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Enforced free P&P on Ebay listings
kharyss
Posts: 25 Forumite
Anyone else noticed this cynical ploy by ebay to increase their revenue without announcing an unpopular fee increase?
As of yesterday they've expanded the categories that force you to offer free P&P when selling to include books (and quite a few others).
I emailed them and asked how on a 10p second hand book, I could afford to absorb the £1.60+ postage charge and was told to either sell it as a Buy it Now, offer an "expedited delivery option" and hope the buyer goes for that rather than standard post, or increase the list price of the book to cover P&P.
Of course, Ebay charge for Buy it Now, and their fee is calculated on final value, so they would increase their revenue if you increased list price. And although at the moment they don't charge a listing fee for items under £1.00, if you add in P&P to list price it raises it above the threshold and they can charge a listing fee as well.
Add that to the fact that offering Paypal is now compulsory and takes a percentage of the whole amount transferred (selling price and P&P) and there's a good chance you won't break even on low value items.
They say they are doing this in response to buyers requests and to encourage more buyers to use the site. They even had the gall to suggest that I would benefit since the increased site traffic would generate more sales for me. But since I'm not a professional trader with thousands of listings it certainly won't!
I can understand putting a cap on charges (used to be £2.75 for books I think) but forcing you to make it free just penalises the little guy trying to clean out their cupboards!
I know it won't do any good but I've asked for their official complaints procedure rather than just getting stock answers from their customer service reps.
If I get a reply perhaps I could post it here so if anyone feels the same they don't have to go through the hoops I've been through with them....
As of yesterday they've expanded the categories that force you to offer free P&P when selling to include books (and quite a few others).
I emailed them and asked how on a 10p second hand book, I could afford to absorb the £1.60+ postage charge and was told to either sell it as a Buy it Now, offer an "expedited delivery option" and hope the buyer goes for that rather than standard post, or increase the list price of the book to cover P&P.
Of course, Ebay charge for Buy it Now, and their fee is calculated on final value, so they would increase their revenue if you increased list price. And although at the moment they don't charge a listing fee for items under £1.00, if you add in P&P to list price it raises it above the threshold and they can charge a listing fee as well.
Add that to the fact that offering Paypal is now compulsory and takes a percentage of the whole amount transferred (selling price and P&P) and there's a good chance you won't break even on low value items.
They say they are doing this in response to buyers requests and to encourage more buyers to use the site. They even had the gall to suggest that I would benefit since the increased site traffic would generate more sales for me. But since I'm not a professional trader with thousands of listings it certainly won't!
I can understand putting a cap on charges (used to be £2.75 for books I think) but forcing you to make it free just penalises the little guy trying to clean out their cupboards!
I know it won't do any good but I've asked for their official complaints procedure rather than just getting stock answers from their customer service reps.
If I get a reply perhaps I could post it here so if anyone feels the same they don't have to go through the hoops I've been through with them....
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Comments
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If I said yes it would be the understatement of the decade.Anyone else noticed this cynical ploy by ebay to increase their revenue without announcing an unpopular fee increase?
Don't use ebay if you don't like them- there are alternatives especially with the media categories- play, amazon etc- but their fees are a lot worse than ebays.This is my opinion. There are many others like it but this is mine:kisses2: Fiancee of the "lovely" DaveAshton :kisses2:I am a professional ebay seller. I work hard at my job, I love my job, if you think it's silly that's your problem not mine.
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Switching to eBid as we speak!0
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It's the principle of it! I hate companies who think that because they have a monopoly they can treat their customers however they want.
It's good to remind them now and then that customers can take their business elsewhere. Although I have absolutely no illusion that losing me will impact on their business you never know...... snowflakes cause avalanches eventually.0 -
I think Amazon Marketplace is much better for selling books. I have sold a few on there but never any on Ebay. If you go on Amazon Marketplace and they have people selling the book for a penny your probably better off donating them to a charity shop as your not going to get much for it.
Also to be fair all Ebayer are in the same postion as you so its not like your being disadvantaged.0 -
I know it's not just me. I just think it's very underhand and sneaky. If Ebay need more money, just come out and announce an increase to the final value fee. Don't hide behind some nonsense that it's to "protect buyers" and will "generate more business for you". Very few users are stupid enough to believe that, surely.0
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I think Amazon Marketplace is much better for selling books. I have sold a few on there but never any on Ebay.
I've noticed the opposite. Sold plenty of books on Ebay but none on Amazon (clearly my books aren't worth enough). Greenmetropolis is crap as well for me though some people seem to have more success (again down to the quality of your books). Now I'm just going to keep my books for swapping on Readitswapit or wait until a free listing day on Ebay. I agree Ebay is no longer good for private low volume sellers but with it's huge monopoly in the UK means that there are not many options.0 -
Looks to me as if ebay are gradually introducing free shipping on everything. I use it a lot to clear out clutter at home and most items sell for not much over the 99p free listing price. Means the end of that for me and it will just be the selling of items I know will fetch a few pounds minimum. They've pretty much lost me as a seller if it continues to go this way.0
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Capping at £2.75 postage was bad if you were tyring to post a really thick, heavy book whih weighed over 1KG...0
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harveybobbles wrote: »Capping at £2.75 postage was bad if you were tyring to post a really thick, heavy book whih weighed over 1KG...
Totally agree. Lost out numerous times when a heavy hardback book went for 99p with £2.75 shipping and it cost me over £4 to post.
Sensible postage capping I can understand but enforced free postage just means it's not worth my while listing 95% of my items any more.0
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