@howmuchtobid wrote:
You have been very fortunate to benefit from not having to pay any final value fees in the run up to Xmas. Many businesses have not had that luxury.....how are you going to get on in January when you will have to pay final value fees again?
Well... you wander off to deal with Black Friday/cyber Monday and come back to find your name has been dragged through the mud (presumably, though as the post was moderated, I'll never know.)
Regarding your question, and how I will cope in January when fees resume? Well, I guess like I coped for the last god-knows-how-long when private sellers have been on 80% off FVFs. My category has always been one of the most saturated by private/business sellers. Same old, same old, yawn.
Of more interest, perhaps, is the effect of zero fees on a consistently profitable pre-loved clothing business during this zero fee period. I immediately set up a calculator to compare profit with zero fees vs profit with usual fees. Meaning I chose to pass on much of my unexpected bonus to buyers as discounts in an effort to 'ditch' old stock and gain new followers, so that I am in the best possible shape for 2025. I have also trialled promoted offsite, differing PL levels, promoted shop, and discounts teamed with coupons teamed with newsletters; all of which ebay has supported with 1:1 support and further fee offers. So my fees to ebay since 'zero fees' have not fallen to zero, but have rather shifted from a previous 18-24% to more like 12-15% in advertising spend. Some might say I have wasted my money. However, I have seen comments from other pre-loved clothing sellers on these boards along the lines of "what is the point of zero fees when you don't have sales?". Well, I have had no shortage of sales and like I say, because of my work, I am hopeful for 2025.
On a side note, if I have used the opportunity to discount (and have ended the year strongly) then I can only think other clothing sellers have too. Meaning we probably gave Vinted a run for its money. So I think ebay's strategy achieved exactly what it wanted. It has survived to fight another day. And maybe, just maybe, it has seen some sellers are willing to work with it, and voluntarily pay fees in other ways if they buyers keep buying.
So what will ebay do next? Well, if I had a bunch of 'employees' moaning about their poor salaries, I would never, ever, give them a rise for three months then take it away again. So I predict some kind of buyer (and possibly seller) fee per transaction to replace zero fees. (Although what will happen in other categories to preloved I don't know; possibly it is having a rival, like Vinted, that makes ebay fight to keep its sellers; because it has to.)
I am, incidentally, humbled by the kind words of other sellers in my absence. Thank you.
