Ideas to make ebay great again

[moonspender]

So ive been thinking of ideas to make ebay great again so we all stay and grow with ebay and so we will all want to promote ebay to others as a great place to buy and sell rather than looking for and recommending alternative selling sites.

As the consierge always points out " thanks for your 24 years loyalty " so in view of that constant thanks Im giving ebay some ideas back.

1. Reduce business seller fees .. these are higher then private seller fees and we need to compete with the private sellers who have a warehouse full of stuff to sell similar to what we are selling. If we sell more you earn more revenue.

2. Give business sellers a promoted listing allowance for free each month based on how much income they generate, delivery timescales, feedback, shop tier etc.

3. Listings eligible to send offers. System needs to show if this was generated by promotions and as a result the sale will be subject to a fee or if it was an organic one. If its organic I'd be more likely to offer a better discount if I knew I wasnt going to also incure a promotion fee. This will also increase ebay revenue.

4. Remove ebay fees on packaging and international VAT for business sellers. We are professional sellers and can be trusted to not abuse the system. Why are we paying fees on a tax you collect ?

5. Apply the correct VAT tariff to EU sales. A number of items are subject to lower fees; help us to become more competitive. More sales = more revenue for you.

5. Limit the number of active listings a private seller can have to 100 ( or maximum of say £2000 sales PA for the multi sellers / high value sellers ) at any one time and give them free fees. This will draw in tons of private sellers and all those naughty private " business" sellers will upgrade to a business account and pay you what they should be paying you. Also limit number of accounts someone can have ?   This will increase your revenue.

Everyone please add to these ... ebay needs all our help to make Ebay great again.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I actually think that they need to have a major rethink on the fee structure.

Virtually nowhere else, do you have to pay to list an item.

I can go along to the likes of Vinted, list several thousand items at no cost.

Then sell those same items at no direct cost to me.

Ebay are changing things to similar model in the steps they have done up to now.

But frankly, they need to either go all in, or not at all.

This half way house we have currently, is just crazy.

Look at the costing for Amazon.  A minor monthly fee (£30 now if I remember correctly), then you can list as much as you want for no extra cost and final value fee when sold.

Why am I paying to list an item, for a shop, when the item sells and any other fees that come along?

No other site has the percentage cost so high.  I regularly see people giving this cost at 30% +

That's insane and very few business' can cope with that.

Free to list for everyone, with a more moderated fee structure.

Reduced number of listings for private sellers.  ie. no more than 100 per month (and that's stretching it)  I really don't understand why they have so many....

Proper policing of those sellers using private accounts, when it is absolutely clear, that they are business.

That alone, would make the biggest single difference I think.  Even allowing for those that are much harder to see.  It is however extremely depressing to see business' clearly stating that they are in pictures, titles, seller description and so on, yet when reported, there is nothing wrong.

[spence0175]

We would love to think that EBay may actually listen to our pleas to not go through with all that they are currently doing.

But they won’t reel their neck in to save face and admit that they may have got some things wrong, so they will carry out their annihilation of this site because in their eyes they want to be like the other sites when all along they could have just made this site so much better and stick to what eBay is all about and best at….

All they have done is drive a wedge between business and private. Either side are not happy…
As a business  I pay fees. I get it but if I buy off a private seller I will also pay fees so a double fee paying whammy for me.

A private seller will pay no fees and if they buy off a business they will pay no fees. 
And that’s the crux of it all and they really should be sorting this total mess out before anything.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I actually disagree with you in the double paying fees statement you made.

If a customer buys off you, they pay fees.  You may actually get charged it and pay it to Ebay, but I would hope that you account for that in what your charging the customer!

If a customer buys off a private seller, they pay fees.  It's just added on top and charged differently.

So in that regard, it's actually fair.  They may be different prices, but they do boil down to the same thing.

I actually think that free selling for private sellers, with a buying fee is a good idea.

The problem is, that they have not put into place something to stop those business sellers taking advantage of it.  Solve that issue and it will become a much better site to sell and buy on.

On no marketplace is it actually free to sell or buy.  If it was, they would be out of business extremely quickly.  They all just have different charging structures.

[spence0175]

Sorry but my items are generally priced at the going rate based on selling info. My customers do not pay fees on my items. I do… 

You may see it your way but I don’t….

[carrotdrusus2]

An Excercise as pointless as trying to make Hitler loveable.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Of course they do.

Whether you price at the going rate, higher or lower.

The money that pays the fees is from the customer.

You are not paying it out of your own pocket directly.

Yes, the fee is taken off your sale.  But the money is paid to you by the customer.  It really doesn't matter what price your selling at.  Unless of course, you are selling at a loss, in which case anything more than the break even price, you are then paying for.

Or to put it another way, the fees you pay to Ebay are in exactly the same bracket as postage.  They are just an expense.  Whether you charge for postage separately or include it in the price, who pays for it?  You, the customer? 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Then don't participate.

[spence0175]

We will agree to disagree…

Either way many are unhappy with what’s going on and the result of the free fee fiasco…

[carrotdrusus2]

Youre, right, I will leave you in your own echo chamber!!

[tjwmedia]

I’ve been selling on EBay for over 20 years and in some ways things are better and other things worse, than say 15 years when my sales were at peak.

On the positive side listing tools were  painful and awful to use, including non PC devices not being supported.

Customer service is night and day superior now, but that improvement has mostly been quite recent.

on the downside promoted/sponsored items is an abomination that provides zero value to sellers or buyers, and follows a long line of killing the goose laying golden eggs efforts, as with feedback to be more brand led like Amazon.

on that tack Amazon is pointless to me now - as that suits for large sellers only and suitable for new items only. Amazon treats sellers lower than dirt and at least EBay know where their bread and butter is as a trusted platform for both customers and sellers.

so I’m back here exclusively- what I think EBay should encourage is the community aspects and differentiating the platform as something unique and community focused - not aping passing short lived challengers.

in that regard I’d like to see less of the whinging and venting on here (maybe there should be a place for it) and a place were valuable tips are shared?

[spence0175]

I hear what you are saying but I guess people are just frustrated. EBay say they listen, but to who.

Whilst there are improvements in recent years there are also changes that are just too radical.

I guess the free fee for private just went a tad too far. Whilst they thought that private sellers would spend their money with businesses, in fact it had the opposite effect, sending businesses to become private and I feel it has just driven a wedge between us all and it should never have come to that

So whilst many of us want nice talks the reality is we are all just a bit fed up…

[theelench]

I'm a private seller so can't comment on the more technical aspects of selling as a business.

For what they may be worth I have two suggestions.

1.    Stop mucking with the search.  Show buyers what they type in the search box.  Intuitive and key words.

2.   Stop pretending that either ebay or sellers have any control over delivery dates.  Ebay doesn't need to give buyers any 'estimate' for delivery, it causes confusion and false expectations by doing so.  Everyone would be better-off if all ebay said was "See sellers dispatch and carriers estimate" and left it between buyer and seller to sort out the details. 

[moonspender]

Agree about Amazon, if I look for something it never gives me what im looking for straight away .. trying to find a certain type of packaging box for example is almost impossible.

[scarlets247]

What will make eBay great again.

1/ Sack the CEO and all the underlings that agreed with all these new changes ,As all these new changes have done is harm eBay and ruined their reputation as a selling platform.

2/ Openly Admit they where wrong and apologise to their users for making the greatest of errors. That's to Buyers and Sellers Private/Business alike.

3/ Understand  that they are and always will be a third Party within a Transaction between Buyer and Seller always have been and always will be stop delving into peoples Accounts as you get known an "pickpocket"

4/Also Understand the amount of stress Ebay is giving its sellers and buyers with all these unwanted changes. we are as sellers and always will be independent Traders that strive to please our customers to the best of our ability's we are not ( AI ) we are humans and work very hard 24/7 to list, pack and send always with a smile. 

5/The way this CEO is driving and you can see the evidence in plain sight is he wants a selling platform for large wholesalers and large retailers, He does not want small independent small sellers or private sellers, We are nothing more than a thorn in his side.

It was us that made eBay what it once was a wonderful place to sell and buy featured in films alike, The time when you could talk to your seller to ask questions but eBay are so paranoid that we would do sales off eBay they stopped us talking to our customers.

6 Stop being control freaks, Stop changing things constantly you are worse than a new born that needs changing!

5/The Simple Answer here is Have ( eBay ) for small Business and Private, and Roll out a NEW Ebay ( Plus ) for large Business and retailers at a flick of a switch at the top of the page you can browse through both sites and Remember its called eBay plus..   

6/ If you want your sellers to send tracked. Simple answer here is to Get rid of delivery Matrics for its sellers, we as sellers are also like yourselves not in control of a third party. Ebay the more you help your sellers' That's the ones that bring in your bread and butter, The more effort we as buyers and sellers would put in. 

7/ Openly admit they were wrong to remove PayPal from the site as things ran so smooth and seamlessly when they were in control of our money, We as the sellers Trusted Them and as a Buyer Trusted them even More but openly Talking Ebay do we trust you! I honestly think you would not like the answer,  I for one would not trust you to blow up a balloon, You are in and out of my account Faster than a grey hound taking what you like so No I do not trust you..  

8/ Stop showing wrong Delivery/Estimates if you have to show them at all, Back in the good old days I could post within a day and get all my badges and top rated yet again you moved the goal post so I would have to post same day to get the benefits just not worth the hassle and stress.

9/ Get rid of Casini the best Hide and seek Expert in the world and the worst search engine that was ever created No wonder people are struggling to find things, The golden rule here is if people cant find things they cant buy things and as Buyers we will then shop off eBay as we can find things a lot quicker.

10/ Get rid of promotions nothing more than a money Grab roll back the way things were everyone gets a spot at the top be it limited but we were there. we all had a share of the pie. We all had sales we all had more money to invest in new stock.

11/ Stop promoting other people's items on " Our " Seller page the golden rule here Mr CEO big man is the more items you show the less people will buy as too much choice so they buy nothing. If only them in the ivory Towers spent six months apprenticeship in on how on line retail on eBay works they may just understand The frustration we go through ,

also Notice I put " worked "  Pass tense because it don't work simple as!!

12 /For Business i.e. shop front owners.. Do away with shop fees on all levels. We all get unlimited listings in buy it now and Auctions. We are paying you a small fortune to list and sell our gear simple do you job we do not want to pay you extra for doing your job in the first instance that's what we pay you for.

13/Make sure all the tools that you provide work!! again i.e. best offers for me are working against me, also 10% works against me any tool I can use to try and drive traffic works against me. More chance of seeing Elvis in Primark than a sale on here!!

Well that will be a start, For those that will look I have been trading here on Ebay for 20 Plus years look past the 9.2% feedback people these days just leave a neutral or Negative for any old reason even more so when they open a return and see what eBay is charging for a return. 

You will get the odd person No matter how apologetic you are how helpful you are It just will not make a difference. But let me tell you if the true figure showed my stats a lot of you would be amazed 56,000 plus feedback over 110.000 items sold here on eBay and have enjoyed packing and wrapping always with a smile and always been a Pleasure to serve my customers .

Will eBay take any notice!!  I doubt it one way trip to oblivion me thinks.

Thanks for taking the time to read yes long winded with a spice of English humour as with all my past post - I loved eBay for what it was not what it's become..

[arcadehouse]

I think what you have written here is 90% of what most actual sellers have an issue with/want changing!

Won't go into as much detail as you have covered the points but our 2 cents worth are as follows,

-EDD (Estimated Delivery) just stop, it is absolutely not helping us as sellers, with customer relations when you are insisting on throwing us under a bus with wrong/misleading info.

-Searches/Promoted Listing, we all know these are broken and not fit for purpose.

-Feedback, again there is no level playing field, especially for buyers who are non payers etc, I agree to counter any misuse maybe some sort of automated review? But there should be something.

-Promoting other sellers on our pages! Just what the hell, thats like eBay actively allowing amazon adverts, it wouldn't fly so why is it here.

-Fee's, now this is the big one for us, for starters actively getting less listings than private accounts just makes no sense (this isn't a private vs business issue, it's us vs eBay issue) actively getting lower listing allowances than most other platforms in the UK, getting lower allowances than most eBay accounts worldwide.

Ontop of which we have to pay our monthly shop fee plus vat for, and effectively start paying for all listings because who doesn't go over the threshold very quickly. Then to be charged the fee on the back end which has so many layers of stealth tax is becoming abit concerning.

Shop Fee, Listing/Insertion Fee, Promoted Fee, Final Value Fee, Final Value Fixed Amount Fee, Regulatory Op Fee and all subjected to VAT.

We are not saying it has to be free of course not but it needs to be simplified, our suggestion would be along the lines of a monthly shop fee with much higher allowances and no listing fee's, saw a suggestion of the basic £32 but with 1000 would be a start.

And for the back end fee's simplify to say 10% plus 1 fixed amount (30p or whatever) like it used to be.

We know this won't go anywhere but felt compelled to comment along with fellow sellers.

We have been here for 20 years also and love eBay for what it was also.

eBay needs to stay true to eBay, it doesn't need to make changes on a constant and try to follow others, be the market trend setter. I don't understand where this fear into needing to copy "v" etc has come from for example. You were here first!

But seriously start listening to YOUR community!

[santlache_sales]

So ive been thinking of ideas to make ebay great again

That's a simple answer......roll back 20 years when eBay were at their most successful, before they got greedy and started interfering in everything.

A time when sellers were left to get on with it, and eBay sat in the background like a responsible adult overseeing things, stepping in occasionally when needed.

When fees were 3-4% and we didn't have all the stealth add-ons in fees.

The Golden Days of eBay, before they ruined it.

[theelench]

Ebay:  From the sublime to the ridiculous.