GTC is a money maker for eBay. Many have commented, "you just have to be better at managing your listings". I do just fine managing my listings - would rather not have to do math, or build a spreadsheet, or sort my listings (all the suggestions that others have posted) to catch the 28th or 29th day and go end listings etc etc...Keep in mind your have to find those listings when you want to relist them, so more filtering of lists etc...You get the sense eBay wants you to spend more time on the site - who knows, maybe one day they''ll send a seller update that says they are going to start charging for the amount of time you spend on the site.
Who makes money on eBay? Let's do some math.
1. eBay - top dog winner; they charge to list (amazon doesn't), they charge for final sale, they charge for some other misc ad improvement features (multiple categories, promoted listings etc). Listing on eBay should be free, even if it would mean increasing (slightly please eBay if you are reading this) final fees - this is what amazon does. With unlimited free listing, all the drama and chatter around GTC wouldn't matter and the only positive eBay mentions about the feature (continued and longer item exposure) would in fact be realized by everyone. We'd also spend LESS time on the site, trusting then unsold, ended items would automatically be re-listed. Will eBay listen? Doubtful. You know what they'd recommend we do? Open a store. And you think you'd get something with a store right? Well yeah you get some additional free listings - but remember, when fixed price listing ends, they will be re-listed. Oh and did I mention, stores cost more money.
2. Paypal. They don't do bad either. And when eBay owned them, that was a pretty nice e-commerce monopoly especially when eBay forced everyone to be paid this way. Granted they haven't raised rates in a while (shhhh don't give them any ideas) - given how quickly & seamlessly financial e-transaction occur today, seems that Paypal's standard fee and percentage of sale fee is excessive.
3. The good old US government post office. This is my favorite. Fought the e-commerce revolution tooth and nail. Then a light went off one day and like, "why fight this, let's join this"...And they did, stopped crying about nobody is using stamps anymore and started making smart partner arrangements with Fed Ex and Amazon. Yes, that's why you see (and hear, because they don't maintain their trucks) US Postal trucks in your neighborhoods on Sundays. Anybody remember when they were talking about taking away Saturday delivery and also going to every other day delivery? Not now, they're all in because they are making money. And oh, thanks for the rate hike early this year, I/we look forward to more of those going forward.
4. eBay sellers - hmmm, that's us. Many of us have a day job, enjoy make a little extra money here buying and selling things for which we have passion and enjoyment. Sale Price minus eBay list, final, feature fees minus postal fees (oh don't forget, eBay strongly recommends free shipping, forgetting sometimes that free shipping is really only free for the buyer) minus PayPal fees minus misc supplies fees (boxes, envelopes, tape, printer ink and paper) = NET PROFIT TO SELLER. Anybody got the sinking feeling that we are working on eBay for everyone other that ourselves?
Back to the GTC topic. I'll hang around a little, I've got a really simple strategy for dealing with the auto re-list eBay money maker. May eventually even consider a basic store ($5 a month for eBay). I wish all sellers luck, trying to do the right thing on eBay is hard, seems like SOMETHING always can get in the way of doing that.
