Simple Delivery - Why I’m buying eBay shares.

[kbphotographic-birmingham]

The forthcoming changes in operation from the 4th Feb for private sellers will see a 4% plus 75 pence surcharge on the price you set when selling an item.

(Money coming in 1)

Then Simple Delivery gives an option for the buyer to choose express or standard - both of which means the selected couriers get business - which they pay eBay for.

(Money coming in 2)

Opting out of Simple Delivery is the only way for a private seller to offer free postage - but then eBay withholds payments for two weeks - accruing capital and interest.

(Money coming in 3).

Simple Delivery means more work for the private sellers, having to ensure final packaging weight and dimensions so as not to encounter a surcharge when it’s presented at the drop off point.

(Surcharge? Bonus money coming in for the courier!)

So I think it’s time to buy shares!

Thanks for reading.

[m25jet]

Sometimes things that would appear to be a good idea on paper are, in reality, little more than an illusion.  Having read previous posts on the new buyer charges due to take effect as of Tuesday 4th February 2025, it would appear that there are a lot of sellers who are unhappy about this change, and I can imagine that a lot of buyers would also be unhappy about being made to pay an extra amount on top of the seller's postage costs and the asking price/winning bid for the item.  If this move proves to be as unpopular when it comes into effect as it appears to be on the eBay Community Forum, and buyers and sellers subsequently choose to leave eBay like rats deserting a sinking ship, then buying shares in eBay because of the impression that it'll bring in a lot of money as a result would be about as logical as people in 1912 making a decision to buy shares in White Star Line after being convinced by all the hype about the RMS Titanic being unsinkable...

[insidethe93]

kbphotographic-birmingham wrote "So I think it’s time to buy shares!"

Sorry, I'm not sure if you're being lighthearted.

But, me being lighthearted, isn't buying shares what we eBay buyers and sellers should do en masse? 🙂 won't happen though; but if it were possible then we could vote out the shower of senior execs that are running eBay at the moment.

But don't forget to buy the right sort of shares as companies have different classes of shares with tiered dividend rights, so that certain shareholders receive higher and/or prioritised payouts. (Look up preference shares, ordinary shares - 'alphabet' shares [A, B, C] etc.) It often involves more than just having money to buy such as having to meet eligibility criteria, and it wouldn't surprise me if incumbents have weighted things so they stay on top.

[arty.crafty.books]

Well, they are going cheaper now.

In December the CEO sold some of his shares and so did some other insiders. Not much, about 1.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 

On Nasdac: " investors had been hopeful that its growth would pick up because Meta Platforms is starting to allow eBay listings on its Facebook Marketplace." Which apparently did not do as expected.

At the same time, Ebay have increased the divident payout, despite slow growth - so now the share price is lower and the divident higher...

More squeezing of the sellers is inevitable me thinks.