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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,811 |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
6433 Posts |
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Just got this in email this afternoon: https://www.hipstamp.com/news/2020-...eller-updateQuote:
2020 Winter Seller Update
Sellers Newsletters
Starting January 1, 2020, our Seller Newsletter program has been expanded to be available to both Featured Store Subscribers, and Premium Store Subscribers. This feature was previously only available to Premium Store Subscribers.
Our Seller Newsletter program is one of the easiest and quickest ways in which you can increase your sales on HipStamp. Let our marketing team create and send professional email newsletters on your behalf to your past customers. With many Sellers seeing a 2x-3x increase in their sales within just 2-3 months of participating in this program, what are you waiting for?
Interested in learning more? Contact our Seller Marketing team today.
Google Shopping Campaigns
Item listings within Basic, Featured, and Premium Stores, are now generally eligible to be included in paid Google Shopping Campaigns - at no additional cost to our Sellers. Within Google Shopping Campaigns, we send individual item listings to be marketed throughout Google's search and display networks, to drive relevant traffic directly to specific item listings.
In December, we spent approximately $30,000 on this initiative, to help increase our Seller's sales to a record $1.2 Million for the month. We plan to continue this activity throughout 2020, with Sellers paying no additional costs outside their Store Subscription
plan.
New Starter Store Subscription plan
For Sellers looking to get started on HipStamp, we now offer a Starter Store Subscription plan. Starter Store Subscriptions allow you to list up to 100 items, and cost $2.95 per month (with a 1-Yr plan). The Final Value fee for a Starter Store Subscription is 11.95%.
This is a great way for new, or smaller Sellers, to get started selling on HipStamp with minimal upfront or monthly costs.
Annual Store Subscription pricing plan
Starting January 1, 2020, we now offer Annual Store Subscription pricing plans. Annual Store Subscription pricing plans allow you to lock in today's rates for 12 months, as well as enjoy discounts compared to monthly plan rates.
With Store Subscription fee increases set for February 1, 2020, now is the perfect time to lock in today's rate for the next 12 months with an Annual Store Subscription pricing plan.
Switch to an Annual Store Subscription pricing plan today from the Members Area.
Fee Updates
Store Subscription fee increase
Starting February 1, 2020, the price of a Basic Store Subscription will be increasing from $4.95 per month (with a 1-Yr plan) to $6.95 per month; a Featured Store Subscription will be increasing from $14.95 per month (with a 1-Yr plan) to $19.95 per month, and a Premium Store Subscription will be increasing from $44.95 per month (with a 1-Yr plan) to $59.95 per month. Without a 1-Yr plan, prices will increase to $9.95, $24.95 and $74.95 respectively.
Final Value Fee increase
Starting February 1, 2020, the final value fee for Basic, Featured and Premium Store Subscriptions will increase from 8.00% to 8.95%, with a maximum fee of $350 per item.
These changes represent our first fee increases since we launched HipStamp 4 years ago, and are necessary for us to continue key programs that are currently helping our Sellers to increase their sales each month; such as the Seller Newsletter and Google Shopping Campaign programs; as well as to further develop exciting new features for our members. |
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Valued Member
United States
363 Posts |
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I'm excited to learn of the starter store plan. I definitely will never lost more than 100 items at a time. |
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Bedrock Of The Community
Australia
38679 Posts |
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Thank you very much for posting.
So how do members interpret this?
It gives me that unsavoury taste of the credit card temptation,
take it for a year at this price, when your hooked, we up the price.
Or have I read it incorrectly?
Is it still good value do you think?
I get that "dodgy Gibbons" feel about this.
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Pillar Of The Community
Canada
707 Posts |
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Sounds a lot like ebay pricing, especially for stores. The FVF's are considerably higher than ebay with a store. At those rates, cheaper stamps may be no good there either! |
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Moderator
United States
12330 Posts |
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Quote:
At those rates, cheaper stamps may be no good there either! Indeed, this has been my opinion for the last 6-7 years. I do not think that issue is ebay, the issue is that our hobby wants something that no venue can deliver...a worldwide online selling site which supports millions and millions of transactions and listings under a $1. If ebay stopped all stamp listings tomorrow and everyone migrated to HipStamp or Stamps-R-Us, etc., my opinion is that they all base their pricing largely upon 'cost-per-transaction'. Supporting a world-wide infrastructure that handles millions of transactions per day, supporting millions for users and countless numbers of computing devices, browsers, etc., mediating hundreds of thousand of disputed transactions, etc. all force a company to pass on the increased costs. While they may start out offering 'attractive' terms and conditions I think that they all will eventually start evolving their policies and procedures to push sellers to increase the listing values. Don |
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Bedrock Of The Community
Australia
38679 Posts |
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.........meanwhile, back at John Doe's man-cave, in somewhereville, the more common used duplicates are mounting up, great interest for new collectors, but the bulging boxes of stamps remains hidden due to postage rates and a lack of venue.
John may be contemplating using (Australia) Gumtree, free online advertising.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
3489 Posts |
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I guess I'll pay attention to see if sellers raise prices as a result of this. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Canada
1462 Posts |
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Received this too. For a basic store, the difference is $24/year more - assuming one signs up for a year - and +1% fee on each sale, so I doubt we'll see significant price increases.
For anyone interested, some quick math indicates that the starter store is not a bad deal, even with higher commission, if you only have <100 listed at a time. You'd have to sell annually >$1600 of stamps at 8.95% (as compared to 11.95%) to make up for the $48 annual difference in starter vs. basic stores.
Of course, if you regularly have >100 listings, it's a moot point. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1414 Posts |
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Still no out-of-state sales tax collection as a Market Facilitator. This means that HipStamp eBay-Sync listings can be delivered to out-of-state buyers at about 6% to 7% less than ebay on average. |
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Valued Member
New Zealand
240 Posts |
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australia gum free? what is this you speak of? From a complete novice's point of view, ebay still makes me shiver I refuse point blank (and I have no idea from where this bias springs) to attend mystic stamp. Hipstamp seems smart somehow. One day I'm hoping stamp smarter will have a buying online situation (if it doesnt already) for that I could entirely have some faith in.(dup' lication levels rising..) |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
4421 Posts |
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Pillar Of The Community
United Kingdom
8580 Posts |
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l&f - ebay really isn't that forbidding. I started selling there six years ago with some rudimentary advice from a colleague's wife, and have sold thousands of items since with minimal problems. Don't start with your best stuff, and don't overprice. Accepting that I'm not in the US and different conditions therefore doubtless apply, I struggle to see the attractions of the HipStamp "Starter Store". The final value fees seem similar to those for a private seller on ebay and there is a monthly fee, whereas ebay has none (whilst also offering me the occasional "£1 maximum selling fee" offer and no fees for scheduling at a particular time). And this for a smaller audience. |
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Moderator
United States
12330 Posts |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
716 Posts |
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Regardless of the business platform - when the cost of selling exceeds the margin between merchandise cost and sales price merchandising is a loosing proposition. Unfortunately most low end philatelic material fall into this category for its sellers.
And then there is (over?) supply and (lack of?) demand factors in our current market environment.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,811 |
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Posted 01/09/2020 3:13 pm
