eBay New Policy and business direction is terrifying!!

[extremediscountla]

Hello, I  have been selling around $2 million a year for 20 years on eBay, I have seen a lot of different policies come and go. It feel like every 4 to 6 years eBay will be pro seller and then they become pro buyer in policies and they tighten up on the sellers. This new season is a very scary one for a few major reasons. Instead of spending money on attracting new buyers they are try to find ways to get more money from sellers.

We already have to pay for a $4000 plus a year for a store that allows you to call customer service. You would figure if you sell more than a million dollars a year you should be able to call them about any issue. But we have to pay for that privilege. Now you can not use that service for any feedback concerns. It uses to much resources. This is a major problem. With the rise of post sale extortion, buyers demanding discounts and return fraud, you need to protect your feedback. eBay is the only site that everyone checks feedback rating. It is very important. So that is how they will raise their bottom end. Not service high value seller that pay to be able to call.

Then the advertising. Not only do you have to pay the seller fees, now they have taken all the revenue from Paypal, you have to advertise to sell on a site that you are already paying 12% to 13%. which is an average another 5% at a minimum. If you go with eBay advertising suggestions it would be much more. That is fine if yuo are selling old junk from your basement but a professional seller is getting leveled. Now they want you to pay for off site advertising, so you pay to bring traffic off the internet to their site for they can charge you 18% for a sale. 

The problem is they are losing market share to Facebook Market Place and instead of attracting new buyers, they are cutting services and charging sellers more and more. This is teh beginning of the end. This used to work when they were the only site to sell on but there is more and more. We are 90% selling on eBay but the writing is on the wall. They don't care. Their plan is to make 25% of your sales. Its the last stand. When is the last time you saw an eBay advertisement??? They are making cuts so the stock price goes up. You will begin to see a lot of high-level executives start parachuting out of the dumpster fire. I hope someone that cares reads this and they turn but in 20 years I never seen them change bad behavior. The company is ran by a bunch of MBAs that never sold on eBay for a living and never would or will. Hope I'm wrong. Goodluck!!

[robbie31415]

---

@thecomicminer wrote:

I read that he pays eBay a quarter of a million dollars every year to sell his items and now they want $550,000 to throttle his visibility more than ever before. Don't ignore this garbage platform extorting all of us down the drain so they can show their shareholders increased profits while doing nothing to attract new buyers. Their new business strategies are affecting those of us who sell six figures here, as well.

---

So make your own platform or find another one that doesn't do all the bad things you claim.

All businesses are designed to make money. Ebay is a business, not your buddy.

If eBay was an outlier to other marketplaces fee structures I'd say something, but the truth is they aren't and the fees are pretty standard across all the major marketplaces.

Walmart I pay straight 15% for anything over $10. That also doesn't include the money spent on their advertising costs.

Everyone hates fees, but they are a fact of life.

[12345jamesstamps]

No disrespect...but my grandparents love a card in the mail every so often...especially when they don't live in the same state. A text or email wouldn't be the same... and the trouble it takes to tell my grandmother hang up the iPhone...we are done talking...and she still doesn't know how.

[oldwestgold]

That's unfortunate, and I am speaking as a 67-year-old male, ie. an old guy. Overall, knowing how to use a smartphone or iPad is a million times more productive than taking the time to handwrite a letter, then an envelope, look for and put a stamp on it, and finally mail it hoping it will make its destination. That was my point. Ignoring automation or technology is not a win-win situation in most cases no matter what your age.  Could you imagine if your grandparents knew how to Facetime on their smartphone or iPad? They would surely enjoy that more than a store-bought card. I know my grandkids love it as I do. Stamps and letters are almost done for, in my professional opinion, and I still have a stake in the USPS. That's a fact, as I carried mail when needed before retiring and saw that happening seven years ago. Any stamp collector will attest to that also. I ran a coin and stamp show for decades. I still attend them regularly and see the same. Hallmark Cards will tell you the same. I am just stating facts as anything else is just an opinion. Again, I have worked decades on both sides of the subject as a carrier, clerk, Postmaster, and IT Mgr. I am happy that a card still works for your Grandmother.

[vintagecraze50]

The problem is very deep. It has more to do with the explosion of internet shopping especially fueled by the pandemic and continuing to grow. This puts a lot of competition in eBay’s face and it is a challenge to find and keep buyers nowadays. If I were running ebay at this point in time I would find ways to make buyers loyal to the site. One way they have tried this is with enthusiast buyers for the rarer, higher end merchandise. Next should be a broader buyer loyalty for the entire site. How they could do this, not sure, but it seems appropriate. Now, sellers can and do create their own buyer loyalties by having sales markdowns, sending coupons, engaging the buyers on their own. I would suggest that to everyone here. 

[powell-memorabilia]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

---

@powell-memorabilia wrote:

Let’s keep things civil - insulting others just seems silly.

---

My apologies.

I didn't mean to insult.

Just found it odd that someone who sold $40M here was complaining about the platform.

They have every right to do so.

Complain away.....

---

Sorry - replied to the wrong guy.  Yours I found to be fine - the response was a bit mean spirited 🙂

[chapeau-noir]

---

@vintagecraze50 wrote:

The problem is very deep. It has more to do with the explosion of internet shopping especially fueled by the pandemic and continuing to grow. This puts a lot of competition in eBay’s face and it is a challenge to find and keep buyers nowadays. If I were running ebay at this point in time I would find ways to make buyers loyal to the site. One way they have tried this is with enthusiast buyers for the rarer, higher end merchandise. Next should be a broader buyer loyalty for the entire site. How they could do this, not sure, but it seems appropriate. Now, sellers can and do create their own buyer loyalties by having sales markdowns, sending coupons, engaging the buyers on their own. I would suggest that to everyone here. 

---

Yes - what also was fueled in the pandemic was an explosion of sellers. Something like a 25% increase (read in the trade press) - now not all of them will stick, but I bet a good percentage of them did. I know those who might consign their items to me just sell them themselves. This makes for a very crowded seller space - I'd be courting buyers, too.

[wheredidiputthatremote]

---

@powell-memorabilia wrote:

Let’s keep things civil - insulting others just seems silly.

---

That's all Hawaii does

[chapeau-noir]

@extremediscountla  Just saw this " We are 90% selling on eBay but the writing is on the wall. " 

With the amount of product you report that you are selling, you needed to diversify a LONG time ago. People who build large businesses on one platform, particularly someone else's platform, are building castles on sand. I'm a little surprised that regular sellers are still doing this.

I'll say that most platforms have problems, but it's better diversify.

[anjofak]

Did some searching on Google to see if a rare item we have up was showing it was , an old out of stock link to item not available from last year, as it is still sitting up for grabs..

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Internet marketplaces are too large. The supply of offers and the number of sellers exceeds demand.

The search results are such that many offers are never seen since buyers make their decision before they have read all of the offers.

All buyers no longer read feedback.

All buyers do not buy the lowest priced offer.

If you sell mass market products on Ebay, you get the same treatment as the king of mass market sites provides, and Ebay loses share of mass market product to the sales to the king because Ebay is not as customer friendly.

Facebook marketplace is in its infancy and when it matures it will probably look more like the existing marketplaces. It will also become less friendly to con men who are using it now.

Ebay is paying to advertise specific areas of the site which it sees the greatest chance of growth in. Those ads are targeted, so you might not see them.

The MBA are running all of the largest Internet sites, not surprising that little Ebay would decide to hire some.

The solution on all marketplaces has been promotion/advertising. Ebay was later than some marketplaces to implement it.

[anjofak]

The fees that must come out to...ouch

[pls-consignments]

I can agree with most of what the OP said. I started my first of 3 profitable ecommerce businesses on dial-up and Netscape. Much of what I experienced and learned along the way has helped me anticipate and prepare for what's ahead. Unfortunately, today's eBay is no longer guided by "big picture" or "long-term" thinking, because those who are steering the ship have not lived long enough to experience contrast. All they've ever known is a world without foresight and patience. The same can be said of the current crop of shareholders. The demand for immediate ROI is clearly manifested in the numerous policy changes, as well as the commitment to AI.  Much like a young person who gets their face tattoed, eBay's "trial and error" approach is reckless and short-sighted. The chances of an economic earthquake are quite high in the next 8-12 months due to another volatile election year, not to mention growing geopolitical instability. Will online sellers be negativley affected? Absolutely!

That is why I use my own experience to make wise choices in order to minimize the shockwaves, both now and into the future. This includes knowing not only my numbers, but also my margins. Unfortunately, there is a large percentage of sellers who do not, and then are shocked to discover what they have left after paying fees and advertising before their COS. 

[mam98031]

@extremediscountla 

Wow, you have a wonderfully successful business you have built here on Ebay.  Congratulations !!!

"Now you can not use that service for any feedback concerns. It uses to much resources."  This isn't totally accurate.  You just now have the same rights as every other seller on the site.  The feedback must break an Ebay policy to be removed.  Before you got a certain number of negatives removed every 90 days just cuz you asked.  That is the part they have done away with.  So if you do get one that breaks policy, you will still be able to get it removed.

Now that you are likely going to have more negative FB stick around, I would advise you to be very careful in how you respond to them.  Often times sellers will do more damage to themselves by their responses than the buyer did with the FB they posted.  Staying polite, professional and factual is the best approach.  Say things like Beware of buyer or somehow blame the buyer or call them names will only do you more harm when other potential buyers review your FB.  Good polite responses however can help to offset the negative remarks by the buyer.

"... now they have taken all the revenue from Paypal,..."  I'm unsure what this means.  PayPal is a very strong, financially sound company.  It was while Ebay owned it and remains so after they spun it off in June of 2015.  Ebay did NOT hurt PP financially.  But if you could explain this a bit more, maybe that would help us to understand better so it can be talked about.

Using promoted listings is an option sellers have had since 2015.  Ebay has started enhancing the program more and pushing it more over the last couple of years.  Some sellers use it and some don't.  It is a decision for each of us to make as well as the percentage we are willing to pay in more fees for using the program.  

For some sellers the program works very well, for others it does not.  The Majority of sellers do not use the program at all.  If you are paying 25% in FVFs and promotional fees to Ebay, that is your choice.  If it gives you the sales you desire, it is likely a good thing.

I'm unsure of how much of an issue Facebook is as a Market Place.  Especially since in a couple weeks, their selling fees will be about the same or slightly higher than we are charged here on Ebay.   Their selling fee will be 10%, plus an 80 cent per transaction fee.  Then on top of that your money processing fees from PayPal.  

[movieman630]

I've surrendered to the fact that I'm going to have to pay more fees.  I don't like the PL sceme and think that asking for another 12-15% to promote is tacky but it's how you generate traffic now because they made it that way.

A straight search based on buyer entered criteria should be good enough, and fair.  No games, no PL's, no hiding peoples listings to throttle them, no "spreading around the sales" for the sake of it... True competition.  The best reaching the top of the list...  That's not how it works unfortunately, funny how nothing works that way anymore.

So I've surrendered.  I pay to play.  I try to be competitive where I can but we all have to face the fact that profit margins are thinning.  It's sad really.

[luckythewinner]

 I have seen a lot of different policies come and go. It feel like every 4 to 6 years eBay will be pro seller and then they become pro buyer in policies and they tighten up on the sellers

I can't recall very many times that eBay became more pro-seller, and when they did the changes were pretty minor.  

you have to advertise to sell on a site that you are already paying 12% to 13%.

Not unless you have a lot of competition. 

That is fine if yuo are selling old junk from your basement but a professional seller is getting leveled

There are a lot of professional sellers who do not sell "old junk" who are not getting leveled.

You are selling primarily refurbished cell phones, so you are in a highly competitive, low margin business and are competing with Amazon itself.