@drainie wrote:
The combined postage problem is a nuisance but there may be an awkward work-around available to sort out that mess. What I fail to understand, though, is why EBAY seem happy to reduce their income.
I’m relatively new to EBAY, but if I understand the old system (pre-October 2024) correctly, had I sold something for £10 (postage included), as a seller I would be charged 12.8% - that is £1.28 – plus a 40p transaction fee. I would receive £8.32, and EBAY would earn £1.68.
Now, and assuming I’m still content to receive £8.32 income, and post my lot at that price, my buyer will be charged 4% - that is £0.33 – plus a 75p transaction fee. I would receive my expected £8.32, but EBAY would only earn £1.08.
If I’m right – and I’m not really sure I am – I’m at a loss to understand why the change recently implemented by EBAY is a good business decision.
Surely the simplest solution – for now anyway – is to revert to pre-October rules. Most sellers were content with that system – less dangerous than a rewrite of a rewrite of the website.
@drainie the missing part of your math may at least be in part that very often, private sellers were not paying the full FVF under the old system.
eBay used to be very generous with FVF discount promos to private sellers, usually sending 70-80% off fee offers fortnightly, and many of those sellers would intentionally wait and only list when they could use on of those offers.
So the £1.28 in your example might actually have really only been ~ £0.26, in which case the new fees would net eBay more than the old way if the seller was using a promo.
The other thing to factor in is that eBay is now monetizing these sales in other ways - by delaying payouts for private sellers, they've increased the interest they earn on funds and they've also been quite clear with investors that the coming Simple Delivery managed shipping mandate is a revenue generating initiative as well.
Buyers and sellers won't have any direct visibility into how much eBay is making from those parts, but if you put all of that together, it's likely eBay is actually making more total under this new system than they were before on many private transactions.
