When I started this blog earlier this month, I thought about all the things I have to write about pertaining to eBay. I have many, many ideas and was having trouble deciding in what order to write them.
Little did I know that eBay was going to usurp all of my ideas by announcing a whopper of a final value fee increase last week. I did not expect things to get more dark than bright so quickly.
Of course, they are not calling their latest rise in eBay seller fees an increase. Instead eBay touts what boils down to their most convoluted business model to date as a "reward" for sellers offering free or next to nothing shipping on items for their customers.
Starting in July, eBay plans to start charging a final value fee not only on the item sale price but also on the cost of the shipping. In other words, on the total price paid by the customer. In still more words, on what includes a legitimate business expense for sellers. Never mind that PayPal, which is owned by eBay, already takes a small percentage of the shipping cost.
eBay calls this a "decrease" in fees because they have ever so slightly lowered the percentage of the final value fee. The only eBay sellers that will benefit from this are those already selling featherweight items and already offering free shipping. They will enjoy a tiny reduction in eBay final value fees. The rest of us are screwed.
For sellers of larger, heavier, items, this is going to be a huge, costly, burden. eBay is already a buyers market and for many, profit margins are already poverty making slim in this economy. The increase in the final value fees (call it what it is, eBay) can't be passed on to the customer in most cases. They simply won't buy.
Factor in sellers of both large and small stuff for whom it gets even more difficult. Buyers with multiple purchases want you to, expect you to, combine their items into one package, in order to cut down their shipping costs. It is also an incentive for a buyer to purchase multiple things from you. Up until now, this could be done manually when the buyer was done shopping.
When this new eBay policy goes into effect, you will be forced to set up eBay rules. eBay rules specify that if a buyer buys one item, then they can buy another one that includes a discounted shipping price specified by you.
THAT WON'T WORK. I don't know about you, but I don't have a crystal ball that is going to tell me which items people are going to buy together ahead of time. I can't NOT offer combined shipping (people won't buy from me) and I can't set up rules. I'm screwed.
There is little doubt that eBay is doing this to both benefit their bottom-line and to police final value fee evaders. For years, there have been some unscrupulous sellers who list penny auctions and then charge huge amounts for the shipping.
I once saw a penny auction with a shipping charge of 249.00. That item might well have been worth three hundred bucks or more, I don't know, but the point it that the seller, by putting most of the cost in the shipping of the item, was able to avoid paying eBay a final value fee.
I can certainly understand eBay's desire to crack down on this; it's a legitimate problem. They added a button on the listing page a while back so that buyers could report items that included unreasonable shipping. But it is not my fault that eBay has been unable to police them and I'm not about to pay for it.
The spin that eBay has put on this...to reward people for charging little or no shipping...is also downright insulting. As if the rest of us can't do any math. eBay must be taking its queue from congress these days. I'm surprised they didn't call this a stimulus.
I'm not going to do the calculations here. Quite frankly the math would give Albert Einstein a migraine and my head already hurts. If you'd like to decipher the policy for yourself, you can find it here: eBay's insanest policy to date.
This final value fee on shipping could lead to the final curtain call for eBay. Many sellers will probably flee the auction site. I know that I just can't suck it up this time.
The fees for selling on eBay are now officially too high and the experience about as much fun as doing taxes. I may continue to list a few items on eBay...very light items that I can offer free shipping on, but I will find eBay alternatives (like Amazon & Overstock) that charge less in fees for the rest of my items. And I will probably be shutting my store.
I'd love to hear what you think about eBay's final value fee on shipping. Will it work for you? Feel free to comment.
GOOD LUCK ALL!
Carole T.
No comments:
Post a Comment