Fiscal Year 2022 closed for eBay with 6% decline in Revenue. Guess who will compensate for this drop
eBay revenue in 2022 drop by 6% compared to 2021. For sensible people this is acceptable because all the growth these companies witnessed between 2019 to 2021 is a result of:
1. Closures forcing people to go online for shopping.
2. Relief package that people used to spend online
These factors don't exists anymore, so we have to go back to normal pre-pandemic levels and also, we have to deal with the higher interest rates required to tackle inflation (which part of it is due to relief packages printed out of thin air).
Ok, enough B.S economy, down to our world on eBay. We sellers already are compensating for this drop in revenue by:
1. Sudden increase in FVF without notice (Starting for March 2023). Even they applied it retroactively on one order.
2. If you are doing the same mistake I am doing, promoted listing, I assure you all your sales will be recorded from promoted listing. If you didn't factor in price the cost of promoted listing, address it now (either by stopping promoted listing or adjusting your price parameters)
And heads-up: there are signs that eBay will enforce some silly performance metric on shipping in preparation to force buyers to use only their shipping programs. The other day, I received a warning email from eBay in which they are saying that I didn't include IOSS information in the tracking data and this may risk buyer pay again the VAT.
This is B.S, because it is not mandatory to include in the tracking data. What is mandatory is the seller should include a printout of eBay invoice that shows that eBay collected the tax from the buyer under IOSS arrangement. If it happens and seller didn't include it, still the buyer can provide to authorities a copy of the invoice/payment showing he already paid in advance these taxes.
It is already a rough ride, and it will get rougher.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoA decrease in revenue really means nothing in the business world what matters to shareholders is the bottom line and the total net profit. EBay continues to pay its shareholder dividends. There are two ways (simple explanation) to increase net profit in a business: increase revenues or cut costs. You need to look through the entire eBay yearly SEC filing and compare it to the 2021 filing to pick out the specific impacts that effected the bottom line.
True the fee's increased but I suspect those additional fees are being consumed by increasing operating expenses. In 2021 I was paying $1.80 for a dozen eggs at the end of 2022 it was $4.25 and the last dozen I bought about a week ago were $6.25. There is a labor shortage in some areas and I suspect eBay is being forced to increase wages to retain key parts of its workforce.
joliztoyco
·3 years agoWell.....? sort of.....
How are you "maintaining" shareholder dividends? By freezing wages and laying off employees?
Which results in poorer customer service (Which in eBay's case, it would be hard get any "poorer"). And leaves them in a weak position for any future "pandemic" style boom. And demoralizes the employees that are left? Looking over THEIR shoulders for the "pink slip"?
If eBay is experiencing "labor problems" they're of their own making.
Let's move on to the FACT that by Ebay's OWN numbers they have been shedding sellers and buyers at a rapid pace. And by their OWN report they are now at 2017 4th quarter stats. Which was long before the "pandemic" bump.
Basically the "bump" was the outlier and now they've resumed their steady decline. And their answer to bleeding off sellers and buyers is to increase FVF's?
And hold your merchandise hostage to "promoted listings"?
Seriously? In what world does this make MORE buyers want to come aboard?
eBay's strategy of squeezing every cent of profit they can gain off their sellers to artificially maintain dividends is counterintuitive. And results in a seller "death spiral". When do sellers say enough is enough? And just because someone says "There's "millions" of sellers lining up to sell on this platform, doesn't make it even remotely true. Because eBay's OWN numbers say it isn't true. Hard to argue with them.
I liked eBay Germany's idea to remove FVE's on all small sellers to attract a new wave of them, and bring back old ones that quit because fees were so high.
But eBay America's idea to extract MORE profit off a diminishing seller base, is perplexing.
I guess time will tell. I'll see you in about 12 months.
Oh...BTW...eggs were 2.99 at our Brookshires. Bought a dozen last week.
I have zero idea where you shop.
theteamsetguy
·3 years agoI read an article I believe on CNBC that egg prices vary greatly depending on the area of the country you live in. I thought I read egg prices were the highest in California at over $6.00 per dozen at the time the article was written.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoWell.....? sort of.....
How are you "maintaining" shareholder dividends? By freezing wages and laying off employees?
Which results in poorer customer service (Which in eBay's case, it would be hard get any "poorer"). And leaves them in a weak position for any future "pandemic" style boom. And demoralizes the employees that are left? Looking over THEIR shoulders for the "pink slip"?
If eBay is experiencing "labor problems" they're of their own making.
Let's move on to the FACT that by Ebay's OWN numbers they have been shedding sellers and buyers at a rapid pace. And by their OWN report they are now at 2017 4th quarter stats. Which was long before the "pandemic" bump.
Basically the "bump" was the outlier and now they've resumed their steady decline. And their answer to bleeding off sellers and buyers is to increase FVF's?
And hold your merchandise hostage to "promoted listings"?
Seriously? In what world does this make MORE buyers want to come aboard?
eBay's strategy of squeezing every cent of profit they can gain off their sellers to artificially maintain dividends is counterintuitive. And results in a seller "death spiral". When do sellers say enough is enough? And just because someone says "There's "millions" of sellers lining up to sell on this platform, doesn't make it even remotely true. Because eBay's OWN numbers say it isn't true. Hard to argue with them.
I liked eBay Germany's idea to remove FVE's on all small sellers to attract a new wave of them, and bring back old ones that quit because fees were so high.
But eBay America's idea to extract MORE profit off a diminishing seller base, is perplexing.
I guess time will tell. I'll see you in about 12 months.
Oh...BTW...eggs were 2.99 at our Brookshires. Bought a dozen last week.
I have zero idea where you shop.
Like you I have been on eBay a LONG time and I have watched the company make some smart decisions as well as some stupid ones but the bottom line is I have always known up front what it costs to sell on eBay. Like many sellers I diversified across multiple selling venues LONG ago and these days sell less than 20% of my items on eBay and my purchases over the years have dropped to almost 0. I remain simply because it is still a viable, albeit less than ideal, place to sell.
Like eBay the only thing that really concerns me is my bottom line and that applies to applies to all platforms and venues I sell on. I could care less what eBay makes as a business as long as my bottom line is sustainable in a competitive marketplace. Whether eBay survives is also of little concern to me since there are alternative venues out there and that number has exploded in the wake of the pandemic. Whether eBay is here next year or I am here next year is to be seen.
kosmosattik
·3 years agoeBays 2019 revenue , which was pre-pandemic, was higher than in any succeeding year while at the same time not reflecting what should be inflation induced increases.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/EBAY/financials?p=EBAY
All business models reach a logical conclusion at which point they need to be remade or else end up limping along. eBay is limping. Their answer to weaker earnings that come with lower revenue is more and higher fees along with certain techniques like extorting the purchase of promoted listings by burying listings that don't comply.
desertmodels_uae
OP3 years agoExactly... nowhere to compensate for drop in revenue and declining profits except charging sellers more fees.
It is fine to charge more fees as long as you are confident that demand won't be affected by price increase. Reality in this segment, demand is very price sensitive and any FVF increase will mean seller will increase their prices (as we do) which buyers respond to by less spending on buying on eBay (also coupled with the less income they allocate to buying items on eBay as other priorities shares increase due to inflation).
stevemartin60
·3 years agoNO!...lol....eBay would never bury my listings.
$3600 in sales for the first six weeks of this year, ZERO since complaining about their insane pay-to-play extortion racket. Pure coincidence, I am sure.
onlinecentral
·3 years agoEveryone is welcome to post questions on this discussion board regardless of where they are located.
You are not going to get good answers on the United States discussion board because we don't deal with VAT.
US sellers were notified in advance there would be an increase in FVFs.
That increase is offset by new benefits.
Eliminating the 1.65% international fee.
No returns on international shipments.
Less $0.30 swipe fees.
Other things.
If you are doing the same mistake I am doing, promoted listing, ...
There are a million vitamins and supplements one can buy.
None have been proven with the gold standard of research, the double blind study.
Some get the medicine and some get the placebo. Then you compare both groups.
Opinions on the effectiveness of Promoted Listings vary widely. Evidence is nonexistent.
It is your voluntary choice to commit money to that.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoUS sellers were notified in advance there would be an increase in FVFs.
That increase is offset by new benefits.
Eliminating the 1.65% international fee.
No returns on international shipments.
Less $0.30 swipe fees.
I saw the notice on the fee increase where did you see the elimination of the international fee and the no returns on international shipments?
onlinecentral
·3 years agoeBay International Shipping
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/ebay-international-shipping
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoThat whole "we'll handle the refunds, seller keeps the sale" for EIS is still yet to be seen.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoeBay International Shipping
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/ebay-international-shipping
That only applies if you sign up for the EIS program. I don't believe it applies across the board. At the moment EIS has too many restrictions and unproven service for me to sign up for.
desertmodels_uae
OP3 years agoThis program is not available to all sellers on eBay.com. Currently is only available in US where eBay have established a service point. For Interntional sellers placed on eBay.com, the program is not available.
When we asked when they plan to roll-out the program to international locations, they had no date.
desertmodels_uae
OP3 years agoI saw nothing at all.... found the increase when I was reconciling the FVF account between eBay and our accounting system.
desertmodels_uae
OP3 years ago1. "You are not going to get good answers on the United States discussion board because we don't deal with VAT"
Any seller, be it physically located in US or placed on the US site (international seller), if they decide to ship internationally to location where eBay is an IOSS agency, then will deal with VAT when it comes to shipping documentations.
2. "US sellers were notified in advance there would be an increase in FVFs.
That increase is offset by new benefits.
Eliminating the 1.65% international fee.
No returns on international shipments.
Less $0.30 swipe fees.
Other things."
We are a sellers placed on the US site but never received a communication nor we see any of these changes enacted on our billing, apart from the increased FVF. It will be useful to support your claim by sharing copy of this communication.
3. "There are a million vitamins and supplements one can buy.
None have been proven with the gold standard of research, the double blind study.
Some get the medicine and some get the placebo. Then you compare both groups.
Opinions on the effectiveness of Promoted Listings vary widely. Evidence is nonexistent.
It is your voluntary choice to commit money to that."
We know is our voluntary choice to commit money to promoted ads. However, when you get an offer showing it is not from promoted listing, you accept it on that basis, then after payment is completed the order change to a sourced by promoted listing (hence eBay charge the ad fees) anyone will question the credibility of promoted ads charges.
onlinecentral
·3 years agoIn reply to message 9.
1. Any seller, be it physically located in US or placed on the US site (international seller), if they decide to ship internationally to location where eBay is an IOSS agency, then will deal with VAT when it comes to shipping documentations.
The majority of sellers on the US site use eBay International Shipping to avoid dealing with the VAT, IOSS, creating the export declaration and more.
2. ...sharing copy of this communication.
I was automatically enrolled in eBay International Shipping in November of 2022.
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/ebay-international-shipping
The Winter 2023 Seller Update was announced in the Message Center on February 1, 2023.
Seller Update Community board https://community.ebay.com/t5/2023-Winter-Seller-Update/bd-p/SU_23_1
Seller News announcement post https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Your-2023-Winter-Seller-Update-is-here/ba-p/33527137
Seller Center announcement https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates/2023-winter
Click the following to read more about our announced changes:
2023 Winter Seller Update https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates/2023-winter
Running Your Business https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates/2023-winter/business
Fees & financials https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates/2023-winter/financials
Seller Updates at a glance https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates/timeline
See all 2023 Winter updates here https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates/2023-winter
You may want to check the announcement board https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements
3. ...the order changes to a sourced by promoted listing ...question the credibility of promoted ads charges.
There are discussions about sellers having to pay Promoted Listings Fees when the item was found organically. Here is the most recent one, started today.
EBAY Ad fees, kind of **bleep** off at them charging us on repeat business.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/EBAY-Ad-fees-kind-of-bleep-off-at-them-charging-us-on-repeat/td-p/33616241/jump-to/first-unread-message
doublexman
·3 years agoOffset by new benefits LOL