posted on October 24, 2000 11:43:41 AM
I don't see why this particular announcement has much to do with their caring about us little people (leprechauns of the world, unite!). Its a change to an existing program. Heck, when ebay makes changes to the "normal" auctions, most people object!
Another way to look at this is that the more revenue they soak from "great collection" people, the less they need from us little folk...so in some sense, it actually could be one way they are looking out for us.
In any case, I don't see this as any shift in policy or anything, just a normal business practice tweak.
posted on October 24, 2000 12:02:33 PM
Ebay is always looking for more ways to make more money. Placing banner ads in the searches, targeted advertising is on pretty much every page in their venue. My question is this: How much longer before Ebay makes a deal with a mass merchandiser to list mass quantities of merchandise at low prices in every category?
posted on October 24, 2000 12:27:55 PM
I would love to hear what the people think about it who are in the Great Collections Group. What do they percieve they are getting for that 10% skimmed off? It has to impact the bids they get. They all have to have brick and nmortor stores as I recall. We shall see if they lose some dealers. Anybodyt save a list before so we know if saome left??
posted on October 24, 2000 12:54:17 PMThis new fee will be added to the winning bid price and will be paid directly to our sellers to cover costs for value-added services that they must provide in order to trade on the Great Collections site.
My interpretation of the announcement is that GC sellers have been unhappy that ebay hadn't been collecting a buyer's premium. Since the sellers are the benefactors of the extra fees, not ebay, I don't see how this announcement would scare any of them away.
Unless they're concerned that bidding will drop. Again, though, my experience with high-end auction houses is that they all charge it (usually more than 10%), so buyers in this category are probably accustomed to it.
posted on October 24, 2000 01:02:09 PM
If you read a little futher down, after telling buyers the extra premium is given to the seller to help cover the extra expenses they incur to list on "Great Collections", it states that the FVF charged the seller INCLUDES the 10%premium.
I don't see how anyone benefits in the long haul BUT eBay!
"Customary Final Value Fee charged to eBay Great Collections sellers will be based on the Total Price, which includes the buyer’s premium."
posted on October 24, 2000 01:03:14 PM
Traditionally, high-end auction houses have had a buyer's premium. The folks who bid over there pretty much expect to pay a premium, outlandish shipping/handling costs, etc.
posted on October 24, 2000 01:09:13 PM
Okay, I'll bite:
What are the "value added services" these Great Collections dealers are providing?
Are they providing any special services to bidders that I as a full-time seller with nearly 2,000 feedbacks do not?
And how can they figure that the value added service on a $1,500 item (value added cost of $150) is worth more to the bidder than a value-added service charge of $40 on a $400 item? Are they providing even extra value added services?
posted on October 24, 2000 01:11:21 PMeBay has announced a 10% Buyer's Premium on its Great Collections Listings.
So if you don't want to spend more than $100, you make a bid of $91 (well, $90.90, to be more nearly exact). I think most people would figure this out pretty quickly.
posted on October 24, 2000 02:13:32 PM
upriver - well they have an area you go to right off the home page and the buyers probably like not having to search through the little stuff from the riff-raff. But then they may be missing some good stuff also.
The Collection people are all Brick and Mortor and some people ARE afraid to bid if they can't track you down to a hard street address. As if that is going to eliminate fraud - Hah!
posted on October 25, 2000 05:42:28 AM
mrpotatoheadd:
You'd think that adding a 10% buyer premium might only cause bids to go down by 10%, for a net effect of zero...but I suspect people aren't that logical or efficient. Some will forget about the cost, others won't do the math correctly, some will get caught up in the spirit of the moment and bid higher anyway. It appears that "after the auction" costs are easier to slip by consumers, as evidenced by sellers who are increasing their S&H costs (and appear to be "getting away" with it, in terms of making more money overall).
Maybe its easier to justify because the bid amount was "only $100"..and the extra $10 was for better shipping, etc (even if said "better shipping" was only in the mind of the bidder).
I wonder if ebay had not imposed the buyer's premium intentionally at first in order to attract more upscale bidders from B&M auction sites, and are now feeling confident about raising the ante? It will be interesting to see...
posted on October 25, 2000 06:14:47 AM
I recently bought an item through great collections.There was a 40.00 shipping charge for the item.I knew that up front so I bid accordingly.
I paid the next day and it was 2 weeks before the item got here.
Boy was I ticked I asked them why 2 weeks the answer I got was they may not always have the item on hand as it maybe a consignment piece.
Or it maybe stored in their warehouse off site.Then it gets trucked to an independant shipping company.I am used too that as they do not ship so that was the reason why it took that long.
All this was in there conditions of sale if I looked them up.
Anyway it was sent next day air once shipped so thats why it was so high also.
The item was better than described,in fact so far its the only item I have bought off of ebaY that I was totally happy with what I got.
All the other items I have bought off other sellers where not as described.
On the premium I pay as much as 17% on items in England so 10% though I do not like it,is still much better than what I am used too.
