New final value fees
Summary: In this discussion, various eBay sellers express concerns about rising final value fees on eBay. antiquesnemethdi13 highlights that fees have increased over time, with current fees around 13.7% of transactions. Others, like luckythewinner, recall that fees used to be lower. Suggestions include using calculated shipping instead of flat-rate to avoid financial loss, as well as adapting to market changes to remain competitive. isaiah53-57 discusses the challenges in selling collectibles, attributing some difficulties to eBay's fee structure and market dynamics. There's consensus that while costs are rising, adjusting strategies might help sellers manage these challenges better.
Hello, I have been selling on Ebay since 2003 and have witnessed many buyer trends and in my selling. That is why I want to address the new Final Value Fees. Ebay has been a life line for me selling in my later life. My ancestors did not have this asset. However, we need to keep a grip on things with the new eBay policies especially the final value fees increasing when the new trend is for the younger generation and others to no longer have a desire to buy collectibles especially collectible that at one time where very expensive to buy originally. I feel these fees are actually over the top and excessive when one takes that into a fact. Also, I do enjoy the 250 free listing fees each month and other incentives iniated by eBay. However, there are so many added fees that this last year I sold at a loss or break even point on sales when we factor in the larger shipping fees for those we ship to at a distance but still want to keep competitive on our shipping cost offered to potential buyers. I feel we should be able to either adjust the shipping for mileage on an indiviual completed sale or restrict selling to those areas. If anyone has any suggestions, please respond.
Thank you, a senior citizen, Diane
kh-christelle
·2 months agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
bazaarla
·4 months agoDon’t seem to know how to put up my own post so I thought I’d comment here. How does eBay get away with charging fee percentages on TAXES and SHIPPING!! Seller do not get those funds but they charge us! This should be illegal! I ended up with 2/3 of my value!
70rag428
·2 months agoExactly my thought. After shipping and taxes on a recent sale, my ebay final value fee added up to 20 percent! Whoever came up with this garbage at ebay, can F-OFF! Better off selling on Facebook Marketplace.
jonathanbrightlight
·2 months agoNeither shipping nor taxes (which are paid by the buyer) are part of the eBay fees.
mam98031
·1 year agoOf course. Costs on everything have gone up. Anyone that thinks the fees should be the same as they were 20 years ago is simply mistaken. The costs to run the site simply are not the same.
isaiah53-57
·1 year ago1st off, NO ONE said that fees should be the same as 20 years ago - Where did you get that from? And why must I ask that question EVERY TIME you respond to one of my posts?
The poster was asking what fees have been added ...as though the OP was an exaggeration - But there are many fees that have been added as was decried in the OP that have raised overall fees and costs.
The common example I provided is a 1000% price increase over 20 years - What other costs have gone up that much?
The example also does not include the 6% "Below Standard" fine - or the international sale fee - or store fees - or listing upgrade fees - or quick release of money fees - or promoted listing fees etc, etc, many of these have been added fees(like FVFs on shipping and then on sales tax, built into the example I provided without mention of them)...
It also doesnt take into account the degrade in, reduction in, or loss of site function or services over time, such as: a degrade to a useless customer support system - Top-rated seller discount reduction - a MBG that leaves sellers hanging out to dry - reduced advertising - a biased search - a purported, yet still inconsequential(imho) increase in buyers over many quarters - a rapidly declining market share - etc, etc... All this happening while they raise or add fees... End stage capitalism at its best as far as I'm concerned...
mam98031
·1 year agoYou've asked me to not respond to your posts, so why are you responding to one of mine. Is this just a one way street????
I made a statement, nothing more. It doesn't require you to agree with me or not.
How much do you think costs have gone up in the last 20 years? Look at minimum wage alone. In some areas of the USA it has more than doubled in this time period. On top of those additional wages are the costs of employee benefits. Sadly the Federal minimum wage hasn't changed since about 2009, so many states have stepped up to try and fix this problem. Ebay employs people all over the US.
I'm don't agree with included OPTIONAL fees like Promoted listings as no one has to use them. It is a Choice.
As to penalty fees. Ebay has the Seller Performance rules well published and they help to protect the site and the buyers. So while I respect it can be a real hardship on some that end up in trouble on Ebay, there is usually a good reason for it. I do however understand that some get caught up in this that likely just need a helping hand to get some stats cleaned up as the defects were outside their control. So really for me, I look at them on a case by case basis. I don't have a singular opinion of all that end up with penalty fees.
International sale fees has been around since the time we started using PayPal as our money processor. When we moved to having Ebay do that function, it moved to Ebay charging it.
No one has to have a Store. It is an optional fee, but unlike other things, having a store has benefits and depending on the Store level you have, one of the benefits is it lowers your FVFs. Stores used correctly more than pay for themselves with the benefits of the store.
Don't want to pay for listing upgrades, don't use them. It really is that simple. I've never used them and I know many sellers don't.
You seem to want to make Ebay look bad for having optional tools for sellers. Sellers should be perfectly capable for figuring out if using a tool that cost extra is beneficial for them or isn't. For those that use them and it increases their sales, that is great, but you don't seem to want to acknowledge that. It is all about big bad Ebay and the fees they charge.
Your OPINION is that CS has degraded. That doesn't make it true. And it is your opinion that many many many things on Ebay simply don't work for you. Which is likely why you decided to stop selling on Ebay a long time ago. You did what was best for YOU. That doesn't mean it is best for everyone else. But you have every right to do what is best for you.
Ebay though you made this decision you still feel compelled to post on the Community. I know you feel it is to inform others. It seems more to be to share your experiences and opinions in order to see who else you can get mad or upset with Ebay.
Ebay did recently do a very small Fee increase on the FVFs. Which in most categories had not happened since PRE- summer of 2020. You however don't seem to see the difference between fixed fees and optional fees. That is fine, but there is a big difference and sellers can decide for themselves what is useful for them.
jshep1
·1 year agoHello, We are also old timers but manage to make extra money selling on eBay. My advice in purchasing items is to look at completed listings. You find a lot of valuable information there. Ignore the sellers that list their items to low. We are here to make a profit not to run a hobby. If there are a lot of sales on an item and it sells for a profit quickly then it might make a good candidate to list. If the completed sales show a lot of items up but no or low sales will show you that the item might sit on a shelf or you might have to sell low. You are running a business which has a buy low and sell high to be successful. Keep your mistakes to a minimum and you should be able to come out ahead.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you for your support and ideas about my interventions. 😊 Diane
insaneshanedotnet
·1 year agoI started selling on eBay I guess around 1997. I had 3 different accounts going at once. I bought and sold lots of items up until about 2010 or so when I stopped selling. This past week I thought I would start selling a few items I had laying around and eBay is nothing like it use to be. It is as far from being seller friendly as I ever seen it. The way they do the "final value fee" now threw me for a loop. Say I sold a very big and heavy item that only brought $10 then add an 8% sales tax and then pretend it cost me $80 to ship this item, how much do I actually walk away with? If my math is correct, I think I now owe ebay. I do not see this next generation selling many things here. A few more years like this, it will just be overpriced Temu and Aliexpress items for sale here no one wants.
mam98031
·1 year agoThen either that might not be the right thing to sell on the internet because it has to be shipped or you aren't pricing it correctly. No matter where you sell it on the internet, you will have to ship it. Shipping isn't Ebay's fault.
The way Ebay charges fees has been the same since Managed Payments went site wide in the summer of 2020.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you for your comments. Your opinion is exactly what I am seeing and feel. Ebay will price themselves out of the martlet all together in the not too long future. Sadly, Diane
mam98031
·1 year agoNO, I think you misunderstood something. I firmly disagree with "Ebay will price themselves out of the martlet [market]..." But I agree sellers will.
Ebay isn't the least expensive place to sell, but they certainly aren't the most expensive place to sell. If you feel other sites that are cheaper are better, give them a try. You will find they don't get the traffic or exposure that Ebay does. There is value in that even though many do not acknowledge it.
The post of mine you are commenting to was to a poster that wanted to sell a $10 item here with an $80 shipping price and blamed that they can't make money on the item on Ebay. It is NOT and never has been Ebay's fault for shipping prices. If you are selling something that has to be shipped, whether you sell it here or on some other site, you will pay shipping. And all sites similar to Ebay charge their fees on shipping too.
insaneshanedotnet
·1 year ago@mam98031
I get what you are saying. I was just making a point to explain what I was getting at. I was using that as an example. A large heavy item that is only worth $100 total tops. You list it for $10 because you know it is going to cost $100 to ship. No one local wants it or can use it. You hate to just send it to the landfill when someone several states away would love to have it and can use it. Instead of you making $10 for your troubles, the buyer paying the items fair value, USPS making their share, tax man getting his share, and eBay still making money, it is not like that. The seller ends up owning ebay more money than he even made. I know all items are not like this but it makes my point.
I also understand in part why ebay did this. (Sellers selling a $100 item for $1 and $99 shipping) but if you print out the shipping label using ebay's shipping label service, then they shouldn't charge you a fee on the shipping too. To me, this is a multi billion dollar a year profiting company double dipping on the little guy.
mam98031
·1 year agoStill if you are going to sell something on the internet, it has to be shipped whether you sell it here or on some other site. And you will have to pay fees. The only way around the fees is set up your own site.
The seller ONLY EVERY owes Ebay more than what they got for the sale if the seller incorrectly prices the item or is selling something that can't get that seller enough money to make it worth while to sell it on the internet. That isn't Ebay's fault. I know you are striving to make it Ebay's fault, but it just isn't. Not all things are meant to be sold on the internet.
I don't understand. Why should Ebay not charge a fee on shipping if you print your label in Ebay?? Ebay doesn't get to keep that money when you print a label on the site, it goes to the carrier. Why should Ebay do that?
They aren't double dipping. You pay ONE fee on shipping. And Ebay is NOT unique with this fee, other similar sites charge it too, even when you can print labels on their sites.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you for defining the details of what I wanted to say. 😢 Diane
mam98031
·1 year agoI didn't mean to upset you, you just seem to want to blame Ebay for the cost of shipping when the vast majority of that cost is because of the carrier, NOT Ebay.
isaiah53-57
·1 year ago@antiquesnemethdi13
You cant believe everything you read here Diane - Take for example the except below taken from a reply to your posting:
"I don't understand. Why should Ebay not charge a fee on shipping if you print your label in Ebay?? Ebay doesn't get to keep that money when you print a label on the site, it goes to the carrier. Why should Ebay do that?
They aren't double dipping. You pay ONE fee on shipping. And Ebay is NOT unique with this fee, other similar sites charge it too, even when you can print labels on their sites."
I dont believe much or the above statement is true or accurate for the most part - I'm pretty sure ebay buys shipping from shipping services at discounted rates - So, for example, if you charged the buyer $11 and ebay is charging you $10 for the shipping label, they are likely paying $8 for that label. Then they turn around and hit you up with a FVF of around 13.5% on the shipping amount the buyer paid, making profit there also - So in a sense they ARE double-dipping...
And the statement about other venues doing the same thing? - In large part, that is also an inaccurate statement...
Best of luck to you
mam98031
·1 year agoReferring to one of my posts is still the same thing as responding to my post. Again I asked why, you asked me long ago not to respond to your posts, what has changed?
I don't mind that you don't agree with me. What I said is true. You don't have to agree to make it true. It simply is true.
Absolutely Ebay gets paid for their services. I never said they didn't. Ebay should get a percentage off what is charged for shipping by the carriers because Ebay is offering a service to those carriers within their shipping program.
Why should that be a surprise. How do you think places that only sell shipping labels on the internet make money. Or did you think they were all non profits. Such as Pirateship and stamps.com. They should be paid for their services rendered. I'm unsure as to why you would think otherwise. And for those sites that only sell shipping, if they didn't get a fee from the carriers, they couldn't stay in business.
While Ebay charges the seller for the shipping labels and the cost of shipping, the majority of that money goes to the Carrier NOT Ebay.
"...ebay is charging you $10 for the shipping label, they are likely paying $8 for that label." Where did you come up with that number. Members have tried for years to find the amount Ebay gets paid from the carriers. Where did you find that it is a 20%, which seems extremely high. But please share, we would all be very grateful for the assist.
"And the statement about other venues doing the same thing? - In large part, that is also an inaccurate statement..." Name them please. Note that my statement was ebay is NOT unique with this fee, other similar sites charge it too, even when you can print labels on their sites. So what sites do not do this, remembering I said "similar sites". Amazon charges it and so does Etsy. Are you talking about sites smaller than those in this type of industry that Ebay, Amazon and Etsy are in?
I know you want to spin this in a way that supports your personal agenda against Ebay. But twisting what I've said is not the way.
insaneshanedotnet
·1 year ago"Ebay doesn't get to keep that money when you print a label on the site, it goes to the carrier. "
If I print out a $100 shipping label on ebay, ebay takes $113.25 from me. $100 goes to the carrier for the shipping label. (I actually bet it is less than that.) Where does this extra $13.25 go they took from me then?
mam98031
·1 year agoYes, how is that different than what I said. You are just including FVFs, I didn't address those in my statement because my post that you took that statement from was NOT regarding FVFs. So don't make it seem as if I was talking about something I wasn't.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoMost of your Sold items were Auctions with just a single bid.
I would suggest changing to Fixed Price Listings at the price you really want, and opt for Best Offer with a Reject/Accept option for the price you are willing to accept.
So if you would be thrilled to get $100 for a quilt, but would accept $75 and be annoyed at an Offer of $50, you can give the buyer the little thrill of haggling (an auction is just a form of haggling) and still make a profit.
You can have 250 items without listing fees and Fixed Price listings are up and visible for 30 days more than four times longer than an Auction. Theoretically that means four times more customers are likely to see it.
BTW- about collectibles that are no longer collectible. At 78, I don't recall ever seeing any Hummels in any home of my age group. My 80+ sisters had those.
Royal Doulton, Precious Moments, and those attenuated blue Spanish figures were what we of the 1945-1955 tranche collected ,
but they are not in the homes of our 40something children.
youn2240
·1 year agoHeres the thing about you guys all saying just raise your shipping prices. that's an increase in cost on the customer and if the items aren't selling and generating enough money for the original poster there is no way that raising the price is going to improve this issue. it's going to slow down sales. which brings me back to the unrealistic expectation of the items value that can occur to the senior citizens in this thread. Everything has a value you just might be wrong on what it is. The way to solve this issue is to purchase items at lower prices. take like a car for example it's going to be 35-40k dollars off the lot and in 10 years it's going to be like 5k. Values of items can do 3 things which are stay the same, appreciate, and it's even possible for items values to depreciate.
You might need to reframe how you are going about things if you are losing money or breaking even on most sales. you either paid too much for the item or you're underpricing and if sales are slow it's definitely not under pricing. So the issue is you have way too much money into the item you are selling or you have put an unrealistic value on the item.
So is it better to raise prices and generate less money overall but more per item or potentially nothing on the item. Or is it better to cut prices to create cash flow and purchase a different item to sell. If you buy an item and its sitting on your eBay shelves it's a sink of money. which leads to an opportunity lost in the future if you can't make a purchase on another item to repeat this process because your money is tied up.
Me personally if I am not making a lot of money on here I am going to drop my prices so the cash comes back my way and then find different items or the same items again but have a better picture of what it will bring in. If I'm selling a good amount and generating a couple dollars I am more likely to keep my prices the same or even raise up because dollars are coming my way which gives an opportunity to expand a little. you gotta work the ebb and flow but sinking money, time, space, and energy into things and losing money or breaking even is definitely not a good economic practice so when those items get listed that are like that I am willing to cut that loss as quick as possible when it becomes apparent and live to fight another day.
chariot_badges
·1 year agochariot_badges
·1 year agoHeres the thing about you guys all saying just raise your shipping prices. that's an increase in cost on the customer and if the items aren't selling and generating enough money for the original poster there is no way that raising the price is going to improve this issue. it's going to slow down sales. which brings me back to the unrealistic expectation of the items value
But, what if ... the resulting loss in sales results in an increase of income?
Sell 100 widgets a month at $10 each for a gross of $1000 and a net of $500.
Or, 80 widgets at $150 with a net of $1200 and a net of $600.
What's wrong with working less and making more?
It's the goal of us all.
And, if they're not selling at all ... then ya gotta wonder what you're doing?
And why?
youn2240
·1 year agoThere's nothing wrong with that. if it's working it's working. but if you're listing 80 widgets at 15 and not getting sales when you can see 100 have sold for 10.00 there is an issue. especially if the sellers take their money from the 100 and buy another 200 that they will then list lower than your 15.00 so it can get into a scenario where other sellers are making thousands and taking away hundreds of potential customers for that widget before you break even on said widgets.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you so much for your comments of help. I will take all into consideration.
Kind Regards, Diane
chariot_badges
·1 year agoYou are not describing Capitalism here. I don't know what that is ... it would require some sort of income redistribution or subsidy of some kind to maintain that 'business.'
In the real Capitalism world, everybody would go broke.
Where's the 'spread' in your model? Where's the profit?
I could hear the owners of that mess saying, "We need at least $15 each to make a buck, and we have zero sales at that number. They'll only sell at $10. Why are we busting our hump to get orders out that we lose a dollar each on? For the joy of getting yelled at because the mailman delivered a day late during a torrential storm? Lets shut this down and go fishing ... and talk about what we're going to sell here."
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you for your helpful comments and supports. 😊 Diane
mam98031
·1 year agoYou talk as if these issues are unique to older sellers and it absolutely isn't, you have just chosen to call out senior sellers. You might need to "reframe" your approach to the conversation.
gone.c-33
·1 year agoLet me reframe that in a way that is more accurate than @youn2240 ’s statement:
Why do resellers think their stuff is worth so much money?
I’ll preface this by still mentioning that I’m an older millennial for context because it may have an impact on my and my contemporary collectors’ habits but it very well might not be an older vs younger people as much as a reseller vs collector paradigm.
I collect old glass, vintage clothing from the 50s/60s/70s, vintage linen and my home is furnished in furniture varying from Victorian to the 60s.
But my fellow collectors and I absolutely REFUSE to pay reseller prices. We even often refuse to pay inflated Goodwill “thrift prices.â€
When eBay was just coming up, collectors were happy to pay a little more to complete their collections, something that used to take a lifetime before online selling. At one point there were more collectors than resellers which created bidding wars and inflated the prices, enabling some resellers to make a living out of this.
Now the pool of potential collectors is growing smaller while more and more people try their hand at reselling and think they can get bidding war prices for everything.
Dont get me wrong, we understand the work and time involved in picking and cleaning but we’d often rather do it ourselves either a) because we believe the listed prices are way too inflated or b) we’re simply priced out with today’s cost of living (someone’s gotta pay for all that avocado toast and Starbucks).
Two of the most often heard phrases on this board: The market dictates prices and My items aren’t selling anymore! Maybe when it comes to vintage collectibles, one has a lot to do with the other.
Meanwhile, here’s my carnival glass haul from Saturday (which will go to my collection, not for resale), all acquired at church basement sales, for a under $20:
 
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoCongratulations on your low priced finds. I understand since I probably have seen most of this over the 22 of selling on eBay and what works and what does not. Since, I have been on eBay so long I just can compare all the eBay changes mostly for their company and not for us sellers. I wish they could put their feet in our selling shoes instead of management shoes.
😊 Thank you for your comments of support, In Christian Faith I remain, Diane
mam98031
·1 year agoWhat are you comparing them to? That is an important piece of information you didn't provide.
mam98031
·1 year ago"Why do resellers think their stuff is worth so much money?" Usually personal attachment, which has nothing to do with the seller's age.
"When eBay was just coming up, collectors were happy to pay a little more to complete their collections,..." You said you are an "older millennial" by your own description. So you are in your early to mid 40's. Ebay is turning 30 this year. So you are saying when you were preteen you were shopping Ebay and learning about collectibles?
"...the pool of potential collectors is growing smaller..." I'm not at all sure that is true. But what I find to be true is what many people are collecting today is very different from what sellers were selling in the beginning of Ebay. People are still collecting, just not antiques or vintage glass.
Congratulations on your recent find of glassware you collect. It is very pretty.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI can remember being at in person auctions 40 years ago where carnival glass was sold.
I can remember the auctioneer complaining (many auctioneers) that no one wants carnival glass any more. The prices were as low as what you are paying or even lower. And they had been much higher.
I would not even bother to see what Ebay sellers are asking for it, I would not consider buying or selling anything which requires the effort to pack that it does. But when I notice some in an antique shop, flea market or yard sale, the prices feed my belief that there is too little profit in them. If they give you pleasure, buy them. If you are looking for an investment, even NFTs might be a better one.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoIf I didn't make a decent profit ( averaged 46.5% based of my item selling price + shipping & handling fee - I used the the USPS rates at the counter price. If bottom feeding sellers drove the price down to minimal profit would no longer sell i it and replaced other product niche where there wasn't so many fishermen/women - it takes some effort to do it but hard work never hurt anybody. and I dislike watching TV 1/2 hr in morning and maybe 45 minutes in the evening.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoraise your shipping prices. that's an increase in cost on the customer
and if the items aren't selling and generating enough money for the original poster there is no way that raising the price is going to improve this issue.
it's going to slow down sales.
@antiquesnemethdi13
Except it doesn't.
Brand name goods sell for more than generic /off-brand goods, but they still sell better than those cheaper goods.
First there is such a thing as "aspirational buying".
Most people believe that the higher the price the better the product.
Questionable, but that's how they think.
Second, consumers hate paying for shipping.
There are two ways to get around this.
We can use Free Shipping, which as explained, means putting the seller's costs for shipping into the asking price of the product.
Which is cheaper?
A $100 item with $25 shipping or a $125 item with Free Shipping?
In my experience (retail since 1979, eBay since 1998) between aspirational buying and "free", they will go for the $125.
Since bulky goods are shipped with dimensional rates + destination, it is necessary to use Calculated Shipping.
That means forgetting Free Shipping (which is a form of Flat Rate shipping) and using a program provided by eBay which, as others have explained, tells your customer exactly to the penny how much they will pay for shipping.
Now as it happens, rather than the $25 the Flat Rate seller uses this may be $12.84 for a nearby customer and $32.77 for one on the other coast.
This does not bother the customer, in part because the shipping will tend to be an odd amount. This looks more "official" and comforts the customer that they are not being overcharged. Giving the customer the pink fuzzies is never a bad thing.
Set your prices to cover all your costs, including fees and postage and Cookie Jar Insurance.
Date all your listings on your Active Listings .
When they get stale, pull them down.
Perhaps for a while, perhaps for donation, perhaps for rewriting.
And use Best Offer and even Promoted Listings.
PL brings eyeballs and you only pay at the rate you choose if it sells. And the eyeballs browse once in your Store.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you so much eBay friend. You have important and useful interventions. We will continue to try for now. Hope eBay doesn’t place themselves out of the market all together.
😢 Diane
fern*wood
·1 year agoThis is the easiest issue to solve. As mentioned, you seem to be using flat rate (guessing) shipping --- don't do that. You asked for a way to adjust postage for mileage and that is what calculated shipping does. It also automatically adjusts your listings for postage increases, which happen every other day it seems. I also have my preferences set to not pass on the discounts, which takes care of the fees on postage and most of my supplies.
No one should be losing money on shipping, unless they make a mistake when entering the package information when they list. I'm only speaking of USPS, though, since UPS or FedEx has lots of add-ons they can charge after the fact.
pickapaper
·1 year ago@antiquesnemethdi13
I would think if you have been selling on eBay for 22 years, that you would have figured out long before now that you are not charging enough for shipping, especially on those pieces of artwork (especially if they are framed under glass) and other larger items. And it is puzzling that you appear unaware of calculated shipping. You have received some good advice above about adjusting your shipping charges. And remember, if you offer free shipping, you have to build the cost you are going to pay for shipping into the price of the item.
With that aside, the only other suggestion I would make is to stop doing auctions. Years ago, auctions worked well for a lot of things but in this day and age, they primarily only work for rare, unique, or highly sought after items. Buyers want instant gratification now; they want to buy something and have it shipped quickly, they don't want to wait a week for an auction item to end. (I see a lot of your auction items only received one bid; that is a good indication that auctions don't work for that item.) You would be better off to list your items as "buy it now" items, priced at the price you want for the item plus the correct postage added.
P.S. A lot of people on this board are senior citizens, including myself. In my opinion, being a senior citizen selling on eBay just means that one has to forget how it "used to be", try to keep up with what it is like now as far as trends, have a fairly good idea of what is no longer desirable, and adjust for changes such as fees and postage increases accordingly.
youn2240
·1 year agowhy do old people think their stuff is worth so much? I think that may be the main issue on this thread.
richard1rst
·1 year agoIt is a carryover from the old flea market life. Years before eBay (and therefore old people in general).
If I wanted $10 for something I would mark it 15 or maybe 17.50. Knowing full well that at a flea market someone would come along and offer maybe $5. I would then counter offer, they would re-counter offer and we would eventually settle on something close to $10.00. Objective achieved.
Ever heard of muscle memory? For some old people eBay is a flea market.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoFor much of the general public Ebay is a flea market. For this old person, Ebay is a retail venue, and my prices are firm, not subject to buyer offers and auctions are a way of getting rid of items I might sell at a flea market, if I wasn't so lazy.
Ebay is so big that few generalizations about it are correct, other than it has an image which is inferior to most mass market retail websites in terms of buyer safety, and product quality.
Many items are priced by sellers at what a motivated collector will pay. Many Ebay sellers do not know what amount that is. Sellers who intend to sell to collectors, actually offer collectible items, and are not desperate for money can wait out the lowball sellers, who will either sell the item or give up listing it.
A high priced seller might have to wait several years before they sell an item for their price. Just as many antiquarian book sellers have huge inventories which turn slowly but provide an enormous profit margin on each sale. For strategic purposes, I assume my cost of goods sold to be zero. My costs for unsold inventory are my storage space and Ebay Store Fees. For sold inventory, Ebay FVFs, packing material and shipping.
And I like many other sellers buy appropriate NEW packaging materials which are chosen to minimize the labor to pack an order.
I recommend sellers do what is appropriate for themselves, in terms of profit, labor and their own standards. I reserve the right to detest people who devalue the merchandise they sell.
inhawaii
·1 year agoThat statement is politically incorrect. 😉
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoYes! Please, it should be "persons of distinguished years" or "old farts".
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agowe might actually remember what we paid for our items initially.
mam98031
·1 year agoOMG not only is that really rude @youn2240 , it would be incorrect. Not sure what makes you feel this way, but you would be wrong.
What age do you consider someone as being "old"?
How do you know the age of the members posting here?
inhawaii
·1 year agoI can remember when I thought "old" was anyone over 30. 😉
mam98031
·1 year agoI'm doomed !!!!
johnrj1226
·1 year agoNever considered my self as old as a '44 model, but fortunate enough to have more opportunities to have gained more life experiences than those younger. And shared what I learned along the way - with family, friends, neighbors and strangers.
youn2240
·1 year agowhen people say they are senior citizens is when I start thinking they may be older people. I figured it all out because they wrote it down. another thing that made me aware of their age was when they said "younger generations have no desire to buy collectibles" which is completely false but whatever. so really I wasn't being rude about their age because they were saying they were a senior citizen. I have noticed you have a very hard time picking up on many things like context or what is going on in the threads.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThankYou for your rebuttal. Diane
caldreamer
·1 year agoBefore you list an item you should get exact "weight & measurements" of boxed item (ready to ship) this way you will never lose money on shipping. If that is not possible...just raise your "selling price" of the item to cover any loses on shipping.
Don't know what you are talking about "new" selling fees. Nothing has changed....EBAY charges selling fee on (purchase price + shipping + sales tax) plus 40 cent handling. Of course, if you "promoted" your items you would pay an additional fee when item sells.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoit just posted from eBay on new final value fees increasing.
richard1rst
·1 year agoYou appear to be using "flat rate shipping" where everyone, regardless of where they are, pays the same. That is your mistake on this point. You should be using CALCULATED shipping where the shipping charge is indeed based on the mileage.
silverstatetreasureboxes
·1 year agoThat infrared heater is pretty beat up and no mention of its condition. You will never be able to ship that at your low price and on auction to boot. Please sell this locally and save yourself a NAD.
Bump your shipping costs up, your losing money on all items, never lose money!
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you so much for your insight and comments. Yes, you are right on the infrared heater. I will consider that because it has been working well for my own needs. I did sell one just like it at the beginning of the winter and all went well. I will now relist today my collectible since we have the incentive of 250 free listing fees.
Thank you much and Kind Regards, Diane
lb23cavaliersmvp
·1 year agoI empathize but if a 10-15% selling fee is causing you to break even or lose money then doesn't it say that you are either buying item for too much or having to sell too low because the market for your items no longer exists? For instance Hummel's were once a saleable item but for the most part that has not been true for a decade. Without knowing your situation I'd say you need to find new places to buy for less and study the market to determine what still sells.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you so much to your advise which is very much how our capitalism works. I will consider those facts now.
Kind Regards, Diane
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI too am a senior citizen.
I am so old that I have seen at least 3 generations worth of collectibles which lost their value. Some so much that no one cares to buy them.
In general, the examples of highest merit within a group of collectibles have fared better than the trash.
Ebay has become the only place some of these collectibles will sell. It is not worth the effort to try to sell some of these items in the vintage section of Etsy with its lower fee structure, but if the fees are so unacceptable to you, try selling there.
This is not to say Ebay is the perfect venue. Many items are skunked by lowball sellers who acquired items for close to nothing and will accept any price for them. That's what happens in the collectibles business, Either you take your lumps and move on or attempt to live long enough for the item to return to favor.
I would rather pay an Ebay fee and make a sale than not make a sale because I was offering the item on Etsy.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoThere are many items the have gone the way of the dodo bird. Collectables are everywhere = very low prices. and they rarely move at yard sales, estate sales. thrift stores . The younger generations have little interest in them. If you need the extra $ you need to find stuff to sell that people want or need.
.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoIndeed some are, but many are not. The definition of collectible is vague and can best be defined as something which a collector wishes to add to their collection.
If there are no collectors, the item is not collectible. There are no collectors for many items which have previously had collectors.
Truly rare collectibles are not everywhere. Truly rare collectibles are beyond the knowledge of many so-called collectors, who rely on authentication and grading services. Many rare variations of collectibles are beyond the knowledge of these services, they will return these items saying they cannot authenticate them.
Many collectors know less about their collection than past collectors, and rarely shop on Ebay where the number of sellers they feel the can trust to have and properly represent items for their collections is lower than 10 years ago.
If your definition of a collectible is Royal Doulton, or Knowles plates or Hummels, any of a wide group of made to be collected items the collectors are gone. But they were mostly gone 25 years ago, with sales at that time primarily replacements for broken items in their collections.
I am amazed by the number of stamp and coin sellers on this forum. I am pleased they still exist because it represents the continued life for what they sell.
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoThank you so much for your confirmation of the trend on collectibles, as a senior. I respect what you have stated and “thank you†for taking the time to respond to my concerns. I pray for all peoples especially seniors and victims and Families of all those in recent trauma accidents. Never knew how much seniors are at risk for so much until now that I am there.
Thank you so much.
Kind Regards, Diane
aeparts1
·1 year agoStart charging the actual shipping cost, plus a handling fee. Do not give your buyer your discounted shipping charge. You appear to be charging less than it actually costs you to ship an item.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoThat actually results in a loss of revenue.
It is above the cost of postage .. but not of all of the cost of shipping.
Included in shipping is
Shipping supplies
Cost of fulfillment.
You should be paid for the time you spend wrapping, packing, driving to the post office.
Everybody's cost is different ... but figure out ALL of your costs, then mark that up at least 25%.
NOW yer making fair wages.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoDefinitely. I would have some real concerns about some of that framed art - the Shipping costs seem very low for packaging a very breakable object.
You should definitely figure out in advance what the size and weight of your packaged item is going to be. You do not have to seal the package but once you have weighed and measured it then you can use Calculated Shipping. Buyers far from you may see a higher price than those closer to you but you will not go underwater trying to ship the item to wherever it needs to go.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoHowever, there are so many added fees
What specifically are the "many fees" that have been added?
antiquesnemethdi13
OP1 year agoI should have said not newly added but existing.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoIn 2010, I think I was paying 30 cents plus 12.9% of the total to eBay and PayPal, or $13.20 on a $100 transaction.
14 years later I am paying 40 cents plus 13.7% of the total to eBay, or $14.10 on a $100 transaction.
I'll continue to bite ... are these the fees you are referring to?
isaiah53-57
·1 year ago@antiquesnemethdi13
I also started selling here in 2003 - At that time, there was a .10 cent cost to list an item under $9.99 and the FVFs were 1.9% for auctions ending less $10... and up to 2.9% for items ending $50 to $100, and 3.9% up to $1000 - after that there were caps...There was a .10 cent charge for additional photos later, but back then, it only took 1 photo to sell an item anyway - actually, likely 1/4 of all listings didnt even have a photo, just a description.
The FVFs were on THE ITEM PRICE alone - So FVFs on a $9.99 item were .19 cents plus the .10 cent listing fee for a Grand total of .29 cents (not long after on it would become .42 cents total fees including the .13 cent PayPal fee at 1.3%)
Today that same $9.99 item could easily see fees upwards of $2.50 to $4 (25% to 40% of the items price) and even over, and thats not even counting Promoted listing fees if you're ok with the exploitation(in my opinion) that comes along with using them...
So yes... Some fees have been added and ALL fees have gone up...