The madness of ebay

[clayfaceiii]

Ok, I'm in the UK, and needless to say sales have fallen off the cliff.

How nuts is this, I'm selling a comic for £1.50 plus postage, sold a few. Then sales stop as it's now £2.28 plus postage as eBay has added 78p to the starting price for buyer protection.

Needless to say, no sales.  eBay have made my items more expensive.

The madness,..., I get an email from eBay telling me to drop my prices to get a sale, a price increase caused by them that's now hindering my sales. Mad, u could not make it up.

[theelench]

In none of your examples of other selling venues do the organisers draw the buyers attention to whatever fees they charge sellers neither, until now, did ebay.  Now ebay's fees are no longer invisible to the buyer (who in reality always did pay them) even though they were collected from the seller.

Now they are highlighted at checkout and clearly demonstrate to the buyer that they are paying fees to ebay.   That IMO is the big mistake.

As always ebay has done nothing to prepare buyers with any explanation, just changed format so that one day there was no fee, the next there is.

People do not like change particularly when they don't understand it.  Ebay also has a well deserved and well known reputation for money grabbing which is working against it ATM.  How many buyers get to the checkout, see the fee and think "Another ebay rip-off".

That reaction seems to be hitting sales.  Will they recover?   Only time will tell.  Ebay has alienated another tranche of private sellers by hitting them instead of the businesses it should be hitting.  Many will stop selling in disgust at being scape-goated.  Some of those that do not will still give up anyway if their sales fall to levels that they find unacceptable because of their buyer's reactions.

[dch2112011]

I think most buyers understand stalls cost money to sellers and most auctions publicly declare their selling charges for all to see !

ebay don't charge private sellers - so nothing to see

Buyers see a total price when buying - at checkout they have a breakdown of the price  , delivery - fees - item price - total same as they expect -

this is the same system on nearly every website, platform, shop receipt, hotel receipt, restaurant receipt, invoice, car service - it's not new -

it's just some existing members who are used to sellers fees are looking for any reason to knock it without even giving it a chance to work because it is a change for them but normal for new members and sellers !

[theelench]

"Buyers see a total price when buying - at checkout they have a breakdown of the price, delivery - fees - item price - total same as they expect -."

No, they do not expect to see fees.  Never in the history of ebay has there ever been a buyers fee at checkout.

As I said before, buyers have always paid the fees that ebay used to collect from sellers, perhaps if they thought about it at all, they understood that.  Most didn't and now, I would guess, just assume that it's a "New" fee  --  an extra fee.

I think there is ample evidence of their reaction.  Even more than the usual number of sellers saying their sales have been reduced or come to a complete halt.

On a different thread myself and a couple of other sellers selling in very different areas of ebay all reported the same thing after these restrictions were introduced.  Less new listings, reduced sales and lower prices on auctions compared to previously.

Less listings might be private sellers protesting or leaving.  But surely fewer BIN sales and lower auction prices can only mean one thing?  Fewer buyers.  I don't think that's a coincidence,  it's largely due to the introduction of the buyer fee?

[clayfaceiii]

I agree, I can only offer my own experience. I've sold less, and I'm buying less, to the point where I am actively going to stop buying on eBay, I won't put any more money in musks pockets. Most things I buy and collect I can get elsewhere and often cheaper.

Selling side is going to be more difficult but not insurmountable.

[dch2112011]

That is to be expected - change breeds uncertainty - it does everytime a major change takes place but it soon settles back and with the huge influx of new accounts with the fee free selling - new buyers will emerge who know no different so will not even dwell on a breakdown of price which they are used to in almost every aspect of buying outside of ebay

Fees are added and displayed whether it is a broker selling finance or an insurance policy with IPT - all have to be clearly shown at checkout - 

I think people are so used to it in everyday purchasing that ebay following suit will soon be accepted - maybe people are so accustomed to these charges that they don't even take any notice of them anymore where they have been displayed for years and therefore think it is something new and strange ebay are doing - 

[kath3735_wxmjn]

i thought you had not been selling on here since the beginning of the year, you said that your sales were practically non existent last year which is why you are on another site?  So in reality if all that is true (as i remember from some of your other posts) you have not actually got any personal experience of the effects on any items on here!

[johnwash1]

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@kath3735_wxmjn wrote:

i thought you had not been selling on here since the beginning of the year, you said that your sales were practically non existent last year which is why you are on another site?  So in reality if all that is true (as i remember from some of your other posts) you have not actually got any personal experience of the effects on any items on here!

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He's only pointing out what any independent observer can see.  Are you in denial?

[action_man]

Sometimes we are unable to see the wood for the trees, so this is merely an observation in case you hadn't thought of it yourself. If you redirected your focus away from other people's business to your own business you could improve that 97.8% positive feedback rating.

[johnwash1]

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@action_man wrote:

Sometimes we are unable to see the wood for the trees, so this is merely an observation in case you hadn't thought of it yourself. If you redirected your focus away from other people's business to your own business you could improve that 97.8% positive feedback rating.

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Ouch, solid burn!  🙂  Sometimes I think these forums should have an entry fee, the entertainment value is so good!

Oops, I just gave ebay another idea.  Blame me when this idea is implemented in 2026.  😞

[theelench]

Your memory is correct except in one detail.  I've been selling elsewhere for quite a few years, not just recently or just because my sales here last year were my worst ever.  That's how I can justifiably say that my sales there increase each year while those on ebay have declined to last years miserable 4.

Yes, my last sale here was on 15/10 a day or two before the "Free to Sell" announcement.  My last listing ended in late November or early December and I haven't had any live listings since.   Waiting to see how the latest raft of restrictions would look like in action.

So yes it is all true.

I have no personal experience of what looks to me like an unfolding disaster, but I am capable of forming an opinion from the mass of evidence I read on here from hundreds of others who have reported their experiences.

I can comment on the knock-on effects in my own area of interest (less new listings, less sales and lower auction prices) because I'm still looking at a few Saved Searches regularly still hoping someone might list a long sought-after piece on my Wish List.  With saved searches that usually give >200 results and far less Sold Items it isn't difficult to see the downward pattern.