eBay

drums4fun1 · ‎10-01-2019

So I started selling on Bonanza. Sales were good and as they picked up I opted for a higher tier of advertising that includes eBay. Now I barely sell anything on Bonanza and everything is selling on eBay. Has anyone ran into this issue? I'm thinking maybe eBay owns Bonanza and they're just taking more of the money from my sales on both ends.

mam98031 · ‎10-02-2019

@mansons2005 wrote:
General Reply:
I don't know why anyone would stop selling there. Even if sales are not brisk, it costs nothing to list, listings are Good Till Canceled, and there is no way you can beat 3.5% Final Value Fees. And if you get to know the ins and outs of the site, you can get daily "rewards" which you can use toward paying your Monthly Bill. I sell there (as well as other venues), and get fair to middling activity - without promotions or external promoting. It's just another outlet in the vanguard of sites available these days. Yes, you do have to remember to removes any items sold from other venues - but that is part of doing a job and doing it correctly - not big deal............................

Because those ins and outs you speak of, the "rewards", it all takes a little time each day to go and take advantage of them. And one sale [for me] in two years does not warrant that at all. My time is better spent on other things to include just relaxing with a cup of coffee.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

mansons2005 · ‎10-02-2019

Funny you should put it that way! That's the first thing I do each morning - pour my first cup and go through each site printing packing slips and updating inventory - it takes about 15-20 minutes to run through all of the venues. My second cup is spent on emails - reading and replying - on all 5 accounts. My third cup is spent on my personal email account and then it is on the the order of the day. I actually did stop using one site for a while, but had to resume as it left me nothing to do for the last quarter of my first cup lol!

As we say here, to each his/her own. My opinion is that any $$ is worth 5 minutes of my time each day - others weigh it differently and I respect that.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-02-2019

Our problem with Bonanza -- and I agree with most of your points about costs, both financial and labour-- was that we got so few sales there that it was difficult to remember the process for completing the transaction. Only one staff member knew how to do it quickly, and she had other responsibilities. (Not a problem for smaller sellers.)

And then when we sold something on eBay , it had to be removed from Bonanzle/Bonanza, which was again a simple job but a labour cost.

But it was a nice clean site and I wish it had done better.

tj8799 · ‎12-09-2019

I sell on Bonanza going onto 1 year sold 25 items very low fees listed until sold means no re list fees ever % on the sale was like 4-5 dollars for final fees I like it

eBay said I could not sell on here (eBay) as I had low sales and did no loner meet there sales rules?

I always shipped on time and no problems except for taking buyers to eBay for cases but always won

So Bonanza is the best place to be if you don't want to pay a relist fee and high % on final sales
tj8799

tj8799 · ‎12-09-2019

I should also add they give you rewards 10 tokens every day meaning when you get to 500 which don't take long you can apply that to the statement for the fee and get $1.00 off your invoice

doho6974 · ‎12-09-2019

@tj8799 wrote:
I should also add they give you rewards 10 tokens every day meaning when you get to 500 which don't take long you can apply that to the statement for the fee and get $1.00 off your invoice

Sounds like a sad gimmick to beg sellers to stay despite low sales and little traffic.

grasshopperx · ‎12-09-2019

I like it because it's a good place to plop a listing. The pics and description. then I can lift off the pics, description, and easlily list the same item on other venues. I DID sell a 155. doll there last month. Clap for me please. That was quiet feat! I pulled off the impossible? 🙂 but you guys are right.. no action, no traffic. But these days the larger sites are becoming the Ranch.

kittykat.949 · ‎12-09-2019

I tried Bonanza for 3 years & sold 5 items. Their thinking is we give you the site for nothing & its up to you to bring in the traffic. We all have to remember that not all sites want to be multi-billion dollar businesses. I got the distinct impression that the management at Bonanza wanted to keep things small & lean & if the top people pulled in a couple of million each every year---they were happy. My most vivid memory of Bonanza was there was one seller who was their biggest most die-hard cheerleader until they made a change that drastically affected her & she went on & on about how horrible they were & then she was gone. If you cannot keep your biggest supporter happy---what chance for happiness do the rest of us have? GOOD LUCK

mam98031 · ‎12-09-2019

@tj8799 wrote:
I sell on Bonanza going onto 1 year sold 25 items very low fees listed until sold means no re list fees ever % on the sale was like 4-5 dollars for final fees I like it

eBay said I could not sell on here (eBay) as I had low sales and did no loner meet there sales rules?

I always shipped on time and no problems except for taking buyers to eBay for cases but always won

So Bonanza is the best place to be if you don't want to pay a relist fee and high % on final sales
tj8799

Would explain that a bit further please. Ebay has no such rule that you have to be able to sell a certain $$ amount here or you can't sell on the site. Now you may have had issues with some of the rules of selling, but that would be different and without specifics, it is hard to comment on what transpired for you. Now Ebay certainly may have suspended your selling privileges if you were breaching some of the rules for the site.

There are more rules than just shipping on time and not having any problems with buyers. If your listing structure breached the rules that could have been an issue.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

papermoneyforme · ‎12-09-2019

@mam98031 wrote:
I sold on Bonanza for a couple years. Whoops "sold on" is really misleading. I had listings up on Bonanza for a couple years. I sold exactly ONE item. I did not pay for any higher tier advertising. If you can't sell anything as a regular seller AT ALL, why would I want to pay them more money. I could see it if I was selling as a regular member and that a higher tier to increase sales. But not to get sales in the first place. Well maybe get sales.

For me, a complete waste of time.

What do you think Ebay's sponsored listings are? Pay to sell!

mam98031 · ‎12-09-2019

@papermoneyforme wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
I sold on Bonanza for a couple years. Whoops "sold on" is really misleading. I had listings up on Bonanza for a couple years. I sold exactly ONE item. I did not pay for any higher tier advertising. If you can't sell anything as a regular seller AT ALL, why would I want to pay them more money. I could see it if I was selling as a regular member and that a higher tier to increase sales. But not to get sales in the first place. Well maybe get sales.

For me, a complete waste of time.
What do you think Ebay's sponsored listings are? Pay to sell!

@papermoneyforme

I wasn't aware that I questioned what a "sponsored listing" is? Are you suggesting that unless you do a sponsored listing on Ebay you can't sell anything??? I would strongly disagree with that position and I have plenty of facts to support my position.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

papermoneyforme · ‎12-09-2019

@mam98031 wrote:
@papermoneyforme wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
I sold on Bonanza for a couple years. Whoops "sold on" is really misleading. I had listings up on Bonanza for a couple years. I sold exactly ONE item. I did not pay for any higher tier advertising. If you can't sell anything as a regular seller AT ALL, why would I want to pay them more money. I could see it if I was selling as a regular member and that a higher tier to increase sales. But not to get sales in the first place. Well maybe get sales.

For me, a complete waste of time.
What do you think Ebay's sponsored listings are? Pay to sell!
@papermoneyforme

I wasn't aware that I questioned what a "sponsored listing" is? Are you suggesting that unless you do a sponsored listing on Ebay you can't sell anything??? I would strongly disagree with that position and I have plenty of facts to support my position.

Never suggested that. Every site has pay to play INCLUDING Ebay.

What they charge for a store is a pay to play.

Ever other site I have looked at does not charge for a store.

Unless you have deep pockets for a store, you need a listing program as well which is another expensive cost for nothing. TL is still around but for how long, your guess is as good as mine. Knowing Ebay. a day in the not to distant future it will be TL is dead.

Any one listing a decent number of items is out $80 per month before selling anything.

If you take in eBay's ridiculous return program, those costs will add up as well.

Then the managed payments with the 25¢ per item for multiple items per order will also take another bite.

You will not agree, I am sure, but Ebay is forcing out many small sellers of lower priced items do to all their changes and costs to use the program. And then there are very few sales for many sellers.

mam98031 · ‎12-09-2019

@papermoneyforme wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@papermoneyforme wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
I sold on Bonanza for a couple years. Whoops "sold on" is really misleading. I had listings up on Bonanza for a couple years. I sold exactly ONE item. I did not pay for any higher tier advertising. If you can't sell anything as a regular seller AT ALL, why would I want to pay them more money. I could see it if I was selling as a regular member and that a higher tier to increase sales. But not to get sales in the first place. Well maybe get sales.

For me, a complete waste of time.
What do you think Ebay's sponsored listings are? Pay to sell!
@papermoneyforme

I wasn't aware that I questioned what a "sponsored listing" is? Are you suggesting that unless you do a sponsored listing on Ebay you can't sell anything??? I would strongly disagree with that position and I have plenty of facts to support my position.
Never suggested that. Every site has pay to play INCLUDING Ebay.

What they charge for a store is a pay to play.

Ever other site I have looked at does not charge for a store.

Unless you have deep pockets for a store, you need a listing program as well which is another expensive cost for nothing. TL is still around but for how long, your guess is as good as mine. Knowing Ebay. a day in the not to distant future it will be TL is dead.

Any one listing a decent number of items is out $80 per month before selling anything.

If you take in eBay's ridiculous return program, those costs will add up as well.

Then the managed payments with the 25¢ per item for multiple items per order will also take another bite.

You will not agree, I am sure, but Ebay is forcing out many small sellers of lower priced items do to all their changes and costs to use the program. And then there are very few sales for many sellers.

Ebay is a for profit company. So yes, those that come here to sell are going to need to pay real money to do that.

"What they charge for a store is a pay to play." Well yes, but it has value. Sellers save money with a store if they have a store level that is appropriate to what and how much they are selling. And stores have more value that just listing fee discounts. All of which needs to be considered when determining which store level, if any, are suitable for your needs.

I can't speak to what sites you looked at. But Amazon charges for a store. I don't know if the sites you looked at without store fees offer some or all or different perks of having a store like Ebay does. Without details, they can't be compared.

Having a store does not require deep pockets. Speaking for myself only, my store fee is more than paid for between the shipping supply discount and my discounted FVF and then there are the listings I get that have no listing fee because they are included in the store fee. So having a store saves me real money every single month.

The return policy of Ebay is a complicated and long subject. One in which wasn't being discussed here. But to say it is a hot mess is a real understatement.

I don't like that 25 cent fee in MP either. I hope we all yell enough about it that Ebay will revisit it next year and do away with it.

You are right. I don't agree about sellers of low $$ value things. I sell lots of low $$ value stuff. If a seller is going to be successful depends on many factors, mostly within their control. But that is a case by case basis, so there is no blanket answer for this. You have to look at each seller individually to get an accurate pic.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

papermoneyforme · ‎12-09-2019

@mam98031 wrote:
@papermoneyforme wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@papermoneyforme wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
I sold on Bonanza for a couple years. Whoops "sold on" is really misleading. I had listings up on Bonanza for a couple years. I sold exactly ONE item. I did not pay for any higher tier advertising. If you can't sell anything as a regular seller AT ALL, why would I want to pay them more money. I could see it if I was selling as a regular member and that a higher tier to increase sales. But not to get sales in the first place. Well maybe get sales.

For me, a complete waste of time.
What do you think Ebay's sponsored listings are? Pay to sell!
@papermoneyforme

I wasn't aware that I questioned what a "sponsored listing" is? Are you suggesting that unless you do a sponsored listing on Ebay you can't sell anything??? I would strongly disagree with that position and I have plenty of facts to support my position.
Never suggested that. Every site has pay to play INCLUDING Ebay.

What they charge for a store is a pay to play.

Ever other site I have looked at does not charge for a store.

Unless you have deep pockets for a store, you need a listing program as well which is another expensive cost for nothing. TL is still around but for how long, your guess is as good as mine. Knowing Ebay. a day in the not to distant future it will be TL is dead.

Any one listing a decent number of items is out $80 per month before selling anything.

If you take in eBay's ridiculous return program, those costs will add up as well.

Then the managed payments with the 25¢ per item for multiple items per order will also take another bite.

You will not agree, I am sure, but Ebay is forcing out many small sellers of lower priced items do to all their changes and costs to use the program. And then there are very few sales for many sellers.
Ebay is a for profit company. So yes, those that come here to sell are going to need to pay real money to do that.

"What they charge for a store is a pay to play." Well yes, but it has value. Sellers save money with a store if they have a store level that is appropriate to what and how much they are selling. And stores have more value that just listing fee discounts. All of which needs to be considered when determining which store level, if any, are suitable for your needs.

I can't speak to what sites you looked at. But Amazon charges for a store. I don't know if the sites you looked at without store fees offer some or all or different perks of having a store like Ebay does. Without details, they can't be compared.

Having a store does not require deep pockets. Speaking for myself only, my store fee is more than paid for between the shipping supply discount and my discounted FVF and then there are the listings I get that have no listing fee because they are included in the store fee. So having a store saves me real money every single month.

The return policy of Ebay is a complicated and long subject. One in which wasn't being discussed here. But to say it is a hot mess is a real understatement.

I don't like that 25 cent fee in MP either. I hope we all yell enough about it that Ebay will revisit it next year and do away with it.

You are right. I don't agree about sellers of low $$ value things. I sell lots of low $$ value stuff. If a seller is going to be successful depends on many factors, mostly within their control. But that is a case by case basis, so there is no blanket answer for this. You have to look at each seller individually to get an accurate pic.

And we will look at another serious problem and that is shipping costs from Canada and Ebay's blood money to charge a % on it.

Find out what tracking costs in Canada and you will find out that many of the items you sell can't be sold out of Canada due to our high shipping costs and then what tracking costs.

That is the big hole that Canada Post and Ebay have created for Canadian sellers.

I just paid out a $100 not received claim because paying $18 for tracking to the US is cost prohibitive for a letter.

Just as you say, a case by case basis but also look at other countries than the US as they are also totally different but Ebay does not look at that.

All they care about is their bottom line at seller's expenses.

And I am fully aware they have to make a profit to keep the shareholders happy but I personally feel they are fighting a losing battle with the shareholders.

Once Stub Hub goes away, it will be interesting to see their bottom line and growth stats.