Ebay, you're "enhancing" us to death!

[forwardtechsurplus]

Every time ebay implements a fee increase they pitch it under the guise of "enhancing" our experience. What an absolute load.  I can't think of a single "enhancement" they've made in the last 10 years that resulted in any measurable benefit to my selling experience. In fact, most of the time it has only created headaches for me. This time they're touting their AI descriptions tool as an enhancement. What a joke. Those AI descriptions are terrible- they make the seller sound like a dimwitted foreign scammer trying to cobble together a paragraph that would pass as english. Near as I can tell these so-called "enhancements" are nothing more than excuses to raise our fees and line their pockets while we do the work. Ebay, do you know what would "enhance" my experience? LOWER FEES!

[mam98031]

@forwardtechsurplus 

For me, in the categories I sell in, this SMALL FVF increase is the FIRST one I've had since mid 2020 with the exception of the Fixed Fee increase to 40 cents.

Have you experienced other FVF increased since 2020?

You have a store, I assume it is a Basic.  With that in mind, you do get a reduced rate on your FVFs.

Ebay by no means is the site with the highest fees, they aren't the lowest either, but there are other sites similar to Ebay out there with lower fees.  However many of those sites will not get you the traffic.  A decision for all of us to make for ourselves.

[fbusoni]

@forwardtechsurplus 

Is it not standard practice to have buyers pay those pesky fees?

[evelyb30]

---

@fbusoni wrote:

@forwardtechsurplus 

Is it not standard practice to have buyers pay those pesky fees?

---

Up to a point. 

If the fee inclusion pushes your pricetag too far, they'll say "fuggedaboudit" and you have no sale. (also no fees, unless you were dumb and used a Reserve or somthing.)  If fees plus item price plus shipping is higher than the total sale price, you have no profits.    So ... up to a point.   It's the same thing retailers run into - pass price increases on to consumers past a Point, and you suddenly have no consumers.   

[bashort]

---

@forwardtechsurplus wrote:

Every time ebay implements a fee increase they pitch it under the guise of "enhancing" our experience. What an absolute load.  I can't think of a single "enhancement" they've made in the last 10 years that resulted in any measurable benefit to my selling experience. In fact, most of the time it has only created headaches for me. This time they're touting their AI descriptions tool as an enhancement. What a joke. Those AI descriptions are terrible- they make the seller sound like a dimwitted foreign scammer trying to cobble together a paragraph that would pass as english. Near as I can tell these so-called "enhancements" are nothing more than excuses to raise our fees and line their pockets while we do the work. Ebay, do you know what would "enhance" my experience? LOWER FEES!

---

Think of it like a new federal bill, whatever the proponents of the bill tell you you can take it to the bank that it will do exactly the opposite

[meme6253]

There is only so much that we can keep passing along to the buyer. It has to stop somewhere & the sooner the better.

[meme6253]

Completely agree it has to end.

[meme6253]

I agree with most of what you have said, the enhancements are more of a nuisance than a benefit, & increases in fees at these times that were in is only making things more costly to the customer & aren't all of us sick & tired of everything costing more?

[rugerskick]

I just wish search didn't return so many unwanted items when you enter specific terms and it returns items that don't have those specific terms...

I also wish they'd fix the bulk sell similar feature for me, it hasn't worked for me since november.

I'd rather have these things fixed and working properly, over any "enhancements" I didn't ask for.

[richard1rst]

---

@forwardtechsurplus wrote:

I can't think of a single "enhancement" they've made in the last 10 years that resulted in any measurable benefit to my selling experience.

1) Ebay standard envelope reduced some of my shipping from $4.00 or so to only 69 cents.

2) Adoption of cubic pricing greatly reducing overall shipping costs (Yes it has been around for a while but eBay only recently adopted it)

3) Ebay stores producong a reduction in FVF (yes they have been around for a while but they didn’t always exist so they count as an enhancement)

4) TRS+ producing a 10% reduction in FVF

                              (#3 and #4 combined has reduced my FVF from 13.50% to 11.51%)

5) The protection provided by eBay’s international shipping program against Item Not Received complaints and return shipping costs

[mam98031]

---

@meme6253 wrote:

Completely agree it has to end.

---

So you think that Ebay has not costs or they aren't subject to inflation like the rest of us are!  How does that work, how do they [Ebay] avoid vendors that cost them more or a workforce that want periodic raises?

[bcal1149143z]

Literally every single change to the site makes it harder to use, not even just fees which are ridiculous, everything. 

[richard1rst]

---

@bcal1149143z wrote:

Literally every single change to the site makes it harder to use, not even just fees which are ridiculous, everything. 

---

See my list above. How do those increase difficulty?

If your statement is true then those of us who have been here for decades and witnessed changes beyond count must be so over our heads in difficulty as to be impotent.

And yet we are still here and, while I can speak for others, I am having fewer difficulties now  than I had when I first started. Admittedly, some changes are more difficult to adapt to than others, but adapt we must and can.

[johnrj1226]

For  starters  since 2010 (when I started selling) eBay went  from pay for  each and every listing and the higher your selling price  the higher they  charged and only picture  was free to 50 free listings and 12  free pictures, then they  jumped  to 250 free listings and up to 24  free pictures.  Plus they do distribute sales taxes on your behave to the proper taxing authority - you would never want to take  that on - only have to  do it  every  3 months.  Total selling fees have remained relative the same over  the  years - unless one buys into OPTIONAL features.  Shipping costs  have gone up continually every year that is out of eBay control - a postage stamp is now 73 cent each.

[fbusoni]

---

@evelyb30 wrote:

---

@fbusoni wrote:

@forwardtechsurplus 

Is it not standard practice to have buyers pay those pesky fees?

---

Up to a point. 

If the fee inclusion pushes your pricetag too far, they'll say "fuggedaboudit" and you have no sale. (also no fees, unless you were dumb and used a Reserve or somthing.)  If fees plus item price plus shipping is higher than the total sale price, you have no profits.    So ... up to a point.   It's the same thing retailers run into - pass price increases on to consumers past a Point, and you suddenly have no consumers.   

---

@evelyb30 

Thank you for the theoretical elucidation, but my question still stands.

• Fees are and will continue to be a "feature" of selling on eBay and other platforms, and just as sure as night follows day, they will continue to rise.
• There is absolutely nothing any of us sellers can do to stop them (no, class action lawsuits don't work and no one is going to boycott eBay).

The responsibility to make a sale is the seller's.   eBay is providing the platform.  Increasing fees are a variable over which sellers have no control.  

(I assume that there is no need to review the countless variables that ARE in a seller's control.)

Ultimately, whether sellers are able to pay eBay fees is completely up to them.

I told my daughter recently that if she stopped buying a Starbucks beverage every morning she could save over $100 a month.

Similarly, if it rains outside, one might be advised to have an umbrella handy, or one is going to get wet.