Ebay about to shoot itself again • Collecting General • The Acaeum

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Ebay about to shoot itself again
	Page 1 of 6 • 12, 3 4 5 6

Author

JasonZavoda
Long-Winded Collector
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 3823
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Last Visit: Dec 17, 2021

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:47 pm

Just received an email from ebay saying that they will be moving buy it now only auctions from the auction listings to the store format listings. So anyone just using the buy it now format is going to see their sales plummet.

ashmire13
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 3549
Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Last Visit: Dec 26, 2023
Location: Wandering aimlessly on the 8th level down...

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:55 pm

how stupid is that?? :roll:

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

Zenopus
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1702
Joined: Sep 03, 2003
Last Visit: Mar 31, 2024
Location: Portown

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:08 pm

They are also raising insertion fees on (non-store) Fixed Price Auctions to a minimum of 50 cents per listing (currently 35, or 15 for books/music/movies). Starts March 30th.

The advertising touts this increase as "selling on eBay will be a better deal than ever!" due to another change:

Regular Auctions starting under $1 list free. Other auction insertion fee price points are 5-10 cents cheaper.

However, the FVF on Regular Auctions will now be 9% (cap $50) instead of 8.75% of first $25, 3.5% of remainder.

Midian_Beasttoothe
Active Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 60
Joined: May 29, 2009
Last Visit: Sep 19, 2022
Location: Michigan, USA

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:54 pm

Ahh, much like the crack dealer on the corner.

Hook them with supply and good deals, then slowly over time suck every nickle they can beg, borrow, and steal to suck up your ever-lowering quality product.

*sigh*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friends help you move. True friends help you move bodies...

bbarsh
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3865
Joined: Feb 21, 2004
Last Visit: Jul 20, 2023
Location: Milford, Michigan

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:06 pm

Midian_Beasttoothe wrote:Ahh, much like the crack dealer on the corner.

Hook them with supply and good deals, then slowly over time suck every nickle they can beg, borrow, and steal to suck up your ever-lowering quality product.

*sigh*

This possibly the best ebay analogy I have seen to date. And of course, it is from a fellow Michigander. Glad to see it, the Acaeum Michigan Posse has seen a severe drop in membership and those Texas Maffia boys are still hanging in there.

And I could've bought these damn modules off the 1$ rack!!!

New modules for your Old School game http://pacesettergames.com/

Everything Pacesetter at http://pacesettergames.blog.com/

beasterbrook
Sage Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 2472
Joined: Nov 06, 2002
Last Visit: Dec 31, 2023
Location: Queensland, Australia

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:52 pm

Zenopus wrote:However, the FVF on Regular Auctions will now be 9% (cap $50) instead of 8.75% of first $25, 3.5% of remainder.

So is that $50 cap on the final valuation fee.. so if you sell something for $555 its $50, $1000= $50.. Looks like the little people are getting squeezed with the big sellers are winning (and sometimes by a lot.. $10000= $50, old one =$2.18+349.13=$351.31.. thats a big difference.. am I doing that right?

Brette:)

Being healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Zenopus
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1702
Joined: Sep 03, 2003
Last Visit: Mar 31, 2024
Location: Portown

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:25 pm

beasterbrook wrote:
So is that $50 cap on the final valuation fee.. so if you sell something for $555 its $50, $1000= $50.. Looks like the little people are getting squeezed with the big sellers are winning (and sometimes by a lot.. $10000= $50, old one =$2.18+349.13=$351.31.. thats a big difference.. am I doing that right?

Brette:)

Sorry, the old fee structure had another tier over $1000 that I didn't include above:

8.75% of the initial $25.00 ($2.19), plus 3.50% of the initial $25.01 - $1,000.00 ($34.12), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance($1000.01 - closing value)

In your example the old fees would have been 2.19 + 34.12 + 135 = 171.31, still much higher than the $50 cap under the new scheme. Whereas the FVF for an auction ending at $50 right now is 3.06 but will now be 4.50 under the new scheme. (Feel free to correct me if any of the math is off here).

It seems as if they are trying to make more money off the bottom end - start more low price auctions, collect higher fees from those that do sell. I think they are hoping some of the sellers with high Fixed Price Auctions will move into Regular Auctions. They must not be making enough having high-priced Fixed Price Auctions sit for 30 days before re-listing.

They are also eliminating the 5 free auctions per month they have had lately.

beasterbrook
Sage Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 2472
Joined: Nov 06, 2002
Last Visit: Dec 31, 2023
Location: Queensland, Australia

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:35 pm

I would imagine that 90%+ or auctions finish under $100?? (certainly under the 99%+ in the $500 mark in the rpg section) so its all the little guys that actually started ebay that pay.. if you sell high priced items then your FVF has fallen (and by a lot in some cases)

Brette:)

Being healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:29 am

Companies do this when their profit is falling and they don't know what else to do.

Consider me a computer moron... (no laughing)

What does Ebay do that costs them money?

I mean, I realize they have staff and a building and overhead like that, but other than operate a website, what do they do that is getting more expensive?

Aren't they brilliant? Don't they just sit there and rake in money while they laugh and smoke cigars? What is costing them more about operating a website?

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

ashmire13
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 3549
Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Last Visit: Dec 26, 2023
Location: Wandering aimlessly on the 8th level down...

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:54 am

FormCritic wrote:
What is costing them more about operating a website?

Greed and fat cigars?

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:56 am

Didn't Ebay's CEO just donate $20 million to her own senate campaign?

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

JasonZavoda
Long-Winded Collector
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 3823
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Last Visit: Dec 17, 2021

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:00 am

FormCritic wrote:Didn't Ebay's CEO just donate $20 million to her own senate campaign?

EX CEO. Whitman left ebay before it started heading for the cliff.

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:07 am

Then she's smart, and can apparently afford lots of cigars.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

ashmire13
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 3549
Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Last Visit: Dec 26, 2023
Location: Wandering aimlessly on the 8th level down...

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:20 am

is it acceptable to still say you are 'going to smoke a big, fat Cuban' or does that have other connotations now? :wink:

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

FormCritic
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6720
Joined: Jul 16, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 30, 2022

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:23 am

ashmire13 wrote:is it acceptable to still say you are 'going to smoke a big, fat Cuban' or does that have other connotations now?

Depends on whether you're Bill or Monica.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 8027
Joined: Jun 23, 2003
Last Visit: Apr 18, 2024
Location: DFW TX

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:27 am

Ebay just made a crapload of money....off selling Skype.

Their other successful purchase is Paypal, which is propping up the falling sales of ebay. Ebay has been on a downward slide for years, only masked by the rising costs of both insertion and final value fees as a way to drive up revenue.

Ebay never recovered from Donowhore's ill conceived meddling two years ago that drove away buyers and sellers alike. Their current "hands off" policy, while pleasing many who stayed, has not brought back enough past customers to matter.

The powers that be have been looking to move away from the auction model that was so successful for years now. People have changed the way they buy. I envision that if Ebay still exists in five years it will be primarily a "store" type site with fixed prices. It might still support auctions, but not as a default.

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
"I had a collecting emergency" Nogrod
Co-founder of the North Texas RPG Con
NTRPGCON

mbassoc2003
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6994
Joined: Jan 03, 2005
Last Visit: Apr 19, 2024
Location: UK

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:01 am

Unfortunately, as a seller, we still have no alternative to eBay, as it is the only selling outlet that guarantees feet traffic, and the only outlet on the entire internet that provides security and seller protection against buyer frauds. These are important considerations for regular sellers, and we must pay for them as eBay have a total monopoly in the market.

I'm sure anyone who has been screwed by an Amazon Buyer will now know the value of eBay and PayPal's protection of its' sellers.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

Agent Cooper
Prolific Collector

Posts: 530
Joined: Oct 26, 2005
Last Visit: Mar 18, 2024

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:22 am

Badmike wrote:Ebay just made a crapload of money....off selling Skype.

Their other successful purchase is Paypal, which is propping up the falling sales of ebay. Ebay has been on a downward slide for years, only masked by the rising costs of both insertion and final value fees as a way to drive up revenue.

Ebay never recovered from Donowhore's ill conceived meddling two years ago that drove away buyers and sellers alike. Their current "hands off" policy, while pleasing many who stayed, has not brought back enough past customers to matter.

The powers that be have been looking to move away from the auction model that was so successful for years now. People have changed the way they buy. I envision that if Ebay still exists in five years it will be primarily a "store" type site with fixed prices. It might still support auctions, but not as a default.

Mike B.

So in other words, it will become Amazon?

The owls are not what they seem...

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Page 1 of 6 • 12, 3 4 5 6