The problem is every year it gets harder to pay these fees and still make a living. I see 3 major issues currently affecting me and probably thousands of other sellers (if not all of them). One problem is a larger issue where cost of living and postal rates have been going up but wages (including that of buyers) are not going up proportionally, meaning less disposable income for you to buy things you need and less money for buyers to spend on things. The second problem is the nature of ebay- needing to constantly show growth to its stockholders. In the past 5 years, Ebay has reduced our top rated discount by half and is now encouraging policies that cost us time and money with no benefit to us- things like free returns, promoted listings (better for large sellers), and guaranteed delivery. The 3rd problem, is that of bootleg and knockoff items selling directly or indirectly from China with extremely discounted shipping rates.
I'll continue to sell on ebay as long as I'm able to but I could never recommend selling on ebay to anyone.
penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
