posted on January 16, 2001 01:34:40 PM new
"I think the case here is that eBay raises its rates because it CAN. They will lose some marginal sellers, but will also have less of a drain on their resources."
Exactly ... and one resource is HARD DRIVE SPACE. Those who want the extra 30% exposure time of a 10-day listing are taking up more of the available hard drive space. You could run 2 5-day or 3 3-day auctions in that same little spot on the drive. This may make the sellers who automatically run things for 10 days think before they click the box.
Also, it costs eBay as much to be a venue for a $5.00 auction as a $5,000 one, but the profitability of the two is quite different. If they can discourage some of the low-end offerings they will make more money with less effort ... and isn't that why we're ALL using eBay?
posted on January 16, 2001 01:37:42 PM newspuddy98, let's have a 60's party. Instead of burning bras and draft cards, we can all burn our priority mail boxes. 'Prolly make the six-o'clock news.
posted on January 16, 2001 01:37:51 PM new
I haven't had time to absorb all this yet [something to do with screaming 2YO in the background, who I just told has to take a nap].
But one thought on the 10-day auctions: as a buyer I don't like them. I found a great auction today for something for said toddler's birthday, but I don't want to wait around for 9 more days to win it. I asked the buyer to add a BIN, but she hasn't answered yet.
My strategy is: more listings, more BINs, shorter auction times.
I"m bothered by the big picture of listing options shrinking and prices going up, including postal rate hikes and fees for PayPal, etc. It's like the whole industry had "low introductory teaser rates" for a few years, and they are now being taken away.
posted on January 16, 2001 01:43:13 PM new
As a buyer, this is bad news for me. It doesn't look like there will be many items I can afford on eBay now since sellers won't be able to afford to list low end items. If the sellers here are going to start listing their low end items somewhere else--please post it here. Meanwhile, I will probably be visiting Yahoo much more often.
As a seller, well.... guess my selling days are over. Might as well bag the stuff up and head over to the GoodWill drop-off.
posted on January 16, 2001 01:44:59 PM new
I've anticipated fee increases for quite a while. These aren't horrible but will definitely have the result that I will not list low value items except in lots. Lots of other sellers will do the same.
The people who will feel the hurt the most are the buyers who love to get an old pattern or a feedsack or the like for $10 or less. With increased fees, I won't be offering lots that will bring less than $50. That is 4 or 5 buyers who won't be getting what they want and can afford.
Fewer retail sales and fewer retail buyers will mean lower and lower prices realized.
Once again I see the trend towards ebay sellers becoming wholesalers to those who resell in markets where the traffic can support higher prices.
posted on January 16, 2001 01:48:41 PM new
thanks, loosecannon. I really apprecite the offer. But almost all of my "quality" and "unusual" stuff is gone. Due to age and health, there will be no more and so my years of experience mean little now. Like many posting on here I have been selling what is left...low end to middle. Therein lies the problem for many like me. The fees, postage and all that is happening now eats it all up. Factor in a WebTv and one can work 8 hours for $2. Very stressful. I still do have going for me, tho, having learned the "computer" stuff...just takes a lot longer on a WebTv.
The best to you...sounds like you are doing okay (not easy in this business). Hope those posting that are ready to give up get encouragement from that.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:04:36 PM new
The more one charges for a service the less that service gets used. It's Economics 101. So I just do not see how raising listing fees is going to help ebay at all - just the opposite will happen.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:09:18 PM new
aramatha, I started out on a webtv, and thats how I discovered ebay. Also, webtv helped me learn HTML (for my fancy emails, lol). I still have it too...just in case my pc ever falls apart. Have you ever been to DRAAC'S? He can help you with his website, you learning more. He made it all for webtv users and he makes it fun to learn. Once you know more, then you can move on to a pc, which is better if you are a seller. Holler if you want any other ideas or assistance. Really, with all the folks here suggesting new sites, they are helping me and other people during these confusing times with ebay rate hikes, where to go, what to do. Awesome folks here
posted on January 16, 2001 02:10:10 PM new
I think this is just another part of the New Year's squeeze:
a. Yahoo's fees which means slow moving items cannot be sold.
b. Higher shipping costs which invariably get passed on to the customer.
c. Service fees (credit card) which get passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices.
d. Higher auction fees. This means still fewer auctions at higher starting amounts because the cost of doing business inevitably gets passed on to the customer.
I frankly don't mind if there are higher fees that is accompanied by a higher level of performance. In all likelihood that will not happen.
I try to keep my prices down and have even avoided passing on some of the higher costs lately. Unfortunately that will not be for much longer. The higher costs in conjunction with an increasing number of deadbeats means that my starting prices will go up along with my shipping fees. I'll even have to throw in a factor for reduced sales and deadbeats that will inevitably increase.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:10:10 PM newAlso, it costs eBay as much to be a venue for a $5.00 auction as a $5,000 one, but the profitability of the two is quite different. If they can discourage some of the low-end effort ... and isn't that why we're ALL using eBay?
of course, you can take that to it's logical extreme. why not have a few million dollar auctions and nothing else. Think of the profit!
posted on January 16, 2001 02:11:15 PM new
jimswhims
"The more one charges for a service the less that service gets used. It's Economics 101. So I just do not see how raising listing fees is going to help ebay at all - just the opposite will happen."
Go back and re-read that book and check the section about lowering sales and increasing profits by making the average profit per sale go up (Calculus for Business and Economics 101 has the formulas) ... it costs eBay as much to be a venue for a $5.00 auction as a $5,000 one, but the profitability of the two is quite different. If they can discourage some of the low-end offerings they will make more money with less effort, and the lowered volume of listings will mean they can slow down the rate of hardware purchase (servers are NOT your typical $999 computer from WalMart, they are more like $19,999 and with a waiting list).
posted on January 16, 2001 02:15:21 PM new
I said:
"Also, it costs eBay as much to be a venue for a $5.00 auction as a $5,000 one, but the profitability of the two is quite different. If they can discourage some of the low-end effort ... and isn't that why we're ALL using eBay?"
"of course, you can take that to it's logical extreme. why not have a few million dollar auctions and nothing else. Think of the profit! "
there actually is a formula for calculating the price at which you make the most profits, which is SELDOM the price at which you make the most sales, and you can be sure they crunched a lot of numbers before they did this.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:24:42 PM new
I dare say more people log on to ebay looking for a 5 dollar item instead of a 5,000 dollar item. Those listing fees and final value fees for $5.00 items add up. If people stop listing the $5.00 items it will hurt ebay. I still think ebay should lower the fees by a nickle instead of raising them by a nickle. They would make more money in the long run by lower fees.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:28:15 PM newGREED Can anyone say G R E E D? And the stocks went up...this week. Hope the buyers don't mind the increase in listing prices either...Well it is time for them to pay their taxes ya know....What better way than to sharpen their teeth..and get more blood from the dead?
abacaxi You're right. Time Warner did it as well, so is Blue Cross and the other corp's that are losing business all across the US. They raised the prices of cable, shook the apple tree and got rid of allot of low end subscribers. Thus, less maintainence and more profit. I guess the layoffs are next! Hey Meg, invite them [ebay employees] to your house for some catfood tonite!
[ edited by Empires on Jan 16, 2001 02:34 PM ]
posted on January 16, 2001 02:29:58 PM newI dare say more people log on to ebay looking for a 5 dollar item instead of a 5,000 dollar item.
I'd agree with that. I wouldn't worry too much about paying $5 for something that I can't actually hold in my hand and inspect before buying. $5,000 is another matter entirely.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:31:58 PM new
"You could run 2 5-day or 3 3-day auctions in that same little spot on the drive. This may make the sellers who automatically run things for 10 days think before they click the box."
As I have been reminded the facts are that most sellers use 10 day auctions to get 5 to 7 days of selling exposure, because it takes ebay anywhere from 16 hours(on a good day), to more than 36 hours to index new listing on Search.
Increasing fees for service that are not being provided for 3, 5, and 7 day auctions is bad enough, but now ebay has decided that sellers should have the honor and privilege of actually *paying* ebay for not providing the service by adding a surcharge for 10 day auctions.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:33:38 PM newCan anyone say GREED?
I don't know. How many sellers are there on eBay who wouldn't raise their prices if they thought that doing so would make them more profitable? It is about profit, is it not?
posted on January 16, 2001 02:36:32 PM new
[mrpotatohead, it's about ebay not having enough competetion to keep them on the edge of life. Two different arguements here. Ebay already has market share. Sellers do not. Shareholders getting hungry?
smw 10 day auctions are a good buffer for sellers when ebay goes down on those Sundays and Saturday nights. A hedge against, paying for something and not getting it. Will ebay pick up services in regard to their increase? Likely not. Don't hold your breath.
[ edited by Empires on Jan 16, 2001 02:39 PM ]
posted on January 16, 2001 02:38:01 PM new
jimswhims"
"I still think ebay should lower the fees by a nickle instead of raising them by a nickle. They would make more money in the long run by lower fees"
The average costto eBay per auction (electricity, staff, cost of servers, etc.) was given as about 22 cents per listing a year ago, in a business magazine. If you reduce your price to below your cost, you go out of business. You can't lose a penny or two on each sale and "make it up on volume".
posted on January 16, 2001 02:45:13 PM new
mauimoods, thanks. Was very kind of you to take the time. Yes, I am familar with draacs...found him through Mz Vain's site 2 years ago. My problems aren't with WebTv (take a look at my auctions, tho I only have 3 on right now). My problem is the same as for most of us, puter or WebTv... trying to sell and make a few extra dollars with all these rate increases coming at us from everywhere. And things were going downhill for many anyhow...now this.
Again, thanks for caring.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:46:44 PM new
I think we'll just be seeing higher handling fees in auctions, which I think lowers the final value of an auction. That's probably why they did not raise FVF because Ebay does not see anything from increased handling fees charged by sellers.
5 cents on a $9.99 item is less than I thought, but I am very unhappy about the extra fee for the 10 day auction, which I use to post on Thursday (A good day for me to post auctions) to close the following Sunday. Guess I will be going to 7 day auctions now!
posted on January 16, 2001 02:49:36 PM newEmpires-
I'm not saying I like the increase. I'd actually prefer a decrease. I'd like it even more if it were free. Hell, when you get right down to it, I'd really like it if they paid me to list there. But none of that is going to happen.
They've made a business decision. Now you make yours.
posted on January 16, 2001 02:52:22 PM new
Aramatha...I hear ya. I hear what everyone is saying and Im in the same boat and STILL we dont got no paddles.
I am utilizing what I have. I have my website with fun stuff, but that same site has a link to another auction place that is free. So, those who are browsing might click my link to my website, and from there, go to the other one. I have to stick with ebay, because thats where the bidders are. Cant sell where there is no people buying, can one? So, with the other site that is free, I can list stuff there...and lead folks from one to the other. Perhaps others could do the same thing? I also have a referal site that I share with other sellers, too. I pass my customers to them, they pass theirs to me. Anything to make customers FIND US, yes? (As long as its in the guidelines of ebay's rules, which it is).
posted on January 16, 2001 02:56:37 PM new
I'd rather eBay lowered their fees. The ability for me to sell items I've collected over the years for $150.00 instead of locally for $15.00 still makes eBay a helluva bargain for me.
posted on January 16, 2001 03:08:52 PM new
I got the ebay email....gag me with a stick....they noted that they haven't had a listing fee increase since 1996.....well technically the reserve fee is a reserve fee but what it boiled down to was an increase to list. Spin! Hogwash! Maybe Meg should run for Pres she's so good at it.
All the froggies are starting to notice the water is getting hotter!
Add some Calgon so you can relax in some NICE hot water!
Auctions have always been carrying the cost of ebay's diversified house of cards.
posted on January 16, 2001 03:10:35 PM new
As one poster said...
Keep It Simple...
I stopped all features, bold, gallery, etc.
Surprisingly, sales have gone up.
Furthermore, I listed everything under $5.00. Many get the hot - item button.
Total % is about 7% - when comparing 1/00 to 6/00 and then 7/00 to 12/00 (7/00 when stopped all extras) - fees dropped, and with about same # items, sales up. Profits up to.
Use U-pic for insurance; ship brown paper and priority only when asked.
Check the competition QXL in Europe - not bad.
Yahoo - for me a waste of time
Type of things listed are antiques glassware collectibles
Many thanks for your past help...
posted on January 16, 2001 03:13:24 PM new
By the by, sellers pushed for the 10 day option because ebay's ability to keep the site up and running was practically nil. Sellers figured that if they listed for 10 days they might actually get 7 days of exposure.
It is stupid to run 3 day auctions when indexing listings and search can be 24-48 hours behind. Might as well burn that cash to keep warm as use it for listing.
posted on January 16, 2001 03:41:08 PM new
Hey hey Hey! I complained a few months ago to Ebay because of their down time. They refunded me my entire $40 + dollars I had been charged!
Not seabhs on ebay
Very stressful. I still do have going for me, tho, having learned the "computer" stuff...just takes a lot longer on a WebTv.
. Have you ever been to DRAAC'S? He can help you with his website, you learning more. He made it all for webtv users and he makes it fun to learn. Once you know more, then you can move on to a pc, which is better if you are a seller. Holler if you want any other ideas or assistance. Really, with all the folks here suggesting new sites, they are helping me and other people during these confusing times with ebay rate hikes, where to go, what to do. Awesome folks here