(Store Closing 2022) After 10+ Years Selling on eBay. I'll Cover the Termination Fee, Not Waiting..

[fairdeal*lb]

Actually, I've been selling on eBay for more than 20 years through two accounts. Over this time eBay has continued to take advantage, drip-drip.. The last-straw for us was the eBay PL Pay-to-Play scam, not a drip-drip, more like wave-wave.

eBay has lost (half) of it's market value this year, in turn, this platform is covering the core growth losses by going after sellers with said Pay-to-Play. All of this while selling expenses are already at their highest for sellers. 

The net return isn't worth all the trouble anymore. I'm one of the lucky ones, I can afford to walk away. Good luck fellow sellers.   

[rugerskick]

In general, probably.  But it really impacts sellers in the most competitive categories where there's a huge glut of inventory.

[fairdeal*lb]

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@rugerskick wrote:

In general, probably.  But it really impacts sellers in the most competitive categories where there's a huge glut of inventory.

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Exactly.. There's another negative flip-side to that. A buyer could be misled by a lesser value item with a high PL Pay-to-Play % while shopping other sites. This could steer potential buyers away from the platform as well. 

[gamersbaystore · Accepted solution]

I don't blame you given the enormous costs associated with selling on ebay today. Products that ship priority are increasingly becoming difficult, if not impossible to turn a profit on here given ebay's outrageous fees, coupled with ever rising shipping costs, and the fact the platform forces sellers to pay for any visibility.

There isn't enough sales volume to justify the costs anymore either. ebay's market share fell to just 3.5% as of June, it was 5% in January, and I'd imagine its going to continue to fall even lower as we reach the end of the year.

Despite having the largest inventory I've ever had here, I've been in the negative month after month this entire year.

ebay is losing to its competitors too. Platforms like Mercari are crushing ebay. Mercari is way more innovative, user friendly, has live chat features built in, doesn't hide ones listings, has better protections for sellers, and actually has adequate traffic to drive meaningful sales.

I give it 2 years before Mercari overtakes ebay entirely. ebay hasn't kept up with the innovations of competing platforms, and they're going to lose.

Other platforms simplified the process of selling, while ebay further complicated it.

What incentive is there to sell on a platform that forces you to offer 30 day returns, then punishes you when buyers lie about the reasons for their returns. ebay is now essentially a free rental service for buyers.

ebay's entire business model is shaped around how much money they can squeeze out of sellers while giving absolutely nothing in return.

[wonderworld_comics_games]

It definitely got worse in September; had one ~$600 Pokemon card sale....then the proverbial Crickets.  Moved some P cards to "M" two days ago and have sold about $200 worth; they're getting views.  Guess handwriting is on wall in Capital letters.  I don't promote and never will.  Been here about 20 years......will continue process of winding down...........will devote more time to "A", where i've also been for ~20 years.........who can remember.  

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@fairdeal*lb  "The net return isn't worth all the trouble anymore."

Well, if your net return doesn't justify the effort, then of course you should move on. Best of luck whatever you choose to do!

[katzrul15]

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@krazzykats wrote:

But what do you do with all the stuff?

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Yes - curious minds (mitoo) want to know!

[katzrul15]

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@fairdeal*lb wrote:

Actually, I've been selling on eBay for more than 20 years through two accounts. Over this time eBay has continued to take advantage, drip-drip.. The last-straw for us was the eBay PL Pay-to-Play scam, not a drip-drip, more like wave-wave.

eBay has lost (half) of it's market value this year, in turn, this platform is covering the core growth losses by going after sellers with said Pay-to-Play. All of this while selling expenses are already at their highest for sellers. 

The net return isn't worth all the trouble anymore. I'm one of the lucky ones, I can afford to walk away. Good luck fellow sellers.   

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I "hear" you and can also name that tune.

You will certainly be missed, but unlikely that will be e-Bay missing you.  We are seriously considering after the Holidays to sell on AZ only and perhaps another online site and close out the 2 e-Bay stores on here.  

I really do wish you well and continued success - I do assume that there is like after e-Bay and I also have been grateful for the journey.  

Just think it would be wise to cut our losses - have no idea what to do with everything that cannot go to AZ (box is not pristine, a returned item, etc).  Am guessing for us it will be St Vincent dePaul and our church thrift store.

[fairdeal*lb]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

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@krazzykats wrote:

But what do you do with all the stuff?

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Yes - curious minds (mitoo) want to know!

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I commented on this earlier. We already worked it out for the most part: 90% or so will go to Habitat for Humanity and about 10% will go on consignment locally. 

[meme6253]

I Was Not Aware Of A Termination Fee!

[luxgoods]

Some may not remember a company called Blockbuster Video.  They were number one in their market for some time but they did not change with the times but Guess Who Did? Netflix.  Ebay is headed down this path real fast.

[stainlessenginecovers]

If you opt to get the better per month rate by upping for 1 year (store) and then don't fulfill that year, you pay that year no matter when you opt out. Like a cell phone contract; you pay to get out. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@luxgoods wrote:

Some may not remember a company called Blockbuster Video.  They were number one in their market for some time but they did not change with the times but Guess Who Did? Netflix.  Ebay is headed down this path real fast.

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Doubtful. Very different. There is no 'shortage' of people wanting to 

a.) buy online (new and used)

b.) buy hard to find items, used collectables etc.

With Blockbuster, they, and everyone like them, went bye-bye because of what they did. Rent Movies/Games. Everyone went to online.

Ebay going bye-bye will only happen if people stop 'buying things online'. 

Just like the OP, has a Dremel 29-01 (used) listed, click it and there his is one of the highest priced units at $26.95. There are others that are $10-$20 shipped, shown right on their own listing. 

Also note- when I input 'Dremel 29-01' there are about 60 shown, and his is first. I don't see any of them showing 'sponsored' anymore (maybe eBay eliminated that?) but when clicking his item, there are 'other sponsored' which is where you can see 5 listed all lower priced. 

Promotions is not causing his items not to be seen or bought. Pricing is. 

[domin-tomas]

Oh yea, they even apply that fee also if you down size your store.

[domin-tomas]

There was also a company called Myspace which Facebook took over and now you have Tik Tok giving Facebook a run. It doesn't matter how big you are.

[fairdeal*lb]

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@meme6253 wrote:

I Was Not Aware Of A Termination Fee!

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We read the tea-leaves last year when eBay really started going Nuclear with the Pay-to-Play scams. At that point we decided to work on our exit as a seller. We started by changing our renewal contract from the Anchor store we had in place @$300mo to the Premium @$60mo.

We opted into the contract knowing the Termination Fee because our net savings was still  better than going month to month, $60yrc vs. $75mo. By far, our best decision was dumping the Anchor contract..