EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
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EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
1–10 of 101 posts
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#2If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time.
While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have an eBay 'store' will be charged 10% of their final sale value in fees. Store owners will keep the existing fee schedule, but it will cost them a monthly fee beginning at $16/mo. Add in the 3% Paypal fee and they're taking a very large cut. For many categories of goods, this represents a doubling of current fees.
I only discovered this by accident; I listed the item yesterday and there wasn't any warning about an impending fee increase. They haven't sent any notifications by email or to my eBay mailbox either; seems this is being rolled out quietly.
Now I'm lowering my price in search of a quicker sale rather than risk paying an extra $70.
EDIT: I've just realized that this fee increase begins right after Tax Day in the US - when many people list and purchase items because it's time to pay taxes or receive a tax refund. I've always defended moderate eBay fees because they provide relatively smooth access to a big marketplace, but not any more - this is pretty sleazy.
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#3Thank you eBay!
Seriously, classifieds and auctions of niche items is precisely where I'm headed and the more that eBay taint their product in the eyes of sellers and buyers, the better.
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#4If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
Good find.
I'm surprised they haven't been disrupted already. The only real secret sauce they've got is a huge amount of traffic. How could you ever compete with a household name where success is determined by traffic and volume?
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#5If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
If you were looking to disrupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time.
Well, you may need to wait another 10+ years for their "business method" patents to expire.
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#6If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
If you were looking to disrupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. Well, you may need to wait another 10+ years for their "business method" patents to expire.
you sure they have patents for online auctions? I have seen many eBay clones and they were not sued by eBay..
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#7If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
Good find. I'm surprised they haven't been disrupted already. The only real secret sauce they've got is a huge amount of traffic. How could you ever compete with a household name where success is determined by traffic and volume?
In The Netherlands ebay were beaten by http://www.marktplaats.nl. They offer free listings for most things, and are extremely popular.
Ebay bought them in 2004 for nearly $300m, but they've yet to scrap the free listings..
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#8If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
Good find. I'm surprised they haven't been disrupted already. The only real secret sauce they've got is a huge amount of traffic. How could you ever compete with a household name where success is determined by traffic and volume?
I wonder if Craigslist could just suddenly decide to violently weld auctions into its listings?
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#9If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
Why is this a good time? User acquisition in this space is expensive, and I don't think eBay raising their sell side fees makes a huge difference in bringing in consumer traffic. Sellers still have to list on eBay due to sheer volume. eBay may lose some sellers who no longer have a profitable margin, but I don't think you lose an equivalent amount of buyers in the process.
Re: EBay is about to increase its seller fees to 10%
#10If you were looking to dirupt eBay's business model, you couldn't pick a better time. While considering a price adjustment on a high-value item I'm selling, I went to their fee calculator to explore some other price points. I was mystified to see not only the fee I expected of ~$55, but a 'New Fee' of $123. Thinking I'd made a mistake, I explored further, and noticed that as of April 16, casual sellers who don't have…
Interesting to see this move by eBay - we've found that high fees for casual sellers is a huge pain point. By focusing their fee structure towards power-sellers they also happen to be alienating a large group of casual sellers.
We're trying to solve this problem (among others) with our product SellSimple. Free app, free postings, and 5% if it sells.
Check it out, would love to know what you think: http://sellsimple.com
Disclosure: co-founder of SellSimple