MSE News: eBay sellers beware - its fees now eat into postage costs

martinsnest

RFW wrote: »

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/top-rated.html

Oh Thanks for the link that looks all very involved. It mentions US also think i'll stick to an ordinary seller!


Why do they make things so difficult?

RFW

martinsnest wrote: »

Oh Thanks for the link that looks all very involved. It mentions US also think i'll stick to an ordinary seller!


Why do they make things so difficult?

Whoops, gave the ebay.com link, here's the UK one
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/top-rated.html

Kite2010

plumface wrote: »

So would i, but only 'cos it was 49p cheaper!
I do try to look FURTHER than the 1st listing.

I tend to search by price lowest including P&P, rather than best match, I guess I'm not the only buyer who does so

Money-Saving-King

N1AK wrote: »

99% of the time I want to know what buying the item costs and eBay makes it difficult to compare items with free postage and various different postage rates. Obviously they should have fixed that years ago.

You just need to click one button!

"Sort:
Price + P&P: lowest first"

It's been on there for years so you can hardly say they should have fixed it years ago! It's in a blatantly obvious place as well, at the top where it says sort listings by!!!!

thescotties

RFW wrote: »

They tried to deal with it via DSRs, this worked getting rid of some sellers with inflated postage but obviously not enough.


As far as level playing field goes that can't happen, someone will always say they are hard done to. Just look through this thread, you say that sellers of large & bulky items will be most affected, someone else who sells small items (with free additional postage) would disagree.

I don't think it's an excuse to put up fees, it's just a way of putting up fees. Companies don't need excuses to put prices up, they just do it. As it is here, Ebay have reduced some and put others up, I'm sure they'll be making a net gain with the changes but not every seller is worse off.

You are right companies do not need excuses to put up fees but in this case fee avoidance has been quoted as a reason for these fees. Yes you are right it also hits sellers of small items badly too as they have no way of absorbing the extra fee. Private sellers are worse off too as they don't benefit from discounts that business sellers do. I think TRS's will be a thing of the past too with all the new regs that eBay are bringing in so that discount will disappear

Sstripey

Wywth wrote: »

There's probably no point charging P&P anymore for most items.

The only reason previously was that the p&p was exempt from ebay fees.

So yes, probably most people will just lump the p&p into the selling price and offer 'free' p+p. I know I will.
(I usually list by total cost incl p+p anyway when looking for a specific item, so no advantage have p+p separate)

The only time when additional p+p would be considered appropriate is if something was sold with the option of free collection by buyer (I don't usually partly because of the paypal scams associated with collection)

Listing postage fees allowed sellers to give buyers a bit of choice in services provided. I would always offer both 1st and 2nd class post, for example, or, if sending abroad, the choice between air and surface mail, with options of the item being signed for or not. I also offer alternative couriers.

Recently, I sent two separate items to the USA, which both cost over £20 to despatch. Just to cover Greedbay and Paypal fees, you have to add on 15.474%. So this immediately looks to foreign buyers as if you're making money out of them if you do that, as that's another £3, plus the 20p that Paypal makes. It's also reasonable to add a bit for packing items up, which if done well takes time and materials, and for taking it to the Post Office to send.

Sol if I continue with Ebay, I'll list everything with free postage, I think, and will publish my costs in the listing. It's a great shame, and puts Ebay in a bad light.

campdave

Sstripey wrote: »

Listing postage fees allowed sellers to give buyers a bit of choice in services provided. I would always offer both 1st and 2nd class post, for example, or, if sending abroad, the choice between air and surface mail, with options of the item being signed for or not. I also offer alternative couriers.

Recently, I sent two separate items to the USA, which both cost over £20 to despatch. Just to cover Greedbay and Paypal fees, you have to add on 15.474%. So this immediately looks to foreign buyers as if you're making money out of them if you do that, as that's another £3, plus the 20p that Paypal makes. It's also reasonable to add a bit for packing items up, which if done well takes time and materials, and for taking it to the Post Office to send.

Sol if I continue with Ebay, I'll list everything with free postage, I think, and will publish my costs in the listing. It's a great shame, and puts Ebay in a bad light.

There's nothing stopping you listing alternative services when creating an item with free postage. You simply add a surcharge in the postage to cover the extra costs.

moondancermel

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

You just need to click one button!

"Sort:
Price + P&P: lowest first"

It's been on there for years so you can hardly say they should have fixed it years ago! It's in a blatantly obvious place as well, at the top where it says sort listings by!!!!

I too use this all of the time and if I decide someone is charging over the top for postage I don't use them. I don't think they should avoid fees by putting cost in the postage and obviously queered the pitch for the rest of us. Some people are just dishonest. Unfortunately it impacts on the rest of us.:(

ballisticbrian

Stripey, you were talking about postage to the USA and then said:

Sol if I continue with Ebay, I'll list everything with free postage, I think,
and will publish my costs in the listing. It's a great shame, and puts Ebay in
a bad light.

Going for international items with free postage actually makes it even more complicated.

If you add the cost of posting your item to the USA to your item, I don't think you will get much domestic interest in your products.

RFW

ballisticbrian wrote: »

Stripey, you were talking about postage to the USA and then said:



Going for international items with free postage actually makes it even more complicated.

If you add the cost of posting your item to the USA to your item, I don't think you will get much domestic interest in your products.

I think it's currently free to list on the US and some European Ebays, so depending what/how you're selling it can be easier (and cheaper) listing directly in other countries.