ebay email "Your listings with calculated shipping will default to eBay Labels discounted rates"

[iredder]

Got this notice from ebay today that buyers will be offered the discounted rates at the same (? assumed but not specified by ebay) that we usually buy labels at, unless you opt out by 5.15.

Question: A hypothetical case - at present, buyer pays $5 for postage but discounted postage is $3. Ebay takes their cut on the $5 and I pay $3 so I am still in the black. However, if the buyer is offered the $3 discounted rate AND ebay still takes their cut, I will be in the red if I purchase the label for $3.

Do I have this correct?

[evry1nositswindy]

I offer mostly free shipping with a few exceptions.  I still opted out, but I wonder why I got it.

[sbbwest1]

Yes, I got the email this morning.  Read it.

opted out ASAP ☺️

[operationspirit4troops]

I shipped 2 boxes of books about 5lbs (another shipping company) it was cheaper using ground advantage cubic than media mail. It has happened several times now even shipping priority ended up cheaper. Some days I am so confused!

[operationspirit4troops]

I think they are after some sellers to up their sales because eBay thinks it will improve our sales by giving the buyer cheaper shipping rates.

[quicksilverdiecast]

Plain and simple ebay has gone nuts....ebay needs to stay OUT of the shipping aspects and let the shipping flow as it normally would in a non ebay world....the only lane ebay needs to stay in is connecting buyers and sellers and making a transaction plain and simple to complete....Here is one issue to consider and you will have to follow this closely as this has been a reported problem and are clueless how to fix it, because THEY screwed it up....

Here is the scenerio:

1.a buyer comes to your store and wants to buy a number of different items.

2. the buyer puts said items into ebay's cart.....goes downhill from there.

3. the buyer assumes since it is a cart in your store that you the seller are aware of them and their cart

4. Ebay does NOT notify the sellers in any way shape or form that there is a buyer with money in hand

5. UNLESS the buyer actually sends you a message (it usually goes like this) "Hello can you please send me an invoice for the items in my cart"

6. If the buyer does not message you he is still setting there waiting for you, yet you do not know!

7. The buyer gets frustrated and assumes you the seller is ignoring them, (or since ebays cockeyed system of adding shipping rather than combining resulting in absurd shipping costs) the buyer abandons the cart and your store, this gives you a bad word of mouth rep and most likely never have a return buyer who thinks you ignore him or try ripping him off on shipping.

8. So now you have lost a sale that you had no chance to salvage due to ebays lack of common sense, and you never know you lost the sale....(I can prove this as I have been saving and documenting these issues)

9.So if I lose sales in this manner so do you as ebay is an equal opportunity screwer....now lets look at the big picture

10. If I am losing sales and you are losing sales....ebay is losing fees....also...now in a collective sense just in the course of 1 day....1 day! How much do you think ebay loses in fees across the platform....I would guess the number would be astonishing....

11. if ebay decides to take away the discount earned on shipping costs the first one that come thru a sale and is like that will be cancelled and refigured along with explanation at where the fault lies.

12. I would like to see an independent type of cart service that would override ebays mess.

13 to all the ebay sellers who fled ebay to etsy you have my condolences as etsy has been putting a dent in ebay so ebay bought etsy...

[tsme35]

That's the problem, is ebay is wasting time and money on STUPID programs or messing up what's running. They messed up the photo loader, why?, now this! BUT for the last 5+ years they have ignore adding combine shipping to their APP. I lose sales every month because a buyer can't request a shipping invoice and when I have to tell them to pay and I'll refund the difference, they don't want to put up another $20-$80 and wait for the refund.

 I also get those "Hello can you please send me an invoice for the items in my cart", sorry sellers can't see whats in your cart or even better, they send screen shots of the items they want an invoice for.

[feltonjmw]

I got this notice also and agree with you 100%, also just got a notice from the USPS that their rates will again be increasing in July this year.  Why does ebay keeping beating the sellers up?  They should decrease their fees (which will not make the stock holders happy) oh well, maybe then they will know what its like to be a seller trying to make a little extra money where they can.  Big business don't care about the little people, it's all about the almighty buck.  I'll be opting out.  This is horrible.

[palominoproductions]

When did Ebay buy etsy?

[nobody*s_perfect]

I'm pretty sure that eBay's purchase of Etsy was an April Fool's Day post.

[georgestobbard]

I saw the message from eBay, and I'm confused as to whether the upcoming policy change even affects me. 

I already use calculated shipping, and I already pay for shipping labels through eBay. To ensure that I don't lose money on shipping, I always include a handling fee that enables me to cover the Final Value Fee on shipping, with a little bit left over to pay for my shipping supplies.  

Is the new policy implying that unless I opt out, I will no longer be allowed to charge the handling fee????  

If that's the case, then I'm definitely opting out. 

I do realize that the workaround would be to build the handling fee into the cost of every item so that the buyer doesn't know it's there, but it's a lot of work to change the prices on existing eBay listings if you have many of them. Also, some people are already trying to haggle their way down to a lower price on everything they want to buy, and the higher your prices are, the more likely to think that your price is "fake" and that they can talk you into lowering it.  My prices are already as low as I can afford to make them. If I raise them even a little, it will invite more hagglers. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@georgestobbard wrote:

I saw the message from eBay, and I'm confused as to whether the upcoming policy change even affects me. 

I already use calculated shipping ... Is the new policy implying that unless I opt out, I will no longer be allowed to charge the handling fee????  ...

---

The new policy has nothing to do with handling fees.  

The shipping calculator in eBay listings can be set to show either the retail price or the eBay price.  The announcement merely stated that starting in May, the calculated postage cost will automatically show the eBay price unless you opt out, and if you opt out then it will show the retail price.  So the announcement only affects sellers who are currently showing the retail price.

[georgestobbard]

Thank you. Your take on the situation was actually how I interpreted it yesterday. I only started second-guessing myself when other people started getting mad about the policy. That made me wonder if they were aware of something that slipped past me. 

So yeah, unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to assume like you that handling fees are still allowed as we see fit.  Fingers crossed that ebay doesn't ever take that away from us. 

[melmurdock]

More like ebay is getting ready to boost those that DO participate. Seems to be a pattern for all platforms.

[melmurdock]

That note "...sellers receiving this email" may be directed to sellers that didn't cough up their discount the last time ebay nudged.

[two_red_feathers]

FURTHER QUESTION regarding "... updating the default calculated shipping rates..."

At the bottom of my email from E-Bay, it says, "Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email." WHY ME??? What makes me so special that E-Bay wants my permission to keep even more of my money??