New OUTRAGIOUS ebay fees starting next month

[CLAM]

Starting April 19th, ebay is changing their fee system. I don't want to go into details about everything they are changing... if you want to look it up for yourself, check it out HERE

 

 

but the most ridiculous thing they are doing, which doesn't make any sense to me from a business or ethical perspective, is charging sellers a percentage for what the item sells for AND how much it ships for!

 

WTF ebay!!?!?!? How the hell do you think you can charge people a percentage of what it cost a seller to ship an item to a buyer. That has nothing to do with you or your service.

 

This sucks for sellers and buyers.

 

Before, a seller had to pay a percentage of the final value.... but now they will also have to pay a percentage of what the item costs to ship. Ebay has the nerve to say that they are doing this in order to give sellers an incentive to offer lower shipping costs... which will in turn, help sellers sell more and buyers get lower costs. Why don't they just admit the reason they are doing this is because they want more of everybody's money?

 

 

If you are a seller, you will now have to pay a flat %9 on the buyer's entire total. So if you sell a toy for 5 bucks, and it costs 5 bucks to ship it (which is rarely the case), you would now have to pay 1.50 instead of around .50.

 

Does ebay really think that sellers are just going to eat this cost? I would imagine that all sellers will simply increase their shipping costs in order to pay for these new higher fees. Meaning sellers will have a harder time selling, and buyers will have a difficult time finding good deals.

 

Several things might develop from this:

Sellers will stop offering items that aren't worth much money because it's not worth the fee they have to pay on shipping. This is especially bad for toy collecting. There are lots of figures that are only worth 5 bucks or less, and ebay is taking away a sellers incentive to even put these figures up for auction.

 

Sellers will increase shipping costs by %9 in order to cover the new fees. So as a buyer, we have to get ready to pay that much more for every figure.

 

sellers will stop offering heavy items. shipping costs are getting expensive, and the cost of shipping anything over a couple pounds is getting pretty dang high. Now that sellers have to cover %9 of this cost, they may not want to sell these items.

 

Sellers may stop shipping to certain areas. Shipping costs also grow rapidly in relation to the distance between the seller and buyer. Sellers may start limiting the areas they will sell to because of the high prices of shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I feel this is really going to hurt our ability to use ebay for the toy hobby because many items simply aren't worth too much. I mean of course a seller is going to do whatever it takes to sell something that is going to bring him a nice profit, but when the profit is only going to be a little bit of money in the first place, what is the point when ebay is taking so much of it?

 

I can't tell you how many times I have bought a figure on ebay and had the shipping costs be more than the cost of the figure... Most of the time I pay about 9 bucks for shipping for anything over 3 3/4 figures.. I guess I should get ready to pay 10 bucks for shipping.

 

 

am I wrong here or overreacting?

[jjlecaros]

thus y i closed my ebay store after christmas...f' them, moving stuff to amazon if get to open my store

[DarthJoe]

The only thing good about their changes from a sellers perspective is that they are removing all listing fees for the first 50 auctions each month, and free BIN's for the first 50. This means I can put up items, and start them where I want, and if they don't sell, I'm not out anything.

 

Really, all I see this accomplishing is creating higher prices for buyers.

 

Everything you said pretty much hits the nail right on the head, Clam.

[yojoebro82]

Just like everything else in America, if a lot of people use it, jack the price waaaaaay up!

 

 

 

 

@cussing@

[Nguyen_Dragon]

Maybe now we see less scalpers... Nah... I doubt it...

[RockthePlank]

Jeez, so between ebay and paypal we end up paying, what, like 20%? Hardly seems worth it, and I don't really want to go to amazon since I don't sell enough stuff for a store or anything. I'm getting fed up with their garbage...

[Dark_Phoenix]

 

I've been using Ebay for years, and made some pretty good (not great) money from it. One thing I have noticed over the years, are sellers starting auctions with tiny minimum opening bids, then making up for it with rediculously high shipping charges. Seriously, I've seen loose G.I. Joes with shipping listed as 8-10 bucks. The 'Bay is obviously trying to halt, or at least minimize, that sort of thing.

 

This is just another textbook case of a few dousche-bags ruining things for the rest of us.

 

I would guess this is the main reason why. Ebay "loses" money when an item sells for $1 but the seller charges $50 to ship the item when it actually should be the reverse. From ebay's point of view, I can totally understand why they would implement this, and by offering the seller free listing prices, it offsets the cost of the change and hopefully stops sellers gouging buyers on shipping costs

[gruntcast]

Maybe now we see less scalpers... Nah... I doubt it...

 

I wish, if sellers pump up the charges, then I will simply not buy. people constantly rack up the shipping charges to ridiculous amounts sometimes anywhere from 3$ to 14$. I always take in account the amount of of item, and shipping. I won't pay stuff that is too over priced. I have sold stuff on ebay and my shipping is right on, I don't like to screw people just for a few bucks. I can see a buch of scalpers getting mad and jacking up the price but all we have to do is not buy.

 

I'd rather buy from an online retailer that orders from the company and charges a little extra then some douche who got the wal-mart 10 minutes before me cuz I was running late out of my 24hr shift and he bought up all the DCU and random other stuff that sells on ebay lol

[yojoebro82]

Seriously, I've seen loose G.I. Joes with shipping listed as 8-10 bucks. The 'Bay is obviously trying to halt, or at least minimize, that sort of thing.

 

This is just another textbook case of a few dousche-bags ruining things for the rest of us.

 

 

I can't tell you have many Joes I've shipped in a bubble mailer and paid no more than $2. That is ALL it costs. When I see someone say it'll cost $10 to ship one guy, I just keep on shopping.

 

 

 

@Spawnny@

[RockthePlank]

Seriously, I've seen loose G.I. Joes with shipping listed as 8-10 bucks. The 'Bay is obviously trying to halt, or at least minimize, that sort of thing.

 

This is just another textbook case of a few dousche-bags ruining things for the rest of us.

 

 

I can't tell you have many Joes I've shipped in a bubble mailer and paid no more than $2. That is ALL it costs. When I see someone say it'll cost $10 to ship one guy, I just keep on shopping.

 

 

 

@Spawnny@

 

 

I hate seeing that crap. I don't buy Joe's, but something that weighs less than 1 pound does cost $10 to ship from one state to the next. If anything, I usually keep my shipping prices low to encourage people to buy it.

[synch]

its because ebay is run by mr ben dover taykit who likes to constantly come up with new ways to up the prices & charge people for things! Next up there will be a fee if you want to even BID on something on ebay you will have to pay ebay 10 cents per bid! @smilepunch@

[DarthJoe]

Seriously, I've seen loose G.I. Joes with shipping listed as 8-10 bucks. The 'Bay is obviously trying to halt, or at least minimize, that sort of thing.

 

This is just another textbook case of a few dousche-bags ruining things for the rest of us.

 

 

I can't tell you have many Joes I've shipped in a bubble mailer and paid no more than $2. That is ALL it costs. When I see someone say it'll cost $10 to ship one guy, I just keep on shopping.

 

 

 

@Spawnny@

 

Well, to be fair, once you factor in the price of the bubble mailer, and delivery confirmation (which you should be doing to protect yourself as a seller), mailing Joes in a bubble mailer is closer to $3.00-$3.50 shipping.

[*Deathblade]

what really sucks to me is ebay getting rid of sellers being able to leave negs. WTF kinda sense does that make? You can get a guy that drags a$$ to pay, gets your sealed item, OPENS it, then complains, and ebay will allow them to mail it back. Even then they can mail it back in whatver condition they want, just show ebay they mailed it. Ebay will refund their money. Then you are left out of ebay/shipping fees, and a nice 20-70% depreciation on your item, IF they haven't pulled a switcheroo and mailed you their broken crap.

 

I have seen lots of horror stories of people sending items, then getting chargebacks, and getting their stuff back minus rare pieces, or switched with other crap altogether!

[Capt.S.G.Wiseman]

All of this sounds like the days of the scalper are numbered. @firedevil@

If shipping cost are too much, then forget it.

If you cannot read negative reviews on a seller, then forget it.

If they try to charge more for shipping, then forget it.

At what point would you buy from these #v<%@$???

[*Deathblade]

All of this sounds like the days of the seller are numbered. @firedevil@

If shipping cost are too much, then forget it.

If you cannot read negative reviews on a seller, then forget it.

If they try to charge more for shipping, then forget it.

At what point would you buy from these #v<%@$???

 

fixed for you. This isnt going to stop anyone from scalping, the only thing they will do is build that cost into their auctions. As long as there is a johhny impatient,johhny hoarder, and johhny trade-bait buyer, there will ALWAYS be scalpers.

 

I can understand your angst though, SA is a hotbed of hoarders, and flea market vendors. I hated having to get up at the crack of dawn to even have a chance at the latest army builder, or hot fig. But lo and behold it would ALWAYS be at the flea market for 3-5 times more.

[CLAM]

what really sucks to me is ebay getting rid of sellers being able to leave negs. WTF kinda sense does that make? You can get a guy that drags a$$ to pay, gets your sealed item, OPENS it, then complains, and ebay will allow them to mail it back. Even then they can mail it back in whatver condition they want, just show ebay they mailed it. Ebay will refund their money. Then you are left out of ebay/shipping fees, and a nice 20-70% depreciation on your item, IF they haven't pulled a switcheroo and mailed you their broken crap.

 

I have seen lots of horror stories of people sending items, then getting chargebacks, and getting their stuff back minus rare pieces, or switched with other crap altogether!

 

that has been that way for a while now. It doesn't make any sense to me. Ebay is doing everything to screw over sellers and give all the power to buyers.

[CLAM]

 

I would guess this is the main reason why. Ebay "loses" money when an item sells for $1 but the seller charges $50 to ship the item when it actually should be the reverse. From ebay's point of view, I can totally understand why they would implement this, and by offering the seller free listing prices, it offsets the cost of the change and hopefully stops sellers gouging buyers on shipping costs

 

they already have a system in place to stop that practice. You can always report high shipping charges and ebay will stop the auction. Also, buyers can leave a rating for shipping costs.. and sellers are supposed to care about these rankings because they give you discounts.

 

 

Oh.. also, ebay is taking away the power seller discount (5% of final fees), they say it is to encourage sellers to become "top-rated sellers" instead.

 

I don't really care because I would never sell enough to be a power seller.. but its just stupid.

 

and about them dropping insertion fees, to me, this is the way ebay should have been set-up since it started.... and most of the time I would list something it would cost 25cents or less.. so I wouldn't save that much on listing fees, but they would get me on their new shipping cost fee... and like Joe said, with the removed insertion fees, it will now take away the incentive for sellers to start auctions low

[*Deathblade]

what really sucks to me is ebay getting rid of sellers being able to leave negs. WTF kinda sense does that make? You can get a guy that drags a$$ to pay, gets your sealed item, OPENS it, then complains, and ebay will allow them to mail it back. Even then they can mail it back in whatver condition they want, just show ebay they mailed it. Ebay will refund their money. Then you are left out of ebay/shipping fees, and a nice 20-70% depreciation on your item, IF they haven't pulled a switcheroo and mailed you their broken crap.

 

I have seen lots of horror stories of people sending items, then getting chargebacks, and getting their stuff back minus rare pieces, or switched with other crap altogether!

 

that has been that way for a while now. It doesn't make any sense to me. Ebay is doing everything to screw over sellers and give all the power to buyers.

 

 

I know, that stopped me from selling anything.

[Capt.S.G.Wiseman]

I can understand your angst though, SA is a hotbed of hoarders, and flea market vendors. I hated having to get up at the crack of dawn to even have a chance at the latest army builder, or hot fig. But lo and behold it would ALWAYS be at the flea market for 3-5 times more.

 

Ya, it's kinda hard down here in San Antonio. Sounds like you have lived here for a while.

[*Deathblade]

I can understand your angst though, SA is a hotbed of hoarders, and flea market vendors. I hated having to get up at the crack of dawn to even have a chance at the latest army builder, or hot fig. But lo and behold it would ALWAYS be at the flea market for 3-5 times more.

 

Ya, it's kinda hard down here in San Antonio. Sounds like you have lived here for a while.

 

 

I was stationed there for several years...it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. @smilepunch@

[cjflan32]

Interesting comments. I agree with most of them, if not all.

 

Selling toys on eBay has gotten me through a very difficult stretch of my life, but I have had my wits end with them. They called me the other day (probably to talk about what CLAM described) and I told them to screw and hung up. I said to them months ago if they didn't have a monopoly on this "online auction" business I would've bolted a long time ago.

 

Anyway:

 

-This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, but once eBay cut the sellers ability to leave negatives for lousy buyers it was pretty clear who they serve. It's been one thing after another. The dispute system. The increased fees. Blah blah blah. Talk to those a-holes, they'll blow sunshine up your ass. One time I had one of them throw the First Amendment in my face. The buyers have freedom of expression but not the sellers. Idiot.

 

-The new fee system is ridiculous, especially the shipping business. I'll agree there is a problem with jackoffs inflating shipping costs (I have always tried to be fair) but this isn't the answer. It will only make it worse.

 

-I'll admit I'm not in "the game" as much as I used to be, but I'm not seeing as much scalping as I used to. When DCUC was five figure waves @ $10-12 apiece with modest fees it wasn't that big of a deal. Now it's 6-7 @ $15-$17 apiece. Bottom line is it's harder to make money. Still, scalpers are the product of impatient fanboys, so that's that.

 

-I haven't had any return horror stories the likes of what *DB has dealt with, but I have had to deal with some people with lame ass excuses for returns. One guy returned a B'Wana Beast to me because it had a minor dent on the head where the front and back were glued together.

 

-I took full advantage of the "first 100 .99 cent auction of the month are free" policy. I knew it would come back to bite everyone.

 

They change the policies every year so who knows what will happen. I'm sure if profits go down they'll change it again.

[synch]

what really sucks to me is ebay getting rid of sellers being able to leave negs. WTF kinda sense does that make? You can get a guy that drags a$$ to pay, gets your sealed item, OPENS it, then complains, and ebay will allow them to mail it back. Even then they can mail it back in whatver condition they want, just show ebay they mailed it. Ebay will refund their money. Then you are left out of ebay/shipping fees, and a nice 20-70% depreciation on your item, IF they haven't pulled a switcheroo and mailed you their broken crap.

 

I have seen lots of horror stories of people sending items, then getting chargebacks, and getting their stuff back minus rare pieces, or switched with other crap altogether!

 

as a buyer I am glad as I've run into a few assholes who have screwed ME the buyer over a couple of times on ebay & then LEFT me the BUYER who didn't get the item & lost $ Negative feedback

[ResidentCriticCollector]

I don't really know that much about eBay except that casual sellers lose what seems to be a major portion of their "profits" due to eBay's commission and other percentages. However, if the real purpose behind these eBay policies is to prevent unscrupulous sellers like this guy here: http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item230f276802 (who charges $15.44 for S&H... oh sorry, expedited shipping with the bidding price of $0.99) then I'm all for it.

 

I'm just tired of seeing "sellers" like those trying to lure in busy people with their reasonable or low starting prices to find out that these individuals are adding their own hefty fee to the shipping and handling charges. I think we already have a term for that.... scumbag.