2017 Spring Seller Update Reminder

[alan@ebay]

Hello,

Please use this thread if you have any questions or wish to discuss today's announcement. 

Thank you. 

[springs_2013]

"Final value fees for sellers who do not meet eBay's minimum performance standards will increase by 4 percentage points on items sold."

In this 2017 Spring Seller Update, when a seller fail to meet eBay's minimum performance standards, FVF will be increased by 4% on items sold.... so does that mean the sales price and shipping will be billed at 14%?

[1christopher82298]

It is unfortunate that the revenue generated from selling on eBay is continuing to decrease for the seller and increasing for eBay at a higher rate. EBay used to be thought of as a site to get a good deal for the buyer, help the seller make some cash and of course, make money for eBay. I am wondering if the shareholders recognize that there are more and more sites similar to eBay and if sellers increase cost to customer to make up for loss, buyers may go elsewhere (there are some pretty good sites out now) and sellers may too. With more states requiring tax, cost is going up too. Perhaps the shareholders should take a look at decisions being made and re-evaluate their decision on who to partner with should this practice continue. Either eBay decision makers want fewer sellers and/or fewer buyers or they are trying to push out those who do not have large inventories. Guess the business platform is changing.......

[flashback-rocklin]

Hahahahaha!!!! The link won't even work! eBay, you fail sellers more and more every day!

[flashback-rocklin]

Amen to that!

[authentic*vintage]

This announcement just made me laugh and laugh. So, how does charging sellers more help eBay sellers compete with the demands of today's marketplace? Those two things, if stated as if they correlate in any way, ought to be qualified with examples. 

Utter Bull. It is so insulting to read this and realize that when these announcements are made, it is with the assumption that we, as sellers, are too simple minded to comprehend what we read, and that ebay operates under the mindset that a bunch of words on a page are sufficient, regardless of whether or NOT they actually form a coherent and logical explanation. 

Lord have mercy.

[media_men]

Well, I'll give this policy update credit for making my future ebay selling strategy decisions for me.

*  I'm removing unique or limited qty high value items and moving them to other (non Amazon) selling sites

* I'll rarely be adding new items to my Ebay store - they will almost exclusively go to other selling sites.

* I've changed my handling time from "same day to "1 business day" for all items.   Depending on how the month of May goes (sales wise) I might change to 2 or 3 days.

* Same for returns policy -- will see how the month of May goes, but seriously considering changing to 14 days.  Restocking fees will be applied in some cases.

[marstreasure103]

I find myself somewhat understanding ebay a little? I work hard for my TRS and deliver my best to my customers, that is what ebay needs. We need advertising and such, I just saw an ebay commercial on TV and was somewhat pleased and excited. I am pretty sure the 20% was an incentive to get sellers to conform more, as much as I hate control, it never was intended to last forever. If they can drive customers to my products and help me create sales with a Nascar and commercials, they can have the remaining 10%, like anything else, factor it in if you need to, we are running businesses.

[lloydsteventaylor]

hi with seller hub replacing turbolister at some point how can i keep up to date with any changes made to seller hub for listing?

[mam98031]

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@nitschkefamily wrote:
Hahahahaha!!!! The link won't even work! eBay, you fail sellers more and more every day!

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Oh good grief.  Many complain all the time that Ebay has no respect for their sellers and/or doesn't remember they are humans not robots. So what makes your post any different towards Ebay employees.  Is it do as I say but not as I do!????  If you want respect, you must give it.  I really do understand at times this can be extremely difficult in reguard some CSRs at Ebay.  But to get what I need done I have found that treating the other person with respect will get that goal for me far more often than not.

Don't get me wrong.  I have said, strongly at times, that Ebay does a horrible job training the CSRs at the call center.  For me it frequently takes multiple calls to get to a CSR that actually is trained well enough to assist.  Ebay has heard that complaint often and for many years.  One would think that by now they would have improved this as it would save Ebay a lot of money.  And the money spent in really training the CSRs is money well spent as it will start to save them money.

I see no humor in this one bit.  Trinton is one of the best CSRs I've ever dealt with in all the years I've been on Ebay.  But he is human, not a robot.  If he doesn't know the answer to a question presented to him he is honest about that, does some research and comes back with a real answer.  He makes errors just as we do from time to time.  You nor I know if it was a mistake or maybe Ebay took it down to either update it or put the info elsewhere.  So it could be a human error or it might be something else.

For the info you desire, I found this, I hope it helps you.

Final Value Fees Store Subscribers Current Rates New Rates Select Computers/Tablets & Networking, Video Game Consoles, Heavy Equipment, Concession Trailers & Carts, Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment, and Commercial Printing Presses 4% No Change Select Consumer Electronics, Select Cameras & Photos, Coins & Paper Money, and Stamps 6% 6.15% Musical Instruments & Gear (except Pro Audio and DJ Equipment) 7% 7.15% Select Motors Parts & Accessories and Automotive Tools & Supplies 8% 8.15% Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Collectibles, Home & Garden, Select Camera & Photo Accessories, Select Cell Phones Accessories, Jewelry & Watches, Sporting Goods, Toys & Hobbies, Health & Beauty, Select Business & Industrial, Books, DVDs & Movies, Music, Video Games, and all other categories (exclusions apply) 9% 9.15% Non-Store Subscribers 10% No Change

http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2017spring/stores-updates.html

[mam98031]

Whoops!  That last paragraph I posted was a table but did not come across that way.  The link I provided has it in a much easier way to read it.

[everythingvaluable]

Do a little research on the UPU and how it works across borders.  The Chinese government subsidizes shippers there.  There is no way to replicate that model here unless you want your tax dollars subsidizing Amazon.

[everythingvaluable]

It costs more to sell on Amazon.  And, Amazon has zero tolerance with 3rd party sellers.  But, go ahead anad move over there.

[everythingvaluable]

Amazon boots sellers who aren't TRS equivalent much less "minimum standards". The reason eBay makes these demands on us, the sellers, is to try and replicate what Amazon is doing.

[dexterdoggie]

Let's be clear about what Amazon does. 

Amazon charges BUYERS $90 bucks to be an Amazon Prime member. For that $90 bucks, buyers get (mostly) free shipping and a bunch of other benefits. 

Now, I'm not sure how or why that business model works, but Jeff Bezos is now the second richest guy in the world and an estimated 66 million people pay for Amazon Prime.

I've often wondered why eBay couldn't come up with some kind of membership program that would take some of the shipping pressure off of sellers. I sell vintage fashion, antiques & folk art and have been at it for 50 years. I've sold to the top museums in the country. You want to help me grow my business? Just leave me the hell alone and stop coming up with crazy rules and hidden fees. I had a liberal return policy long before eBay ever thought about it.  

Most of us are not corporations and don't want to be. Do you really want to know what corporate eBay thinks of us? Here' aretwo quotes. The first from the always charming Meg Whitman after sellers screamed over a big rate increase:

"They'll get over it." 

I didn't.

The second was from a top eBay marketing executive after I compalined that absorbing free shipping was a business killer for many of us.

She flipped it off by saying: "Oh, just raise your prices to cover the cost."

Hello? Is that what they do at the Wharton School? I'm in a rather competitive environment and most eBay buyers read the menu from right to left. Price first. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a job at eBay where you could sit around all day, go to a lot of meetings and think up new ways to torment sellers? 

[everythingvaluable]

There's still a 14% incentive (rather than 20%) because if you fall below standard you incur a 4% penalty as well as losing the 10% bonus.

Believe me, I'm not happy about it either.  But it is still worth it to try and remain TRS.

What bothers me more is that maintaining that standard loses me business by forcing shipping practices on me AND the customer.  I sell a lot of postcards which I could ship 1st class for about 70 cents total.  Shipping with tracking requires package rate so it is $3.04 total cost.  I get people complaining all the time (or begging for $1 shipping) but I can't give THEM what they WANT because eBay's policies force me to ship things package rate with tracking EVEN IF THE CUSTOMER DOESN'T WANT IT.

Interestingly, that also risks my ratings when customers complain about MY excessive shipping costs when it is really eBay that is doing it.

Hey eBay, why not just use customer satisfaction rather than shipping metrics?  You have both sets of data, but if my customer is satisfied with cheap but slow shipping, why should eBay care that it was cheap and slow?