posted on January 29, 2008 02:07:39 PM
I just received the following email from StampWants.com:
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1) eBay is trying to Pull the Wool Over Your Eyes! Lower Insertion Fees = 40% Increase in Fees Overall!
This morning we talked to many stamp collectors, dealers, and eBay users who mentioned that eBay was finally lowering their fees! Welcome news to those who use eBay and have had to deal with ever increasing fees, making it harder and harder to break even, let alone make a profit. At StampWants.com, we were a little skeptical of this, and decided to investigate. eBay's big announcement, entitled "A Message from Bill Cobb – New Pricing and Other News " was where we started.
We read the entire article which highlighted the new price reductions and other changes eBay is making, starting February 20th. Based on the article's content, it seemed as though it would soon be less expensive to sell on eBay. With insertion fees being reduced, and new discounts for high feedback PowerSellers, how could it not be? However, we kept going back to one part of the article:
"First, we're reducing the up-front risk for all of you by lowering insertion fees for auction and fixed price listings across the board...and we're balancing that change by adjusting some final value fees. We will take a similar approach with Store Inventory Format listings."
Well... "adjusting some final value fees," just seemed a little too convenient, since it was quickly tacked on to the end of a sentence and not mentioned again in the whole article. Here was the catch we thought, let's see exactly what these fees are! After re-reading the article we noticed a link:
"Please read our Overview page for more specific details."
Upon entering the page, we first saw the new insertion fees, which were on average lower by about 10-20%. However, once we scrolled all the way to the very bottom of this page, we were shocked to see the new Final Value fees! Auction and Fixed Price Listings under $25.00 will now have an 8.75% Final Value fee, compared to the current 5.25% fee. This is a 67% increase! Just look at the following comparison: ...
Selling a $20 Stamp at Auction or Fixed Price on eBay Currently:
$0.60 Insertion Fee + $1.05 Final Value Fee (5.25% of $20) = $1.65 Total
Selling a $20 Stamp at Auction or Fixed Price on eBay as of February 20th:
$0.55 Insertion Fee + $1.75 Final Value Fee (8.75% of $20) = $2.30 Total
$2.30 total compared to $1.65 currently on eBay - that's a 40% increase! As Bill Cobb says "All of these changes came as a result of listening to your ideas and concerns," did you ask eBay to make it cost 40% more total to sell on eBay? I doubt it, and I doubt anyone else did either. ...
We hope that this StampWants.com Special Edition Newsletter has helped you avoid any confusion over eBay's latest fee increases, ...
Mark Rosenberg
President of StampWants.com
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Even with a 15% discount for Power Sellers, the cost to list and sell the $20.00 item increases by 30 cents.
The email was edited to remove StampWants.com fluff and advertising.
posted on January 29, 2008 02:34:38 PM
It is true, it is a pretty hefty fee increase. The very disappointing part of all of this is that they seemed to indicate that the overall cost would go down. I was really expecting to see a listing fee structure of 10/25/40 from the current 20/40/60, and instead we end up with 15/35/55 - That really is not that huge of a savings - certainly not enough to justify a 66% increase in FVF (less if you are a powerseller with high feedback) - Even as a powerseller like myself with that discount, I am going to basically save 12.5% on the listing, but pay something like 16.5% more on the final value fee. It is only going to be a small fee increase for me - but I have to say that I am doing FAR less business on ebay than I have in the past. My year to date totals from 2006 to 2007 show a decrease in the amount I am doing on ebay of 45% (my overall sales in all markets more than doubled in 2007, so sales are good) - My point is that I was hoping this fee restructuring would be enough to get me back to listing a lot moe on ebay, but that simply is not going to happen.
posted on January 29, 2008 02:35:41 PM
As usual, there are two sides to every stamp. In the case of a small seller, listing a 9.99 item. Insertion old way: 75c (with gallery), fvf 52c. Total: $1.27. New fee structure: 35c with gallery, fvf 87c. Total $1.22. 5c less.
And let's not forget that 100 per cent sell through is unusual these days.
So, listing two items at 9.99, one sells, one does not. Cost to list: 1.50 plus 52c final value fee old way. $2.02.
posted on January 29, 2008 02:41:14 PM
Sure, if you used gallery. I never did. I don't consider it a savings to factor in the cost of something I never used! I find it amazing that people actually paid 75 cents to list an item that MIGHT sell for $9.99. That itself is a crazy approach to selling.
posted on January 29, 2008 03:27:34 PM
I don't use gallery and figure if business stays the same, I'll save about $3,000/year (20% reduction in fees). My sell-through is low and I have to take into account my listing fees for unsold items as well as sold items. If the sell-through improves and I end up spending more in FVF than I anticipate, I'll be more than happy to oblige.
[ edited by pixiamom on Jan 29, 2008 03:31 PM ]
posted on January 29, 2008 04:09:48 PM
I don't use gallery either, so for me the listing fee decrease is minimal, it's the FVF's that are going to kill my business.
posted on January 29, 2008 05:40:54 PM
I use gallery for all my listings,as my competitors all use gallery.
It seems that Ebay is looking for more listings,as it will soon be cheaper to list !
But we already have too many listings,so more listings will just result in lower final bid?
Is that why Ebay wants a higher FVF ?
*
Lets all stop whining !
posted on January 29, 2008 05:45:45 PM
On an item selling for about $10, you save 5 cents on the listing fee, but pay 35 cents more on final value fees.
posted on January 29, 2008 05:49:30 PM
Once upon a time in China,there is a forest where many wild monkeys call it home.
A rich man is rather fond of these monkeys and every day he and his servants will bring them fresh fruits to eat.
One day,he tells them there is a budget cut and he is rationing them as follows-
each monkey will eat 3 pieces of fruits in the morning and 4 pieces of fruits in the afternoon.
The monkeys protest and say this is not acceptable,they are used to eating more!
As their protests grow louder and louder,he changes his mind and said-
okay,how about 4 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon?
The monkeys thought about it and start to rejoice,they like the revised plan -4 in the morning is definitely better than 3 in the morning !
This episode leads to a famous saying '3 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon' is a phrase used to describe a wishy washy person living a decadent life!
*
Lets all stop whining !
posted on January 29, 2008 06:00:21 PM
Sthoemk, you're not taking into account the fees for unsold items nor the items listed in stores. For some it's an increase, for others, it's a decrease. If I had a 100% sell-through and sold in core only, I'd be really upset.
posted on January 29, 2008 06:09:50 PM
For me, this is clearly a shift into fairness.
Sure, we all knew that eBay was going to increase fees, however they are now more fair. Ebay now will be paid less and it will cost us less for a non-sale. I have no problem in giving eBay money for success. That's what it's suppose to be about in the first place. If my STR goes up, great. Ebay should be rewarded for that as well. But if my STR drops, then they should take the hit as well.
I had been listing less and less simply because of up front fees. I am listing at another auction site (only fvf's) and have my own website (free) and won't be giving those up as part of my overall business plan, but eBay finally is going in the right direction with this one.
posted on January 30, 2008 04:40:45 PM
Ebay does not want us to flood its auction with junks,thats why it has a high listing fee,and now it is changing its mind?
Yes,I see many Ebay sellers parking their items on Bidville,Epier and Ioffer.
*
Lets all stop whining !
posted on January 31, 2008 05:14:46 AM
Not an increase for me. I did a comparison based on October numbers (I was gone most of November and December had two listing specials) I don't know how often I use gallery - maybe 1/4 of the time. After doing the calculation on 2,000 core listings and 9000 store listings I found I will be saving (drum roll please) $249! As ebay said basically - neutral. *this does not include any PS discounts.
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