Ebay Changes Coming Clear

With an Australian address and listing in our USA ebay.com store became impossible to work with. The biggest issue was they stopped the listings of Australian stamps on USA ebay .com going to the country of the stamps origin. So no listing showing up on Australia ebay .com . We found ticking the box adding the listing to UK ebay solved the issue and our listings could be found by searching on Australia ebay again. 4 days later we could not access our listings for over 3 hrs and when we could access our listings again, we did a search on Australia ebay and none of our listing were showing up again. Our bidders have all but disappeared because of all these changes that have been going on for close to 3 month now. Our income has suffered greatly and the stress of trying to figure out the why of all this is a very real issue.

We have closed our USA ebay store and started up an Australia ebay store. The change-over will take another 3 days. Our new listings are getting good exposure but our old listings are still dead in the water. We figure it will take a couple of months before things straighten out and people can find us again.

With our Australia ebay store many things have changed. We have a featured store that costs $24.95 per month but on the 15th Sep will change to $49.95. Our 25c listings are now 50c. Our ebay cost for the sale price was 9% and now we pay 6%. We have also got a Top Rated Sellers status back. We have had to add a bit more to the costs of our stamps.

Listing with Australia ebay and all the listing fault of when listing on USA ebay are gone. The browser setting stays the same instead of having to reset it with each listing. The title description no longer repeats itself, so no more cutting and pasting, to get the right title description in the right place.

This is the only way I could sort this mess out. I still feel very strongly that ebay is going to get me a lot more buyers than anybody else. What a journey! Onwards we go!

Good luck KGV

I was considering placing a few items on e-bay, but from the various posts I've seen on here, it seems like a scary endeavor. Not sure I want to get involved in what seems to be a growing pile of worries from sellers.

Peace, Chad

How do you see the "buy it now" option?
comments?
I see a catalogue for example, at $2.95 +shipping
an old SG America issue.

I don't see as how an auction will end up securing more
perhaps I am wrong, but if the vendor offered "buy it now"
at say $4 I would jump.
Now I have to wait 10 days.
How do you see it?

Thanks for the question Rod.

I got into this issue some time ago now and looked all over the ebay's.

Auctions seem to be very popular with stamp collector. I think it is history of stamping to get that stamp at that auction price when it could of been heaps more in cost.

Auctions are the only way I sell and that is always a 7 day auction.

Buy it now option never worked for me and I tried several times with different priced stamps. I get the impression a buy it now option makes the stamp cost look pushed up to the max.

Auction is the cheapest way to sell.

Buy it now costs a lot more which makes me think that even ebay favours the auction when it comes to income.

Very interesting how it all works out.

The answer to the why a 7 day auction is each day is a different Australia stamp theme.

Monday: Letter rate sets

Tuesday: Personalised stamps

Wednesday: High Value & High Value International

Thursday: Sets with high values and special, very attractive in some way.

Friday: KGV Heads

I find the buyers will remember what day has what for sale.

I tried the Buy now myself and had little luck with it. I have to say I find a auction to be the best, no matter what a item is worth I start it low say 99 cents.
When somebody first See's a item with a low starting bid they will often place a bid once they place a bid they have it in there mind " this might be mine" mentality, I often have a item with 5 or more different bidders and the bidding is only a few dollars, come the last few minutes often a bidding war starts and items have jumped into the hundreds.
Like kgv said the stamp collector seems to like the auction.
I myself when looking at items for my collection will pass items I see at 20-40% CV thinking I can get a better deal ,but when I place a bid on a item have ended up paying 60-80% CV .
At the moment I have been selling a lot of China lots if I was to go by CV to make a buy now price I would lose money, Auctions all the way with me

Good Idea about having a different theme each day, I have found that some area like China I do just as well with 1 or 3 day auctions then 7 days, seems like they wait till the last minute to place bids.
Here is a lot that I would have only put a buy now price of $20 but with the auction brought in more most of the bidding was done in the last few hours http://www.ebay.com/itm/28094697799....m1562.l2649

kgv check you messages sent you a email

KGV: Sorry to hear ebay has been so difficult to use for those outside of the U.S. One would think that in this modern global economy it would be in ebay's best interest to have a truly international market instead of these ebay spinoffs in different countries. One big market would help spur a competitive market amongst sellers to provide the best services and items while a large pool of buyers could provide sellers with a fair price in return. Instead ebay figured it can do best for itself through divide and conquer through a multiple fee system.

I'm in Australia, but I sell mainly Commonwealth stamps and I list them all on ebay UK. Only 9p to list a 99p start. Much cheaper than ebay Australia

irishJack

Yes I do agree that advertising on SCF is a winner if done the right way.

The big reason I do not want to advertise our ebay store here is simple. The stamp sellers are a very small group of people in Australia that as a whole do not like people competing "in there" stamp selling arena.

I just want to have a stamp forum to come too and just be me and not be constantly in the lime light of selling. I get every day more than my fare share of being a stamp seller. It is nice to share the journey but it looks like I can not do this without upsetting people in Australia, so these emails keep telling me!

Some of the emails I get from Australian's warning me about this and that and if you do not....I just want to be me here. But the eyes are looking at this "very much at the very bottom" of the Australian stamp market, seller. Who am I going to put out of business... No One! I am working for a couple of $ an hour!

So our selling has changed from USA ebay store to Australia ebay store. So now a 99c stamp costs $1.29c that is basically all this change means. Who would truly be interested in me? Who would I truly be a threat too?

Hi jubilee

I did look at the UK ebay but I sell Australia only. So an Australian ebay store seemed to fit our description.

I hope all of what has happened to us on USA ebay does not come your way but soon ebay Australia is going to want your store moved to your home address ebay as well. ebay Australia wants there fair share of the market. The powers to be want ebay Australia to grow and they are getting their own way. I hope very much that I am wrong.

Sadly all our USA ebay store listings are now finished. We will always have very fond memories of ebay USA. We would of found it very, very hard to start on any other ebay because of cost and the exposure we were given.

All our listings are now with ebay Australia. Buy doing searches, we are still at the front of ebay USA & ebay Germany. I can not find a listing at all on ebay UK. None of that makes any sense to me after what we have been through.

We have some bidders for next week which is encouraging. Now it is back to being half way through my 2nd year apprenticeship of selling stamps on ebay.

Why not check into ebay.com .ca Canada I list on that and also get exposure on .com.
What you could do is just put a handful of sales on .ca and see what happens
edit .com to .ca

Thanks irishjack

Forgot about Canada. Do not know why.

Have just searched ebay Canada and we are at the front of my 3 searches there as well.

what is your store kgv?