Great Idea!!!! (For Ebays benefit)

[slyders_finds]

"We’re reaching out to let you know that, starting May 15, your listings that display calculated shipping will default to showing eBay Labels discounted shipping rates. The new default rates will apply to all of your active and future listings that offer calculated shipping; listings with free or flat rate shipping won’t be affected.

We’re making this change to help your listings attract more buyers by offering a lower shipping cost. To get the discounted rate that will be displayed on your listings, make sure to purchase your shipping labels through ebay labels.

If you want to opt out of this change, just let us know here by May 13 and we won’t make any changes to your current shipping rates. You can also switch back to showing standard rates at any time after May 15 through your shipping discount settings.

Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email.

Thanks for being part of the eBay community."

I couldn't have opted out quicker. 🤣

I have an idea EBay. If we opt in. Will you opt in from not taking commission in the shipping/tax? Deal? 

[ittybitnot]

 your listings that display calculated shipping will default to showing eBay Labels discounted shipping rates.

@slyders_finds 

Actually, this has been an OPTION (think sellers could choose to do this) for quite some time now.  Recently, eBay has been on a roll advertising how wonderful this would be for a seller to do this to presumably get more sales and 'happy buyers.  EBay even had a phone campaign going where sellers were contacted by phone to partake in this program. 

Not enough people VOLUNTEERD to make less money, so now they are going to turn your preference to YES to help you sell more.  Some sellers will never know, and eBay will get whatever they are after by default.

And NO, eBay has not volunteered to remove the fvf charge on shipping either.   Actually, eBay will get a raise when the shipping prices are increased by the carriers.  

[slyders_finds]

Thanks for stating the obvious. 

[pcobra93]

Yet another reason I will never use their shipping calculator. A flat shipping cost is the ONLY way to go.

[kenneth686321]

Depends what pricing strategy would make your item sell faster? 1. Lower item price BUT a higher shipping cost? 2. Higher Item Price BUT lower shipping cost? 3. Even higher price with FREE shipping? 

Consider the following Scenarios - Which scenario will cause a buyer to hit the BUY button? You net the same amount after shipping and fees in 3/4 scenarios

Scenario 1 - Before May 15

$20 Item + $5 Retail Shipping charge + 0% Tax. Buyer Pays $25. Seller pays $3 discounted actual shipping $3.30 FVF and nets $18.70

Scenario 2 - After May 15 

 $20 Item + $3  Discounted Shipping charge + 0% Tax. Buyer Pays $23. Seller pays $3 actual discounted shipping cost and $3.00 FVF. Seller nets $17. 

 Scenario 3 - Increase the item price 

$22 Item + $3 Shipping charge + 0% Tax. Buyer Pays $25. Seller pays $3 actual discounted shipping cost and $3.30 FVF. Seller nets $18.70. 

 Scenario 4 - Increase the item price even more

$25 Item + FREE SHIPPING + 0% Tax. Buyer Pays $25. Seller pays $3 actual discounted shipping cost and $3.30 FVF. Seller nets $18.70. 

[12345jamesstamps]

"will you opt in from not taking commission..."...I had to laugh at that.

[isaiah53-57 · Accepted solution]

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@slyders_finds wrote:

"We’re reaching out to let you know that, starting May 15, your listings that display calculated shipping will default to showing eBay Labels discounted shipping rates. The new default rates will apply to all of your active and future listings that offer calculated shipping; listings with free or flat rate shipping won’t be affected.

We’re making this change to help your listings attract more buyers by offering a lower shipping cost. To get the discounted rate that will be displayed on your listings, make sure to purchase your shipping labels through ebay labels.

If you want to opt out of this change, just let us know here by May 13 and we won’t make any changes to your current shipping rates. You can also switch back to showing standard rates at any time after May 15 through your shipping discount settings.
Please note that this change will only apply to sellers receiving this email.
Thanks for being part of the eBay community."

I couldn't have opted out quicker. 🤣

I have an idea EBay. If we opt in. Will you opt in from not taking commission in the shipping/tax? Deal? 

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@slyders_finds  - Totally agree- I mean, REALLY??

Isn't it the sites job to ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS with advertising?? With fair commissions to keep prices lower?? With buyer fraud mitigation tactics to allow for higher seller confidence in listing high-value, high-quality items?? By showing customers reasonably priced items from high quality sellers rather than INSANELY-PRICED items from a seller gaming the system through Promoted listings??

Again... REALLY??? What the..?????

[isaiah53-57]

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@kenneth686321 wrote:

Depends what pricing strategy would make your item sell faster? 1. Lower item price BUT a higher shipping cost? 2. Higher Item Price BUT lower shipping cost? 3. Even higher price with FREE shipping? 

Consider the following Scenarios - Which scenario will cause a buyer to hit the BUY button? You net the same amount after shipping and fees in 3/4 scenarios

Scenario 1 - Before May 15

$20 Item + $5 Retail Shipping charge + 0% Tax. Buyer Pays $25. Seller pays $5 actual shipping and $3.30 FVF and nets $18.70

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Scenario 5 - NOW

$20 Item + $5 Shipping Charge + 1.50 Sales Tax = Buyer Pays $26.50. (Actual Shipping is $5)

Seller Promotes listing at "recommended rate" of 14.20% + 13.50% FVF Rate + .40 cent transaction fee.

Seller Pays $7.75(rounded to nearest nickel) in Total Fees

Seller owns item for $5, leaving them $7.25(rounded to nearest nickel) after cost and shipping wash to account for:

ALL THEIR TIME in sourcing, picture taking, creating listing, storing, retrieving, packing, shipping, traveling, answering questions, dealing with returns, accounting, site problems, revising, relisting, etc etc etc

As well as actual monetary costs in gas, asset wear and tear, printer paper/ink, packing material, taxes, returns, loss, breakage, thievery, store subscription fees, listing fees, additional variable fees, office & cleaning supplies, phone, internet, storage, etc etc etc

In my opinion, thats the reality of this sale and many others just like it - Profit is king - if not, selling here is just one more way OF MANY to waste ones valuable time - From our experience, the only way you can make any real money in this cost and labor intensive environment is to sell high/higher dollar items, but then there is the problem of increased risk of buyer fraud with high/higher dollar items, which is really the main reason we stopped listing here amongst MANY... In a nutshell, total loss of confidence... this scenario typically leaves one at a crossroads...

[dbfolks166mt]

Yet another reason I will never use their shipping calculator. A flat shipping cost is the ONLY way to go.

     Using a flat rate shipping cost has some advantages but it also has it's drawbacks depending on what you are shipping, where you are located and where your buyer is located. For me, without setting up a lot of tables since I am on the east coast flat costs disadvantage my east coast and midwest buyers since I would need to set the flat cost to cover the worst case shipping cost just like I would need to do if I was factoring the shipping cost into the price and offering free shipping.

     The only time I use a flat rate shipping cost, or free shipping, is when I know for sure there is no other cheaper way to ship an item regardless of where the buyer lives. The other issue with free shipping is a lot of states don't charge sales tax on shipping and while this may be minor the use of calculated shipping represents a potential cost savings to the buyer. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@isaiah53-57 wrote: ... I mean, REALLY??

Isn't it the sites job to ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS with advertising?? With fair commissions to keep prices lower?? ...

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No, that's not the "site's job."  As a publicly traded corporation, their "job" is to maximize profits for stockholders. eBay doesn't really care about either sellers nor buyers; it's all about the bottom line.  They're in this to make money, just like most sellers are. If higher fees drive away some sellers and/or buyers but lead to more profit for eBay, then that's what they'll do.

[isaiah53-57]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@isaiah53-57 wrote: ... I mean, REALLY??

Isn't it the sites job to ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS with advertising?? With fair commissions to keep prices lower?? With buyer fraud mitigation tactics to allow for higher seller confidence in listing high-value, high-quality items?? By showing customers reasonably priced items from high quality sellers rather than INSANELY-PRICED items from a seller gaming the system through Promoted listings??

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No, that's not the "site's job."  As a publicly traded corporation, their "job" is to maximize profits for stockholders. eBay doesn't really care about either sellers nor buyers; it's all about the bottom line.  They're in this to make money, just like most sellers are. If higher fees drive away some sellers and/or buyers but lead to more profit for eBay, then that's what they'll do.

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Huh?? Of course it is! - This is a venue - aside from making profit as a result, their ONLY job is to bring customers to the site - You cant expect the sellers to do that for you, because THATS EXACTLY what sellers are paying for here, as well as those who pay to ADVERTISE on this site - How much money do you think ebay makes on advertising every year??

Besides, you totally missed the point and vitriol of my post - Its the gall of this company asking you to do THEIR JOB by attracting customers by giving up more hard earned profit SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO! Are you freaking kidding me?? - We all know their focus is on the next 3 months for the next quarterly report - When hasn't it been? The results are easy to see with active users down from 180 million to 130 million in a short time-span. In my opinion their current plan to honor their contract with shareholders is completely unsustainable you cannot shirk your responsibilities of growing an active user base and expect those who pay to keep the site operating to foot the bill - There will be a reckoning and no amount of creative accounting will be able to hide it...

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ittybitnot 

Yep. It is still the seller's choice. I'd be upset if ebay were removing the choice, but ebay isn't it. (At least, not yet)

As I said on another thread about this topic, whether a seller should choose to pass on the saving or not is really dependent on the seller's business model and type of inventory. If I were selling new, commodity type items , which are often quite price sensitive, then yes, I'd consider passing on the savings to keep my total price low. But with most of my long tail, used and vintage items? Sure, price matters, but it is not necessarily as decisive as it might be for new commodity items. So I have opted out. And on a few items, I use free or flat rate shipping, with adjustments to item price. 

As far as I'm concerned, as long as ebay is giving us the choice, I'll make a choice that I think is best for me. 

IF ebay were to actually provide a financial incentive to opt in (such as not calculating the FVF and PLS fee on the shipping), I'd re-evaulate . But the chance of that happening is pretty slim...

[ittybitnot]

As far as I'm concerned, as long as ebay is giving us the choice...

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

Sellers have had the CHOICE for quite some time.  Perhaps I am the only one that finds eBay changing your preferences for you (when YES it is not your choice) quite offensive and predatory.  All they need to do now is SUGGEST you will be demoted in search if you choose not to participate for this new 'enhancement' to be a raging success, just like PL.

Yes, I suppose it is 'just me', for I was offended at those "Buyer Requirements" set to YES as well they dropped on everyone.  LOL... at least this time they are making an effort to let you know..

[winterpalace25]

Good analysis. I go with no. 3 for my heavy dishes and have always passed on the shipping discount.  Without it, the retail shipping cost is often shocking. Also, I purchase new, quality boxes and consider this an expense of my business to be factored into my selling price.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ittybitnot  Well, I guess my point is: It was a choice BEFORE they made this change. And it is STILL a choice. In that sense, this changes nothing (except for sellers who don't read their messages and don't keep up with messages and announcements.)

So, yes, I had to opt out to continue doing what I've been doing, which is an extra step. But no big effort.

Some sellers will assume they'll be demoted in search if they don't opt in. My guess: shipping cost has been a factor for years, and it will continue to be a factor. That isn't going to change my mind. Again, I don't sell new, commodity items and I don't spend a lot of time trying to "beat" the algo. 

Like most people, I don't like being automatically opted in to something, rather than being offered the opportunity to opt in. But it's a common method employed by many sites, and I'm not going to get worked up about it....it's easy enough to opt out in this case.