mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
@llllady wrote:
@usmc*usnmom wrote:
@llllady wrote:Just curious.
No, no reason to. A couple of sales pays for the store, mine is half paid for already today. I already have two selling accounts (one store, one non-store), I really don't want to juggle back and forth between more. I like being able to keep the shelves full, so to speak, without having to pay thirty cents a listing, or to sit on things until a promo comes out. I also like having the markdown manager and the ability to do promos. I keep a buy 3 get free shipping running on my cookbooks all the time, that helps sales.
I'm not getting my knickers in a twist just because Ebay is only giving a 10% discount as a gift instead of 20%, since I don't factor that in to anything to begin with. I can't cry over the loss of "found" money, since I don't expect to find it to begin with.
I see your POV. Unfortunately, it is not a one-size-fits all situation. Case in point: net sales for the last 7 days is $23 and change. That doesn't even cover the store fees. Without the store, that would be pure profit going into my pocket.
At the end of the day, we all have to do what is best for us just like eBay continues to do what is best for them and no one else.
Now don't make me come up there and beat you! 🙂 Love ya!!!!!
awwww!
Yep, that's it in a nutshell. If the numbers work, keep the store. If they don't work, don't keep it. I hesitated for a long time before I opened one, and I'm glad I did. If things change and sales drop, I'll close it. It's all in the numbers. Discounts, no discounts, fee hikes, whatever, if the numbers don't work then a store doesn't make sense.
@Anonymous
For musical instruments, the fee was 7 %
With a 20 % discount, the net fee was 5.6 % for a power seller
There hasn't been a Power Seller discount in Years! Do you mean the TRS Plus discount, which you have to be a TRS Plus seller to receive. Again that has nothing to do with having a store. No store is needed to be a TRS or TRS Plus seller.
I don't see the TRS Plus ribbon on your listings, but again, since you are in Canada I am not sure of any differences there may be in the program for you.
And if you are a TRS Plus seller, the discount was never given on S&H charged separately on listings nor on any international sale for US sellers.
The new fee is 7.15%, and the discount is only 10 %
New net fee is 6.44%
0.84% on top of 5.6% is a FIFTEEN PERCENT INCREASE
Not exactly but close. 7.00 [old rate] divided by 7.15 [the new rate] is a 2.10% increase.
And IF you are a seller that qualifies for TRS Plus, then you are going to have a 50% decrease in the discount offered on Domestic shipments. I'm not at all sure how this works for Canadian sellers or if there is a difference in the TRS Plus program.
So the 2.10% increase and the loss of 10% on the TRS Plus discount is a total of 12.10% increase, which is a significant increase if you are currently a TRS Plus seller. The loss of half the TRS discount will be harder on medium to large seller than it will be for small sellers.
I'm not arguing with anybody's decision, but I just want to point something out.
You also have to look at insertion fees if you drop your store.
Unless you drastically cut back on your listings ... Anything over 50 listings is going to cost you an insertion fee.
And anything that sells will be charged FVF at the higher non-store fee.
If you have a basic store with 250 active FP listings, that is 200 listings that you will pay $0.30 each for.($60).
And if you sell $500 worth of stuff in a month, the FVF with a store would be $45.75 at 9.15% and $50.00 at 10% (41.18 and 45.00 with TRSP, respectively)
So what it ends up looking like is (assuiming yearly basic store, 250 listings, $500 in sales and TRSP):
Basic Store $19.95
Insertion Fees $0
FVF Fees $41.18
Total $61.13
Without a store, with the same parameters
Store Fee $0.00
Insertion Fees $60.00
FVF Fees $45.00
Total Fees $105.00
@Anonymous
... thus my store discount has EVERYTHING to do with it...
What you are talking about is the TRS Plus discount, your store has NOTHING to do with it. You must qualified by Ebay rules to be TRS Plus with or without a store. It doesn't appear that your account is TRS or TRS Plus. Your listings do not qualify by US standards for the TRS Plus program, so you can't lose what you didn't have.
I'm a Canadian seller listing on eBay.com - you so ye, in short, equivalent to TRS - thus my store discount has EVERYTHING to do with it - if the reduction to 10% from 20%, plus moving some sales to Reverb makes the store not worthwhile, I will simply close it.....
So you are saying that because you are a Canadian seller selling on Ebay US that you get special treatment?? You don't have to adhere to the rules like other US sellers? Again, the reduction in discount has NOTHING to do with anyone's "store". It is the TRS Plus discount.
For regular US sellers we must qualify to be a TRS seller before we can be considered to be TRS Plus. Once we have met the TRS requirements and if we meet the TRS Plus requirements, then we can get the TRS Plus discount. For regular US sellers the two requirements to be able to get the TRS Plus discount is that we MUST offer a 30 day return policy [you have a No Return policy] and we MUST have 0 to 1 day handling time [you offer 2 day].
So you are saying that for Canadian sellers that sign up for selling on Ebay US, you don't have to adhere to these rules??? And if you are TRS and TRS Plus, you don't have the ribbon appear on your listings? How do your buyers know you are TRS or TRS Plus?
If this is how it works for Canadian sellers selling on Ebay US, then that is completely unfair to regular US sellers.
<<If this is how it works for Canadian sellers selling on Ebay US, then that is completely unfair to regular US sellers.>>
It works a bit differently on ebay.ca
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/top-rated.html
There doesn't seem to be that distinction between a TRS seller and a TRSP listing ... but there is a difference between being a Global TRS on .ca and being eligible for US TRSP discounts ... this part is confusing (but either way, it has nothing to do with a store):
Canadian sellers who meet all the basic US Top-rated seller performance requirements will receive the following benefits:
A prominent badge on their listing when viewed on eBay.com
Improved search standing for fixed price listings in Best Match search results on eBay.com and eBay.ca
20% discount on final value fees (on item price portion and for items listed on eBay.com or eBay.ca only)
In addition, Top-rated sellers will receive a 20% discount on final value fees for all listings with 1-day handling time and a 30-day or better return policy.
Thank you for taking the time with a little more of an explanation, I really appreciate that.
But poster nrg_svr said they are register on Ebay USA as a US seller. So are you saying that even though it does not appear they have a TRS ribbon on their listings much less a TRS Plus ribbon, they could still be TRS Plus? And with that said, they don't have to comply with the same rules for US seller to be TRS Plus?
If you look at this seller's listings, there is no ribbon of any kind, they have a no return policy and a 2 day handling time. I'm just not seeing or understanding how they feel they are losing a discount that does not appear to even apply to them????!!!!!??? I'm so confused and I'm just trying to understand.
I will keep my mid level store, but I am not going to worry about being a Top Rated Seller anymore.
I caution you to react in anger and possibly end up hurting yourself just because you are mad at Ebay. There are significant distinctions between having a TRS standing and a TRS Plus standing. They are NOT one and the same.
Of course you can do whatever you choose, but I'm just suggesting that you gather information, run numbers and then decide as dropping TRS may only hurt you.
For me personally, I will drop the requirements out of my listings to be TRS Plus [30 day return policy and 0-1 day handling]. I will go back to a 14 day return policy and a 2 or 3 day handling time. This change will still enable me to remain TRS status which I personally find VERY important. The most significant reason is the shipping discounts with USPS as that is the carrier I use most of the time. For me, I would be hurting myself if I dropped out of TRS all together as that discount on shipping is what I save money with the most, not the TRS Plus discount.
Small sellers need to be very aware that while they may lose $10, $20, $30 a month in the discount, is that really worth struggling to maintain the distinction of being TRS Plus. Look at your invoices, view what your total TRS Plus discount has been over the past year. Is it still worth it or not. You have to decide that for yourselves. There is no one answer that is correct for all sellers.
