New final value fees

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Hello, I have been selling on Ebay since 2003 and have witnessed many buyer trends and in my selling. That is why I want to address the new Final Value Fees. Ebay has been a life line for me selling in my later life. My ancestors did not have this asset. However, we need to keep a grip on things with the new eBay policies especially the final value fees increasing when the new trend is for the younger generation and others to no longer have a desire to buy collectibles especially collectible that at one time where very expensive to buy originally. I feel these fees are actually over the top and excessive when one takes that into a fact. Also, I do enjoy the 250 free listing fees each month and other incentives iniated by eBay.  However, there are so many added fees that this last year I sold at a loss  or break even point on sales when we factor in the larger shipping fees for those we ship to at a distance but still want to keep competitive on our shipping cost offered to potential buyers. I feel we should be able to either adjust the shipping for mileage on an indiviual completed sale or restrict selling to those areas. If anyone has any suggestions, please respond.

Thank you, a senior citizen, Diane 

[mam98031]

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@youn2240 wrote:

why do old people think their stuff is worth so much? I think that may be the main issue on this thread. 

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OMG not only is that really rude @youn2240 , it would be incorrect.  Not sure what makes you feel this way, but you would be wrong.

What age do you consider someone as being "old"?

How do you know the age of the members posting here?

[inhawaii]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@youn2240 wrote:

why do old people think their stuff is worth so much? I think that may be the main issue on this thread. 

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OMG not only is that really rude @youn2240 , it would be incorrect.  Not sure what makes you feel this way, but you would be wrong.

What age do you consider someone as being "old"?

How do you know the age of the members posting here?

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I can remember when I thought "old" was anyone over 30.   😉

[mam98031]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@youn2240 wrote:

why do old people think their stuff is worth so much? I think that may be the main issue on this thread. 

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OMG not only is that really rude @youn2240 , it would be incorrect.  Not sure what makes you feel this way, but you would be wrong.

What age do you consider someone as being "old"?

How do you know the age of the members posting here?

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I can remember when I thought "old" was anyone over 30.   😉

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I'm doomed !!!!

[johnrj1226]

There are many items the  have gone the  way of the dodo bird.  Collectables are everywhere =  very low prices. and  they  rarely move  at yard sales, estate sales. thrift stores . The younger generations have little interest in them.  If you  need the extra $ you need to find stuff to sell that  people want or need.

.

[chapeau-noir]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@youn2240 wrote:

why do old people think their stuff is worth so much? I think that may be the main issue on this thread. 

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That statement is politically incorrect.    😉

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Yes! Please, it should be "persons of distinguished years" or "old farts".

[pickapaper]

@antiquesnemethdi13 

I would think if you have been selling on eBay for 22 years, that you would have figured out long before now that you are not charging enough for shipping, especially on those pieces of artwork (especially if they are framed under glass) and other larger items.  And it is puzzling that you appear unaware of calculated shipping.   You have received some good advice above about adjusting your shipping charges.  And remember, if you offer free shipping, you have to build the cost you are going to pay for shipping into the price of the item.  

With that aside, the only other suggestion I would make is to stop doing auctions.  Years ago, auctions worked well for a lot of things but in this day and age, they primarily only work for rare, unique, or highly sought after items.  Buyers want instant gratification now; they want to buy something and have it shipped quickly, they don't want to wait a week for an auction item to end.   (I see a lot of your auction items only received one bid; that is a good indication that auctions don't work for that item.)  You would be better off to list your items as "buy it now" items, priced at the price you want for the item plus the correct postage added.

P.S.  A lot of people on this board are senior citizens, including myself.  In my opinion, being a senior citizen selling on eBay just means that one has to forget how it "used to be", try to keep up with what it is like now as far as trends, have a fairly good idea of what is no longer desirable, and adjust for changes such as fees and postage increases accordingly.    

[johnrj1226]

Never considered my self as old as a '44 model, but fortunate enough to have more opportunities to have gained more life experiences than those younger.  And shared what I learned along the way  -  with family, friends, neighbors and strangers.

[youn2240]

when people say they are senior citizens is when I start thinking they may be older people.  I figured it all out because they wrote it down. another thing that made me aware of their age was when they said "younger generations have no desire to buy collectibles" which is completely false but whatever.  so really I wasn't being rude about their age because they were saying they were a senior citizen. I have noticed you have a very hard time picking up on many things like context or what is going on in the threads. 

[fern*wood]

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@antiquesnemethdi13 wrote:

 However, there are so many added fees that this last year I sold at a loss  or break even point on sales when we factor in the larger shipping fees for those we ship to at a distance but still want to keep competitive on our shipping cost offered to potential buyers. I feel we should be able to either adjust the shipping for mileage on an indiviual completed sale or restrict selling to those areas. If anyone has any suggestions, please respond.

Thank you, a senior citizen, Diane 

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This is the easiest issue to solve.  As mentioned, you seem to be using flat rate (guessing) shipping --- don't do that.  You asked for a way to adjust postage for mileage and that is what calculated shipping does.   It also automatically adjusts your listings for postage increases, which happen every other day it seems.   I also have my preferences set to not pass on the discounts, which takes care of the fees on postage and most of my supplies. 

No one should be losing money on shipping, unless they make a mistake when entering the package information when they list.  I'm only speaking of USPS, though, since UPS or FedEx has lots of add-ons they can charge after the fact.

[youn2240]

Heres the thing about you guys all saying just raise your shipping prices. that's an increase in cost on the customer and if the items aren't selling and generating enough money for the original poster there is no way that raising the price is going to improve this issue. it's going to slow down sales. which brings me back to the unrealistic expectation of the items value that can occur to the senior citizens in this thread. Everything has a value you just might be wrong on what it is. The way to solve this issue is to purchase items at lower prices. take like a car for example it's going to be 35-40k dollars off the lot and in 10 years it's going to be like 5k. Values of items can do 3 things which are stay the same, appreciate, and it's even possible for items values to depreciate. 

You might need to reframe how you are going about things if you are losing money or breaking even on most sales. you either paid too much for the item or you're underpricing and if sales are slow it's definitely not under pricing. So the issue is you have way too much money into the item you are selling or you have put an unrealistic value on the item. 

So is it better to raise prices and generate less money overall but more per item or potentially nothing on the item. Or is it better to cut prices to create cash flow and purchase a different item to sell. If you buy an item and its sitting on your eBay shelves it's a sink of money. which leads to an opportunity lost in the future if you can't make a purchase on another item to repeat this process because your money is tied up. 

Me personally if I am not making a lot of money on here I am going to drop my prices so the cash comes back my way and then find different items or the same items again but have a better picture of what it will bring in. If I'm selling a good amount and generating a couple dollars I am more likely to keep my prices the same or even raise up because dollars are coming my way which gives an opportunity to expand a little. you gotta work the ebb and flow but sinking money, time, space, and energy into things and losing money or breaking even is definitely not a good economic practice so when those items get listed that are like that I am willing to cut that loss as quick as possible when it becomes apparent and live to fight another day. 

[chariot_badges]

1234567890

[chariot_badges]

Heres the thing about you guys all saying just raise your shipping prices. that's an increase in cost on the customer and if the items aren't selling and generating enough money for the original poster there is no way that raising the price is going to improve this issue. it's going to slow down sales. which brings me back to the unrealistic expectation of the items value 

But, what if ... the resulting loss in sales results in an increase of income?

Sell 100 widgets a month at $10 each for a gross of $1000 and a net of $500.

Or, 80 widgets at $150 with a net of $1200 and a net of $600.

What's wrong with working less and making more?

It's the goal of us all.

And, if they're not selling at all ... then ya gotta wonder what you're doing?

And why?

[youn2240]

There's nothing wrong with that. if it's working it's working. but if you're listing 80 widgets at 15 and not getting sales when you can see 100 have sold for 10.00 there is an issue. especially if the sellers take their money from the 100 and buy another 200 that they will then list lower than your 15.00 so it can get into a scenario where other sellers are making thousands and taking away hundreds of potential customers for that widget before you break even on said widgets. 

[antiquesnemethdi13]

I should have said not newly added but existing.

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Thank you so much for your confirmation of the trend on collectibles, as a senior. I respect what you have stated and “thank you” for taking the time to respond to my concerns. I pray for all peoples especially seniors and victims and Families of all those in recent trauma accidents. Never knew how much seniors are at risk for so much until now that I am there. 

Thank you so much. 

Kind Regards, Diane