EBAY CHANGES

[pokey_frost]

Does anyone else feel that ebay is taking from us more & more.

I was devastated when they took away Classic without giving us an option to get it back.  A billion things have changed since I have been a member.

I first paid a modest % and only around 3% for postage.  That of course was nipped in the bud and soon both final value fees and postage became 10% each!!!!!

I am a baby boomer and we were not raised with technology, so once I learn how to function using a program, it is so difficult to learn a totally complicated and daunting.

ebay has completely eclipsed our ability to sell and make $, not to mention that your listing can opt to refuse to take returns, yet they never refuse the buyer!!  This is so unjust, does anyone else feel this "over extending" is too much??

[eleanor*rigby]

As a baby boomer myself, I'd disagree that we weren't reared with technology. We were there from the beginning! We've lived with computer technology a lot longer than a person who's 25. I began using word processing software in probably 1980 or so--that's 41 years of living with technology.

I agree, though, that at some point we may convince ourselves that it's too much of a struggle to keep up with the changes in the software we use, whether at a traditional job or as an eBay seller. We have to keep up or we fall behind and get lost in all the constant revisions of the programs we use.

I think each person, regardless of age, has to decide whether to dig in and learn how to use the most current programs, or whether to find a friend or relative to help us, or even whether to consider making a change of career.

As far as eBay's fee increases are concerned, I also wish gasoline were still $ .35 a gallon. 

[forward-motion]

I too had a dial up phone, no remote to the TV. But I also changed and adapted to the world we live in. I have been selling on ebay for 20 years now, I have changed and grown with them. I don’t find anything hard or a “deal breaker”. I make money, that is the bottom line. I have had to change up what I sell, how I sell it and to who I sell it to. Change>adapt>roll

[duffy4444]

   I, too, am a baby boomer... almost 71 years old now. I remember in the 1960s I could get 100-Octane Premium gas at an Atlantic Richfield station in downtown Sacramento for as low as 28 cents a gallon.

   Times change, and we need to push ourselves in order not to let ourselves get left behind. I've been selling on Ebay for 23 years, and I've seen a lot of changes - most good, and some not so good. We need to be patient, learn and roll with the changes, and do our best to keep on top.

   pokey_frost, hang in there, adjust and adapt where necessary, and allow things to improve for your business. And above all else - don't let bitter and emotional detractors sway you into thinking you should jump ship. There are many on this forum that would like to infect you with their misunderstanding of the changes and Managed Payments (which is working just fine for most of us).

Cheers, Duffy 

[katzrul15]

ebay has completely eclipsed our ability to sell and make $

Respect that is your opinion/sentiment, but it is not my experience on here in over 17 yrs.  if I did not make money, it was because of something I did, not e-bay.

Yes, there have been a lot of changes (for some, many of us signed up for MP last year or even before) in a short-spanse of time.  But even all together, I do not personally find them "daunting".

Maybe the answer is to "bite one bite" of the elephant you find daunting at a time.  

Classic is gone, but your listings are not.  Create a "template" you like and are comfortable with and use it to list.  Bulk functions on Seller Hub abound - they are mighty handy when they work.

MP - yes, it evidently for many who post on here is quite the adjustment.  I did in early - so have been paying the amounts on full sale + tax since last fall.  Oddly, it did not make me want to "revolt", leave, whatever.  I actually wanted to go it early and was relieved I was invited as I wanted to get it done before the Holidays and not have issues.  

Where change is "inevitable", you usually only have 2 choices.  And 1 of those, usually creates more headaches, not less.

Selling online can feel isolating - it's not like you have a co-worker just over the cube to ask the q.

Maybe come to the boards (there are so many to choose) and ask questions if you need quick answers.  

Good luck!  

[sabdi-7453]

Devastated over a change? You act like they killed your kitten or something.

eBay is making changes, and it's certainly going to weed out those who can't or won't adapt, but to so dramatic about it is just plain silly.

[chapeau-noir]

Well, we developed the internet so I'm not sure about the technology thing.  The older I get, the more I believe that many complications and struggles are in people's minds and worldviews. I don't like everything eBay does (that goes without saying), but it's simply keeping pace with the changes in etailing, which has rapidly changed in the last 10 years.   We can keep up or not.

[richard1rst]

On the other hand you used to pay a listing fee and, if you wanted to show a picture, an extra fee for that as well. AND you paid those fees whether the item sold or not. And to make it worse the headline was half the length they are now limiting what features you could include thereby limiting your market. If I listed 100 items and only sold 10, for example, my total fees were WAY more than 15% of my sales. On balance I am paying far less in fees now compared to what I would have had to pay if the old rate system was still in place.

The “3% postage” is irrelevant since eBay does not control the post office. Nevertheless, in the intervening years the post office has added many cost saving items to online sellers like discounted rates, free boxes, flat rate postage, free pickups, tracking to prove delivery, and allowing first class packages to 15.999 ounce instead of having to pay the much higher Priority for 14 ounces. One of the most intriguing is Cubic Pricing. I sell some heavy garden stones. I can now send a 30 pound package coast to coast by Priority Mail for less than $10.00. That’s even cheaper than the flat rate box.

The first main frame computer was in 1945. Then came Univac in the 50’s. While in college in the 60’s we were already taking programming courses in anticipation for the coming PC. My first PC in the late 70’s was DOS based. And as I recall costs several thousands. Neither Windows nor Apple had been developed yet. Imagine the changes and upgrades I have had to plow through. And that doesn’t even account for all the changes in real life. I learned to drive on a stick shift. There were no automatics. Everyone had a land line, there were no smart phones. ETC. Microwaves? VCRs? Digital cameras? All that new technology had to be learned and we all faired quite well.

So I am at a loss to understand why an occasional computer upgrade is the proverbial straw.

[katzrul15]

When DS was about 8, he wanted a record player that played real records for b-day.  We bought him a beatles 33 LP that we found on e-Bay, one both DH & I used to have. 

He opened it and held it for a minute....."How big was your dash"?

(If i had a fraction of the money I have spent on music - vinyl, then 8-tracks, then cassettes, then CDs and now I pay for monthly Spotify........)

DS & DD have no idea what landlines are - let alone a "princess" phone

[sabdi-7453]

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@richard1rst wrote:

On the other hand you used to pay a listing fee and, if you wanted to show a picture, an extra fee for that as well. AND you paid those fees whether the item sold or not. And to make it worse the headline was half the length they are now limiting what features you could include thereby limiting your market. If I listed 100 items and only sold 10, for example, my total fees were WAY more than 15% of my sales. On balance I am paying far less in fees now compared to what I would have had to pay if the old rate system was still in place.

The “3% postage” is irrelevant since eBay does not control the post office. Nevertheless, in the intervening years the post office has added many cost saving items to online sellers like discounted rates, free boxes, flat rate postage, free pickups, tracking to prove delivery, and allowing first class packages to 15.999 ounce instead of having to pay the much higher Priority for 14 ounces. One of the most intriguing is Cubic Pricing. I sell some heavy garden stones. I can now send a 30 pound package coast to coast by Priority Mail for less than $10.00. That’s even cheaper than the flat rate box.

The first main frame computer was in 1945. Then came Univac in the 50’s. While in college in the 60’s we were already taking programming courses in anticipation for the coming PC. My first PC in the late 70’s was DOS based. And as I recall costs several thousands. Neither Windows nor Apple had been developed yet. Imagine the changes and upgrades I have had to plow through. And that doesn’t even account for all the changes in real life. I learned to drive on a stick shift. There were no automatics. Everyone had a land line, there were no smart phones. ETC. Microwaves? VCRs? Digital cameras? All that new technology had to be learned and we all faired quite well.

So I am at a loss to understand why an occasional computer upgrade is the proverbial straw.

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I don't miss DOS at all, or punching in 5000 lines of GW Basic just to make a dot move across the screen lol

[chapeau-noir]

I kinda miss those calm amber screens, though.