megnelwil wrote:I'm in, for what it's worth. The vast majority of sellers won't be and you can't really blame those who use eBay as their business, it's hard to ask a self-employed seller to strike, who loses most after all?

I'm sort of on enforced strike already. Last week was dire on eBay, just a couple of sales, way down on my normal activity. Anyone know if they have already started bumping small sellers down the search listings? Or is February some sort of cyclical dead spot?

Good news, even though I quit, I'm a power-seller again! I guess the eBay geniuses must have canned some other poor sod's account. Sorry about that, whoever you are, but it's just eBay being eBay, what do you expect? Can't wait to shut down my shop - they'll probably kick Mike off.

Another one to watch out for, I almost fell foul of it today. I'm ending listings in my shop on a daily basis as they come up for auto renewal. I noticed, in the nick of time, if you send these items to auction eBay charges a listing fee based on the previous fixed price of the item - even if you're listing everything at 99p. Or at least that's what the confirmation screen states, I don't know if the fees are adjusted once you actually go ahead and list. So you need to end the item and re-list from scratch to get the lower fee. Sneaky old eBay, screwing sellers at every turn.

It's all a bit sad really, I was enjoying eBay.

intelligator wrote:Hi Everyone,

I think you have the right idea Mike; mandatory insurance is probably the way I'm going to have to go too.  Unfortunately the USPS makes it extremely difficult to get your money back and unless you follow up diligently and repeatedly it is unlikely to go anywhere.  This is going to call for even more organization on our parts.  Sigh.

Like most of you I am deeply disgusted with the way this is unfolding; are any of you going to go on 'sellers strike' next week?

Best regards,

Joe

intelligator wrote:Thanks for the heads-up Mike; I'm definitely leaning in that direction as well.

I have to say that this latest change from ebay really puts me in mind of working for an employer; one of the things I wanted to get away from in the first place.  It's really disheartening.

By the way, one of my international customers had great things to say about you the other day.  Said he would only consider buying from either of us as he's had some terrible experiences elsewhere.  The proof is in the packaging.

Joe

Beyondthebreach wrote:I am not sure how everything will play out in the long run, but I'm not sweating it.  So ebay raises my fees 2% . . . big deal.  I'll just raise me selling price 2% and it is a wash.

I know, I know . . . ebay keeps raising fees - but that is their own shortsightedness.  Eventually they will reach a point where they can't raise fees any higher (i.e. they loose more money the more they charge).

Anyway - there is also the larger picture:  After a few months some of the bad sellers will start to get weeded out or have to change.  Ideally this will raise buyer confidence which will increase the overall sell price.  So, again, it's a wash.

There are many who won't be able to raise sell fees or who have slight profit margins . . . but not the RPG resellers, right?  Intelligator, Badmike, me - I know what these items sell for.  I've been in countless snipe battles with intelligator (under your buying I.D.    ) and I know exactly what my profits are.  Our inventory is always easy to pick up on the cheap and it is not in print, so we don't have to try and unsell Amazon or the local store . . . raising the price $0.25 to $0.50 is no big deal - If anything, those who sell RPGs (and other similar out-of-print collectibles are the ones most able to handle ebay's new policies.

As far as "other" businesses go . . . look, I'm a super-nice guy, but I don't have the time or energy to care about the financial straits of others.  I can barely keep up with all the stuff in my own life.

Beyondthebreach wrote:I am not sure how everything will play out in the long run, but I'm not sweating it.  So ebay raises my fees 2% . . . big deal.  I'll just raise me selling price 2% and it is a wash.

I know, I know . . . ebay keeps raising fees - but that is their own shortsightedness.  Eventually they will reach a point where they can't raise fees any higher (i.e. they loose more money the more they charge).

Anyway - there is also the larger picture:  After a few months some of the bad sellers will start to get weeded out or have to change.  Ideally this will raise buyer confidence which will increase the overall sell price.  So, again, it's a wash.

There are many who won't be able to raise sell fees or who have slight profit margins . . . but not the RPG resellers, right?  Intelligator, Badmike, me - I know what these items sell for.  I've been in countless snipe battles with intelligator (under your buying I.D.    ) and I know exactly what my profits are.  Our inventory is always easy to pick up on the cheap and it is not in print, so we don't have to try and unsell Amazon or the local store . . . raising the price $0.25 to $0.50 is no big deal - If anything, those who sell RPGs (and other similar out-of-print collectibles are the ones most able to handle ebay's new policies.

As far as "other" businesses go . . . look, I'm a super-nice guy, but I don't have the time or energy to care about the financial straits of others.  I can barely keep up with all the stuff in my own life.

Badmike wrote:
At least with me, the main complaint isn't necessarily the fee raising (although it is a annoyance, the constant 5-10 cents here and there). I think the issue is the complete and utter lack of regard for the sellers on ebay, who are in effect "paying the bills". I don't ever remember seeing a survey, phone call, or forum where the ideas of buyers leaving no feedback or similar issues were discussed. I'll be participating in the boycott for this reason only.  The press releases from ebay were along the lines of "Shut the fuck up, we know what we're doing" when the company's performance the last couple years (losing money hand over fist) shows they unequivically do NOT know what they are doing, and they have yet to show us solid numbers or their thinking behind having buyers but not sellers leave feedback except in huge generalities.

For the last few years Ebay has seen the entire process as a one way street, I think it's time the sellers on ebay showed them the street goes both ways.  I really don't see anything good coming from this if Ebay continually tells sellers they aren't interested in their input.  

I agree the process is a huge weeding out of bad/small sellers that will improve the marketplace...but it has never been presented as such, so many sellers are led to draw their own conclusions.  

A lot of smaller sellers are able to survive simply by cutting the profit margins lower....so it will mean an end to them. I feel bad in a way because not that long ago I was a "smaller" seller, and even with 200 or so sales a month I don't feel I've made it to "bigger" seller status...maybe I'm just a tweener.  Ebay really seems to be cutting it's throat for future expansion.  And I don't know where everyone else is getting their stuff, but man, my profit margin is NOT that huge on a lot of this stuff.  I've already cut my buying IN HALF the last few months, and left a lot of stuff sitting on used bookstore shelves because my calculations show the profit margin, while there, simply isn't large enough to justify picking up an item for $8 and selling it for $15.  My new mantra when I see used gaming stuff, if I can't double my profit, let it sit.  

However, larger buyers who keep their feedback up seem to be in good shape in regard to the changes.  

Mike B.