Blog discussion: 11 ways to boost eBay's 'sell for £1 max’ promos

MSE_Jenny

There are four little words every eBayer wants to land in their inbox: ‘Sell for £1 max’. Roughly every fortnight, eBay caps fees at £1 for many sellers - this new blog has 11 key need-to-knows to keep as much of your profit as possible. 

Read the full blog: 
11 ways to boost eBay's 'sell for £1 max’ promos

soolin

Just to point out that the MSE article completely ignores the fact that there are difference between private and business sellers. Just look at this statement in the article 'A common question is ‘aren’t eBay listings free anyway?’ Sadly, the answer's no. It’s free to put items up for sale (well, for the first 1,000 listings, but that isn’t an issue for most folk). Yet you pay a ‘final value fee’ if it sells - 10% of the sale price, including, slightly annoyingly, postage.'  it ignores businesses, ignores seller limits and ignores differences in FVFs. 

The article says '

… But DON'T try to game this

You might ask ‘can’t I just cancel all my buy-it-nows, then relist them to get the promo?’ However, when we asked eBay, it said: “We consider this abuse, and we’d discourage users from doing it. If a user breaches our policies we do have to take enforcement action, which can be in the form of a warning, suspension or ban.” 

There is no penalty at all for cancelling BIN's and if ebay have formally told you otherwise then you need to question this as a matter of urgency, who told you - in what context? . BIN listings never finish - ebay expect sellers to manually end them for holidays or other reasons - this is a statement that is likely to cause ructions. 

From ebay help ; https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/cancelling-listing?id=4146&st=12&pos=1&query=Ending a listing&intent=cancel BIN listin&context=9056_SELLER

You can end an eBay fixed-price listing at any time, but auction listings can only be ended early in certain situations.

List as much gear as possible - and perfect descriptions later

Another common question is, “If you edit a listing after it’s gone live, does the £1 promo still work?” People often want to list as many things as possible before the deadline and hone photos and descriptions later. When we asked eBay, it said editing was fine, even after the promo period’s ended.

Nonsense, yes many people get away with editing during the promo- but in the small print of many of the offers editing is NOT allowed and will negate the offer. 

MSE_Jenny

Thanks so much for this feedback Soolin - I've added in some caveats to reflect what you've said and highlighted at the top that the blog that it's aimed at private sellers. 
I don't think eBay has an issue with people cancelling auctions, it's about people systemically cancelling and relisting everything over those weekends.

soolin

MSE_Jenny said:

Thanks so much for this feedback Soolin - I've added in some caveats to reflect what you've said and highlighted at the top that the blog that it's aimed at private sellers. 
I don't think eBay has an issue with people cancelling auctions, it's about people systemically cancelling and relisting everything over those weekends.

That is also allowed. regulars on ebay will know that CS will tell you anything to get rid of you if you ask questions- all of which they will deny if later used against them. There is nothing at all to stop buyers ending all their BINs and relisting on an offer weekend. 

Please also note that many private sellers are getting no offers at all- we have several threads on here about it, some of us get them regularly, some intermittently and others once in a blue moon. In the last year or so we have also noticed that the terms and conditions vary - even on the same offers- depending on who has received them. There are no longer any 'blanket' terms- so one person might be able to list in certain categories- and others not, or some can edit but others not etc.

Lara

On the occasions I've listed items, I've ticked the box to activate the Max £1 promotion but have always paid more.  Are the paypal charges on top of this promotion? I've never really understood if you can list an item for, say 10 days, and if it sells you still get the £1 maximum charge.   Yes you guessed it I don't sell an awful lot on ebay! Sorry if these questions seem dumb. Ty. 

soolin

Lara said:

On the occasions I've listed items, I've ticked the box to activate the Max £1 promotion but have always paid more.  Are the paypal charges on top of this promotion? I've never really understood if you can list an item for, say 10 days, and if it sells you still get the £1 maximum charge.   Yes you guessed it I don't sell an awful lot on ebay! Sorry if these questions seem dumb. Ty. 

EBay and PayPal are 2 different companies, so any eBay promotion won’t apply to PayPal. Your eBay FVfs will be limited to £1 but all PayPal fees will remain payable in full .

the offers are often very different with different people getting different offers on the same day. Virtually every one I have received has included 10 Days , but always check the t and cs as they seem to be experimenting with different restrictions, so never go purely on what someone else says is included, always check your own offer. 

snooloui

Lara said:

On the occasions I've listed items, I've ticked the box to activate the Max £1 promotion but have always paid more.  Are the paypal charges on top of this promotion? I've never really understood if you can list an item for, say 10 days, and if it sells you still get the £1 maximum charge.   Yes you guessed it I don't sell an awful lot on ebay! Sorry if these questions seem dumb. Ty. 

Yes Paypal fees are separate. The way it works is that you list an item and as long as it sells within the first listing period, you pay the max £1 fees (or whatever the promotion happens to be). If it's a Buy It Now or Best Offer listing,  if the item does not sell in the first listing period and the listing is renewed and then sells, you will pay the standard fees. You can check if your listing has been accepted for the promotion by going to the selling overview page. At the bottom, it shows any current or expired promotions and how many items you have listed using the promo and how many you have left.

On a side note, I always end my Buy It Now listings and relist using the promotion. I have also revised my listings e.g. corrected errors or added extra details, changed the price etc. and I have not had any issues in the last few months.