New jewelry authentication

[milbiren]

So, any jewelry sold over $500, is now sent to GIA, to authenticate it first. Which I think is great considering I am both a buyer & a seller & have been scammed on jewelry I've purchased before. However, I don't feel it's fair when they put this into action at the last minute & then tell ALL SELLERS of jewelry,  that the fee to sell, will now be raised for EVERYONE selling jewelry.  Regardless of the price!! As it is now, I've lost profit on a few of my items because of them charging a % on not only shipping costs but the total combined w taxes included!! We have to pay for the packaging materials, shipping, & the money we spent out to get the item itself! And by the time they take their fees out of the total of everything,  you're lucky to make any kind of profit over $10! Why do the sellers who have a top rated standing & do not sell most items, for over $500, have to pay extra?? It's like they are trying to knock out the smaller sellers & just keep the one's that make them more money!! How does everyone else feel about this?

[beautyandthebeads]

This is a big, unfair burden to those of us selling fashion jewelry. I get zero benefit from this.  This  may affect whether I sell my jewelry here.  EBay - you should ONLY be charging sellers of fine jewelry.  

[stacy_1971]

Not to mention the increases are really messed up, first of all it's divided by FV fees being according to what store you purchase, and on top of that, they have really messed up here.  When you go to that mail you received, and click on the link "learn how the final value fee changes in the jewelry category may affect your business"  (https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/payments-and-fees/final-value-fee-increase-in-jewelry)  Check this out...   I have a basic store, so I'm using this as my example.... go 1/2 way down to "Final value fees for Basic, Premium, Anchor, and Enterprise Store sellers".... And under that heading it states:

Previous Final Value Fees	Final Value % + 30¢
Portion of the total amount of sale up to $2,500	11.70%
Portion of the sale over $2,500	2.35%

New Final Value Fees	Final Value % + 30¢
When total amount of sale up to $5,000	13.00%
If total amount of sale is above $5,000	7.00%

So.... according to old ways.... If you sold a ring for $2,499 the FV would be $2,499: 11.70% +30 Cents = FV $292.68.   Right?  So - If you sold a ring for $2,501 the FV would be $2,501 + 11.70% ($2,500 X .1170 = $292.80) + ($1.00 X 2.35% = $0.02)  plus the $0.30 listing fee = TOTAL FV:  $293.12 

BUT - the NEW Final Value fees are different... right?  Look at the new way how it's written....
So.... A $4,999 ring Final Value would be ($4,999.00 x .13 = $650.00 Final Value) BUT if the ring sells for $5,001.00.... It's supposed to be 7% Final Value fee, right?....  ($5,001.00 x .07 = $350.07 Final Value) ---- SO.... selling a ring for a few dollars more could cost you over $300.00 in final value fees?  This is all written up completely wrong.  I believe they meant for it to be a "portion" like the old way.... BUT THAT IS NOT HOW IT IS WRITTEN!  Go Look 🙂

[ten_o_nine]

I really don't mind paying more to sell more but paying more to sell less will drive small businesses to the graveyard.

[ten_o_nine]

What do you mean by fine jewelry? Is that the nice sterling silver necklace for a penny from China? or the genuine pearls with 24 gold spacers for $1.99 with free shipping. I don't know but this may clear and clean things up

[sin-n-dex]

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@beautyandthebeads wrote:

This is a big, unfair burden to those of us selling fashion jewelry. I get zero benefit from this.  This  may affect whether I sell my jewelry here.  EBay - you should ONLY be charging sellers of fine jewelry.  

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If it's fashion jewellery, I don't know what their is to authenticate...

To me, authentication is for precious metals and precious stones.

C.

[gail5176]

Plus fees going up to 15% kind of steep

[milbiren]

I agree 100%!!

[milbiren]

Fine jewelry is sterling silver, gold 10k, 14k, 18k, etc. So any jewelry that is listed under "fine jewelry " category, will be charged the extra fee. If your listing is under "fashion jewelry ", aka costume jewelry,  you will not be charged the extra fee.

[lacemaker3]

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@milbiren wrote:

Fine jewelry is sterling silver, gold 10k, 14k, 18k, etc. So any jewelry that is listed under "fine jewelry " category, will be charged the extra fee. If your listing is under "fashion jewelry ", aka costume jewelry,  you will not be charged the extra fee.

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@milbiren, I'm sorry, but you have misunderstood the fee change.

The Authentication is only required for items that sell for $500 or more in Fine Jewelry and Engagement & Wedding Jewelry, but the FVF are being raised for all listings in the Jewelry and Watches categories (that's the highest-tier category affected) except for Watches, Parts & Accessories.

Selling fees | eBay:

Jewelry & Watches for sale | eBay:

[beautyandthebeads]

You are right. There nothing to authenticate, but we are shouldering the burden to pay for fine jewelry to be authenticated. The email I received, specifically, states that this authentication process will be paid for with an increase in fvf which will affect "most" sellers across the board. 

[beautyandthebeads]

That is not true. The email I received said the cost of this authentication process will be an increase in fvf that will impact "most" sellers who list anything in the jewelry section. 

[donsdetour]

Hmm so some unknown jeweler is to say my item is good: and stones are good>

Known a lot of jewelers in my time: trust only very few of them; most bragged about swapping stones etc...

And of course the fee increase for all the jewellery sales: ... Right...

I can see where this mess is going to go.

Oh and who they going to use to authenticate the costume jewelry that goes over the amount??

What so called expert they using for that??

A train wreck it will be I think.

[stacy_1971]

As of right now, you cannot list a sterling silver ring with a fake stone in "fashion jewelry".... Know why?  They don't even provide an option for Sterling Silver.  It's all set up for plated.... because under "Base Metal" there is no option for Sterling Silver, or even Silver for that matter.... So when you list a ring under Fashion Jewelry according to ebay's new rules that state that if the ring has a fake stone (like CZ) that it has to go in the fashion jewelry, you can't list the ring as sterling silver (even though it really is), and you are left putting them in the Fine Jewelry Category if you want your ring recognized as a solid sterling silver ring (not plated!).  So good luck... because the categories aren't even matching up with the new requirements that they are trying to hold us to.  This is seriously becoming a problem for me with just under 1/3 of my total listings being in the jewelry section, and most of those being sterling silver.  I'm a very small seller, not a rich jewelry store.  I don't have a gemology degree.  But even I know that it's hard for experts to tell the difference between a lab ruby and a natural one, yet we are being told we are responsible to know the difference and list accordingly?!   

[evelyb30]

Vintage sellers don't have quite as much mess, but we get to pay for the authentiction fees too.  All of the vintiage gets mashed together.   Search and listing for our items has been totally trashed  and no one can find anything to buy it.  So... that's kind of an upside - we're not paying fee increases on sales we aren't making because buyers can't find anything anyway. 

So, because buyers can't find it because eBay trashed the search, now they're trying to soak Promotion money out of us so that we can get back what we had in the first place....  And it's any wonder I'll be done selling by the end of the year?