Ebay To Add Another Nail To Its Coffin.

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinforma...2011.html#fc

Come April 19th, ebay is changing its pricing structure once again with a twist. The standard final value fee will be 9% of the total INCLUDING SHIPPING. Watch the sellers to raise their shipping even more. I do know some sellers try to make money off high shipping costs, but what about the sellers who charge for shipping on what the postal service charges? Why are they penalized? Or is ebay just being greedy? As I read elsewhere ebay won't be the place to sell stamps or covers for under $10-$25. Ugh!

Will

I heard about that from bidstart...I think they are pretty happy about the development.

It's going to be cheaper for most "non-casual" sellers. Don't just read the bad stuff, read it all. The only ones that should be griping are the ones that gouge on shipping to avoid fees. Boo hoo.

It's not going to be cheaper for those who only charge postal rates for shipping. Those who are honest are going to be hurt. ebay needs to make it that if a seller only charges postal rates that they can be exempt from the full 9%. I don't see how it's going to be cheaper unless you have some sort of overpriced "store" or a top rated seller/powerseller. BTW.. if you opted out of the powerseller program years ago, you can't get back in.

It appears to be an incentive to provide free or low cost shipping. No mention of this on the UK site as yet thankfully.

It's a hard incentive to swallow if you are selling covers for just a couple of dollars. To mail one cover from the U.S. overseas in a 6"x9" envelope with cardboard stiffner is $2.28 U.S. (2 oz packet rate that includes the 20 cent non-machinable surcharge. The USPS is increasing rates in mid-April as well. Basically, I'm going to avoid ebay more and more in the future. Delcampe is looking better and better.

Looky Looky ...

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KirkS

Good Eye Kirk !!

Yup. It will up the price. I am the classic occasional user as I sell only very occasionally, every couple of years or so in a closet clean-out style. I just did the calculations for S&H on one envelope to the U.S. from Canada.

Envelope .10
Postage 1.03
HST 12% .14

Subtotal 1.27

ebay List .25

Subtotal 1.52

ebay 9% .14

Subtotal 1.66

Paypal Fee .30

Paypal 3.9% .06

Total $2.02

I used to base S&H on either $1.50 or $1.75 to the U.S. (creeping up due to postal increases) but it looks like $2.00 or $2.25 or I am swallowing the cost. And yes, the individual item would really have to be in that $10.00 range or the Buyer would have to get multiple items (no increase to postage unless they were heavier that 30 grams) before that rate would be viable.

I had heard rumors that ebay was not interested in the little guy and stamps in general..its too bad...at one time it was an excellent way for a collector to sell his duplicates and purchase new stamps...this is no longer the case....look at world collections and lots under stamps..you used to be able to buy scott international albums with stamps for a fair price..now you have to sort through many pages of absolute junk hoping to find something decent...well if ebay is no longer suitable something will come along to takes its place...i always figured shipping and postage should be a shared thing anyway..i am not paying 4.99 shipping on a dollar cover !

I think they need to make sellers to reimburse postage on returns also. Getting tired of paying postage twice for reperfs, regums, and repair jobs on returns. ebay seems to be getting worse and worse as a dumping ground for stamps.

I use ebay alot for buying and selling. There general rate for aelling is right now on a buy it now item is 12.5% plus payplas 3% then actual shipping cost and materials. I often sell smaller fishing takle lots with $6-$7 shipping when it actually cost me $3.40 but I need to cover the other expenses. Now 9 % across saves a bit on the selling fee but kills the shipping. However I do see alot of sellers offering 99cent items with $10-15 shipping so you know the price is built in the shipping cost and they are just avoiding fees. Might have to sell on .ca or .UK till they get hit as well. Bottom line auction houses charge 15-20% and usually buyers premiums as well but they do more work as well. Ready to start paying a human 20% to do sales . Get out the glue sticks its the only advantage!!

So tell me, what is the listing fee going to be to list an item starting at $79.95?..... 99.95? ....... $499.95?

philb: I agree with what you said about sharing. As a seller I would always pay the cost of the shipping materials and never had a handling charge - my time and service was free to the buyer. The only thing I ever ask was for the buyer to pay actual postage costs and they get nice stamps on cover to boot. ebay does not need to interfere and put their sticky fingers into our pockets again.

Yes, there are sellers who jack up their shipping costs, but there has always been a safeguard against this - the buyer. If you don't like the seller's shipping terms, don't bid or buy. There's always someone else who will play fair. ebay allows one to report excessive shipping fees too. I don't know how effective that was for the system. Bottomline, I think ebay is just doing this out of greed. Again, there's always Delcampe, Bidstart, here and other venues to buy and sell. It's just sad, because ebay was once a fun place to buy and sell. I can see some sellers increasing shipping prices even more and sales dropping worse then they have been.
Will

bobby13133: Only the first 50 items per month are free (use to be 100) and then regular listing fees apply (different table if you have a store, but they have their own assorted costs). I'll save a big whopping $5/month - use to be $10.

I list everything and anything at 99 cents to start, no reserve no matter what because there's no reason to give ebay anything more than they deserve. I found out long ago that if something is worth x amount, it will sell at x amount regardless of the start price.

I've been buying and selling on e-bay for a few months now. It's a great place to find unusual items and at good prices if you're careful and shop around. Some sellers do over charge for shipping (early on, inadvertently paid about $5 to have one stamp shipped about 50Km....didn't check the fine print)
I charge just enough to cover postage, handling (material - envelopes etc.) and fees. And I combine shipping so if you were to purchase 8 lots of stamps (which has happened a couple of times the past couple of weeks) you pay one shipping charge. The buyer wins.
For a small seller like me (I sell only to feed my stamp habit) it's a drain on meager funds, and unfair to those of us who try to charge a fair price. E-bay seems to be indicating they're protecting the buyer from greedy sellers. But I don't want or need protection, as a buyer. It's called a competitive market. If I see something that's priced poorly, I move on.
Sellers are talking about a 'Vacation' from selling starting April 1. No listing, selling or buying. Sounds like a good idea. See if e-bay notices a difference.
Meanwhile I'll be looking for somewhere else to sell my stock of stamps. Any ideas?