NO LONGER SELLING DUE TO SIMPLE DELIVERY

[rugbyguy1960]

AS OF 15TH APRIL MY DAYS AS A PRIVATE EBAY SELLER WILL STOP AFTER 19 YEARS.

I AM FED UP OF THE GREED OF EBAY AND I HOPE OTHER EBAY SELLERS DECIDE TO NO LONGER LET THE EBAY CONTROL FREAKS HAVE THIS MUCH CONTROL OVER PRIVATE SELLERS.

[infohelps]

Yeah, I was told this pretty early on by a CS rep.  I asked him how eBay could accurately migrate my existing listings to SD if I had not input any weights or dimensions (my listings were all free delivery).  He told me that AI would work it out, and if the postage was under estimated, eBay would pick up the cost.  But if the seller input the dimensions/weight incorrectly then the seller would be liable for 'any associated fees and charges'.  What these were was unclear, (he didn't know) but I assume that would be, at the very least, the RMs fee for under paid postage that the buyer has to pay to collect from the Post Office (the last one I had to pay was £1.50).  However, it wouldn't surprise me if there was some kind of "admin fee" hidden in there.  As people have said on here that you can't add any stamps or extra postage onto a SD pre printed label, it also wouldn't surprise me if the seller wasn't charged again for the full amount of the correct postage, rather than just the difference.  I know some people have been on here saying that we are just spreading ill will towards eBay, "making things up" and spreading untruths.  But in the absence of any official response here from an eBay team member, and when eBay's own Ts and Cs are a vague nonsense that not even their own staff can understand, we can only share the information that we have been given in an attempt to help each other make sense of the situation.  

[vinylscot]

Really? This is all pretty clear by now, and you are just stirring it.

It's been done to death all over these boards, and you know perfectly well what the situation is.

We may not like SD, but there is nothing to be gained by simply twisting it and refusing to acknowledge how it is, however flawed or unintuitive that may be.

[wellingnorth]

---

@infohelps wrote:

Yeah, I was told this pretty early on by a CS rep.  I asked him how eBay could accurately migrate my existing listings to SD if I had not input any weights or dimensions (my listings were all free delivery).  He told me that AI would work it out, and if the postage was under estimated, eBay would pick up the cost.  But if the seller input the dimensions/weight incorrectly then the seller would be liable for 'any associated fees and charges'.

---

I meant to reply to the_book_seekers post about this before. It had also seemed pretty clear to me that for any underestimated postage where existing listings had been converted to simple delivery ebay would pick up the cost. But now reading those terms it sounds like that will actually be the case even with new listings as long as you don't alter the size / weight band that ebay recommend when you list?

c) Under declarations.

If you amend the predicted dimensions and weight of your item at the point of listing, and the item is found to be underdeclared, eBay reserves the right to charge you for the under declaration as well as for any applicable administration or other fees.

So effectively the incentive would be only to change the band if you're confident you think you can pack it lighter / smaller for a lower cost to the buyer - if you think the size / weight are understimated you leave it as is and ebay will cover any difference?

[theelench]

"Steve" is the CFO and is soon being replaced, along with another exec.

"Apart from the revenue growth being pretty marginal,..."

and as the article conjectures, taking into consideration discounts given to aid growth in the failing "Vertical Strategy", increases in shipment charges, taking fees on taxes and allowing for inflation, wasn't an increase at all but possibly in negative territory.

What I think is interesting was that the Vertical Strategy of turning 'enthusiast buyers' into regular buyers of luxury brands of Focus Categories like trainers, handbags and watches (while getting rid of 'low value buyers) is admitted to have virtually stopped growing.  This was meant to be the latest plan to spark ebay into growth again and appears have failed.

The result has been 5 years (at least) of stagnation and slow decline.  (Does 5 years take us back to the separation from paypal and the introduction of Managed Payments ?  I can't remember.)  Leaving ebay still reliant on increasing its % take from every transaction and growth in Promoted Listing fees as its only growth areas.  Looking at Advertising Revenue even the growth of PL seems to be slowing, indicating further trouble ahead.

What I think is sad about the above is that if ebay has been in the doldrums since the introduction of MP, all the changes since, all the upset sellers leaving after each change, confused buyers leaving leading to less sales, has resulted in no improvement in ebay's results and no real growth in buyers, sellers or sales.

Ebay's tried to be amazon and failed.  Now it's trying to be vinted and sellers using both platforms are already pointing out that ebay's efforts are not as good as vinted.

Perhaps ebay would be better off going back to being ebay.  Discouraging further growth in the numbers of business sellers on the site.  Wholesale simplification of how the site works, saving money on maintenance and making the site and search intuitive and easy for all sellers and buyers to use again.

Looking back over history (IMO always a good starting point) ebay has indulged in something similar to Stalin's or Mao's "Great Leaps Forward" with massive top-down, micro-managed and unpopular upheavals.  They didn't work, they resulted in poverty, disaffection and often ended up by shrinking production where they hoped there would be growth.

Neither has ebay's "Five Year Plan" worked, if there has been any plan beyond a series Can-Kicking exercises.  Perhaps the lesson they should learn is that organic growth is best and if they can carry their core membership with them, more reliable and successful ?

[crn303]

Excellent posting from you. Unfortunately there will be adverse replies !!

[theelench]

---

@moonlight-rhapsody wrote:

"Are you an Advisor for Ebay?"

It's just a different "ranking", like yours is "Engager" and mine in "Conversationalist".  You can see how ebay allocates the ranks at this link 

---

Thanks for that link,  I wondered why I'd been promoted from Specialist to Champion (and what they meant).

I'd thought it might just have been because of the number of times I posted.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

"Indeed, people with six & seven figure pay packets who's only experience of auctions is Bonhams 😆"

It’s actually 8 figures.  The highest recorded remuneration package for the CEO was in 2020 at $35,153,379.  His predecessor got a $57 million exit package.  Perhaps that’s the sort of exit package that every CEO from ebay can look forward to.

[theelench]

Thankyou, just my perspective on the statement.  I don't expect everyone to agree, I'd be interested to read what others disagree with on my thoughts if they give their reasons as to why they disagree.

I just hope I'll be spared the sort of reply that dismisses everything I said just because they think it's pointless waffle. 🙂

[myoldpaperclutter]

I think you are stirring it up, just like you have in the past. If you can’t say something helpful I suggest you don’t say anything. 

[sonicscooter69]

I had 1000 bubble envelopes on ebay, in two lots of 500, i had 1300 in total, were on for 4 months in total, something like 4 views, no offers, no messages.....nothing.

I removed the listing and went into town and gave them away for free to several shops.

Waste of time on here.

[superchallenge]

What were you charging?

[sonicscooter69]

D/1 and it was £50 including delivery from memory.

[lucy_farmer]

'....just because they think it's pointless waffle.'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not pointless waffle at all!  I like having a 'deeper think' about what's been happening here, rather than just looking at the 'immediacy' of what's in front of our noses and getting depressed about it 😞

And one or two of your points about the changes ebay wanted to make to their USP, have always made me choke slightly:    wanting 'enthusiast buyers' to become 'regular buyers of luxury brands' for one.....😲😲.

Why haven't ebay ever put two and two together, when thinking about the fact that regular buyers on (what was largely) a second-hand selling site, are unlikely to be splashing out on luxury handbags etc??

If they could afford that, they wouldn't be regulars on a second-hand site....

And even if they wanted to/could afford a Louis Vuitton handbag, why would they buy one on a site well-known for fakes and scammers?

I think you're correct in ebay needing to go back to being ebay. There's now too much competition to try and 'be' other sites.

And new online shoppers (younger than us old farts) don't have the same sort of loyalty to a site as we all used to (when ebay was more-or-less the only game in town, and was more of a 'community'..)

[infohelps]

Actually, I do not know 'perfectly well' what the situation is, and neither did the person I replied to which is I assume why they made the post.   Neither did the Ebay rep know when I asked him the questions.    You say it's all clear to you, so if you know the answers please just tell us rather than berating people and making accusations.   So for your perusal, these were the questions I asked the CS rep which he was unable to answer and which I referred to:  What charges and fees will the seller be liable for if they amend their listing but  give dimensions and weights which are inaccurate causing SD to generate a label that is underpaid?  As well as the RM collection admin fee, does the seller pay the full amount of new postage or just the difference?  Does eBay charge an admin fee, and if so how much?   

It is true that new people join the thread and may pose a question that was answered 26 or so pages ago.  That is always going to happen when the thread is so big and I am sorry that you seem to find that so frustrating, but  let's be honest,  people aren't going to read all these posts before posting a question or concern.   I've missed a few days myself as I've been away and I won't have time to read through everything I've missed and work out what reply relates to what post so I may need to seek clarification on something myself at a later date.  The fact that people are still posting queries shows that it is far  from 'pretty clear' to most people - other than you it seems.   I have no inclination to get involved in an on-line argument with you, so no offence intended, but  I genuinely await your answer to these questions. 

[myoldbitsandpieces]

Well said. I don't why vinylscot doesn't stick to the Business Seller boards, as the changes only relate to private sellers.

[infohelps]

Yeah, the whole thing is a minefield.   To be fair, the questions I asked were specifically about the migration exercise.  But it would certainly appear that with regards to a new listing,  if eBay recommends a band and you change it incorrectly resulting in underpaid delivery costs you will be liable for the fees.  I can only reference RM as I won't touch Evri with a bargepole, but if prior to SD you popped something in the post box and didn't put enough stamps on, you would expect to have to refund the RM admin fee that the buyer  was charged when they collected the item.  You would not have to refund the underpaid postage as that would have been incorporated in the RM admin fee.  However, just look at the vagueness of that eBay statement - "eBay reserves the right to charge you for the under declaration as well as for any applicable administration or other fees".   Admin fee? RM/courier fee or eBay's own admin on top of the courier's?   Charging you for the under declaration?  Does that mean charging you for the difference in costs, or charging you for the whole initial under declared label as it was your error, therefore making you pay for the incorrect postage label AND the correct label?  Who knows? It's as though they have no idea what they are going to be charging until the whole debacle has been running for  a while, but covering themselves by leaving the Ts & Cs suitably vague.   The whole SD thing makes me nervous because I feel there are so many unanswered questions that even the staff don't know the answers to that I will just keep doing 'time away', and keeping my eye on this thread until more is known.  

[akemp1]

---

@gmij1961 wrote:

I only sell on Ebay as it offers the best return for what I want to sell  and everything they are doing reduces that value for me , which directly contradicts what they are spouting .  Making something "easier" or more "simple" doesn't mean better value . I am currently buying stuff from VTD as its dirt cheap ! 

As a buyer I am certainly finding more bargains at the other place. In the past week I have placed 1 order here (from a seller I have used before) and 4 orders at the other place. It feels like sellers here tend to dispatch a little bit quicker if that matters. The other place has a huge advantage with combined orders which are my favourite particularly when buying at pocket money prices where the postage is otherwise a high proportion of the order value. 

On selling it really depends on the item. I have been able to relist items there and sell for more than I was unable to sell on ebay after months of listing stagnation. But then I have some items listed here where the prices there are much less than I would want to accept.

Once SD hits my account I will take a decision on each listing if it will stay here or move there based on if the other place has a category for it, how likely it is to find an audience and the probable sale price. I've been moving the most obvious ones first where they are clearly going to sell better over there.

[lucy_farmer]

'Well said. I don't why vinylscot doesn't stick to the Business Seller boards, as the changes only relate to private sellers.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think vinyl's got *both* types of account. (and a fair amount of general ebay-common sense!)

[lavenderthimblebunny]

There's no incentive to weigh and measure if doing so makes a seller liable for any underestimate excess.  If ebay guesstimates and gets it wrong as long as the label is a SD label ebay has agreement with the postal /courier to make up the excess. 

I hope they get stung for plenty of dodgy Evri claims because ebay can't dispute claims of underpayment.  (plenty of private and business seller have reported this on other threads within this forum). 

I suspect there's small print in ebay's agreement with these companies that, as long as the over-payments exceed the underpayments, they won't bother each other too much.  But again in an info vacuum we're all just speculating.

If we get distracted in-fighting about stuff it takes some of the pressure off ebay  - they'll just leave us to it in a divide and conquer sort of way.✊

[akemp1]

---

@lavenderthimblebunny wrote:

If we get distracted in-fighting about stuff it takes some of the pressure off ebay  - they'll just leave us to it in a divide and conquer sort of way.✊

---

I don't think 'we' really need to keep the pressure on ebay as if their buyers and sellers conclude these changes make it not worth using ebay anymore and they have better options elsewhere that reduced platform activity will get their attention in a more meaningful way than anything we say on this forum. All we need to do on this forum is let them know why it's happening if they are reading.