mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@4everctr wrote:Ebay wants to increase their margin expansion or in other words raise fees on listings. Too bad for you, Ebay. I will not use promoted listings.
While the financial reports are not what any of us wants to see, I get that. It is disappointing at best, Ebay has not raised fees in a long time. So that just isn't an issue at this point.
IMHO I'm surprised the 4Q didn't look worse than it did. With the significant programming issues caused by Ebay updating Structured Data just as we entered the Holiday Season. It set of a firestorm of issues for many sellers and it took Ebay well over a month to work out of.
@hioctane62 wrote:Just think how bad the numbers would be if eBay actually CARED about controlling scamming buyers.
Well not exactly. GMV numbers include cancelled orders, returns, refunds etc. It is the Gross amount before any deductions for any reason. Hence the word Gross.
Now Ebay's profits would have likely increased if these types of buyers were under control because Ebay wouldn't be refunding as many FVFs to sellers.
@gramophone-georg wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@hioctane62 wrote:Just think how bad the numbers would be if eBay actually CARED about controlling scamming buyers.
Well not exactly. GMV numbers include cancelled orders, returns, refunds etc. It is the Gross amount before any deductions for any reason. Hence the word Gross.
Now Ebay's profits would have likely increased if these types of buyers were under control because Ebay wouldn't be refunding as many FVFs to sellers.
Honestly... we really don't know WHAT eBay is or is not including in those figures because ALL these corporations have various forms of "creative accounting" going on.
I honestly think that, for this reason, things are actually FAR worse than they seem... so much worse, in fact, that these dismal figures are the result of eBay most desperate efforts at applying maximum positive spin.
Honestly, it is what it is. GMV is a general accounting term and it means what it means. GROSS Merchandise Value. It isn't complicated and it is pretty straight forward.
@zamo-zuan wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:While the financial reports are not what any of us wants to see, I get that. It is disappointing at best, Ebay has not raised fees in a long time. So that just isn't an issue at this point.
I think "costs" are a better measurement of the problems sellers are likely having with eBay, rather than "fees". As you say, "fees" technically have not increased for awhile. But costs have went up for many sellers, due to many policy changes/etc.
It would be extremely healthy for the eBay marketplace if they worked to lower costs for sellers, as this would bring prices lower than competition, and give eBay a strength that the competitors can not match. Right now, unless it's a niche item or something not attainable on other markets, eBay doesn't have any real offerings that competitors don't match or beat.
Regarding the tech issues, I think it might not be as apparent because eBay has been facing major tech issues for a long time now, it's just that the Q4 Structured Data issues were more obvious to sellers than many of the other tech issues. A big part of the decline ever since eBay's decline started is likely the unresolved tech issues.
OK, not what I was addressing, but thank you.
@jojitsusensei wrote:
The stock performance does matter.
It reflects the buyer and seller activity. Buyers are fleeing the high prices and sellers are tired of being scammed by buyers.
Without buyers there won't be any sellers and without sellers there won't be any buyers.
Analyst sentiment has started to turn negative on the stock.
Ebay stock is not just based on what happens on the Ebay marketplace. The marketplace is just one of their holdings.
@zeroodog wrote:One of the saddest thing that eBay seems to be missing is every seller lost is also a buyer lost. There seems to be some cognitive dissonance there when it comes to the eBay policy makers.
I don't think that is lost on Ebay's management. When they changed to all FP listings being GTC, Ebays said they were aware that some may be upset by this change and that some sellers would leave Ebay. It was a consequence they were willing to accept.
And with the financial reports even with that in consideration active Ebay buyers grew by 2% to 183 million.
@kathieskorner wrote:eBay increased store fees in May 2018 and FVFs on books and other media in September 2018. Since then they have added a penalty FVF for below standard sellers and of course the promoted listing fee. I'm sure they will be looking for additional fee increases in 2020.
Consumer spending was strong in the 4th quarter - even with the known technical issues eBay should have posted better numbers. But then I suspect it was eBay changes we can only guess at that were responsible for much of eBay's decline - changes that will continue to plague many sellers and GMV well into 2020.
I understand that and I should have qualified my answer. You are correct, Ebay did increase the FVFs on Media form 10 to 12% a couple years ago.
And yes then increased the cost of stores as well a couple of years ago.
However overall that is not much of an increase in the past several years. While they are important to note, it doesn't show some kind of regular and ongoing price increases on this site.
