eBay Shipping supplies - no longer a reasonable option

[theshoppetrishgree]

I used to purchase my shipping supplies through eBay Shipping Supplies using my quarterly coupon but it seems the prices have gotten worse and worse to the point that I cannot imagine paying full price for any of these items. They are obviously only marketing to store sellers because the $25 coupon for basic store owners barely makes a dent in the cost of most items  

I just noticed they have a listing for shipping stickers and charging over $40. A total of 144 stickers of varying sizes for $40.  These are 2.5-4” stickers.  Who would pay $40 for mostly useless stickers except the This End Up (which the shipping companies really don’t care about). Most shipping companies prefer no added stickers to packaging and most of these are decorations. 
Aside from the stickers, $32 for a pack or eBay branded tissue paper, some of the boxes are nearly $2, some are more.  
If this coupon was a benefit, we would be getting our moneys worth but it’s a money maker instead. It gets sellers to buy from the ebay store rather than looking elsewhere. eBay already charges exorbitant fees! I just noticed the final value fee for books the other day! It used to be one of the lower percentages back when I sold more books. Now it iw 14.95% of the total, including tax and shipping. Plus the flat feet. 

I started  contemplating leaving eBay 2 years ago, but since I didn’t have time to list all of my inventory anyway, there was no point looking elsewhere to sell.  I am rethinking things as I am sure many are. eBay is more for big sellers, international sellers and the like. It is not so much for the little guy like it used to be many moons ago. 

[mam98031]

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@theshoppetrishgree wrote:

I agree, you can’t. I have other items listed but haven’t really marketed them for a while now. I also have many more higher dollar items to list as well now that I have time, but I have been hesitant because of the fees.  

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What does Ebay fees have to do with Ebay shipping supplies??

[reallynicestamps]

When I apply the coupon to the shipping  supplies I want to buy, it reduces the cost below what I would pay at Staples.

No shipping either, so I don't have to leave the house.

My cost is maybe one or two dollars plus sales tax on the original price.

A deal in my opinion.

I probably should mention that I try to hide the eBay brand on my packages to discourage porch pirates.

[lonebuck-books]

I just look at the $25 quarterly coupon as essentially getting one month of store cost for free.  I use the coupon to buy what I need that is the best price and buy my other supplies elsewhere.   Yeah eBay's prices are high, but again I just look at the coupon as a free months rent.

[cosmicstuff2010]

Don't look for ANY of these **bleep** **bleep**ers policies and platforms to get better. Chaos and Dog **bleep** is ALL they know. 

[mam98031]

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@cosmicstuff2010 wrote:

Don't look for ANY of these **bleep** **bleep**ers policies and platforms to get better. Chaos and Dog **bleep** is ALL they know. 

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I am so glad I do not feel that way about the sites I sell on.  I certainly don't agree with some of the rules, but all the rules are bad.

If you don't know AND understand the policies of any given site you are selling on, you are just setting yourself up for unnecessary problems.

[rugerskick]

I agree.  The supplement for shipping supplies each quarter is one of the few real tangible benefits sellers receive.

[inhawaii]

Ebay is the only company (as far as I know) that will offer me free shipping on cardboard boxes to Hawaii.

For me it's a bargain and I am thankful to get the $25 coupon every quarter.

[mam98031]

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@rugerskick wrote:

I agree.  The supplement for shipping supplies each quarter is one of the few real tangible benefits sellers receive.

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I find other things that Ebay offers very helpful and it saves me money.  The biggest one is the amount of Free Listings I get with my Basic Store subscription.  I also like the reduced FVFs.  I see those both as "tangible benefits" too that save me money.  

I've been here long enough to remember how much I was paying in listing fees alone before Ebay gave us more free ones with a Store.  

[reallynicestamps]

To be clear, there are no 'free' listings with a subscription.

The cost of each listing is the subscription price divided by the number of listings.

So if your subscription is $25 and  you have 1000 listings eachcosts 2.5c.

But if you list only 100 each costs 25c.

A saving but not free.

[luckythewinner]

I am rethinking things as I am sure many are. eBay is more for big sellers, international sellers and the like

I have 1200 listings and pay zero insertion fees and no store fees.

I'm a small seller of mostly one-off music memorabilia, and eBay is still a great option for me. 

I have never considered buying any eBay shipping supplies. Their cost would never factor into my evaluation of eBay as a platform.

[mam98031]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

To be clear, there are no 'free' listings with a subscription.

The cost of each listing is the subscription price divided by the number of listings.

So if your subscription is $25 and  you have 1000 listings eachcosts 2.5c.

But if you list only 100 each costs 25c.

A saving but not free.

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That is one way to look at it, but there was a time where we had LESS free listings and the price of the store was similar to what it is now.  And for many sellers we get to use the additional 10,000 free listings in certain categories.  That is not something we had before they made this change too.

A store offers so much more than just free listings.  It is a very good value for the money IF you list enough listings on a regular basis.

[mam98031]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

I am rethinking things as I am sure many are. eBay is more for big sellers, international sellers and the like

I have 1200 listings and pay zero insertion fees and no store fees.

I'm a small seller of mostly one-off music memorabilia, and eBay is still a great option for me. 

I have never considered buying any eBay shipping supplies. Their cost would never factor into my evaluation of eBay as a platform.

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"I have 1200 listings and pay zero insertion fees and no store fees."  Explain this please.  Do you use multiple selling accounts?

[mam98031]

@theshoppetrishgree 

"eBay is more for big sellers, international sellers and the like."  As for international sellers, yes, there are more of them than there are US sellers.  Of course that is because we are one country and there about 195 countries in the World.

As for small and casual sellers.  We make up the majority of sellers on Ebay.  

[sapphire_studio]

I think the main issue people have is they used to see it more like getting a free $25 and a month on your store for free. But with extremely steep rise of cost of the supplies (everything is much more expensive compared to buying those supplies elsewhere) it's less like getting a $25 bonus and more like maybe getting half of that.

[gloryglorygifts]

I'm confused. Why are you wasting your coupon on EBAY BRANDED stickers when you could be using it to supplement your packaging needs?

Personally, I would rather pay a little extra to get some boxes or envelopes than paying a higher store subscription or other fee. That's where they are subsidizing the coupons from after all. I get my boxes and envelopes from Staples. You can put your own brand name on them instead of promoting ebay as they are blank.