posted on January 25, 2008 08:34:18 AM new
thanks meg, you took a small company,and built it up on the backs of the sellers
thanks for all those rate increases...
thanks for running ebay stores in the ground..
thanks for company polices that helped no one but you ...
thanks for the paypal rate hikes ...
thanks for the strict rules on buyers ..ha ha...
thanks for never understanding the sellers built this company ,not the buyers...
posted on January 26, 2008 08:54:02 AM new
The big problem for eBay (and I think unique to eBay) is that they are a publicly traded corporation, and, by law, they are required to give their stock-holders the BEST return for their investment dollar...
But, by always doing THAT, they alienate the group that is the backbone of the corporation: the SELLERS!
This was amply demonstrated when, after the new CEO unveiled his plan to lower LISTING fees, some Wall Street analysts immediately issued a sell advisory...
Until there is REAL competition, I think eBay will (and rightly so) put the welfare of its share-holders ahead of its sellers...
Only TWO scenarios could change this:
1) If enough sellers open non-eBay STORES and leave eBay -- enough to really impact eBay's bottom line...
or:
2) Somebody like GOOGLE opens an auction site & does it RIGHT, with low (or NO) listing fees combined with somewhat higher FVF's -- I think eBay sellers would leave by the thousands, and eBay would finally...FEEL OUR PAIN
So, until 1 or 2 happens, we just suffer & muddle along...
posted on January 26, 2008 05:30:25 PM new
Yahoo tried that and it did not work. I sold there and did okay. No listing fee and no FVF. The only fees I paid was to paypal. Of course there were things wrong with Yahoo as so much advertising on your pages but that didn't bother me to much. Lots of spaming going on but since it was free it wasn't so bad. My buyers on Yahoo were just as nice as the buyers on eBay except they paid faster. I never waited for a payment. The minute the auction went off and I sent a paypal invoice the money was paid almost immediately. Some days on ebay I wait 3,4 or 5 days depending on what the buyer feels like doing. Then they chomp my stars because my shipping is slow. BTW I ship the same day they pay. Can I be any faster. NO I knew on Yahoo that my payment came as soon as I sent that invoice.
I also belong to another fixed price site (handmade items) where listing fees are 20 cents and final value fee is 3.5%. Listing lasts 4 months. They have quite a few sellers, we each have a store and the site is run I think by 10 people. It is an International site with sellers and buyers all over the country. Ebay just got to big and greedy. The bigger they got the more money they charged. Then that wasn't enough they let big business in and the small seller was lost in the shuffle. I don't know how you all keep up. It seems like I list and only sell half of my auctions. Is it worth it? Time will tell and if not a rummage sale is in the works. I need the income but I am not going to bust my butt and only make enough money to pay fees.
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