Long time eBayer

[smith.house.antiques]

Long, long time eBayer here, been with them since 1997, a charter member of Paypal too.  I use to see everything that was for sale on eBay scroll by, item by item, all on one page.  Those were the best buying days!  From coins, to paper and books, odd and valuable things too.  Missed those days for sure. 

So being a member for 27 years, mostly selling, I have seen eBay corner us sellers, force many changes on us.  Raise prices and fees.  Hell, we have no income tax or sales tax here in New Hampshire but I am forced to pay fees on taxes in another state!  And all this "promotion" dung.  Quite the rigging.  I won't be around much longer so I guess it doesn't matter much but I resent the fact that eBay treats us sellers with such disrespect.  You would think they would try and help folks that were loyal to their platform.  Paypal gave us long term haulers stock options, maybe folks made out well.   eBay should give some consideration for 25+ years of loyalty.  Just my thoughts on all the outrageous fees and charges.  Hopefully I am around long enough to see it crumble.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@12345jamesstamps  I'm a bit of a history buff myself, but I was talking specifically about ebay, since you mentioned:

"I think we might get to see Temu, Shein and Chinese sellers(3rd party sellers) crumble by next year before anything else.

It would open the market for eBay and make it better.

I think I will stay around...."

My point was, while yes, those sites take market share from ebay, ebay also relies on Chinese exporters for a healthy chunk of its own revenue, so tariffs on Chinese goods could be a double edged swords from ebay's point of view. And could end up costing us more in higher fees. But really, it's all just speculation at this point...

Like you, I plan to stay around here , not because I am terribly confident in ebay management, but because I do see some hints---nothing more--- that management might shift its emphasis in a way that could benefit more sellers. So, no plans to depart, but also no objection to a multi channel approach either.

[mam98031]

@smith.house.antiques 

" Just my thoughts on all the outrageous fees and charges. "

What are you comparing Ebay to that brought you to this conclusion?

[reallynicestamps]

I use to see everything that was for sale on eBay scroll by, item by item, all on one page.

Even when I joined in 1998, eBay took more than one page to show all the items in my niche category

"In the fourth quarter of 1997, eBay had 2 million auctions. By the end of 1998, eBay had over 1 million auctions listed in more than 1,000 categories."

Growth was that fast.

Raise prices and fees.

Prices have gone up for sure, and as a seller, I am delighted.

But you seem to have forgotten what fees were back in the 20th century.

Listing fees depended on the price the auction (no fixed price listings then) would start at - from 25c on a 99c item to $2.00 on a higher starting price. And then selling fees were 1.25% to 5% of the selling price.

I am forced to pay fees on taxes in another state!

Yes. That's something relatively new.

But just as Vermonters shop in NH to avoid VT sales tax, state governments were complaining that online sellers were cutting into their tax revenue, which they use for frivolities like roads and bridges and schools.

So the federal Congress brought in laws that forces online marketplaces to assess, collect and remit the sales tax that the buyer would pay if he bought locally.

The fees on the taxes -- it's easy for anyone who has run a business to spot someone  who has never had to qualify for a merchant credit card account.

Merchants have being paying those fees to the cards since the early '50s when Diner's Club was invented.

EBay and every other online payment processor charge their fees on the ENTIRE payment, however it was made up.

EBay had earlier moved to charge that way as a method of preventing fee avoidance on items sold for 99c with $99 shipping.

(On a 99c auction that got only one bid, that could be 30c- or 30% of the selling price)
Not to mention that we were paying for pictures at 10c a pop.

And all this "promotion" dung.

Is an option.

You don't have to use it at all and if you do you choose the rate and if you chose the rate you only have to pay it if it sells.

Any suggestion from eBay is good for eBay . If it is also good for sellers that is an unintended consequence.

Paypal gave us long term haulers stock options,

They did?
I signed up for PP when Billpoint folded, and was never even offered a chance to buy.

I did make a solid start to my pension by selling eBay stock every time it split, but nowadays it has moved from a gambling stock (you make money on resale) to a income stock (that pays quarterly dividends).

[reallynicestamps]

so tariffs on Chinese goods could be a double edged swords from ebay's point of view.

Not for dropshippers whose transactions are shipped directly from China.

US residents have an $800 duty free allowance.

That means you, personally, could import say $500 worth of goods every day from a Chinese seller (like Shein) without paying any duty. Sales tax maybe, but the US does not have a federal sales tax.

Yet.

Since the eBay dropshipping reseller is not importing, there is no tariff to be paid by them.

Since , usually, the Chinese imported merchandise is valued under $800, there is no duty or tariff to be paid by them.

Now if you are importing $10,000 worth of clothing , you the importer will be paying both duty and tariff.

Which might make these guys happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lg4gGk53iY

[johnrj1226]

Been buying  stuff at Walmart since 1982 at a brand new  brick little ole Walmart country store outside of Waco, Texas.  Walmart ain't  dun' anything special for me yet.  Shopping today at Walmart to day  is a challenge  - customer c

service is a lost art, they want you to bag your own, their   equate brand selections seems to be going the way of the do-do bird and the sayings made in the USA & always low price are no longer signage on the stores - went away many years ago.

As  far as  your eBay recognition thought goes  this '44 model will  leave you with these  two  thoughts -  "Time  changes every thing" &  "If  wishes were horses beggars would ride".

Ciao & Pura Vida

Life is still good

[johnrj1226]

You are spot on about Japan as being a top levels exporter  up until 1991. when therir inflation rate sky rocket and their cost of  goods were way to high.  Then they built  facilities  in the US, Korea  China to be competitive and  companies  like Toyota, Nisan, Honda, Mitsubishi  dominate the automotive markets (US big 3 shrank in dominace) , they even made products for Caterpillar - small diesel engines, motor graders, hydraulic excavators, Toyota  is #1  in the world for  cars now and also forklift trucks ( had a  41  year career in that industry).  Japan  is a trading country that deals with most countries of the world with lots of people and few natural resources - heck they  import rice from  SE Asia countries 'cause their home grown rice  is too expensive for their people

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@12345jamesstamps  Just a couple quick points.

One of the main reasons for Temu's success in the US is they send directly to the US consumer (although I think that is changing somewhat) which is to say, the $800 de minimis rule has undergirded their growth. You indicate a company like Temu would be a target, and that might be right....but if so, that means the de minimis rule itself will likely be a target (there is support and opposition on both sides of the aisle to its continuance). ebay indicated in the conference call that a substantial amount of the Chinese revenue is derived from auto parts and accessories, which is ebay's biggest single category by dollar volume I believe, and ebay has made a huge investment in trying to grow that category. Whether those parts are coming here under the de minimis rule or not, it seems likely that there will be at least some effort made to reduce or even eliminate the de minimis rule. The fact that ebay indicated the Chinese have been stock piling inventory in the US suggests that at least some of this stuff is not being sent under the de minimis rule.

I didn't really mean to get into a lengthy discussion about cross border trade, and certainly don't want to discuss politics more generally. My ONLY point is that we do not know just what will end up being targeted , but we should recognize that , in the end, ebay could benefit in some ways but also lose out in other ways, and so I would simply caution against expecting too much of a direct benefit for ebay sellers themselves.

One thing I think is a safe bet: ebay is watching all this very closely, and will have its lobbyists pushing for whatever ebay believes will benefit ebay the most. (As, of course, will other large corporations). 

I would advise ebay sellers to  keep an eye on these developments because, for some sellers, some new opportunities might emerge. But I will just leave it at that...as I said, I really don't want to get into a discussion about politics, cross border trade or speculation generally.

[lux.ra_14]

---

@johnrj1226 wrote:

Been buying  stuff at Walmart since 1932 at a brand new  brick little ole Walmart country store outside of Waco, Texas. 

---

I'll assume a typo, unless you're as old as the hills and somehow shopped at Walmart 30 years before it opened ...

[12345jamesstamps]

The funny thing...sellers buy items from Temu and resell them on eBay....because items are cheap on Temu.

[doc-holmes]

“I never got girls when I was a kid. One girl told me, 'Come on over, there's nobody home.' I went over. There was nobody home.”

[mam98031]

@reallynicestamps 

I am forced to pay fees on taxes in another state!

Yes. That's something relatively new.

Not really.  When PayPal was our money processor, we paid fees to Paypal for the entire amount of money they processed.  The same is true now for Ebay as they are the Money Processor now.  Before they were the money processor, we did not pay fees to Ebay for Sales tax charged the buyer.

[johnrj1226]

Thanks  - fixed

[johnrj1226]

Some days a diamond - some days a chunk of coal  

- this song will fix you up - saw him a Gillies in Pasadena, TX in 84

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=john+anderson+just+an+old+chunk+of+coal

[ateta1643]

I support you.
I've been here since 2008. I was a buyer for a long time. Now I'm a seller.

I have a good rating. I try for buyers. But eBay treats sellers worse and worse every year. Some new stupid rules. Stupid attitude towards sellers.

My account was blocked yesterday because of ONE negative review from a newbie who wanted to receive his postcard to England, without tracking, from Ukraine in 15 calendar days. This is not possible! I was also accused of returning money to buyers THREE times after selling items. They don't ask me why I returned the money. They blame me! Although I have my reasons: buyers are NOT attentive. And I am guilty!
Business has been very bad on eBay for several years. And the eBay administration is preventing me from selling the rest of my items.
The seller is charged fees even if there are no sales.
I wonder what eBay will do when there are no sellers that eBay blocks for Honest attitude towards buyers.

[brightlightbookseller]

Your account was not blocked because of a review.  It may have been restricted/suspended due to cases opened against you, but reviews themselves are not counted in the service metrics and are not used to evaluate seller accounts. EDIT: And what's up with your response?  That makes you look terrible, instead of helping to alleviate the problem of a negative review.