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Ebay policy changes
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beasterbrook
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:35 pm

I've just read through all the changes and dam! Auction and store fees have increased 20%-67% with some minor decreases in basic fees. I don't like the buyers can get only positive feedback, there will prob be some level of abuse for counting feedback from the same user by the looks, every item posted will be a Gallery item now (why not? its free) reserves will be used a lot less (fees are non-refundable if it doesn't sell).. but it looks better for buyers for sure... sellers are copping a reather large fee increase (for what exactly?) I must say I'm all for holding paypal money for certain products, those that have the highest percentage of fakes (DVD's etc)

I love the "Lower Fee!" they have .. not seeing any "Higher Fee!" though..

Brette:)

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Beyondthebreach
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:15 pm

I must say (as a powerseller) that this all seems pretty good to me! I can swallow the rate increase, but I just read those powerseller rewards . . .

Each 30 day period there are these discounts on the final value fee:

DSRs of 4.6 or higher = a 5% discount.

DSRs of 4.8 or higher = a 15% discount.

I'll always be getting 5% off and more often than not it will be 15% off. The 15% off reduction basically eliminates the increase for me . . . which gives me an advantage in that my rates are still the same.

As has been mentioned, ebay is totally trying to phase out all the "casual" sellers . . . at least, they are reducing it to selling "valuable" stuff. They know that whatever they take, it is still waaaayyyy more than most people could get selling this stuff without ebay . . .

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beasterbrook
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:43 pm

Beyondthebreach wrote:I must say (as a powerseller) that this all seems pretty good to me! I can swallow the rate increase, but I just read those powerseller rewards . . .

Each 30 day period there are these discounts on the final value fee:

DSRs of 4.6 or higher = a 5% discount.

DSRs of 4.8 or higher = a 15% discount.

I'll always be getting 5% off and more often than not it will be 15% off. The 15% off reduction basically eliminates the increase for me . . . which gives me an advantage in that my rates are still the same.

As has been mentioned, ebay is totally trying to phase out all the "casual" sellers . . . at least, they are reducing it to selling "valuable" stuff. They know that whatever they take, it is still waaaayyyy more than most people could get selling this stuff without ebay . . .

I also did the sums, its still an increase but a very moderate one for stores (about 2% or so after the 15% discount) auctions still are getting a bigger increase than I can see that deserve it.. I really does look like the casual seller or small dumster diver sellers are getting pushed... You should be geting 15%;).. ebay does seem to be looking after their good Power sellers at least on paper..

Brette:)

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copycat
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:02 am

Does anyone know a good place to try and unload some rare and OoP board games? I was going to use eBay, but it seems that this is not my most viable option now.

I had planned on it becoming relatively steady, but cannot do that until I have the flow going...

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

beasterbrook
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:26 am

serleran wrote:Does anyone know a good place to try and unload some rare and OoP board games? I was going to use eBay, but it seems that this is not my most viable option now. I had planned on it becoming relatively steady, but cannot do that until I have the flow going...

I'd just post here rpgnet, dragonsfoot etc.. I think its better to have a price of what you would like (which can be a problem with rares and its my own opinion, I don't like "Make an offer" posts too much...).. although with the rares ebay is still going to be your best bet (sometimes it's just silly...)

Brette:)

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g026r
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:33 am

Boardgamegeek is an option, though I don't know how active their marketplace is.

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HermitFromPluto
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:37 am

I guess this is something akin to banks hammering their low deposit customers and rewarding the big fish. Banks in Australia which were established to help the battlers, now hammer small depositors (like many elderly on pensions) while at the same time increasing board salaries into the multi-millions. Where is Robin Hood when you need him?

The beauty of Ebay is that little people all over the world are able to link up and turn trash into treasure. I guess this is just not profitabe for Ebay anymore - so the chance for real bargains diminishes.

Maybe we should enlarge the Buying / Selling section here? I know we have the classifieds forum. Maybe we could have a Collectors Selling page, where we maintain running lists of the items we have for Sale and work out transactions privately.

Question: the new Ebay policy that feedback over 12 months won't count. Does this mean all long term members will experience a large reduction in feedback total as soon as this starts? That will certainly hurt the occasional Seller.

beasterbrook
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:52 am

HermitFromPluto wrote:Question: the new Ebay policy that feedback over 12 months won't count. Does this mean all long term members will experience a large reduction in feedback total as soon as this starts? That will certainly hurt the occasional Seller.

No feedback looks like will still be there but its now the its the rating they get out of 5 for various things that will effect sellers (and mostly power sellers) the most I believe...

Brette:)

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Zenopus
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:19 am

serleran wrote:With the fees, before the increase, I refused to sell anything for less than $4. Below that, anything sold was pointless... I might as well have just given it away. But, now, its almost like you have to sell for at least $9, which is great for eBay (the higher it goes the more they make - but not at the same time because people won't want to pay that so eBay makes nothing.) Hello eBay. Meet Damocles.

For small-time sellers listing BINs, Half.com currently gives a greater return on low value items (e.g., CDs/books). Half.com currently charges a flat 15% cut for anything up to $50. So, for a $1 CD, you get 0.85. PayPal is not involved. Buyers use their credit card & Half pays direct to your bank account. There is no listing fee, and you can keep the item up *indefinitely* for no fee. Plus, the listing is insanely easy. It takes about 30 seconds for a CD or book. No pictures needed. The buyer also pays a standardized shipping cost ($2.49 for CD, $2.64 for a softcover book, etc). If you can ship for less than that (which is easy for a CD), you get a little extra profit (basically, the same extra as if you charged that exact amount on Ebay).

According to some quick calculations (and assuming no math errors - always a possibility), the break point is currently $14.20. A BIN listed on Ebay or Half.com for $14.20 gives you same net. Higher priced items give a greater return on Ebay, lower priced items give a greater return on Half.

With the change in the Ebay price structure, the break point will move up to $31.20.

Xaxaxe
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:30 am

zhowar wrote:According to some quick calculations (and assuming no math errors - always a possibility), the break point is currently $14.20. A BIN listed on Ebay or Half.com for $14.20 gives you same net. Higher priced items give a greater retun on Ebay, lower priced items give a greater return on Half.

With the change in the Ebay price structure, the break point will move up to $31.20.

These are interesting figures ... and I have no problem believing them.

I used to track my eBay stats obsessively, using Excel mostly, and I can tell you that I got by just fine in the late '90s and early '00s as a small-time seller. For quite a while there, my average sale (I'd do the figures at the end of every month) was between $10 and $11 ... and one month, I even dipped down to $7. But I got by ... and even felt like I was putting some money in my pocketses.

No more, though, it looks like. Thirty-one dollars? Be real, eBay: that's way above the average sale for us minnows. Amazon, here I come (and maybe Half, too). For gaming stuff, I'll just throw together some medium-sized lots of interesting stuff as eBay listings; no more sales of single low-priced items, though. I've definitely sold my last individual module on eBay.

beasterbrook
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:52 am

Xaxaxe wrote:
No more, though, it looks like. Thirty-one dollars? Be real, eBay: that's way above the average sale for us minnows. Amazon, here I come (and maybe Half, too).

Just want to clarify this... you will still be make $$ on ebay you will just make less of it now that's all, with the new fee structure you will make more listing it on half.com than ebay, if its over $31 you will make more out of it by listing on ebay... although if you get the 15% rebate this will drop significantly yes? (guess $17 ish maybe?)... ebay is looking less and less attractive on those figs.. auction break figs are going to be very different to half bins... who wants to do the calculations on that?

Brette:)

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Xaxaxe
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:01 am

beasterbrook wrote:... with the new fee structure you will make more listing it on half.com than ebay, if its over $31 you will make more out of it by listing on ebay... although if you get the 15% rebate this will drop significantly yes?

Right ... I just find it interesting that that "break point" seems to have steadily risen into the stratosphere. It's now high enough that, for the first time since 1998, I find myself seriously asking, "Where is the best place to sell my stuff?"

And I don't blame reliable Powersellers for being excited about their potential rebates. More power to them. I hope it works out well for our Powersellers here (and I hope it frustrates Cougar enough to give him painful bleeding ulcers).

Kosh Vorlontay
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:33 am

What does it take to get suspended nowadays? With this loophole you can erase that bad run of feedback:

When a member is suspended, all their negative and neutral Feedback will be removed.

So when they get reinstated they get a clean slate! What a crock of shyte!!!

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Deadlord
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:32 am

They mean feedback left for others.

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Badmike
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:10 am

Kosh Vorlontay wrote:What does it take to get suspended nowadays? With this loophole you can erase that bad run of feedback:

When a member is suspended, all their negative and neutral Feedback will be removed.

So when they get reinstated they get a clean slate! What a crock of shyte!!!

Kosh, it's feedback left, not crappy feedback the guy has accumulated. That's actually a good move....I bet I would have half the negs I have now if Ebay did the right thing and removed all feedback when a buyer drops off. More likely, the asshole type buyer is one that buys a few things, craps over everything, and then leaves ebay entirely. This has been about five years too late.....

Mike B.

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Badmike
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:17 am

beasterbrook wrote:

Just want to clarify this... you will still be make $$ on ebay you will just make less of it now that's all, with the new fee structure you will make more listing it on half.com than ebay, if its over $31 you will make more out of it by listing on ebay... although if you get the 15% rebate this will drop significantly yes? (guess $17 ish maybe?)... ebay is looking less and less attractive on those figs.. auction break figs are going to be very different to half bins... who wants to do the calculations on that?

Brette:)

I think I will move my (admittedly meager) cd sales to half.com in the next month or so...they do seem to have a better venue there, and actually I buy all my music there also. Seems to be a good portal for selling media items like music, dvds, and some books.

I never saw half.com as much of a portal for selling games; I may try a few just to get a sense of what sells and how long it takes.

Mike B.

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Ogreden
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:38 am

I may just look into the switch also. I sell a lot less then alot of others here, but dang I though it was bad when I was only earning a dollar or so on a module or HC over the past several months. With this scam I would never earn anything.

I know I have one lot of items I wanted to sell as a whole and about 30 single items. I may just sell them in the next week and say goodbye to this hobby. (the selling hobby) It was fun to be involved but I dont think paying money out to participate in the hobby will be any fun.

Oh I long for the late 90's early 00's when you could sell a module and earn 5 dollars.

Bruce Thibodeau

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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:09 am

Ogreden wrote:I may just look into the switch also. I sell a lot less then alot of others here, but dang I though it was bad when I was only earning a dollar or so on a module or HC over the past several months. With this scam I would never earn anything.

I know I have one lot of items I wanted to sell as a whole and about 30 single items. I may just sell them in the next week and say goodbye to this hobby. (the selling hobby) It was fun to be involved but I dont think paying money out to participate in the hobby will be any fun.

Oh I long for the late 90's early 00's when you could sell a module and earn 5 dollars.

Amen Ogre! I gotta say IMHO that overall the changes suck! No negs. for buyers ever? Seriously!? Backend fees going up by more than a third? (with front end fees being deceptively lowered) WTF!?

I'm a small time seller-I haven't sold anything since last summer. I was considering putting up all the copies of 1st Ed. mods I've accumulated (around 100 items if sold individually plus some Car Wars stuff). My question now is it even worth it? Should I try and list stuff before the changes take effect next month? Should I cull out some the rarer stuff like the H-series, X10, B10 to sell separately and the rest as a lot? What would you guys do in this situation? Sorry 'bout all the questions but I just want to see what my options might be...

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