Is eBay going to reduce their selling fees?
I am wondering how eBay will respond to the fact that a competitor has gotten rid of all their selling fees. Seems like at the very least a reduction is in order...
81 comments
I am wondering how eBay will respond to the fact that a competitor has gotten rid of all their selling fees. Seems like at the very least a reduction is in order...
simba6
·2 years agoThat is like asking if China will give up Taiwan.
I suppose there will be some promos now and then.
johnrj1226
·2 years agoDid'ja hear that at the water fountain or in the rest room.
eBay makes money when the seller sells something (no sales not so much revenue - they would have to layoff the bots too unless you opt to purchase things like a store, bold font Headline when a shopper can only view one listing at a time - it's not like Vegas lights at midnight say come here and not there.
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@johnrj1226 not sure if that was aimed at me but if it was, nope not the water fountain or in the restroom...check out those other threads for the details.
The fee free selling for private sellers in the UK was prominently announced in the UK community, on the UK site, and in an official eBay press release that was blasted across tons of major media.
eBay apparently didn't want quite as much press about the buyer fees though, that detail was tucked quietly into their latest 8-K filed with the SEC.
johnrj1226
·2 years agoNope was meant for the OP aka jhm99 - don't get the UK daily rag on my Announcements or this community board for US sellers/buyers
FYI & a bit off topic - but here is how folks in the upper mid-west (Dakotas, Minnesota Wisconsin and others) read their daily rag.
valueaddedresource
·2 years agoSince this is an older thread that will probably be locked soon, I'll just leave these here by way of an update...eBay has announced no selling fees for UK private sellers in all categories except Motors, and buyer fees coming to the UK in early 2025.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-UK-Fee-Free-Private-Selling-Across-All-Categories-Except/td-p/34705620
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-To-Introduce-Buyer-Fees-For-UK-In-2025/td-p/34707641
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·2 years ago@valueaddedresource
And I'll just add, it is unlikely that ebay will do the same here anytime soon, but the ebay Fall Seller Update is probably "coming soon" and would be a likely time for the announcement of any major fee change.
To quote the ebay Community Team: "Stay tuned."
mam98031
·2 years agoIDK, there may not be one. We haven't had four Seller Updates in a very long time. They just scheduled the Seller Check in for next month. Which typically arrives around the same time as a Seller Update. Could be they are skipping the Fall update and moving to the Winter update. Who knows, we will most certainly find out whenever they decide we need to know. LOL
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@mam98031 not sure where you are getting 4 updates - the Winter seller update is usually after the new year.
For example, so far this year we've had 2 updates - Winter 2024 in February and Summer 2024 in June.
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/seller-updates
If we have a Fall 2024 Update it will likely be before that Seller Check In in November, making 3 Seller Updates in 2024 - which is also what we saw in 2023 and 2022, so it would not be uncommon or unexpected.
Then presumably the next Winter Update (if there is one) would be around February 2025 since we already had a WInter update this year.
It's also certainly possible there won't be a Fall update and we'll only get 2 this year, especially since we're now squarely into Q4 and sellers really don't like it when eBay makes changes in Q4 but I'm not sure how much eBay really cares about seller opinions on that subject these days.
slyders_finds
·2 years agoMecari, Mecari, Mecari. Poshmark, Poshmark, Poshmark. Bunch of weirdos afraid to say the names. 🤣
gurlcat
·2 years agoWhat are you talking about? And its' MeRcari, not Mecari.
mam98031
·2 years agoIt comes from them remembering very old rules here in the community when we weren't suppose to name other competing sites. It has been OK for many years now as long as we are not encouraging someone to go sell on some other site.
liawri-75
·2 years agoI can tell you my experiences with the competitor's no seller fees....IT'S WORKING FOR ME! MORE sales than on Ebay.
At first I thought, no way, but I'm getting sales every week.
inhawaii
·2 years agoNo, I don't think ebay will lower their fees.
As a matter of fact, I'm sure ebay will eventualy RAISE their fees.
mazzie4me
·2 years agoeBay earns over 10 billion a year in seller fees.
They are trying to figure out how to make 20 billion next year.
The fees have only gone up
it's all about the bottom line for them. Not caring about you
mam98031
·2 years agoWhere did you get the information that Ebay earned that much on Seller fees? Their second quarter 2024 financials show they earned 2.6 Billion dollars in this quarter. But that is NOT all seller fees. Ebay owns an entire list of other companies that represent in there financial.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoeBay earns over 10 billion a year in seller fees.
They are trying to figure out how to make 20 billion next year.
The fees have only gone up
it's all about the bottom line for them. Not caring about you
The fees have remained pretty constant for several years and of course it's about the bottom line they are a business and their only goal is to maximize their value to their share holders. A couple corrections to your numbers. Part of the second quarter 2024 financial statements are below. Yes they had $2.5 billion in net REVENUES but that number quickly shrinks as expenses are deducted just like any business or for any seller, to $224 million in NET income. If you want more detail you can access the full financials via the link at the bottom.
https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-inc-reports-second-quarter-2024-results/
mam98031
·2 years agoWell that is only half the story. You are talking about Mercari. The did get rid of the Seller fees and money processing fees, they now charge those fees to the buyers.
It is a gutsy move. It was borne from the effort to revitalize their site. It is Mercaris hope that sellers will reduce their pricing because they no longer have to pay fees. And they want to draw in more sellers.
It is going to take some time to find out if buyers are really going to take to this change and will Sellers actually reduce their pricing. I suspect that most sellers will not be reducing their pricing.
It is way too early for Ebay to even entertain this idea. I personally just don't see buyers liking this much. Most don't realize how expensive it is to sell online, so faced with them paying those fees directly, it is going to take some getting use to for sure.
wilsonharborsales
·2 years agoI don't care about fees. As long as they are sending me good traffic so that I can scale my business, I will pay whatever fees they want.
robbie31415
·2 years agoI'm Going to continue to believe Mercari made a terrible decision.
Ebay probably shouldn't copy bad mistakes.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoThe competitor that dropped selling fees replaced them with buying fees.
So if you sell a widget for $100 on Mercari, you pay no fees. Your $100 sale is $100 in your pocket.
But your customer does. Their $100 purchase costs $110. + sales tax + shipping.
If you sell a widget for $100 on eBay, you pay around $15 in fees.
But your customer pays $100 ( + sales tax + shipping.)
When the customer needs another widget, where are they going to buy?
EBay or Mercari?
asset_liquidators
·2 years agoDo you really think Mercari is truly an eBay competitor? That sounds like a desperation move by Mercari and I don't think it will end too well for them.
Mercari is about as much competition as Bonanza. In other words, they are not.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI actually sell pretty well on Mercari, but have never sold a thing on Bonanza in the about year or so I was on there, AND they wanted you to buy "turbo packs" to pay for traffic.
Mercari is pretty cheap but it's not bad for what it is - I sell stuff on there that doesn't move on here, and not always for super low prices.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·2 years ago@jhm99 I don't really think any response is in order.
Both platforms are businesses, and neither one is going to take any action until they have had time to judge the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of Mercari's change. Many people are saying this won't work for Mercari, and maybe it won't. But Mercari isn't going to reverse course until they've given it enough time to really test this...I'd guess at least a few months. All the seller/buyer complaining in the world isn't going to matter....dollars and cents results will matter.
eBay is most likely taking the same approach...they will watch Mercari's numbers over the next few months (or longer) before taking any action.
ebay went to some free fees in Germany before the Mercari announcement, and has announced limited free fees for the UK since the announcement, but that has almost certainly been something they've been planning for some time, not a hasty response to Mercari.
So no, I don't expect ebay to make any hasty fee changes in response to this Mercari change. That doesn't mean ebay won't make any fee changes this year....it just means they will likely be completely independent of what Mercari is doing.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoAlso the Mercari site is a mess compared to ebay. If I were them I would have been working to improve the quality of their listings. Sellers there are LAZY do not put in item descriptions properly, and Mercari does not have the same item specifics requirements as ebay. Half the time if I buy something on there I am nor sure of what I am buying. I take some chances on there because of this. You think the search is bad on here? Try searching for something on there, it’s bad.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoMercari is trying very hard to keep their head afloat here with this new scheme. Do not worry about them they are going to go under eventually.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoIt’s not going to work. The sellers on there are not going to automatically adjust their prices. They will probably look at it as an opportunity to cash in more. Ebay would have to be insane to do that now.
redlinear
·2 years agoeBay has taken the approach of making the most out of what they have.
As opposed to trying to increase their customers (buyers and sellers).
Maybe they think they have all the customers they ever will, and now that many are leaving, there's no more customers out there to get. SO, up the rates and employ all sorts of gimmicks to get more money out of customers that are already here.
Like a restaurant that seats 100. Until you fill those 100 seats, you lower prices and create deals, offer free drinks, etc....Just do whatever you can to entice customers.
When you fill those 100 seats? Then you raise your prices and charge for drinks
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoRight on!! Groovy man.
doc-holmes
·2 years agoSo, instead of sellers baking the fees I to their costs, this other venue will just charge the customer directly? If eBay were to do this, my first question is actually will you lower your price because you no longer have to bake the fees into it? No? Well, the odds are about the same that eBay would ever lower their fees.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThey cannot enforce those amateur sellers on there to bake or unbake their prices. My best quess is the greed will tale over which is just human nature and they will screw it up for Mercari.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoEbay does the baking right by baking the fees as the icing on their cake. In that sense the SELLERS have to unbake their greed and/or are forced to make better choices in acquiring product at the Right price to compete.
johnrj1226
·2 years agoWhen I sold on eBay my buyers paid all my fees and other selling costs - ship, packaging item costs etc plus my expected profit margin (including auction listings). Never was an ONFPO (Obviously Not For Profit Organization).
chapeau-noir
·2 years ago....
 
...............
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@jhm99 here's a thread where we have already been discussing the changes Mercari made, including seller thoughts on both how it might impact Mercari and how eBay might respond.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Another-Competitor-Makes-Some-Big-Changes/m-p/34373213/highlight/true#M2376721
Depop also did the same thing in the UK about a week before Mercari, also passing some of the fees on to buyers directly.
As far as how eBay might respond - they've already started to by introducing fee-free selling for clothing for private (non-business) sellers in the UK - notably without passing fees on to buyers.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-UK-Goes-Permanently-Fee-Free-For-Private-Clothing-Sellers/td-p/34395554
As discussed there, eBay has for the last few months been pivoting their strategy back to include the broader consumer-seller (C2C) base, not doing away with all efforts for verticals like sneakers, watches, handbags, trading cards, and car parts, but just widening the focus.
eBay got rid of selling fees for private sellers in Germany across all categories last year, again without passing fees on to buyers and the UK announcement shows they are working on finding ways to adapt what is working in some place to other markets.
While it may not end up being the same as what they have done in UK and Germany, I expect we will see some kind of similar C2C initiatives for the US later this year, as several recent eBay job postings make it clear it's a global strategy shift and they are looking for people/ideas for the US market as well.
Targeting the fee-free offerings to private sellers allows eBay to limit their financial exposure/risk so they don't have to pass fees on to buyers and I expect if something similar comes to the US, it will also similarly be limited in some way.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoThe competitor did not get rid of the fees they just shifted the burden. You can be pretty sure that if eBay were to make a change such as a fee reduction they would find some other way to maintain, or increase, their revenue. The whole implementation of promoted listings probably staved off an across the board fee increase for the last several years.
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@jhm99
Sure, eBay will reduce their selling fees. . ..
When James Dean is elected President of the United States, with Amelia Earhart as his Vice President.
lakefor94
·2 years agoNo, eBay will not reduce selling fees.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@jhm99
I seriously doubt it, but it's a good thought to hold & hope for.
Happy Selling.
itscalledapostingid
·2 years agoEbay has a history of adjusting seller fees in certain categories to compete with other marketplaces when there is a real competition to hold a market share of the sellers. Example: In the the musical instrument/guitars category ebay significantly reduced fees then later raised fees a little in response to a competing marketplace.
However I don't think this one will have enough impact on the market to get an ebay response.
Also I'm surprised nobody mentioned ebay doing away with private seller fees on some of their European sites.
Forgot to mention ebay's return policy requirement for TRS+ in some categories and the MBG policy for trading cards appear to be influenced by competing marketplaces.
mgtracer1
·2 years agoGee....I would just be happy if eBay did not place "sponsored items" or "you may also like these items" before the item specifics and listing description on MY listings..... put them at the end, if you have to, but not before my listing description, I pay a store fee and value fees and all the whatever fees just as much as any other seller!
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThe Sponsored ITEMS CAN HELP YOU SELL YOURS if YOU PRICE THEM COMPETITIVELY, have better descriptions, pictures, better rep etc. Do not knock it it can actually help you.
heckofagame
·2 years agoeBay will probably make a lowball offer to buy Mercari. They like to absorb stuff.
jhm99
OP2 years agoI'm glad people are willing to share their opinions, but I didn't ask what people thought of said competitor's strategy. I asked how people thought eBay would respond to the strategy.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoNo you actually didn't.
Your title asks specifically whether eBay would reduce their fees, not "how they would respond".
Then your post says you are "wondering" how eBay would respond, but does not actually ask a question.
That aside ...
To answer your specific question - no, I do not think eBay will reduce their fees.
To answer your followup question - I do not think eBay will respond to Mercari's change. Especially if they suspect that Mercari's move was made out of desperation.
jhm99
OP2 years ago@luckythewinner I am not sure why you feel the need to pick apart my post. If you can't figure out how obvious it is that my question had nothing to do with the competitor's actions, and everything to do with eBay's response, then maybe this forum isn't elementary enough for you.
inhawaii
·2 years agoThey wont do a darn thing.
mordecai8614
·2 years agoeBay isn't going to respond because they don't have to. M changed their fee structure because they're desperate. As someone who sells on multiple platforms, M is hands down the hardest platform to sell stuff. I've done some tests where I've listed the same item on eBay & M, but listed the item for 20% less on M. Guess which platform the items sold? Ebay. Every time. The only way to sell stuff on M is to price it dirt cheap & even then buyers are going to offer you even less. Ebay isn't going to change their fee structure just because that joke of a platform did
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThe Mercari site has a reputation for the people looking for cheap stuff. It’s buyer base are not worth the trouble of listing things on there for us. Ebay buyers pay better prices for the same things.
yuzuha
·2 years agoIndeed. I tried listing there for a little while and got exactly no sales but a ton of lowball offers. Meanwhile, the same items actually sell here for the same prices.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoMercari just put in a completely cosmetic shift in how the fees are presented.
Ebay customer pays $20, or Mercari customer pays $20, both sellers end up with the same amount of money.
To another poster, ebay's marketshare of a marketplace that is almost nothing but unrelated businesses that don't compete with them is meaningless. Ebay's marketshare of what it actually does which is sell anything, used or new is still over 90 percent.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoCompanies rise and fall as it happens all the time.
Just a matter of time for this competitor to start charging or go bust.
This competitor is trying to attract new sellers and buyers.
Unavailable member
·2 years agoJust sellers, I think. The average quality quality of listings on Mercari is pretty low. Sure, I think that a lot of sellers will sign up to sell on Mercari. But there will be a painful. Where there are less sales as sellers that they will need to lower their prices to be competitive. I don’t expect it to work well, but, theoretically, sellers would make on Mercari what they make on eBay, commensurate with the traffic. Basically, Mercari is trying to steal sellers from other venues, and Hoping that sales follow.
yuzuha
·2 years agoThe irony is that a whole bunch of people I know who used to sell on Mercari have actually packed up and moved over here.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThey are loosing traffic on the Destroyed bridge in Baltimore. The barge already hit them years ago.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoI think ebay might give a HOOT about who they steal from here selling low priced junk. It would unclog the search results.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoSaid "competitor' has far less traffic than ebay.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoMercari did not really get rid of selling fees, they simply changed what they call them and how they show the math to the buyer and seller.
Old Mercari: Item price = $10, and buyer pays $10.
New Mercari: Item price = $9, and buyer pays $10.
And unless Mecari sellers voluntarily lower their prices to compensate for the buyer paying the fees, Mercari's change will actually increase overall prices for buyers and make a seller's items less competitive there.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoRight. Their scheme has not taken into account how they will control the prices.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoIt’s also a a hook in the mouth of a very silly fish who may think this is the best meal they ever were offered.
liawri-75
·2 years agoThat policy works for me. And I have free shipping, including the s/h costs into the price of the item.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoThat competitor won't be around long if they don't have fees!
isaiah53-57
·2 years agoReally? - Do you know how much these companies make in advertising fees and selling sales / personal data over a year? - Let alone having other creative ways to bring in revenue? - But you're right...I'm sure they didnt put much thought or foresight at all into this decision - Brings to mind another company who hasnt put much foresight and vision into their decisions over the years - You know, that company that refuses to get bold and shake things up a bit? - The company who's default revenue growth strategy over the last 15 to 20 years has been to keep squeezing more out of its sellers and give less back? The one that had a market share of around 11% 15 years ago and is now in the 3-4% range? oh dang it ...whats their name?...
luckythewinner
·2 years agooh dang it ...whats their name?...
You should have no trouble remember the name. After all, you are still here using their messageboard.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoYeah, I agree, they ALSO need to get more savvy about this as well.
solidguitar1961
·2 years agoWe will see how that works out for Mercari . I don't think the buyers are going to be happy with all those fees dumped on them.
lonebuck-books
·2 years agoActually buyers won't be happy seeing the fees that will be dumped on them. They have always been paying them, they just didn't see them. Kind like how free shipping isn't free. Buyers don't like seeing the costs involved in selling, they just like seeing a single number and thinking that sellers are just eating those fees and not passing them on.
kelekt
·2 years agoI prefer buyers see the fees and pay Ebay directly for those fees...that way they can be p*ss*d off at Ebay about prices (as they should be in most cases) instead of sellers. Truth hurts but I'd rather it hurt the fat cats at the top than those of us working our fingers to the bone to scrape by 😉
atlasesattic
·2 years agoIf I really wanted something bad enough, a few extra cents isn't going to deter me
liawri-75
·2 years agoI'm getting more sales from M, than from Ebay. It's a great change for me.
chariot_badges
·2 years agoThis is what most people (including OP) fail to understand.
NO MATTER how many times we tell them.
Over and over and over.
It is evident in our national economy RIGHT NOW that the average illiterate voter does not understand. No matter how many times ...
Here it is, a bumper sticker that is true:
NOTHING IS FREE
Here's another one:
FREE IS TOO EXPENSIVE
mtgraves7984
·2 years ago"... to the fact that a competitor has gotten rid of all their selling fees."
@jhm99
Do tell...
jhm99
OP2 years agoI don't think I'm allowed to mention competitor's names, but if you google "zero selling fees marketplace" you will be able to read what I am reading ...
rosszonebricks
·2 years agoI don't consider *shifting* the burden of fees from Seller to Buyer to be 'getting rid of all the seller fees' or 'zero selling fees'.
ulfesharpe
·2 years agoWhy not? Competition is a good thing for customers, isn't it? In our case, we get multiple competitors on the listings pages we've paid for.
liawri-75
·2 years agoThere are 3 that have zero seller fees.
For me, it's working just great! I've moved most of my listings to that M Site. But no way will EB do that move. It's just toooo big a site. Too many employees and operation costs.
liawri-75
·2 years agoThe initials start with M.
mam98031
·2 years agoThat site is Mercari. They changed their Fee Structure as of March 27, 2024.
In June Mercari laid off nearly half their US staff. Their new fee structure, while working for you has not been well received by the majority of their buyers.
rosszonebricks
·2 years agoI mean, we all WISH fees would go away but.... There is no business out there that operates for free out of the generosity of their hearts, lest of all eBay.
jhm99
OP2 years agoI am just as surprised as you are, but it appears to be the case. ACH fee to move money out pales in comparison.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoI laughed as hard as this guy when I seen what they were doing. And the buyers are going to do the same when they see the final cost on the items.
gurlcat
·2 years ago😮Is that the guy in the Spiderman movie, when he has the suit and Peter offers an amount to buy it back from him, and dude says "I could get more than that on EBAY!" -I only saw it once many years ago but that scene really stuck with me because I think eBay was kind of new at the time and I was like "Wow, people really sell weird stuff like that there?"