eBay

beaglewoofer · ‎07-08-2023

I just received payment from eBay for my last sale and realized that eBay is even taking out 13.5% from the shipping. So much is lost from each sale that I must say, after many years of both buying and selling on eBay, that it is no longer worth my time and trouble listing anything except perhaps a few high-priced items.

In other words, all those fun, interesting or collectible items that used to go to happy new homes for modest sums, are no longer worth the time and money to list. And such items are one of the main attractions, the fun, of eBay. As it was, shipping costs were already making many items of lower value not worthwhile to buy. eBay, you may have killed your own golden goose.

dbfolks166mt · ‎07-09-2023

Good point, but you can't keep building into the price. The price has exceptionally exceeded the price point. Still, building the costs into the price of the item is the only way, so its definitely what needs to be done, until it can't be done.

Agree that at some point increasing the price will make the item uncompetitive in the market place all else being constant. The other option is sellers find a way to reduce their sourcing costs which is also becoming difficult to do.

chapeau-noir · ‎07-09-2023

@reallynicestamps wrote:
One of the unexpected effects of the switch to Managed Payments, is that many sellers are suddenly noticing that they are paying fees for shipping.
With billing coming immediately from Paypal, but monthly from eBay, this was much less transparent.
We now see all the fees on each transaction as they are charged.
The monthly eBay bill covers subcriptions and other regular fees.

This right here. Along with the death of the illusion that one got paid 'instantly' with Paypal (no, Paypal fronted the money and they'd take it right back if they decided to).

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Do not obey in advance." Timothy Snyder "On Tyranny"

dbfolks166mt · ‎07-09-2023

"Every dog has it's day" comes to mind.

Do you REALLY think Ebay is immune to corporate rot and bad decisions??

Well that would be a first, wouldn't it?

You just keep on with that cheery outlook.

Me?

I prefer to look at Quarterly Reports.

Quarterly Reports that state they've been bleeding off sellers( and buyers).

AND for years.

And the long steady decline of GMV is a disaster that should be sounding alarms all through Ebay headquarters.

But it's not.

Ebay was handed a reprieve with the pandemic shutdown. A gift.

And instead of using that bonus wealth to initiate new and innovative ways to fend off competition and retain the lifeblood of their platform...SELLERS...they did what??

Stock buybacks??

Which is a great way to prop up the value of your stock when your business model is failing to do so.

Also a great way to shore-up your "inept executive wealth fund", but it is detrimental to the long term health of most companies according to most financial experts.

Here's the " genius" of Ebay's executives:

They figuratively built a 40 MILLION DOLLAR pile of cash in the Ebay parking lot and set it on fire. Gone.

Evaporated. They bought back stock in a vain attempt to keep its value from falling.

It didn't work. And at the end of 2022, the stock they had purchased had dropped in value 40 million bucks! Poof!

Takes a real mental midget to come up with that one.

Sadly, Ebay is full of " What's good for me and my money" exec's and not "What's good for the company" ones.

And I don't see that improving.

I agree with a lot of what you said and I too read the quarterly reports. As you stated generally stock buybacks are an attempt to manipulate stock prices, reduce the number of shares outstanding without affecting its reported earnings, enrich senior corporate executives and prevent prevent companies from investing profits in innovation.

On occasion it backfires as it has on eBay. Rather than increasing their share price it has declined about 2% in the last 6 months. In theory had eBay increased the dividend to the remaining shareholders since there was a larger piece of the profit pie to go around among the remaining shareholders it may have boosted some confidence but the dividend remained pretty much flat.

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎07-09-2023

One more message communicating that the market is beginning not to bear their fees.

Or there is too little interest in the item and too many competing offers,

I have always had a minimum dollar profit requirement for anything I sell online, and the number of products which are no longer suitable for online selling has increased every year for the past 20 years.

This was even more important a consideration when the number of listings associated with a basic Ebay store was lower and we had to pay listing fees and deal with the number of items which did not sell through on a single listing.

Ebay fees are comparable to other online marketplaces where there are actual buyers. Each of them tries to muddy the water and appear cheaper than they are.

There is no message to Ebay leadership which they have not considered. And as an ecommerce site which is lower volume than the big retail marketplaces, they have less flexibility in pricing.

joliztoyco · ‎07-09-2023

"Illusion"??

I did get my money INSTANTLY.

And part of being " verified" on PayPal was their ability to offer this "instant payment" perk to their customers.

Poor little Ebay can't afford to do it.

But they can if you pony up even more of your profits. SNEER.

And in all my years selling and using PP (Since 1998), I've never had them "take" money back.

You must have had some real upset buyers...

ten_o_nine · ‎07-09-2023

In other words, all those fun, interesting or collectible items that used to go to happy new homes for modest sums, are no longer worth the time and money to list.

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hmmm, fun? that's because eBay was one of the first internet sites we knew for shopping online, now you can buy everywhere, so the fun is gone, this time without wind.

If I sent my son one of the collectibles I have, I am more than sure it will land in a garbage can.

reallynicestamps · ‎07-10-2023

If I sent my son one of the collectibles I have, I am more than sure it will land in a garbage can.

I've given DD instructions about our collections, with prices paid on the back of the prints and paintings, notes about family pieces, etc.

All my own eBay stock will be going to thrifts (sewing patterns) or the Victoria Times-Colonist Annual Book Sale, while DH has designated the philatelic auctions for his stock.

Our interests are so different, I doubt she would be able to identify the valuable from the "missionary mix".

I just hope the thrift she chooses doesn't use the patterns as handy wrapping paper.

coolections · ‎07-10-2023

It looks like your shipping is very high so I would say not only Ebay is gouging you out of business you, yourself is gouging you out of business. It cost no where near $20 to ship a lightweight model as just one example.

meemaw2015 · ‎07-10-2023

Those were the good old days. I remember listing an item for a quarter, fifty cents for buy it now and priority mail was actually treated like a priority and made it to it's destination by 2 days. Inflation is great isn't it?

meemaw2015 · ‎07-10-2023

True. Sometimes if item is priced too low, customers will think something is wrong with it.

meemaw2015 · ‎07-10-2023

Ebay is a privately owned company, therefore, a class action lawsuit would be useless. We have the choice not to sell on their platform.

theteamsetguy · ‎07-10-2023

@mn467462

Instead of waiting for someone else to lawyer up and start a case why don’t you be the hero? I would start by googling trial attorneys in your area. Contact about a dozen or so and schedule a free consultation. If the attorney thinks you have a case they will take it on contingent. Which means the attorney doesn’t get paid unless they win. The attorney usually gets 1/3 of damages. You as the lead plaintiff will get a very nice piece of the pie and the rest of the class will each get $20.00 if lucky.

Please keeps us updated or have any other questions. Since I don’t think the eBay fees are out of line I will opt out of any class action lawsuit regarding this matter.

joliztoyco · ‎07-10-2023

"Or there is too little interest in the item and too many competing offers,"

Or the number of ACTUAL BUYERS on a platform has fallen to a level that is affecting sales.
As Ebay continues to "muddy" the water with their word salad of Quarterly reports,
GMV tells it all.
Ebay SALES have declined for over 2 years.
Ebay's active users (buyers and sellers) have declined for over 2 years.
Any 1st year Marketing major could tell you that's a recipe for disaster.

All the competition in the world doesn't mean a thing if there are no buyers.
And your "too little interest" applies more to Ebay as a whole than to an individual item.
Instead of bold, new initiatives aimed at increasing active users and fending off the growing competition, Ebay focuses on squeezing more profits out of their rapidly diminishing active users (sellers) in the form of laughable "promoted listings"???
Who does this?? What idiot exec came up with this short sighted and self destructing idea?
It's like selling tickets for seats in the Titanic's lifeboats....