Alpha Consumer

Good (or Bad) News for eBay Sellers

By Kimberly Palmer

Posted: January 30, 2008

Attention eBay addicts: The company has announced that beginning February 20, it will cut the fees sellers pay to list items. At the same time, it will charge higher commissions when items do sell. The company says the new approach will reduce the risk for sellers, who don't want to pay fees for items that don't sell. Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, explained online, "You said you'd prefer fees for success, not listing."

This sounds like a helpful move for heavy eBay users who list many items at once, but I'm not sure it's good news for more casual sellers. For example, say you sell a $500 wedding dress at auction on the site. Before the changes, you would pay a $4.80 listing fee plus $16.75 in commission on the sale for a total fee of $21.55. After the changes, you'll pay a $4 listing fee plus almost $19 in commission, for a total of almost $23.

But you have still unloaded a wedding dress you no longer want, so maybe the difference is just pennies to you.

Ebay

Like many others I hate the way ebay and their other company paypal manages to get 30% of my profits. I have investigated other auction sites also. But the bottom line is that ebay has a monopoly as far as buyers are concerned compared to the other sites. I reach a higher number of buyers so am more likely to sell 1/2 to 2/3rds of my weekly listings which is enough to help pay my bills. I am not able to sell much due to bad health.

I use another site to list my items on ebay. It was free but now I pay $9.95 a month, well worth it. All my pictures are free and I'm allowed up to 24 images per listing and my fee covers around 10,000 images per month. The customer service is great and they really do seem to care. I can schedule my listings, the pictures are larger than ebay image hosting and I have a choice of free templets. They have helped me cut some of the high costs for pictures and scheduling. The name of the site is Auctiva.

Marila Landrum of MS @ Dec 05, 2009 23:47:10 PM

eBay

After all most 10 years of selling on eBay with a 100% rating, eBay cannot solve a simple problem I have in-counted. I have tried 20 live helps and numerous emails but its a 100% joke, no care no substance, so its goodbye to eBay you have killed me off with out caring.

jason warran @ Aug 12, 2009 02:46:32 AM

eBAY is definitely GreedyBAY

eBAY only encourages those sellers who can afford to list all their items at higher prices so eBay can get richer and richer by ripping-off listing fees plus Final Value Fees normally 8.75% or more. eBay also encourages those sellers who can afford to get a eBay Store for U$19.99/month or more.

I listed more than 30+ items for sale at 1 cent and got my account restricted twice.

Finally I decided to switch to other good ebay alternatives like Amazon, eBid and Bonanzle.

eBay Store owners can sell any damn fake goods without any kind of fear of getting their account restricted. So if you are planning to rip-off eBay the best way to start with is to scan all eBay Stores for fake goods and keep complaining eBay continuously about those stores selling fake and illegal products.

eBay is an economical EPIC, that ruins many good businesses.

eBay is white-collar Economical CRIME to dump fake and illegal products to delivered right at door-step.

If you are smart enough can make millions out of eBay by keeping your eyes wide open.

Alex Guerezza of CA @ Aug 04, 2009 03:47:20 AM

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Alpha Consumer

Alpha Consumer

Kimberly Palmer, senior editor for U.S. News & World Report, writes about how to save money, avoid scams, manage debt, and be a savvy shopper. Send your personal finance questions to her for expert money advice.


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