posted on June 1, 2001 08:07:37 AM new
I received the following yesterday---
To avoid becoming yet another dot-com casualty, we are forced to raise our Transaction Fees in order to cover operating costs.
However, we're doing so by the smallest amount our accountant says we have
to.
As before, the new Transaction Fee is based on the final sale price of the
item and is charged once the sale is complete. The new fee will take
effect for items sold on or after July 1, 2001, regardless of listing date
and will be determined as follows:
$00.00 - 10.99 $0.50
$11.00 - 25.00 $1.25
$25.01 - 100.00 5%
$100.01 - 1,000 $5.00 + 2.5% of balance over $100.00
$1,000.01 and up $27.50 + 1.25% of balance over $1,000
But even after the new fees take effect, Bargain and Haggle will still be
less expensive to sell on than other sites.
Since I have been listing only low dollar items this doesn't look very promising for me.
posted on June 1, 2001 12:16:19 PM new
It definitely doesn't look good for the low dollar items. You'll have to sell a dollar item for $1.50 now. We only have a few low dollar items but it looks like we will be moving them to other sites if this happens. Myself, I'm going to reply to the same email that was sent to me pointing out how unfair this new fee structure is to lower dollar item sellers and I urge every other B&H seller to do the same. The fee structure should be strictly percentage based in order to be fair to everyone. Don't just lie down and take it! Let B&H know your thoughts on the matter and maybe we can change this before it's too late!
posted on June 1, 2001 01:15:02 PM new
I have replied to them at three different places to them. I explained to them that a more reasonable fee would be 10% on low dollar items. Anyway, I did get one reply-here is what they said regarding the new fees:
We understand that for some
users our new Pricing Structure
is not cost effective. Unfortunately,
we had to increase the fees, and
we did so by the smallest amount
possible, to cover our operational
costs. And because listing fees
are free you save when you sell
and when you don't.
After receiving that reply, I told them for a site that hasn't even hit 100,000 listings they are going to lose business like Amazon and Yahoo did when they started charging fees. Most sellers on their site are looking for a place to sell their lower priced items without incurring horrendouse fees. I also informed that if I had seen this fee structure when I first visited their site, I would have passed them by.
Too bad, this site really had a good shot of being in competition with Ebay. I have had several Ebay buyers who have purchased items from me. Their response was they preferred this site over Ebay. Oh well... maybe B & H will wake up before they make the same mistake as Yahoo??????
posted on June 1, 2001 01:46:16 PM new
Besides the haggle format they should add auction functionality so sellers can sell using a dynamic format as well. No one should be suprised about fees - someone has to pay for bandwith. The days of the free lunch are long gone.
posted on June 1, 2001 01:55:21 PM new
No one is complaining about paying a fee at Bargain & Haggle. The complaint is about the ridiculously high final value fee for all item under $10.99. It is a flat rate 50 cents regardless whether it is $1.00 or $10.00. This rate should be a percentage to make it more reasonable.
posted on June 1, 2001 06:05:19 PM new
Not much bargaining and haggling going on there tonight. Four hours after the estimated time to get the site back up and running:
TraceRoute www.bargainandhaggle.com (216.120.197.5)
11 146 10 216.120.132.10 trigrl3.trivalent.net
12 * * timed out
.
30 * * timed out
not reached
posted on June 1, 2001 11:55:53 PM new
To all B&H sellers, email those people until your fingers fall off. Get all of the other sellers you know on the bandwagon too. A 50% FVF on a $1 item...a 17% FVF on a $3 item. That's outrageous! Even ebay isn't that bold.
Maybe a ton of emails will help our plight...maybe it won't, but it's worth a shot. Below is the email I sent to several of their email addresses tonight. Maybe it'll give someone an idea for their own email or maybe not. But anyway...
_____________________________________________
Hi cpa-dude,
This email is in response to B&H's looming new fee structure. First, I want to clarify that I understand the statements that you've made concerning this change.
I understand that:
1)"...on Bargain and Haggle you NEVER pay a Listing Fee or a Reserve Fee. Ever."
2)"In order to cover operational costs, Bargain and Haggle is forced to raise their Transaction Fees. However, they're doing so by the smallest amount possible."
I understand the preceding statements!
I also understand a few other things too. Take a walk with me on the other
side of the tracks for a minute.
A few things that I know and understand:
1)I like the B&H website. I think it is awesome and I love doing business here. I commend you guys on an excellent concept that has been implemented quite well and I would truly hate to see it take a turn for the worse.
2)I understand "the cost of doing business" and that fees/expenses will rise accordingly but the new fee structure, for the lower dollar items($0.00-$25.00) is egregiously unfair to the sellers who sell items in
these price ranges. It's not quite as bad in the $11-$25 range with the $1.25 fee equaling 11.36% of an $11 item. That's a bit steep but acceptable to some people although I'm not one of those people. But when you get down to the $1-$3 range the $0.50 fee represents 50%-17%, respectively, of the
entire final value for these auctions. WOW, these sellers will be getting raked over the coals if they decide to stay. Do you really believe that they will stay?
3)We're only talking about a few cents right? No big deal, right? YES, it's a big deal! Do you think all, or any, of the sellers of low dollar items are going to stick around and pay those kinds of outlandishly hefty fees? If they have 1/2 a brain they're not! Shoot, on these low dollar items, B&H's fee will be more than ebay's final value & listing fees combined.
Outrageous!
4)I currently have 215 items, ranked #41, listed on B&H. Out of those 215 items, about 70 items, 33%, are in the $0.00-$25.00 range. Well, come June 30, 2001, if the proposed fee structure stands, 33% of my current listings will no longer be up for sell on B&H. They will go to a less fee heavy site. And this doesn't even take into account the 200-300 other $0.00-$25.00 items
that I have in stock that haven't been listed yet. I, and many others, are not going to pay fees in excess of 11%-50+% so we will take all of these items elsewhere. And have you, or anyone else, really looked at the items that are listed on the B&H website? I would be willing to bet that 40%-50+% of the items listed are in the $0.00-$25.00 range. I did a little browsing myself and, if this fee structure stands, I expect to see a large part of the "Hobbies & Crafts" listings disappear, most of the "Books, Movies & Music" section disappear and a large part of the "Clothing & Accessories" & "Toys & Games" sections disappear. And that's just the sections that I took a few minutes to look at. I'm sure there are plenty other sections that will
go by the wayside as well.
5)B&H is in this game to make money! Of course, we all are! But looking at things from this side of the tracks all I see that B&H is doing, if this fee structure is implemented, is cutting it's own throat. There will be a massive herd of low dollar item sellers heading for the exits. If that's
B&H's intention then you're on the right track, otherwise, to your dismay, it's going to be a mass exodus similar to what Yahoo experienced just a few months ago. B&H won't have to worry as much about "covering operational costs," " transactions...more than doubled every month" or being "named one
of the top newcomer sites by Jupiter Media Metrix" because B&H will be virtually cutting it's business in 1/2.
6)What's the solution? Implement a fee structure that is "FAIR" to "ALL" sellers. The only way to do this is to have a fee structure that is strictly based on percentages. Shoot, on WebSwap(no longer with us), me and 100s of other sellers paid a flat 9% final value fee(no listing fee) on all transactions. It didn't matter if the final value is $1 or $1000 it was still 9%. The fee was kind of high but it was "fair." Every seller's fees were in direct proportion to every other sellers fees. Under your proposed fee schedule this will not be the case. You'll have high dollar item sellers paying 1.25%-5% while the low dollar item sellers are choked with 11%-50+%
fees. Do you really think that this will fly? I don't think so. Most of the sellers are smart business men and women who have been at this game for along time and they can easily figure out when they are about to be fleeced. They're not going to stand for it!
Well that's my 2 cents worth and your glimpse from the other side of the tracks. Take it to heart! Think about it! Because I don't want to see your proposed intentions, with the new fee structure, have the exact opposite effect and cause B&H "to become yet another dot-com casualty." That would be
a travesty!
posted on June 2, 2001 06:21:02 AM new
To me, it just doesn't seem like such a big deal. On a $4.00 item, eBay would have a .50 cent fee also. People always get angry about fees, But remember, eBay would charge you .30 cents no matter if you sell your item or not. Bargain and Haggle has no listing fee, and if you look at the overall pricing scheme, it is a lot cheaper than eBay in almost every instance... Your haggling anyways, can't you just raise your price a little to make up the difference?
posted on June 3, 2001 11:53:24 AM new
Good point, kitcatclock! Just haggle for a higher price. Although I still don`t like the proposed changes and will still fight to change them this sounds like a viable solution if they go into effect. Anyway...
posted on June 3, 2001 04:57:50 PM new
Speaking for myself I do as well on Bidville as I did on BooHoo this time of year. Bidville is headed for 700,000 listings growing by 1,200 aday and it is a young site. The listings are free imageing is free they have the about me page that helps. They are just adding bulklisters, they have buy it know I could go on and on but the best thing to do is go look for your self. Any guestions email bidville and get a reply from a real person. Bidville is still small compaired to ebay but we are growing. Yes I sell and buy on bidville and have got great deals. P.S. by the way I sell hockey starting lineups also for the person looking. Have a nice buying/selling day.
