Ebay is playing favorites and allowing my direct competitors to steal my customers....

[imac7065]

Let me preface this by saying I am a multi million dollar account on this platform, I rank in the top 10,000 (have been as high as 1500 volume wise) sellers globally, and I have been MSO for years......

This week I lost my 3rd consignment customer to a direct competitor. Not because this customer likes their service better than mine, not because of any personal issues (this is a friend of mine in fact)... but because my direct competitors are able to offer consignment fee's LOWER THAN EBAY FEE'S!!! Quite literally going as low as 8% for high end items consigned to them.

These sellers do it openly.. they advertise on their websites, at trade shows, and make sure people know.. consigning to them is literally cheaper than selling the item yourself on ebay.

This has been an ongoing frustration for over 10 years, but thanks to my service most of my customers did not leave me... that's changing as these big box consigners grow bigger and bigger....... I have contacted ebay, asking how is possible COUNTLESS times... Asking what would qualify me to achieve what they already have.... each time getting some run around, but in the end being told to "get over it" and "we have a right to reduce fee's on sellers if we so choose"

I am writing this to vent, and raise awareness... ebay will give unfair business practices.. even to accounts who have existed for less than a few years, when you have been on the platform generating millions in sales for over 25 years..... they pick and choose who can succeed on this platform.. and it's outrageous.

EDIT: It seems I was not clear on this... what I am warning about here is happening on the Ebay platform.. I am not saying I am losing customers to other selling formats.. I am saying ebay is giving my competitors adjusted fee rates that allow them to steal customers by offering half the % anyone paying normal fee's can offer. 

[vintagecraze50]

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@imac7065 wrote:

Let me preface this by saying I am a multi million dollar account on this platform, I rank in the top 10,000 (have been as high as 1500 volume wise) sellers globally, and I have been MSO for years......

This week I lost my 3rd consignment customer to a direct competitor. Not because this customer likes their service better than mine, not because of any personal issues (this is a friend of mine in fact)... but because my direct competitors are able to offer consignment fee's LOWER THAN EBAY FEE'S!!! Quite literally going as low as 8% for high end items consigned to them.

These sellers do it openly.. they advertise on their websites, at trade shows, and make sure people know.. consigning to them is literally cheaper than selling the item yourself on ebay.

This has been an ongoing frustration for over 10 years, but thanks to my service most of my customers did not leave me... that's changing as these big box consigners grow bigger and bigger....... I have contacted ebay, asking how is possible COUNTLESS times... Asking what would qualify me to achieve what they already have.... each time getting some run around, but in the end being told to "get over it" and "we have a right to reduce fee's on sellers if we so choose"

I am writing this to vent, and raise awareness... ebay will give unfair business practices.. even to accounts who have existed for less than a few years, when you have been on the platform generating millions in sales for over 25 years..... they pick and choose who can succeed on this platform.. and it's outrageous.

EDIT: It seems I was not clear on this... what I am warning about here is happening on the Ebay platform.. I am not saying I am losing customers to other selling formats.. I am saying ebay is giving my competitors adjusted fee rates that allow them to steal customers by offering half the % anyone paying normal fee's can offer. 

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Might be worth looking into this one by creating your own website to consign and then still sell it here too?

[vintagecraze50]

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@imac7065 wrote:

Great question.. I had it confirmed years ago by ebay (it was called concierge back then but that only exists with MSO now), I've spoken to owners of accounts that get it, and you can confirm this yourself as I previously described... some search results will have a small logo hyperlink below the title.... no one can get that benefit other than the people in this program.

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So what are you saying, some sellers get reduced fees on here. Never heard of that.

[isaiah53-57]

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@imac7065 wrote:

EDIT: It seems I was not clear on this... what I am warning about here is happening on the Ebay platform.. I am not saying I am losing customers to other selling formats.. I am saying ebay is giving my competitors adjusted fee rates that allow them to steal customers by offering half the % anyone paying normal fee's can offer. 

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Naaahhh...c'mon - They've always had a level playing field and fairness in trade is their mantra

[ebooksdiva]

eBay reps are notorious for telling members what they want to hear to placate them. I doubt a seller will disclose their fee structure with you.  
I'm not interested in a private message. Making this a crusade is your business, please don't drag others into it. Thank you.

[fbusoni]

@imac7065 

Considering the fact that eBay's desperation for revenue is leading the company to climb into bed with Chinese auto parts manufacturers -- in fact, the whole auto parts fitment catalog is managed by a Chinese company (experts in vintage American car parts, LMFAO) from what I understand -- nothing would surprise me.

[monica-sells]

Is it possible that these 'other' sellers offer that rate but utilize other sources (as well as ebay) to sell the item, but "hint" that the consignment is strictly for an ebay sale....If you market yourself but employ 7 or 8 different "platforms"...maybe you average 8% selling fees...if you ONLY sold on ebay you would lose money, but "maybe" it will sell on a lower percentage platform (i.e. fb or their own website)

In other words, the item "may" be listed here, but is simultaneously listed on their own website and other platforms that, in their own calculations, average out to an 8% selling fee?

[imac7065]

that's exactly what I'm saying

[imac7065]

I do not have the same ebay support you do.. as an anchor store I am what's called MSO.. I have special dedicated support I can call and have a human (from north america no less) on the phone in seconds... it's part of the anchor store package.. unlike what I have described in this post... anyone can achieve this by buying an anchor store.. if ebay had a threshold for achieving lower fee's and it was public knowledge... I would be frustrated, but would understand and attempt to achieve that goal. They won't even tell me what that is lol

[imac7065]

again... no this is 100% on ebay.. im more than sure they sell on other platforms I will not name here.. but what I am describing on this post is 100% on ebay

[marnotom!]

I'm thinking that there's also the possibility that there are some hidden fees for the consignors involved with these sellers, and/or this 8% rate is either a "limited time offer" or else it will go up once these sellers realize that their business model is not sustainable.

Having said that, I have to agree with @reallynicestamps:  consignment selling is basically a mug's game, as they say in the old country.  My wife and I tried it in the early days of eBay and while what we charged looked good on paper, it wasn't nearly enough to cover all our time, work, and aggro.

[imac7065]

I've been doing consignment for almost 15 years on ebay.. I have it down to a tee... I do my costs plus 5%.. if the customer doesn't give me a 4 figure lot, I will not accept it in the future. What these sellers do, do, that cuts into their expense is charge 99 cents for any item under $10 (something I do not do and would encourage people to consign more with me).... but this would be like trying to stop a massive waterfall with a plastic toy lol... a $200 item is not a $2 item

[krazzykats]

It's likely that eBay does offer varying fee contracts for different seller tiers. Companies like Best Buy, which conduct multi-million-dollar sales, probably enjoy lower fees due to their volume, unlike most smaller sellers. Competing with large businesses can be challenging. Naturally, if I ran a company with reliable, high-volume customers, I'd also be inclined to offer them some form of preferential treatment.

When you have a retail store and purchase wholesale there are different pricing tiers.  So, the bigger you are, the bigger discounts you get.  Just saying...🐈

[imac7065]

That was their original justification yes. I wouldn't have a problem with big box stores selling their own products.... but now its anyone that does macro business, and my direct competitors.... guys who sell sports cards out of their living room (like me lol) shouldn't get the same benefits as best buy in your example... yet I could name 5 mom and pop online card shops that do. All I want is an even playing field.... don't think it's too much to ask

[onlinecentral]

The seller in Message  1 has  18,807 active listings
The seller in Message 21 has 434,883 active listings
The seller in Message 22 has 719,231 active listings

During my day job experience, I learned that there are complimentary gratuities, discounts, allowances, rebates, kickbacks and bribes. The rate at which commissions and finders fees are paid varies.

You can level the playing field by increasing your active listings to be in the hundreds of thousands. That will be the incentive eBay needs to offer you lower selling fees.

[funfactorychannel]

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@chevymontecarlo88 wrote:

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@imac7065 wrote:

This week I lost my 3rd consignment customer to a direct competitor. Not because this customer likes their service better than mine, not because of any personal issues (this is a friend of mine in fact)... but because my direct competitors are able to offer consignment fee's LOWER THAN EBAY FEE'S!!! Quite literally going as low as 8% for high end items consigned to them.

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Maybe get better friends. IMHO

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If your friend is going with him do you have a listing that he has on that new seller and the price you were selling at? Is the price the same?

I believe some sellers are getting a lower rate but those are mainly big box retailers who ebay were pushing them into the platform. If its not a big operations then no reason to give them any lower rates.