Curious if anyone thinks ebay "improvements" justify a fee hike this year? Reflect on past year....

[siamjane8]

Obviously absolutely nobody like when fees go up....... but when simultaneously the product and the customer services goes down..... it makes no sense.

    Has anyone seen any actual improvements to the site this year?.... not just changes but actual improvements?

    Just looked at our 1099-k from ebay and wouldn't you believe it!-  $15,000 less in sales this past year with all the site "improvements".

    It seem more like ebay causes disruptions with all the unnecessary site changes and sales go down so the answer is to raise fees to cover the effect of the bad decisions...... does nobody ever take responsibility for the actions anymore?   How to the CEO's an management still take millions in bonuses while the platform relevancy decreases?

       One nice feature they made was the repeat buyer notification- that was helpful- but does not counteract the bad search engine and promoted listings debacle they have created- no buyer wants unrelated junk shoved down their throat when they search- JUST GIVE US 100% of the results that match our keywords!, not what some slightly **bleep**ed AI system thinks we want to see.

[sapphire_studio]

I'm sure eBay does really complicated analysis before a fee change and they know that raising fees will pass on some of that cost to the buyers driving them away from the platform to their competition and also psychologically Drive some sellers away (especially small sellers).

I do think they don't mind dropping some of the smallest sellers that are only grossing less than 5k a year, particularly because pretty soon they're going to to have to start dealing with taxes for these people that barely bring them any income (and cost them money when they contact support as they learn how to use the platform).

I think eBay is bleeding and they're deciding how to control the loss and they determined that the small fee increase was a balance that would keep price increases on products to a minimum but maybe scare away their smallest sellers that are costing them money, all while giving them a bit more revenue.

As others have said they're not going to do anything out of guilt because their product is less desireable then it used to be.... it's all just about money.

[slippinjimmy]

I don't "justify" my selling prices and I don't expect eBay to justify their fees or fee increases.

eBay's justification is actually pretty simple, they want to earn more money. Sellers justify their dislike of fee increase because THEY want to make more money.

[goldrushfinds]

Yes, it's true, Ebay can do whatever they want, because it is their business. On the other hand, without sellers, they have nothing. With regards to fee increases, some argue that with inflation everything goes up. The flaw in this thinking is that Ebay is mostly taking a percentage, not a flat fee (mostly). Therefore theoretically, if the cost of goods are going up, than the take (by Ebay) on any given sale should also go up. Ebay is doing a crapy job of running their site. As many have said, the search engine stinks. Also as others have stated, promoted listings just results in potential buyers not getting the best item at the best price, and wallah, now that buyer is a former buyer. 

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@selsa84 wrote:

The search is a complete joke now. Certain keywords won't work, store search is not showing items when using a certain date. I have " antique map" saved as a search and it constantly shows me golf clubs and spandex pants, when in fact 100s of maps had just been listed. 

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Search does seem be fried...  Type in "Lego" at the search prompt, toys come up yet there are many genuine Lego branded items such as video games... When you click Video Games you get all sorts stuff thats not.

[the_fancy_fox]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

We've had updates SO much worse than this one!

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Yeah we have but I did think raising the fees on books was a bit of a jerk move. Like 14.6 wasn’t enough?

[jman0312]

Those are your words, not theirs, I read it, they are implying that the multi billion $ company should take responsibility for their mistakes, not sellers.

[chapeau-noir]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

We've had updates SO much worse than this one!

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Yeah we have but I did think raising the fees on books was a bit of a jerk move. Like 14.6 wasn’t enough?

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They passed out of jerk mode a long time ago with those fees on media - I still don't understand why they raised them so high to begin with - before it was a good idea to list them here rather than Amazon - well, there went that idea. It was really bad. The hike they did now was no worse than the hike we get in other categories - I still list media but not nearly as much as I did - it goes elsewhere.

[slippinjimmy]

eBay raised the fees on Media 3 months after Amazon raised their fees for Media, I don't remember the specific dates but I think it was in 2019 or 2020.

[the_fancy_fox]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

We've had updates SO much worse than this one!

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Yeah we have but I did think raising the fees on books was a bit of a jerk move. Like 14.6 wasn’t enough?

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They passed out of jerk mode a long time ago with those fees on media - I still don't understand why they raised them so high to begin with - before it was a good idea to list them here rather than Amazon - well, there went that idea. It was really bad. The hike they did now was no worse than the hike we get in other categories - I still list media but not nearly as much as I did - it goes elsewhere.

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I list elsewhere too but its still annoying. I don’t get why the fee on books is so high either, it’s not like they took a lot of time with subcategories or the item specifics…….

I know, preaching at the choir…

[dhbookds]

Book fvf fees are high..........because there are so many listed and they don't want to be even more flooded with more volume/low cost.......  Same thing with clothing........it's at 15% I think (non store)...........

[hartungcards]

I'm not quite sure how "taking responsibility for their mistakes" relates to what they charge as seller fees.  Are you saying they should send everybody a rebate check or something, because some people aren't pleased with the way they run their business?   Or maybe just ask everyone if they're happy, and if the answer is "no" then they say, oh, ok, we'll give you some money back and let you determine what your fees are from now on?  

It's their sandbox, and they get to arrange the sand.

[the_fancy_fox]

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@dhbookds wrote:

Book fvf fees are high..........because there are so many listed and they don't want to be even more flooded with more volume/low cost.......  Same thing with clothing........it's at 15% I think (non store)...........

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Understood but that would make sense if it’s common books, rare and antiques? (Self interest here)

[dbfolks166mt]

     Not really but the current inflation probably justifies it. They are a business their costs have gone up and like any business, sellers here included, pass those costs along to their customers. 

[slippinjimmy]

Early 2018

https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/amazon-fees-increases-pushed-books-sellers-to-ebay

Late Summer 2018

https://channelx.world/2018/08/ebay-com-fee-changes-announced-in-the-ebay-2018-fall-seller-release/

In my previous post I said 3 months, that was wrong, it was more like 8 months. No matter, when the market leader raises prices everyone else does likewise. That's the way it has always worked no matter what type of business I've been involved in. Works that way in reverse for those products where prices are falling.

[gurlcat]

Yes.  The ability to include video, and the raised photo limit, these past-year added features have helped my sales without a doubt.