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. 

[soh.maryl]

Perhaps you didn't realize this, but the Chinese government subsidizes shipping for those Chinese sellers. 

[readwhiteandblue]

Amazon is looking better and better

[mam98031]

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@makeamericaread1984again wrote:
Amazon is looking better and better

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@readwhiteandblue

Maybe, but their FVFs are higher on many things.  Some they aren't, but once you look a little closer, many are.  There are also the gating they do.  Some things they don't allow you to compete with them.  I've had that problem on quite a few books I sell.  So while you may be able to sell some things on Amazon, it may not be what you think it is.

[videorepair]

How can eBay justify hurting low volume sellers twice. Now according to their "seller update" (which they claim was asked for by sellers) if you fall below their 'performance levels' (which are geared toward high volume sellers) you are limited to what you can do and now they are going to charge even more while you are below standard.

This is 100% AGAINST sellers who are trying hard to overcome the obstacles that eBay throws at them.

Like forcing sellers to take back goods even when the buyer refuses to respond to competent questions. Or giving buyers more time to respond than they do sellers. Their reasoning for this is "the buyer might be busy". What about the sellers? Can't they be "busy"?

Then we get to the holding of funds. This appears to be a totally arbitrary process. Sometimes the guidlines are followed by eBay but most of the time they are not. They are supposed to release the money 3 days after delivery but the system wants to hold it for anywhere from 3 to 12 days. I have also found that if there are funds being held when it comes to the eBay billing date, and you have PayPal as your billing source,  the funds are miraculously released just hours before the eBay is to be paid. This has happened more than one time so I doubt that it is just coincidence.

eBay needs to quit trying to screw over the sellers because "without sellers there will be no buyers". If they want to improve their standing they need to quit worrying about quantity. They should stop the seller of the imported,cloned garbage. Cheaply made knock-offs are hurting them more because when someone gets burned by junk sales they don't come back for more. eBay claims to have a way for buyers to report these sellers but it is a waste of time. I speak of this with first hand knowledge. I reported two sellers for this with proof of the infractions. I can only guess that because these were high volume sellers is the reason that nothing was done. Both sellers are still there and still selling the same garbage.

eBay used to be a trustworthy space to buy and sell. Now they let high volume sellers use deceptive links and wording to gain sales. A prime example is a seller based in China, claiming he's in NJ but ships from California. If you do a search for closest and your in the midwest NJ will show up. You order expecting a quick delivery. It's sent from CA and takes twice as long. You message the seller and he takes forevr to answer because he's in another country and won't see the message for 12 hours or more. To me this is unacceptable business practice. To eBay this is the norm.

The bottom line is this. If your a drop shipper of imported junk eBay will bend over backwards to protect you because of the volume you sell. If your an honest low volume, US based seller, you're screwed.

If eBay wants to be more competitive in the market there should be two performance levels. One for the small volume sellers and one for the high volume sellers. They should also force ALL sellers to ship from where they are or at least inform the buyers that it will be shipped from elsewhere.

I have spoken to eBay on both of these issues and was informed it can't be done. What they should have said is that it won't be done because it would temporarily affect their bottom line. I was told that in the long run it would work but the short term would affect them.

More proof that corporate greed has affected a once friendly company.

[thirddance]

Agree, The Representatives that answer cannot seem to explain it either

[theloyalskeptic]

Since it's painfully obvious by now that the 'regular' ebay will not be able to morph into 

a real competitor with Amazon--at least not without destroying what created it in the first place which is hard work from honest sellers with good products and excellent service; my suggestion for ebay is to create a whole new, seperate entity designed how they need it to be, with full automation, one or two massive warehouses in strategically perfect geographical regions worldwide, so that everyone who 'needs' a new widget or doiley can have it delivered by drone within hours. 

Call the new company De-NILE. Get it? Amazon? The Nile. Denial...? heh heh..uh..er..hello?

[vermonter53]

Loved your heading "solved" Hahahaha! and the Nile and Amazon 🙂 Unfortunately, I have never seen anything "solved" by Ebay when it doesn't make them more money and screws the people that are making it for them. Oh Yeah! When comments get to logical, ...they just lock the forum topic. That's it, all done, simple fix!

[e-phila]

Hello

I have a question about the new fees board starting on May 1st

We sell stamps on ebay US from Belgium since 13 years and have a store subscription, all works fine.
We have the seller badge "Top Rated" for Global performance since years but "Above Standard" for US performance.

Why ? Because we sell from outside US and can't upload a validate tracking, that not means we sell without tracking, it means that we can't use an American service and of course the system can't automatically check our tracking numbers.

My question is that I'm worried about what's written below the announcement :

"Bellow Standard sellers" = Additional 4% fee

And so what, do our fee will increase from 6 to 10,15 % ? Or should eBay consider our global performance to apply the 6,15 % fee ?

This question is very important and will affect our business on eBay because we sell a lot of items a month and 4% fee can be a heavy impact

Thanks in advance for your help

Regards
Bruno

[e-phila]

I would like to add in my previous message that after cheking all the Seller Dashboard menu, I found that it has 3 levels but not everywhere

- Top Rated (grenn line)

- Above Standard (grey line)

- Bellow Standard (Red line)

I've also seen that Bellow Standard red line are not on every seller level menu, for example, it exists for "Transaction defect rate" but not for "Late shipment rate"

Do I consider that staying in Above Standard performance won't count for the additionnal 4% fees ?

Still unclear to me, please help

Regards

[edealsunlimited]

I see sellers complaining fees are going up .....

Doesent this eBay quote its going down ?

"

• The Top Rated Plus final value fee discount will change from 20% to 10% on qualifying listings. " .....

[springs_2013]

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@edealsunlimited wrote:

I see sellers complaining fees are going up .....

Doesent this eBay quote its going down ?

"

• The Top Rated Plus final value fee discount will change from 20% to 10% on qualifying listings. " .....

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That means the discount  for the final value fee the TRS enjoy has been cut in 1/2.

Ex.  FVF of $10 with the 20% discount... the seller will pay eBay on the FVF for the price of the item sold is $8.

Ex. FVF of $10 with the new 10% discount for TRS means the seller will pay eBay on the price of the item would go up to $9  

That's means the seller would have to pay eBay an extra dollar on the sales price of the item that cost $10.

[springs_2013]

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@springs_2013 wrote:

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@edealsunlimited wrote:

I see sellers complaining fees are going up .....

Doesent this eBay quote its going down ?

"

• The Top Rated Plus final value fee discount will change from 20% to 10% on qualifying listings. " .....

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That means the discount  for the final value fee the TRS enjoy has been cut in 1/2.

Ex.  FVF of $10 with the 20% discount... the seller will pay eBay on the FVF for the price of the item sold is $8.

Ex. FVF of $10 with the new 10% discount for TRS means the seller will pay eBay on the price of the item would go up to $9  

That's means the seller would have to pay eBay an extra dollar on the sales price of the item that cost $10.

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oppppsss.... sorry.. I made a mistake on the figures.... please forgive me... can't find an edit button to edit my above post....

FVF of price of widget costing $10 is $1... for TRS, they get 20% off the $1 ... meaning TRS with a 20% FVF discount would have to pay eBay $0.80

When the FVF discount changes to 10% instead of 20%, the FVF the TRS will have to pay eBay is $0.90  ... that's 10 cents more.

For sellers who has large volume sales, they stand to loose big... for us low volumne and low priced sellers, it does not make that big of a difference, but it does add up!

[wrb0015]

I agree 100%.  As a long time seller I continue to loose benefits and have to work harder to stay a top seller!  I don't see the benefits and am thinking seriously of leaving eBay after 17 years as a sell!

[mam98031]

@springs_2013

For sellers who has large volume sales, they stand to loose big... for us low volumne and low priced sellers, it does not make that big of a difference, but it does add up!

I'd just like to expand on that a little.  You are absolutely correct.  For casual or small sellers the 50% reduction in the TRS+ discount will hurt them far less than a larger seller.  The larger the seller the deeper this will impact them.

Most TRS+ sellers have stores [not all, but most].  So their FVFs aren't at 10%.  Depending on the category in which they sell in.  For ALL store owners, whether they are TRS or not, the FVFs are also going up by 0.15%.  So for every dollar sold a TRS+ seller will be paying an additional 3 cents due to the rise in FVF and the reduction in TRS+ discount.  

[mam98031]

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@wrb0015 wrote:

I agree 100%.  As a long time seller I continue to loose benefits and have to work harder to stay a top seller!  I don't see the benefits and am thinking seriously of leaving eBay after 17 years as a sell!

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@wrb0015

WAIT !!!  I understand you are upset with some of the new changes, many of us are.  But you are making a decision in hast.  Out of anger not facts.  Take a deep breath and try to look at things with you your business hat on.  

The loss of 10% on the TRS+ discount should NOT cause you to react this way.  I understand the anger, but to close you business because of it is an over reaction.  

The ONLY benefit that TRS+ is the discount.  TRS+ is awarded to a seller that has ALREADY achieve TRS status and their listing or listings qualify for TRS+ [30 day return policy and 0-1 day handling].

TRS status and TRS+ are NOT the same thing.  You can be TRS without TRS+.  You can be TRS with only some of your listings qualifying for TRS+ discount.  TRS is award to a seller for achieving certain requirements.  TRS+ is status for a LISTING, not the seller.

If you want to give up TRS+, no problem, go back to a 14 day return policy and up your handling time to 2 or 3 days.  While you would be giving up the 10% discount on FVF for your listings being TRS+,  you still maintain your TRS status which is FAR more important.

One of the biggest benefits of being TRS is the discounts you get on shipping.  For me, losing that would be far more devastating than the reduction in the discount.  And there is the boost in searches, if that is important to you.

All I'm saying is look at the whole picture, not just a portion of it.  Make your decision with a cool head, not out of anger.  If it is right for you to shut down, then that is what you should do.  But closing just because of the reduction is discount isn't a good reason to close down, there should be other factors that gets you to that point.  Good luck in whatever you decide to do.