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.

[hartungcards]

So, you think eBay should lower its seller fees because they should feel guilty?  I don't think that's how things work in the business world.

[farmalljr]

Call it "shrinkflation". Because that's what it is. You get less for the increasing fees. My sales last year were half of what they were the year before. Shipping expenses, fees, and the cost of goods are up, sales are down. Everyone but the seller seems to be making more money. 

The solution for me was to go from yearly store, to a monthly plan. If sales trend keep following last year or worsen, I will close my store and liquidate my inventory through auction houses, eBay isn't looking out for anyone. I can find other things to do that are more profitable and less hassle/stress. If I'm not going to make money, I can close my store and move on. 

[tdrake]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

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.

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Perhaps, in this economy and with the new competition out there, and stiff pressure from established competition, WITHOUT improvements it's possible you'd be down $20,000 or more? Just asking. 

[selsa84]

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. 

[selsa84]

In the real business world most companies at least try to fix snafus and tech issues. 

[hartungcards]

In the real business world, most companies don't lower their bottom line just because some people think they should.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@siamjane8  I bought a carton of eggs. Cost me a lot more than last year at this time. Opened it up, and ---here's the thing---there were only 12 eggs! You'd think for that price, they would have added a few, but no, a dozen eggs is still only 12 eggs.....no matter the price!

Egg jokes aside, I was actually expecting a larger increase (and still wouldn't be surprised if we see a store subscription fee increase in the next Update). So, frankly, I was kind of relieved.

[chapeau-noir]

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

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@chapeau-noir  Agreed.  No one likes fee increases, but this could have been much worse. 

[stephenmorgan]

I think the fact that your sales are down $15,000 is why fees were raised. eBay needs to make a certain amount of money and if they are not making it thru sales then they raise the fees to make up for the shortfall.

[chapeau-noir]

And hey! Locally produced eggs here are back to $3.99/dozen - that's normal price for this area!  I think "local" is a key here, since it's Avian flu that's causing the price hikes.

For a while it was a lot more than a 0.35% price hike.  I think I can handle that lol.

[selsa84]

You've said that already.

[brettyg599]

yeah I agree with you. Prices on ebay of almost everything are down 10-30% from just a couple of years ago. Shipping prices have gone up 10-30%, and now increasing fees? They are trying to completely destroy their platform just to keep up with their dividend payments. Sad to see them continually and often choose the top 1% and their shareholders over their sellers. Pathetic in my eyes, we need new management. Problem is the job of new management is always to increase shareholder value instead of increase seller value hence which would increase shareholder value.

[brettyg599]

Also I have been away for 2+ years now and notice still people adamantly defending ebay? Why? Have those defending been around for say 10+ years or even 5+ years? Ebay has made decision after decision to hurt sellers. To be honest whenever a search engine such as google or ebay starts implementing PAY FOR RESULT it ruins the platform for mostly the customers. Instead of getting the absolute best match at best price from best seller they get mostly sellers with less than 100 feedback and promoted items on the first page. Does noone have a problem with ebay consistently rewarding pay for ad and brand new stores? They try to hook brand new stores with the belief they can be successful and pay for a store and start listing a lot more when in reality once they stop boosting their search results harsh reality will set it. What about rewarding the very most loyal ebay sellers with long histories of satisfied customers. Sorry end rant but I really cant believe they are hiking fees into what has to be the hardest selling environment on ebay ever and has only gotten harder every single year. Weirdly it seems like they keep attracting more and more stuff to be listed at lower and lower prices.