEWS Gold Award winner for online auction sites.

................................................................. ...............................

"The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism." Norman Vincent Peale

Artie,

Another comment indicated your past comments indicate that you wish you were more profitable on ebay.  I have a couple thoughts you may, or may not, have thought about before.  If you find anything useful and have a thought you would like to share, I am always willing to listen.

First, my original ID dates to 2001. I have never been a full time seller, but sold mostly things I no longer used and various new or used items that I thought I could flip for a profit.

I have a posting ID, but don't use it except for very rare occassions and it is only recently that I have posted at all with any ID.  I figure that some people wind up looking at what I'm selling, so that is more eyballs and possibly more sales.  That is the reason for the particular avatar because even if you are not big on street signs, you might notice my avatar one that mentions ball games and they might like that particular one.  Hopefully, posting under this ID will cause me to be more civil and careful in my comments to avoid ones that can be interpreted other as I intended.  Obviously, depending on what you sell, your competitors, and what you post, it may very well make more sense to do what you are doing.  Many say they post ONLY under a posting ID, I decided that is a wasted opportunity for additional eyeballs and possible sales.

From your last comment, I am guessing the following.  You don't have a store, you mostly use fixed price listings where the dollar value is typically $50 or less, possibly somewhat above but not enough to affect the FVF percentage much.  You might be able to save some money based on what your answer would be to the following questions.  Do you use all 50 free auction listings you can get each month and do you try to take advantage of any free listing days (going on MONDAY, TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY this week and I foolishly listed 23 items just 2 hours before looking at the announcements page).  Can you list, at least some of your items, for a price in an auction that you are willing to accept and then a BIN price of at least 10% higher that some buyers will be likely willing to pay?

If you can, you save a .50 listing fee and your FVF is 9% instead of 10%.  Re-list items that don't sell within 7 days until you use up all the free listings before paying for any.  Try to get pictures done ahead of time so you can try to take advantage of free listing days to add more items to the mix when you can do so at a lower cost.

I disagree with your comment about the fees being only 13%.  If you are using fixed price without a store, you start out paying .50 (assuming you pay for no further extras).  Then you pay .30 to Paypal.  You also pay 12.9% combined PP and FVF (but if you calculating for low priced items, you probably should do so individually because each will probably be rounded up).  The biggest problem may be that you also pay 12.9% FVF on SHIPPING.  If you sell small dollar items, the percentages can be enormous because of the .80 and the FVF on shipping.  Unless your shipping cost is very, very small compared to the price your item sells for, the FVF fee on shipping brings up the percentage significantly.  Take a look through your bills and figure it out for some representative items and I'm guessing you may be somewhat startled.

Nowadays, you have to tread carefully when deciding what to sell because of higher fees and fees on shipping.  You really have to think about it when you run across heavier items and items that are larger that cost more to ship because of the package dimensions.  In scenarios wher the shipping costs approaches the same price as the item, ebay is actually taking $0.30 plus almost 26% for a fixed price listing without a store.  That is a huge bite.

On another note, I am aware that ebay has more eyeballs than other sites.  However, I am also aware that Ebay has many, many, many sellers and many of them list many, many, many items now that they have the "store" feature manking it very inexpensive to list even if an item never sells.  Many areas are so glutted with sellers and merchandise in certain categories that the percentages of merchandise sold in some certain categories can be very small.  Depending on what you sell, it may make sense to diversify or even leave.

Sometimes the answer is you have to find an alternate way to dump things without taking a hit.  Other times you can take a break from re-listing it and try again at a different time of year,  or if and/or when there is not such a glut of identical items.  Obviously, if it is electronics or computer related stuff or other things that become obsolet quickly, you might be worse off not taking the hit sooner.

Hal

It seems that for every seller that leaves ebay a new one takes their place . Unless you have the right items for sale it will not be cost efficient to sell on ebay. People that sell on ebay do it for one reason which is to make money , if you do not make enough money you will cease to sell on ebay .

          If you had the right items you could make a killing on ebay but finding the right combination can be hard and the majority of little sellers will not find the items that bring in a profitable income.

       I sell a lot of stuff on craigslist where there are no fees , some items take months to sell but in most cases I get more money selling  on craigslist then I would on ebay .

     I have never met anyone in person that makes a good living on ebay ( I know they are out there ) but I have met lots of disgruntled sellers that talk about all the hassles,policies , and the times they have been ripped off on ebay.I am happy ebay exists but selling and buying on ebay has been a very eye opening experience . 

I don't do normal.......

I will be shutting it down as well.  Years of hard work to maintain perfect feedback.  I suppose Amazon is taking new sellers.  Atleast no insertion fees.

Apparently you are not a 'seasoned' seller.

Policies are meant to break you in, make you become more 'seasoned.'

Kind of like catching a sun tan, after some years you're supposed to be kind of gritty, a bit sun burnt, a voice like a gravel driveway, and definite lines on your face with a little gray hair.

By then, none of this nonsense affects you.

Because you are so BAD, it just rolls right off your back.

I mean, haven't you figured it out?

Ebay runs a free sale special, what does this do?

You ever notice, once you're entrenched in the selling, those specials no longer apply to you?

So why would they do that?

* SPOILER *  Attract NEW Sellers!  * SPOILER * 

Guess what NEW Sellers do?

* SPOILER *  Attract hordes of Buyers!  * SPOILER * 

They honestly don't seem to need the seasoned seller.

Then again you are supposed to be 'seasoned,' meaning none of this affects you.