OMG FVF fees went up again!
I can’t believe all of the bellyaching over the .35% FVF increase in some categories on eBay. The .35% equates to $350.00 for every 100k in sales. I would venture a guess that most of the complainers don’t even come to selling 100k per year.
If you are selling 100k per year and can’t figure a way to absorb the $350.00 then there is something wrong with your business model. Most likely paying too much for your inventory. I pass on the vast majority of the inventory that is offered to me because it is more than 30% of my selling price. I prefer to pay 25% or less on the dollar for most of my inventory.
If you know what you’re doing there are many places besides thrift stores to find inventory. I buy most of mine from other dealers liquidity excess inventory. I also find it on FB market place, Craigslist, and occasionally (rarely) on eBay.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI would venture a guess that most of the complainers don’t even come to selling 100k per year.
I sell nowhere near $100,000 a year. But I would still prefer to not pay a fee increase to a venue that is treading water overall.
If you are selling 100k per year and can’t figure a way to absorb the $350.00 then there is something wrong with your business model.
I can easily absorb the fee increase. But I would still prefer to not pay a fee increase to a venue that is treading water overall.
I prefer to pay 25% or less on the dollar for most of my inventory.
I get most of my inventory for pennies, or for free. But I would still prefer to not pay a fee increase to a venue that is treading water overall.
mam98031
·1 year agoFor me and the categories I sell in, this is the first FVF increase I've had in 4 1/2 years.
Not since August of 2020. And it is a modest increase.
annadryl
·1 year agoShipping increases are worse by far and have priced me out of some inexpensive items. ESE has helped some but that's only for a few cats. Less than half-percent fees my buyers can eat.
I used to do the $5 DVD thing, now can't even ship it for that!
inhawaii
·1 year agoEbay fees will go up just like everything else in life: bread, electric, toilet paper, twinkies.
We all have 2 choices...
Pay or don't pay.
rugerskick
·1 year agoI guess all this proves is that the responses to the fee increase are subjective. Apparently for some, its a big deal. For others, not so much. Which makes sense, because not all sellers are the same, they don't all sell the same items, don't have the same business models, don't have the same profit margins or cost of goods, don't have the same shipping costs, some are full time sellers, some are part time sellers.
In your opinion, what's the line where you would consider the fee hike to be "too much"? 2%? 5%? 10%?
Also would you be upset if they keep raising it yearly and after a few years, they have incrementally met or surpassed your fee hike value that is "too much", or is that ok because they didn't do it all at once?
linenandlaceltd
·1 year agoI suppose you could look at it another way. If it's such a small percentage, why does eBay continually need to increase fees here and there? If they're losing money and doing this to make it up, sounds like they need to do something differently besides getting more money from sellers who help them make money.
An increase of .35% now, maybe in another few months they do another increase of .5%, and a couple of years from now it's gone up another 2-3%, etc. Then there's the fact they call it "adjusting" fees to cushion that it's an increase. They'll never bring fees down, just up, and they should be upfront about it. This way, they're easily able to chip away at your earnings and have enough people sit and be okay with it, because it's "only" this small amount. Add on the increase that USPS and other shipping services keep tacking on multiple times a year, and yeah, that .35% is just another increase that adds up to money all these companies get but we sellers lose out on, when that money used to be ours.
gurlcat
·1 year agoDo you think eBay is exempt from rising costs that everyone else is facing, and always has faced since the dawn of commerce? Do you suppose they have an exclusive deal with the electric company, the office suppliers, etc not to raise their prices? Should they fire employees who've worked long enough to earn raises and hire entry level kids to replace them?
If anything I am SHOCKED HOW LOW this fee raise is, considering how much everything else has been going up. And they didn't even raise it on some categories (like mine, however I wouldn't sweat such a piddly amount of difference).
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoAll the screaming. (not this thread) (well, not for the most part)
Even simpler than the $100K example. (too much for me to comprehend. hat $100K)
I figure at most another 50 cents per $100.
As others point out pretty simple to add a few cents here and there.
If a seller cannot cover those 50 cents on $100 buyer payment, there is something amiss in the "business model".
theteamsetguy
OP1 year ago@buyselljack2016 ,
That's another good way to look at it.
$10.00 sale 4cents
$100.00 sale 35 cents
$1,000.00 sale $3.50
$10,000.00 sale $35.00
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoMy sales today would be an additional 24 cents.
900 % profit on one item.
other item %age hard to determine as I paid nothing for it. Into it for a 51-cent shipping box and some tape.
I think I would have covered the upcoming .35% 😂
jbbowers12012
·1 year agoHi, We here in New Jersey think that this modest increase will not likely affect anyone too badly. Most sellers will probably just "tweak" their business model a bit & absorb it. IMHO Of Course! (J.B. From N.J.)
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoThose that sell here to make a living will get hit more than those of us(me) who do it for extra money.
This platform was never suppose to be a full time job to earn a living wage.
I prefer the old-fashioned way of working for a company.
Some do manage to earn a living doing it but I am sure it's not easy.
And those who don't pay enough in for social security...retirement can be scary since they haven't put enough in it for supplemental income for retirement.
rugerskick
·1 year ago"This platform was never suppose to be a full time job to earn a living wage."
Says who? Says you? Amazon was also originally just started to sell books. Do you realize what you even wrote and how it sounds!?!
Many businesses over time turn into something the founders couldn't have even envisioned because their original vision didn't include and encompass fufure business trends and opportunities they decided to capitalize on. Good grief.
Fast food worker jobs were also never intended to be full time careers for people, they were starter jobs high school and college kids (when kids had to work for their money), yet that hasn't stopped people forcing pay increases under the guise of "living wages", propping up people to make 30-40k a year in a job never intended to last for a single person their whole working life, but here we are...
mam98031
·1 year agoThis platform was never suppose to be a full time job to earn a living wage.
Maybe not for you, but for millions of others it was and is.
vintagecraze50
·1 year agoIt’s not that bad. Our category actually did not get an increase. Carry on. Everyone else just slap another few cents onto your price of get some inventory a few cents cheaper. I am not as concerned about a small increase in fees, what I am concerned about is traffic to the website.
theteamsetguy
OP1 year ago@vintagecraze50 ,
It didn't in my category either.
meme6253
·1 year agoAn increase is an increase No matter what,It cuts into your profit margin, & with all the uncertainty currently, Very Bad timing!, You can no longer grow a business instead just try & adapt & survive!