eBay has shot themselves in the foot and killed everyone's businesses.

[qawra]

On average I sold around £100 worth of items a week of highish value items and had done so for many years being on eBay for over 22 years but their decision to try and compete with Vinted and their like killed my selling stone dead almost immediately - No big deal as I have a full time job but my neighbours had a thriving eBay business selling over 600 items a month but eBay's decision decimated their sales to 200 in the first month of the change now it's down to just 48 sales last month but nearly 500 on Amazon since they moved their business over to that platform two months ago so they could actually earn a living. It's not like there isn't any fees paid to eBay its just the buyer that is paying them now for a protection they already had for free in the past.

 An object lesson on how to destroy a long-term loyal customers business and make them move to a competitor - Mindbogaling as with none of these sellers eBay will disappear or fade into obscurity.   

[jokers_toybox]

My sales took a dive when they first did it, dunno why, registered business, but then I started following some guidelines for listings and my sales have fluctuated between 150 to 250% increase over the 31 day periods.

I'm sure there ARE less buyers currently, and the situation is not ideal that they appear to have lost so many, but newer members, well this will just be the norm for them

[m.j.rodgers]

I don't understand the object to BPF. 

Business Seller A sells an item for £20 and pays £2.60 in fees. 

Private Seller B sells the same item for £18.50 and the buyer gets an additional BPF added making it £20 

The private seller gets more profit on the same item. Assuming purchase costs and P&P are equal.   

In actual fact unless the value of the item is very low a private seller transaction always attracts less in fees than the same business seller transaction. So if both A and B make the same profit then the private seller can afford to sell it cheaper. 

Where is the problem? 

[pmcomponents]

My objection as a buyer is that it feels like I'm paying for something extra, which I should have by rights.  Back in the day, if an item didn't arrive or was faulty and the seller wasn't interested in resolving it, I got PP involved. 

I mostly buy through auctions and it's annoying when I think I've committed to one amount end up paying more.  -Sadly, I do most of my bidding with a glass of wine in my hands so don't always take it into account.

[m.j.rodgers]

I accept you feel that way but that doesn't make it true. 

I bid on an auction last week. When I got outbid ebay told me that my bid was including BPF.  See the attached picture. 

I don't know if this is a setting you can change but I sure as hell haven't changed from the default settings on this account. 

[qawra]

If we take it as gospel from those that are saying everything on eBay is the same as it was before regarding sales then why has there been a 7% fall in eBay's revenue month after month since February.

As I said the three business sellers I personally know have abandoned eBay for Amazon and if everything was fine and dandy they would not have moved after decades selling on eBay as Amazon has higher fees but for them more than enough sales on Amazon in comparison to those on eBay to still give them a living  but this wasn't the case on eBay in recent months - See attached 21% drop in eBay revenue in the last three months.   

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Where exactly are you getting the figure for a 7% fall in revenue since February.

As far as I'm aware, only the first quarter of this year has been reported, which is actually showing growth, not reduction.

"eBay's first quarter results were ahead of expectations, as we delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of positive GMV growth," said Jamie Iannone, Chief Executive Officer at eBay. "Our Focus Categories and geo-specific investments are driving momentum in the business, and we continue to innovate – leveraging Al to make our marketplace more efficient and intuitive for customers."

"We exceeded our quarterly financial metrics and continue to invest for the long-term health of our marketplace," said Steve Priest, Chief Financial Officer at eBay. "Our teams have done a tremendous job executing on our strategy, while navigating a dynamic demand environment."

First  Quarter Financial Highlights

• Revenue was $2.6 billion, up 1% on an as-reported basis and up 2% on a foreign exchange ("FX") neutral basis.
• GMV was $18.8 billion, up 1% on an as-reported basis and up 2% on an FX-Neutral basis.
• GAAP net income from continuing operations was $505 million, or $1.06 per diluted share.
• Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations was $657 million, or $1.38 per diluted share.
• GAAP and Non-GAAP operating margins were 23.8% and 29.8%, respectively.
• Generated $787 million of operating cash flow and $644 million of free cash flow.
• Returned $759 million to stockholders, including $625 million of share repurchases and $134 million paid in cash dividends.

[m.j.rodgers]

While I don't doubt that figure is correct it comes with some VERY heavy caveats. 

You're not comparing like for like. Q1 and Q2 will have different purchase patterns.

These are broad figures with no explanation or indicators from the company. More data required to make a useful interpretation. 

For example. Revenue and profit are not the same thing. e.g. If a load of low profit for ebay sellers (think cheap tat from Temu) have been pushed out by BPF then they may well not have lost much profit despite the slump in revenue.  Especially if they had to deal with a load of customer service admin from shoddy sellers. 

You're also projecting your own experience of people leaving for Amazon onto the entire seller base. My professional ebay account turnover is substantially up year on year. I looked at Amazon selling earlier this year as I do every year and decided it still wasn't worth it for my market.  Amazon fees are higher than ebay for me and I don't think Amazon customers are my main audience. 

One data point with no context tells us very little. 

[qawra]

Correct me if I am wrong ( I am sure you will ) but It looks like you are quoting the revenue for eBay as an entirety - If you look at the screenshot I posted it shows this is just for eBay UK.

The business sellers I referred to and myself all live in the UK so eBay UK is the only one that's relevant  ''Apples and oranges.''

Sadly the '' Cheerleader '' coment isn't an original description from me but that from one of the people that have contacted me via my eBay listing page as they feel they can no longer post on here because the eBay cheerleaders instantly get their pom poms in a twist and berate anyone that hasn't drunk the kool aid.

And I must admit it has surprised and amused me how easily the faithful are triggered and how much time they must commit to being keyboard warriors.  

I don't have any problem with anyone disagreeing with me but I cannot resist baiting the belligerent, and by the way I am not short-sighted as I had an eye test just last week and I have 6/6 vision.

Anyway it's the end of my lunch break so back to work - Thanks for playing.

[m.j.rodgers]

---

@qawra wrote:

The business sellers I referred to and myself all live in the UK so eBay UK is the only one that's relevant  ''Apples and oranges.''

Sadly the '' Cheerleader '' coment isn't an original description from me but that from one of the people that have contacted me via my eBay listing page as they feel they can no longer post on here because the eBay cheerleaders instantly get their pom poms in a twist and berate anyone that hasn't drunk the kool aid.

And I must admit it has surprised and amused me how easily the faithful are triggered and how much time they must commit to being keyboard warriors.  

I don't have any problem with anyone disagreeing with me but I cannot resist baiting the belligerent, and by the way I am not short-sighted as I had an eye test just last week and I have 6/6 vision.

Anyway it's the end of my lunch break so back to work - Thanks for playing.

---

You hadn't completely screwed any credibility until you started using words like triggered and Kool-Aid. Keyboard warriors didn't help either.

[ett1954]

As eBay don’t give regional breakdowns, especially in such monthly detail, I would take these figures with a pinch of salt. They are worthless unless you can give a verifiable source from where they were received.  Without that they could be correct but no-one can be certain.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Not even worth answering, as it's quite clear that what they are doing is just trying to bait people.

I mean seriously, sample size 3/4 people = End of Ebay....

Quoted figures = Dodgy website guestimating, and not worth the time even looking.

And literally stating that they are playing.