ebay postage way over the top!

cyberbob

Greatgimp wrote: »

I don't agree. If something has, for example, an RRP of say £50, and you can get it from that person for 99p + £25 p&p, it means you've got it for about half price. So what if they've overcharged postage! It's your gain you should consider, not Ebay's losses. They'll manage to make a profit, I'm sure.

You're very short sighted. Everyone loses if you ignore fee avoidance,

1. People avoid fees ebay get less profit.
2. ebay put listing and Final value fees up due to lower profit.
3. Sellers have to put prices up to cover costs.
4. Sellers get less customers.
5. Customers pay more for items.

So no one wins

Greatgimp

cyberbob wrote: »

You're very short sighted. Everyone loses if you ignore fee avoidance,

1. People avoid fees ebay get less profit.
2. ebay put listing and Final value fees up due to lower profit.
3. Sellers have to put prices up to cover costs.
4. Sellers get less customers.
5. Customers pay more for items.

So no one wins

1. Online retailer eBay has reported an 11% rise in net income for the first quarter of the year to £258m, with turnover up by 9%.
2. I concede that point, but they've been putting fees up anyway, on the back of a £258m profit. For example, for the six months ending Aug. 28, Tesco PLC reported a net profit of £1.18 billion - did they increase prices this year? You betcha.
3, 4, 5. A customer will only pay what they think is acceptable.

I agree, it can be considered sharp(ish) practice to increase your profits at Ebay's expense, but do you really think these companies always play fair and are here to not cream as much profit as possible?

powertron

Was it fair when ebay raised their fees from 5.25% to 10% overnight?

I couldn't care less about ebay losing out on fees.

Crowqueen

It's not a question of fair. Inflation happens all the time. Is it fair that Subway put the price of it's Sub of the Day up to £2.29 from £1.99? No, not really, but if I want to use Subway, I have to pay, I can't just go in there, buy the fillings and put them in my own bread.

You either pay for what you use or don't use it. End of discussion.

cyberbob

powertron wrote: »

Was it fair when ebay raised their fees from 5.25% to 10% overnight?

I couldn't care less about ebay losing out on fees.

At the same time they introduced free 99p listings. You seem to have forgotten that one.

You may not care about ebay losing out on fees but if they put them up again due to that you'll be one of the first whinging I bet.

Greatgimp

Crowqueen wrote: »

Inflation happens all the time.

Aside from listing fees, Ebay fees are based on percentages of Final Value Fees. The winning bidder decides how much Ebay gets from the seller by raising the bids. If inflation and the winning bid rises together, the customer (and thereafter the seller) will be paying a little more on average, so Ebay's earnings go up pro rata.

It's like saying: "As a government, we'll tax you 25% of earnings. If your earnings go up, so our revenue goes up even if we keep your tax at 25%".

cestlavie

it depends on the item. if he's selling an old postcard, yes the p&P is excessive. if he's selling an elephant, no, it's a bargain.

powertron

cyberbob wrote: »

At the same time they introduced free 99p listings. You seem to have forgotten that one.

You may not care about ebay losing out on fees but if they put them up again due to that you'll be one of the first whinging I bet.

Introducing 'free' 99p listings does not justify raising fees from 5.25% to 10%.

If ebay put the fees up people have every right to whinge, you continue to whinge at the fee avoiders as ebay clock up hundreds of millions per quarter from sellers like you.

porto_bello

powertron wrote: »

Was it fair when ebay raised their fees from 5.25% to 10% overnight?

I couldn't care less about ebay losing out on fees.

cyberbob wrote: »

At the same time they introduced free 99p listings. You seem to have forgotten that one.

You may not care about ebay losing out on fees but if they put them up again due to that you'll be one of the first whinging I bet.

Personally, I think eBay could do with a competitor. It's always unhealthy and anti-competitive to have one company dominating any marketplace.

soolin

porto_bello wrote: »

Personally, I think eBay could do with a competitor. It's always unhealthy and anti-competitive to have one company dominating any marketplace.

They've had lots of competitors, but they all gave up and recommend that their users went to ebay instead.

I was on Freeserve auctions for quite a while even before ebay had a UK presence but they gave up and told us all to use ebay, Tazbar used to advertise on ITV but then gave up and ebid are just not attracting any buyers.