TRS discount going from 20% to 10% on May 1st

[z50com]

I WON'T DO IT

For 10% I will no longer jump thru the hoops

I'm going back to 3 day handling and paid shipping

I'm also raising my prices

I DON'T NEED THIS ANYMORE

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/comments///1488296012.html#

[namele365]

new listing tool?

I have never used any listing tools and I sure hope I won't be forced to use one EVER...

[namele365]

TRS Sellers are being punished for something in their control... Working hard to meet standards... There are NO standards for buyers... So yea... punish the seller but not the buyer? hmmm...

[namele365]

You hit the proverbial nail on the head!  The other 10% will be gone before year's end

[usmc*usnmom]

---

@namele365 wrote:

TRS Sellers are being punished for something in their control... Working hard to meet standards... There are NO standards for buyers... So yea... punish the seller but not the buyer? hmmm...

---

Taking away a GIFT is not a punishment. All these discounts and freebies are GIFTS. Gifts that frankly people should be thankful to get when they're given, instead of whining about when they're gone.

All that's required to be TRS is 100 sales and $1000 volume in a year. That's it.

All that's required to have TRS+ on your listings is to be a TRS, accept 30 day returns and ship within one day. That's it.

Shipping on time is something that every seller should do. You shouldn't reward for something that's supposed to be done in the first place. That's like giving a gold star just for showing up to class. Blame the sellers that would print out shipping labels then sit on the packages for a week if that's the case. (I do think the late shipment [NOT the same as the on-time] thing needs to be loosened up a bit. Not all sellers have carriers that will do acceptance scans, even though they're supposed to.)

Taking returns is now the online industry standard. Again, you shouldn't reward someone for something that is the industry standard. Buyers expect to be able to return. This is 2017, not 1997.

Don't want to take returns? That's fine. Don't want to take returns for 30 days? That's fine, too. Your business, your choice as to how to operate. If a seller can't/won't meet requirements, they shouldn't get TRS or whatever else Ebay wants to hand them, and WE don't set those "standards", Ebay does. Sellers will either meet them, or they won't. Those that meet the standards get a slobbery gold badge to wear on their forehead. The rest of the sellers don't, because other than the gift of a discount, that's all TRS means. I would imagine that in due time ALL sellers will be held to the same standards, since that's how online selling seems to be progressing - same/next day shipping and free returns for any reason.

[mbrock6]

I'm a top rated seller, well excuse me, I'm in a grace period because I dropped below 90% on uploaded tracking (soon to be 95%). I didn't tell them I wanted "more tools and options" to grow my business. From the looks of here and FB I've yet to see one TRS that said they asked for this. Did they just talk to a handful of anchor store owners at the Las Vegas conference and let them speak for the majority?

[high_speed_tactical]

Yeah, I certainly wanted them to take even more of my money.

I usually go along with these things....but this is just too much!!!!!!

[sfamaine]

This on top on the increased fees they are already getting on the recently increased postage.  This, more than anything, bothers me as it is a fee on something we cannot control.  Doesn't pay to sell anything heavy!

[*heather_lee*]

First off, I apologize for the delay in my response. Between connection problems (replacement modem in route) & the storms we're having, the load time on this particular thread just wasn't cutting it. So, I backed off trying to navigate it. Ok.
That said, I'm going to take your question as a rhetorical one, because I'm of the firm belief you and I both already know the answer, and that is, "Nothing."
However, I believe I addressed my feelings/perspective on "TRS" in two previous posts, and that would probably help in explaining why I'm responding at all to this.
I'm not going to type them all back out. So, you're certainly welcome to go back and read them. They're towards the beginning of this post/thread.

[*heather_lee*]

All well and good. However, taking a *scan sheet* enables the process to move along fairly smoothly as I'm sure you're aware. I'm just amazed at those who choose to act as if actually *using* the tracking number & ensuring it is scanned upon delivery to the shipping company is somehow an expectation unique to eBay. It's not.
Any business worth its salt, when they send the person tasked with such, will fully expect them to be thorough in order to "head off" when things *don't* go right. It's called being proactive. It's great that you have had few issues with that, but it's irresponsible not to take *basic* steps to ensure it stays that way (not just for you but also for your customers).

[denmaker]

I agree with you. I am going to leave ebay after they cut my rates AGAIN.  Shipping rates are just WAY TOO HIGH and now not getting any discount on ebay's laready stupendous hi fees is just the final slap in my face! Thank you - I will celebrate my exit from ebay after 17 years.

and for ebay to slam these changes on my business as some kind of benefit is just an insult to my intelligence.

[*heather_lee*]

I wasn't going to do this, but let's put some perspective on this.

In my experience, this would not even be *a question* one would dare raise in the board room.

Any employee who would *dare* suggest that such a *basic* component of ensuring complete/thorough service to the customer could be "negotiable" or based off the whims of employees and whether they "felt like it" would probably be not so kindly excused from the room.

And that's putting it nicely. I'm frankly amazed this is even something to "debate". It's so basic.

I'll tell you what, I'm going to stick with what my mentor, Don, told me and that is, "*Excellence* is in the details." and choose not to go with, "We might if we feel like it." Any day. And I don't care how much success one can "spout" to the contrary.

[frankbama41]

Higher cost for less benefit = not bothering.

[closeoutdealsusa]

The question is can a seller set a $30 as their max on a promoted listings campaign?

[sonoranboutique]

This is really the equivalent of Wal Mart opening a video rental department in 2017.

It goes against all market trends for the next few years.  Social media sites are actually becoming store fronts, gaining huge numbers of followers and linking to the store's website or letting buyers buy stuff directly through the platform.  I won't mention any sites by name because my last post got deleted, but the biggest photo-sharing and video websites are now becoming huge storefronts.  On the biggest photo-sharing site you can find stores with tens of thousands of followers, and those stores pay 0% and $0 in fees.  Ten years ago this store would have HAD to be on EBay.  Now they make a ton of money in sales (increasing every year) and EBay doesn't see a dime.  I wish I could link to them just to show how clearly they are becoming competitors to EBay.

High value niche sellers are going to be battled over more and more in the next few years and in the next generation.  Every high schooler in America right now is practically a social media expert.  They're not gonna settle for EBay's 15% fees when they could use a social media platform and gain followers and pay $0 in fees.

For that reason, high value niche sellers are the biggest thing that EBay has to protect and acquire.  And how did they do that?  They didn't, they've punished top rated sellers and now it practically isn't worth it to be one.

I used to see sellers threaten to leave EBay for its direct competitors, and that was always a joke because EBay was way bigger.  But social media as a storefront is the next big thing.  I predict that in 5 years EBay will do a marketing push to try to recapture high value niche sellers.  They've got to hold on to these people for dear life.  The very second these social media stores become seen as commonplace it's going to draw a LOT of sellers to them for the $0 fees.  Lots of stores are already doing this and things are moving that way.

Did you know that EBay's listings often aren't even shareable on social media without overcropping the tops and bottoms of the photos?

[z50com]

Will eBay's goal be to get all sellers "below standard" to reap higher fees?

Is that what we all can look forward to?