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 

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Thank you so much eBay friend. You have important and useful interventions. We will continue to try for now. Hope eBay doesn’t place themselves out of the market all together. 

😢 Diane

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Thank you for your support and ideas about my interventions. 😊 Diane

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Thank you for your helpful comments and supports. 😊 Diane

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Congratulations on your low priced finds. I understand since I probably have seen most of this over the 22 of selling on eBay and what works and what does not. Since, I have been on eBay so long I just can compare all the eBay changes mostly for their company and not for us sellers. I wish they could put their feet in our selling shoes instead of management shoes.

😊 Thank you for your comments of support, In Christian Faith I remain, Diane

[mam98031]

"Why do resellers think their stuff is worth so much money?"  Usually personal attachment, which has nothing to do with the seller's age.

"When eBay was just coming up, collectors were happy to pay a little more to complete their collections,..."  You said you are an "older millennial" by your own description.  So you are in your early to mid 40's.  Ebay is turning 30 this year.  So you are saying when you were preteen you were shopping Ebay and learning about collectibles?

"...the pool of potential collectors is growing smaller..."  I'm not at all sure that is true.  But what I find to be true is what many people are collecting today is very different from what sellers were selling in the beginning of Ebay.  People are still collecting, just not antiques or vintage glass.

Congratulations on your recent find of glassware you collect.  It is very pretty.

[mam98031]

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@antiquesnemethdi13 wrote:

Thank you for your comments. Your opinion is exactly what I am seeing and feel. Ebay will price themselves out of the martlet all together in the not too long future. Sadly, Diane

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NO, I think you misunderstood something.  I firmly disagree with "Ebay will price themselves out of the martlet [market]..."  But I agree sellers will.

Ebay isn't the least expensive place to sell, but they certainly aren't the most expensive place to sell.  If you feel other sites that are cheaper are better, give them a try.  You will find they don't get the traffic or exposure that Ebay does.  There is value in that even though many do not acknowledge it.

The post of mine you are commenting to was to a poster that wanted to sell a $10 item here with an $80 shipping price and blamed that they can't make money on the item on Ebay.  It is NOT and never has been Ebay's fault for shipping prices.  If you are selling something that has to be shipped, whether you sell it here or on some other site, you will pay shipping.  And all sites similar to Ebay charge their fees on shipping too.

[mam98031]

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@antiquesnemethdi13 wrote:

Congratulations on your low priced finds. I understand since I probably have seen most of this over the 22 of selling on eBay and what works and what does not. Since, I have been on eBay so long I just can compare all the eBay changes mostly for their company and not for us sellers. I wish they could put their feet in our selling shoes instead of management shoes.

😊Thank you for your comments of support, In Christian Faith I remain, Diane

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What are you comparing them to?  That is an important piece of information you didn't provide.

[insaneshanedotnet]

@mam98031 

I get what you are saying. I was just making a point to explain what I was getting at. I was using that as an example. A large heavy item that is only worth $100 total tops. You list it for $10 because you know it is going to cost $100 to ship. No one local wants it or can use it. You hate to just send it to the landfill when someone several states away would love to have it and can use it. Instead of you making $10 for your troubles, the buyer paying the items fair value, USPS making their share, tax man getting his share, and eBay still making money, it is not like that. The seller ends up owning ebay more money than he even made.  I know all items are not like this but it makes my point.

I also understand in part why ebay did this. (Sellers selling a $100 item for $1 and $99 shipping) but if you print out the shipping label using ebay's shipping label service, then they shouldn't charge you a fee on the shipping too. To me, this is a multi billion dollar a year profiting company double dipping on the little guy. 

[isaiah53-57 · Accepted solution]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

However, there are so many added fees

What specifically are the "many fees" that have been added?

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@antiquesnemethdi13 

I also started selling here in 2003 - At that time, there was a .10 cent cost to list an item under $9.99 and the FVFs were 1.9% for auctions ending less $10... and up to 2.9% for items ending $50 to $100, and 3.9% up to $1000 - after that there were caps...There was a .10 cent charge for additional photos later, but back then, it only took 1 photo to sell an item anyway - actually, likely 1/4 of all listings didnt even have a photo, just a description.

The FVFs were on THE ITEM PRICE alone - So FVFs on a $9.99 item were .19 cents plus the .10 cent listing fee for a Grand total of .29 cents (not long after on it would become .42 cents total fees including the .13 cent PayPal fee at 1.3%)

Today that same $9.99 item could easily see fees upwards of $2.50 to $4 (25% to 40% of the items price) and even over, and thats not even counting Promoted listing fees if you're ok with the exploitation(in my opinion) that comes along with using them...

So yes... Some fees have been added and ALL fees have gone up...

[mam98031]

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@insaneshanedotnet wrote:

@mam98031 

I get what you are saying. I was just making a point to explain what I was getting at. I was using that as an example. A large heavy item that is only worth $100 total tops. You list it for $10 because you know it is going to cost $100 to ship. No one local wants it or can use it. You hate to just send it to the landfill when someone several states away would love to have it and can use it. Instead of you making $10 for your troubles, the buyer paying the items fair value, USPS making their share, tax man getting his share, and eBay still making money, it is not like that. The seller ends up owning ebay more money than he even made.  I know all items are not like this but it makes my point.

I also understand in part why ebay did this. (Sellers selling a $100 item for $1 and $99 shipping) but if you print out the shipping label using ebay's shipping label service, then they shouldn't charge you a fee on the shipping too. To me, this is a multi billion dollar a year profiting company double dipping on the little guy. 

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Still if you are going to sell something on the internet, it has to be shipped whether you sell it here or on some other site.  And you will have to pay fees.  The only way around the fees is set up your own site.

The seller ONLY EVERY owes Ebay more than what they got for the sale if the seller incorrectly prices the item or is selling something that can't get that seller enough money to make it worth while to sell it on the internet.  That isn't Ebay's fault.  I know you are striving to make it Ebay's fault, but it just isn't.  Not all things are meant to be sold on the internet.

I don't understand.  Why should Ebay not charge a fee on shipping if you print your label in Ebay??  Ebay doesn't get to keep that money when you print a label on the site, it goes to the carrier.  Why should Ebay do that?  

They aren't double dipping.  You pay ONE fee on shipping.  And Ebay is NOT unique with this fee, other similar sites charge it too, even when you can print labels on their sites.

[mam98031]

Of course.  Costs on everything have gone up.  Anyone that thinks the fees should be the same as they were 20 years ago is simply mistaken.  The costs to run the site simply are not the same.

[isaiah53-57]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Of course.  Costs on everything have gone up.  Anyone that thinks the fees should be the same as they were 20 years ago is simply mistaken.  The costs to run the site simply are not the same.

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1st off, NO ONE said that fees should be the same as 20 years ago - Where did you get that from? And why must I ask that question EVERY TIME you respond to one of my posts?

The poster was asking what fees have been added ...as though the OP was an exaggeration - But there are many fees that have been added as was decried in the OP that have raised overall fees and costs.

The common example I provided is a 1000% price increase over 20 years - What other costs have gone up that much?

The example also does not include the 6% "Below Standard" fine - or the international sale fee - or store fees - or listing upgrade fees - or quick release of money fees - or promoted listing fees  etc, etc, many of these have been added fees(like FVFs on shipping and then on sales tax, built into the example I provided without mention of them)...

It also doesnt take into account the degrade in, reduction in, or loss of site function or services over time, such as: a degrade to a useless customer support system - Top-rated seller discount reduction - a MBG that leaves sellers hanging out to dry - reduced advertising - a biased search - a purported, yet still inconsequential(imho) increase in buyers over many quarters - a rapidly declining market share - etc, etc... All this happening while they raise or add fees... End stage capitalism at its best as far as I'm concerned...

[antiquesnemethdi13]

Thank you for defining the details of what I wanted to say.  😢 Diane

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@richard1rst 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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It is a carryover from the old flea market life. Years before eBay (and therefore old people in general).

If I wanted $10 for something I would mark it 15 or maybe 17.50. Knowing full well that at a flea market someone would come along and offer maybe $5. I would then counter offer, they would  re-counter offer and we would eventually settle on something close to $10.00. Objective achieved.

Ever heard of muscle memory? For some old people eBay is a flea market.

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For much of the general public Ebay is a flea market. For this old person, Ebay is a retail venue, and my prices are firm, not subject to buyer offers and auctions are a way of getting rid of items I might sell at a flea market, if I wasn't so lazy.

Ebay is so big that few generalizations about it are correct, other than it has an image which is inferior to most mass market retail websites in terms of buyer safety, and product quality.

Many items are priced by sellers at what a motivated collector will pay. Many Ebay sellers do not know what amount that is. Sellers who intend to sell to collectors, actually offer collectible items, and are not desperate for money can wait out the lowball sellers, who will either sell the item or give up listing it.

A high priced seller might have to wait several years before they sell an item for their price. Just as many antiquarian book sellers have huge inventories which turn slowly but provide an enormous profit margin on each sale. For strategic purposes, I assume my cost of goods sold to be zero. My costs for unsold inventory are my storage space and Ebay Store Fees. For  sold inventory, Ebay FVFs, packing material and shipping.

And I like many other sellers buy appropriate NEW packaging materials which are chosen to minimize the labor to pack an order.

I recommend sellers  do what is appropriate for themselves, in terms of profit, labor and their own standards. I reserve the right to detest people who devalue the merchandise they sell.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@johnrj1226 wrote:

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.

.

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Indeed some are, but many are not. The definition of collectible is vague and can best be defined as something which a collector wishes to add to their collection.

If there are no collectors, the item is not collectible. There are no collectors for many items which have previously had collectors.

Truly rare collectibles are not everywhere. Truly rare collectibles are beyond the knowledge of many so-called collectors, who rely on authentication and grading services. Many rare variations of collectibles are beyond the knowledge of these services, they will return these items saying they cannot authenticate them.

Many collectors know less about their collection than past collectors, and rarely shop on Ebay where the number of sellers they feel the can trust to have and properly represent items for their collections is lower than 10 years ago.

If your definition of a collectible is Royal Doulton, or Knowles plates or Hummels, any of a wide group of made to be collected items the collectors are gone. But they were mostly gone 25 years ago, with sales at that time primarily replacements for broken items in their collections.

I am amazed by the number of stamp and coin sellers on this forum. I am pleased they still exist because it represents the continued life for what they sell.