Ebay Lowering Some Fees

[Rarthur]

Just noticed this in my Ebay inbox:

"Starting March 30, 2010 selling on eBay will be a better deal than ever!

List Auction-style FREE--no Insertion Fees--when you start your Auction-style listing under $1.


Get new, lower Insertion Fees for all other start prices.


Either way, pay one easy Final Value Fee of 9% of the winning bid (but never more than $50)-and pay only if your item sells.


List in Fixed Price for 50¢, with Final Value Fees for the most part staying the same.
This new standard fee structure will replace the current "first 5 listings free"--you'll pay no Insertion Fees whenever you list Auction-style and start pricing under $1!*

Get complete details on the new eBay fees and get ready to SELL!
"

Seems like this should make it a little more bearable to list some lower end cards starting under $1 since it will be free. Maybe this will help fellow base collectors of certain such as myself (Rich Harden, Jiovanni Mier, Jason Castro, Jason Knapp, Brad Lincoln, etc.) see a few more of those oddball inserts, numbered, and more rare base to pop up. I applaud Ebay on this one as long as they aren't planning a different change that raises prices in a different area.

------------------------

Just noticed that this is also a 0.25 % increase in the Final Value Fee for Cards under Auction Listings but a 3% Decrease under BIN Listings

 

[cmcjr99]

the free listings are limited to 100 per month (and must start under $1)....items over 99 cent opening bid start at 25 cent listing fee and increase as the opening bid rises...items in excess of 100 each month are charged 10 cents each ...

the final value fees are higher on any item that closes for less than 1237.00....currently the fees are 8.75% on the first 25 then 3.5% up to $1000....that means an item that sells for $100 currently has a final value fee of 4.82....under the new system with the flat rate of 9% that changes to $9.....yep....paying nearly double on the FVF sure makes that 10-cent break on the listing fee worth while , doesn't it ?

the REAL killer in this new scheme comes to store owners....first , a store owner is not eligible for the 100 free auction listings per month so no break there....... the current set-up has a basic store for 15.95 plus 3 cents per item listed (under $25) ...under the new system , the basic store is still 15.95 per month , but the insertion fee goes up to 20 cents per item....if the store owner opts to go with a premium store , they can list items for 5 cents per month but the store fee is 49.95 per month....to maintain the low 3 cent per item rate a store owner must pay for an anchor store at a whopping 299.95 per month....

i'm a small time seller....i have a store with roughly 300 items listed per month....currently , before any sales , it costs me approximately 24.95 to list 300 items (15.95 store fee + 300 items at 3 cents each)....under the new system i have 4 options....keep my 15.95 store but pay $60 per month to list the same 300 items that currently cost me $9......hmm...some how i can't see $75.95 per month being better for me than $24.95....

oh , but then i do have the option of taking advantage of the great new deal that "will be a better deal than ever".... i can pay 49.95 per month plus $15 per month in listing fees....hmm....yes , 64.95 per month is far better than $75.95 - but still nearly 250% of what i pay currently....

many supporters of the new system defend it by noting that as of march 30 , all store items will now be included in core listings (they will all be considered fixed price listings and will show up in any search) which will mean many more views and therefore many more sales....the 3rd option is to get rid of my store and go strictly with auctions which means items have a much shorter listing duration AND i can't keep auto-relisting since that would mean blowing away the 100-item limit (which would already mean listing only 1/3 the inventory i currently list)....option 4 isn't even an option (the 299.95 per month store fee ....)

that explanation doesn't hold water either....any e-bayer with half a brain already knew how to search to make store items show up so putting those items in core listings means little....furthermore , if EVERY STORE ITEM from EVERY STORE OWNER is in core listings then how do i receive any better placement than i already do ? answer ? i don't....just tons more clutter returned with every search that means no improvement at all.....


there will actually be two winners in this new system :

first , ebay , which will reap a HUGE increase in fees (assuming sellers continue using the site)

second , the strictly small time sellers - specifically those who never list more than 100 items per month - and that only applies if those items all close below $25....

 

[Rarthur]

I guess from that perspective it would be worse. For me it is better. I at most list 20 items a month and almost all start under $1 to start.

Also in your case, wouldn't it make more sense to just ditch the store then? If you list 300 items a month minus the store then 100 are free. Then 200 you pay $0.10 per which would come out to $20.00. This would be cheaper than before if I'm understanding it correctly

 

[scc76]

That is good news.

 

[ragtop12]

Maybe this will force sportslots to change their structure some... I think that take 75% of the sale price from ya... and I personally can not stand that site... I just hate the search feature... takes forever for me.

 

[teammaddux]

Most of my auctions start, and finish at 0.99...so before I'd be paying 15 cents to list and 9 cents as my FVF, a total of 24 cents. Now, once I've listed my 100, I am paying 10 cents to list and still 9 cents as my FVF, which is 19 cents; so at least if my cards are going for listing price, I'm saving 5 cents in costs......I still think they need to start taking a percentage of shipping costs, which I think would detract sellers from charging exhorbitant shipping fees...besides they own paypal, so they know how much is being charged for shipping too, so why not take a cut of that? Not saying I agree with it, but I think would help regulate shipping costs.

My 2 pence,

John

 

[ragtop12]

They already take a cut of the shipping costs when the buyers pay with paypal... not a huge percent, but they still get probably $.10-.15 for EVERYTHING transaction just on the shipping charge

 

[onionring9]

This is the second time in what? a year? they've "lowered" their prices but if you read the fine print you find out in the end, it costs you way more...

 

[jaderock]

cmcjr99 - nailed it...the lowered priced really don't help out the bulk of ebayers. The small time store owners are gonna get KILLED!

This new increase may weed me out of listing 2000-4000 items every month.

It will also hurt set and player collectors who search for oddball fringe items too.

 

[Ukiah]

Thansk Cmcj....thanks for doing the math. I hate math...I don't much like Ebay either. This helps to solidify that. With that said...a sad lowly collector such as myself may be able to do something...BUT I do not like being REQUIRED to accept paypal. That may keep from it and just save my stuff to make available for trades here.

Pat