Is it legal for ebay to take commission from seller's postage?

RFW

techspec wrote: »

As i said 2 years ago - all the idiots who could not see that £1 + £7 postage was cheaper than £7 + £3 postage would eventually lead to higher costs for all. Now ALL sellers will have to increase prices. Winner = Ebay - Losers = moaning sods who wanted lower postage.

At least its now a level playing field for sellers though.

It's the way things work unfortunately. Look at the winter fuel allowance, instead of being scolded for putting a measly £1 per week on pensions they gave an annual £50 bonus instead. The general public like to be hoodwinked!

I know Ebay are about revenue but I do think they didn't have anywhere else to go with this. Customers wanted 'free' postage, some sellers introduced it but were being charged more than their competitors for the privilege. So they encouraged a bigger take up by promising better search positions, that didn't work. It was the next and only logical step. As I mentioned earlier in this thread many sellers are quite pleased with this introduction, they tend to be the better sellers on Ebay too.

porto_bello

Thank you for the link to etsy.com - always interesting to have a rummage through an 'eBay alternative'.

soolin wrote: »

Edit: this one is currently being sold off in Primark at £2 , so either the seller in OHia has suddenly dreamt up the exact design that Primark have bought from the Far East, or.....they are buying from the same place. Note the beads are plastic ..a dead give away for Far East stuff.

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/109139140/light-blush-teardrop-statement-necklace?ref=br_feed_20&br_feed_tlp=jewelry

Thanks, another interesting link. I note the comment on design from "the designer and creator of Nestled Jewelry Designs" is that:
"Each piece is carefully handcrafted from beginning to end."

It doesn't actually say whether that was in Ohio or a Chinese sweatshop though!

soolin

porto_bello wrote: »

Thank you for the link to etsy.com - always interesting to have a rummage through an 'eBay alternative'.


Thanks, another interesting link. I note the comment on design from "the designer and creator of Nestled Jewelry Designs" is that:
"Each piece is carefully handcrafted from beginning to end."

It doesn't actually say whether that was in Ohio or a Chinese sweatshop though!

Personally I can't help but think it is a clever use of words to give one impression whilst actually presenting a false image. It is true salemanship.

RFW

porto_bello wrote: »

It doesn't actually say whether that was in Ohio or a Chinese sweatshop though!

I was just saying that to my wife, we went on a craft market, one stall was full of stock I had just been looking at on a Chinese website. "Handcrafted by someone who gets paid 11p an hour" probably doesn't sell well.

That said I did go to an Etsy market in the States and they were all genuine crafters and had been vetted. Obviously the site can't be so much and there really isn't a way of proving if you've made it or someone else.

You can buy stuff from China to make yourself, although some of the making is putting a blob of glue on an embellishment and sticking it on a ring or whatever, not exactly an art.

soolin

RFW wrote: »

I was just saying that to my wife, we went on a craft market, one stall was full of stock I had just been looking at on a Chinese website. "Handcrafted by someone who gets paid 11p an hour" probably doesn't sell well.

That said I did go to an Etsy market in the States and they were all genuine crafters and had been vetted. Obviously the site can't be so much and there really isn't a way of proving if you've made it or someone else.

You can buy stuff from China to make yourself, although some of the making is putting a blob of glue on an embellishment and sticking it on a ring or whatever, not exactly an art.

I went to an antique fair in canterbury and one stall was selling all Far east items that she had removed the labelling from. I have no issues at all with Chinese imports but she was blatantly selling these things as craft 'originals' and I showed her the necklace I was wearing and said 'snap'..she was asking £19.99 for hers, mine was around $2 US dollars from Ebay.

custardy

soolin wrote: »

I went to an antique fair in canterbury and one stall was selling all Far east items that she had removed the labelling from. I have no issues at all with Chinese imports but she was blatantly selling these things as craft 'originals' and I showed her the necklace I was wearing and said 'snap'..she was asking £19.99 for hers, mine was around $2 US dollars from Ebay.

and there was me thinking you were a quality laydeee

RFW

custardy wrote: »

and there was me thinking you were a quality laydeee

You can get a pukka diamond necklace for $2, a chap in New York told me:D

soolin

custardy wrote: »

and there was me thinking you were a quality laydeee

:rotfl:

It lasted 3 whole days before bits starting falling off it as well- definitely quality!

adouglasmhor

techspec wrote: »

You mean the sellers who were avoiding ebay fees and passing on HUGE savings to customers?

As i said 2 years ago - all the idiots who could not see that £1 + £7 postage was cheaper than £7 + £3 postage would eventually lead to higher costs for all. Now ALL sellers will have to increase prices. Winner = Ebay - Losers = moaning sods who wanted lower postage.

At least its now a level playing field for sellers though.

Yeah that really worked. People who have been playing by the rules have been subsidising people who think like you for years and now they are going to lose out less.

soolin

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Yeah that really worked. People who have been playing by the rules have been subsidising people who think like you for years and now they are going to lose out less.

there is an interesting discussion on the community boards about the changes. There are all the usual calls for legal action, petitions, boycotts etc but a high percentage of seller, almost half something thinks, who welcome the changes.

Some businesses have been selling free post for years with a shop and they are the category that are better off as their fees will reduce. In monetary terms they make more money for eBay than all the rest of us put together.

So any talk of action will fail as the biggest sellers are for the changes, not against.