UPDATED: 70% Reduction in Fixed Price Fee and much, much more…

174 Permanent link to UPDATED: 70% Reduction in Fixed Price Fee and much, much more… UPDATED: 70% Reduction in Fixed Price Fee and much, much more…

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

UPDATED: 70% Reduction in Fixed Price Fee and much, much more…

With the ultimate goal to be “the most competitive marketplace online for sellers and the best place for buyers to find bargains,” eBay announced some pretty significant changes today in an effort to make the online marketplace more competitive and easier and safer to use.

More on this over the next 24 hours but, in a nutshell…

70% Reduction in Fixed Price Fee
Starting Sept. 16, eBay is reducing up-front risk for sellers of Buy It Now fixed price items by lowering the insertion fee to 35 cents and the listing duration will be extended to 30 days (rather than the previous 7). Additionally, listing fees will be lowered even further in the media categories (movies, music, games, books) for Buy It Now items to 15 cents (5 cents for catalog-based listings).

Listing fees will be incorporated more into the final value fees so that sellers only pay if they’re successful (although it does seem that consumer electronics, cameras and computers will have reduced final value fees). Sellers can find more information on our Seller Update page.

Improved Search
Also starting Sept. 16, buyers will be able to spot bargains faster through an improved search function that serves up auctions and fixed-price items in a streamlined view.

Free or Reasonable Shipping
Over the holiday season, eBay will provide incentives to offer free shipping, including increased exposure in search and other discounts. PowerSellers can receive double their final value fee discounts — up to a 40 percent savings on their final value fees.

Paying on eBay
Starting in late October, eBay is moving to a fully electronic checkout process that’s faster and more reliable for buyers and sellers. As part of this move, checks and money orders will no longer be accepted on eBay as of October 2008 (buyers can still use these payment methods for pick-up if seller is open to it).

We have created a website that breaks down all of the changes that can be accessed at http://thebestplacetosell.ebay.com. The site combines straightforward FAQs and pricing examples with video and animation in order to best communicate all that is happening over the coming few months.

There is a lot to digest here I realize. All of the above applies to the US marketplace only. I’ll be making updates to this post on an ongoing basis so please check back for more information.

Cheers,
RBH

UPDATED – 8/20/08
To learn more about all of these changes, please see Lorrie Norrington’s AB Post.

The post concludes with some information to additional key resources of information that will help people clearly understand all that is taking place:
To help you understand how these changes affect you, and how they can help your business, we’re offering a series of Webinars over the next few days, as well as a Town Hall meeting on Friday.

Below is our Webinar schedule – REGISTER HERE
* Wednesday, August 20 at 2:00 pm PT
* Wednesday, August 20 at 4:30 pm PT
* Thursday, August 21 at 11:00 am PT
* Thursday, August 21 at 3:00 pm PT
* Tuesday, August 26 at 1:00 pm PT

I’ll [Lorrie will] be hosting a Town Hall meeting with leaders from eBay and PayPal on Friday, August 22 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm PT.

We also have a discussion forum set up and staffed by some of my top people here at eBay to answer your questions. You can access the forum by clicking here.

Related Reads
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eBay Makes Major Changes to Fixed Price Fees
Major eBay changes – a new listing type is born!
eBay.com changes : we’re no longer only a venue
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Dakota / August 19th, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Nothing like being forced to accept PayPal on all transactions!

That stinks!

I get a lot of business from buyers who use checks and money orders. There goes that piece of my business. Thanks for nothing eBay!

Since PayPal will have their greedy little fingers in more of my transactions, there goes more of my profits.

I see nothing good in this.

Mechelle / August 19th, 2008 at 11:07 pm

LOL

I can feel your enthusiasm Richard – nice pitch!

However, I have issues with the PayPal only section and the shipping fee limits.

Clearly, not being allowed to accept checks/money orders means I lose some sells- not a whole lot but more lately- frankly the loss of one sell makes this cost prohibitive for me.

However, I can see eBay is hoping to acquiring more PayPal users with this plot so they can venture out and take over the world in online Payment services outside of eBay. However, their objective only serves to harm consumers by 1) taking away choice for people who want to buy from eBay without opening a PayPal account 2) making a seller absorb costs they would not have with a check/money order transaction by using PayPal 3) With eBay leveraging the network effect more merchants will sign on to offer PayPal because of the demand that will result from the massive eBay user base all signed up for paypal because they had to and will naturally use paypal out of convenience when shopping outside of eBay essential causing harm to all e-commerce shoppers. 4) the entry barrier created with this clear cut tying of PayPal to eBay marketplace will prevent competition in the payment service market leaving consumers with no choice if they would prefer a more convenient option than punching in their information every time they make a transaction (outside of eBay of course) 5) not to long from now all eBay sellers and once the outside merchants become more entrenched in PayPal we can all look forward to over pricing and poorer service than we already receive.

hmmm

I know eBay is thinking they covered their A** with the merchant credit card payment method, however they adamantly argued paypal only was essential in Australia because the eBay user Base isn’t a good fit for merchant accounts the cost to high. Of course the other acceptable option ProPay the problem is it is more costly- a yearly subscription higher transaction rates, processing limits, no brand recognition… so that really isn’t a good fit either.

Some would say that PayPal sounds like the best option and that might be true if there wasn’t a cost effective service out there that eBay has banned from use- Google Checkout- Brand Recognition, lower costs, even lower costs for Adwords users *benefits (that would be incentives not contingencies), convenient, safe a very good substitute for PayPal as it actually benefits the consumer more.

The shipping limits I am opposed to because I already pay a portion of the shipping cost $$$ cost for 99% of my transactions – no I have not passed that on to my customers- who knows what eBay will deem appropriate shipping fees and what service they will base it on. If there will be a service based guide or maybe it’ll be eBay providing a stipend out of my own pocket.

The fee thing doesn’t effect me one way or another other than if eBay doesn’t feel my product gets enough attention they’ll eliminate its exposure. I take that back this is also potentially negative for me.

Basically, I feel more S…ed with this round of changes than the January C…!

Mechelle / August 19th, 2008 at 11:47 pm

“Having said all that, I’ve been told that to help alleviate the transition, eBay will be targeting heavy check and money order users with coupon campaigns and introductory offers to educate buyers and incentivize them.”

incentivize them.” to do what?

Mechelle / August 19th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

The truth is that today, items paid with check or money order are 80 percent more likely to result in a customer complaint than those paid with credit card or PayPal.

What is your source??

Brett@Discount Printer Ink / August 20th, 2008 at 12:38 am

I think it’s about time eBay did something about the shipping problem, it has gotten way out of hand. I think if they provide an incentive for the seller to keep their shipping reasonable then it helps the over all market. Obviously it helps eBay as well because they don’t make as much when the seller sells something for .99 and has $20 shipping, so they do have a financial interest in the change, but it will help the over all market as well.

I think the lower initial listing cost and the longer Buy It Now will help encourage more listings with the lower risk. If something doesn’t sell it is now more likely to be re-listed and not be so costly.

I don’t understand why Mechelle would question this comment “The truth is that today, items paid with check or money order are 80 percent more likely to result in a customer complaint than those paid with credit card or PayPal. What is your source??” His source is that he works for eBay and he knows what people call in about….it seems like a silly question to me. PayPal is more secure than any other payment source that eBay has to offer and it makes sense that they would want to cut down on fraud and customer service issues. The point I agree with Mechelle on is that they should give people the option to use Google checkout. I think it would force competition in a healthy way and whoever had the better customer service and better security would prevail. All and all I like the changes that are being proposed and I think it will make eBay a more credible place to purchase goods. I am intrigued to see what effect it will have on my eBay affiliate site…could be quite good! Thanks for the update RBH!

Mechelle / August 20th, 2008 at 1:09 am

@ Brett@Discount Printer Ink

His source is that he works for eBay and he knows what people call in about….it seems like a silly question to me.

Actually, that was my point

PayPal is more secure than any other payment source that eBay has to offer and it makes sense that they would want to cut down on fraud and customer service issues.

Well, to be specific eBay is forcing me to accept its PayPal as a payment method from my customers for my merchandise. Safety is not the issue acquiring paypal users by forcing eBay sellers to go electronic only is the goal. The only safety they are concerned with is securing PayPal’s market share in payment processing by using the eBay marketplace as its fishing pond- and the sellers and their merchandise are the bait

ur_bringing_me_down / August 20th, 2008 at 4:57 am

All these changes are fabulous! This is awesome so now I can’t wait until Sept 16th!

Yeah ebay!!

Amy A / August 20th, 2008 at 5:09 am

I JUST opened an EBAY Store, so now all these flat rate 30 day buy it now listings will show up before my ebay store listings? So what is the point of my store now? It cost 15.95 per month for the store.. now does anyone see that a 30 day buy it now at a lower fee basically reduces the need for a store? anyone’s thoughts?

Thanks!

ss / August 20th, 2008 at 5:14 am

As a seller (never a buyer) I have used paypal for years. I’m currently changing to a merchant account. The reason is paypal decision making process on complaints is greatly flawed. To much scamming. Fees to high. Look for them to raise them again after October. Merry Christmas. As for ebay new fees. I will continue to list my little 10 items each day and enjoy the traffic it drives to my store for 3 cent listings. Nothing changes that it doesn’t stay the same. Donna A Hole is an idiot and more sellers will be moving there merchandise to other venues. Sorry but those are the cold hard facts. Wake up sellers you are getting the shaft again.

Tom / August 20th, 2008 at 7:22 am

I am SO SICK of all these constant changes. You CAN NOT TRUST eBay anymore. (they outright lied and said they had no intention to change payment options like they tried in Australia). You CAN NOT BUILD any sort of long term business plan, because the rules are constantly changing. GOOD BYE ebay. I will be spending the next month clearing out my inventory, and I will be gone for good. You can’t make any profit any more, and it sure isn’t worth the stress. Your goal seems to be to get rid of the smaller sellers… and I think it’s working. You obviously don’t want my business, and I don’t want to give it to you anymore.

TheBrewsNews / August 20th, 2008 at 8:21 am

I suggest anyone wanting to learn more…. sign up for one of the free eBay webinars.

R Wakefield / August 20th, 2008 at 8:57 am

I think this is excellent news.

Do all the changes announced today also apply to eBay Motors Parts & Accessories?

ex-ebay seller / August 20th, 2008 at 9:11 am

“The truth is that today, items paid with check or money order are 80 percent more likely to result in a customer complaint than those paid with credit card or PayPal.”

Hogwash. Must have come from the same research department that produced the retaliatory negative stats. 8 years of accepting money orders and checks by MY CUSTOMER’S REQUEST and I never had a complaint generated by these customers. Many coin dealers require that purchases be paid by money order or cashier’s check. But hey..eBay already decimated the coin market here and chased off most of the quality coin dealers with their efforts to ‘protect’ the marketplace.

SZYSZEK / August 20th, 2008 at 9:12 am

I think the changes are very positive, I pretty much abandoned eBay due to high listing fees. Checks and MO cause more headaches than they are worth, I was planning to stop offering that option anyway.
I am curious why this change is advertised as “save up to 70% on listing fees”. If the previous charge was $4 and the new one is $0.35 then wouldn’t the savings be over 90%? I understand that final value fees may be higher and that’s fine with me – I don’t mind sharing profits with eBay. But the adverisements on official eBay site (http://thebestplacetosell.ebay.com/) say “70% Reduction in Listing Fee”. Am I missing something?

Jay / August 20th, 2008 at 9:37 am

I think the changes are awesome.

Plus, if you feel ‘forced’ to take Paypal, use ProPay, which is a direct competitor of Paypal.

It’s 2008 – I keep a checkbook in the car, but I’ve not used it in two years. And money orders… are those things still around?

Digital sales should require digital payment.

Jay / August 20th, 2008 at 9:38 am

***Applauds eBay***

Patricia1 / August 20th, 2008 at 9:43 am

I always saw the shipping problem in a different light. If buyers refused to buy from sellers with high shipping costs then eventually those sellers would come into line or leave. I never saw shipping as an Ebay management problem at all. I bought off Ebay for 10 years and never once got ripped off with high shipping prices…of course I evaluated whether or not a shipping price was realistic and bid accordingly. This whole shipping problem is being brought to the forefront because, like Amazon, Ebay wants to control the price of shipping – that’s the bottom line. I have no idea how they would apply that to my category, Art. A 3 lb painting can sometimes cost a LOT more then a three lb small package. I don’t see how they can standardize that.

Simon / August 20th, 2008 at 9:53 am

[Sentence edited; see comment policy]

If you read between the lines, the final value fees in some categories (clothing, etc) is going to almost double.
Essentially Ebay is turning the lucrative Fixed Price Listing format into a glorified Store Listing so that they can up the Final Value fees by a mile.
Who here has been around long enough to remember how low Final Value Fees used to be for Store Listings?
Not so much anymore!!!
Do the math. I did my math and this is going to take 15 to 20% of my profits due to the Final Value Fees.
MONOPOLY…

Tony / August 20th, 2008 at 9:57 am

There’s no such thing as free shipping.

Please will you stop torturing small sellers, you’ve been playing with them like a cat with its prey for almost a year now at least, set them free, be straight with them.

Simon / August 20th, 2008 at 9:57 am

I just had a look at propay.com and there fees are worse than paypal by quite a ways. What a bunch of Bull when ebay acts like they are offering is better solutions.
Take a look and you will see that propay will not be able to compete and will soon go down in flames.

Patricia1 / August 20th, 2008 at 10:00 am

“I don’t understand why Mechelle would question this comment “The truth is that today, items paid with check or money order are 80 percent more likely to result in a customer complaint than those paid with credit card or PayPal.”

Just a minute Brett…we all know that Ebay likes to color (I didn’t say lie) information to meet their needs. As a 10 year seller, who sold constantly on Ebay I can tell you I took plenty of checks and cash rolled up in a tissue from my buyers. This was especially true in the beginning years before there was Paypal or Billpoint or any other online payment service. Generally, these are people who have no credit and are of low income. In the 10 years I’ve been constantly selling on Ebay I’ve only had one check bounce and that was from a lunatic who went on a buying spree and he was quickly NARU’D. I can understand that Ebay probably needs to do this in order to recoup some of the revenue they’ll lose with the new fee structure – but no, its not true with me or other sellers around me that Paypal is safer than checks or moneyorders…especially not when I hear some of the horror stories about Paypal!

Bill / August 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am

This business of not allowing checks or money orders is a big problem. I probably get 20% of my sales that way, mainly from people who are not comfortable with online payments. I NEVER, in the last five years on Ebay, have had a problem with that form of payment. Seems like PayPal needs more revenue.

Pat / August 20th, 2008 at 10:10 am

Am I missing something in the articles I have read about the Buy It Now fees that start in September? I cannot find what the percentage the final fee will be to the seller once the item is purchased. Will it be the same or higher?

Thanks!

Chris / August 20th, 2008 at 10:19 am

For media it is just another way eBay can take away any chance of us making a decent profit on the site. Right now we charge 5.99 shipping, so we will be losing 2.00 right off. Then with the 15% FVF and the nearly 3% PayPal or credit card fee we will be hurt bad. That is nearly 18% fees. Video games wholesale at or near 18-20% below MSRP already.

Ebay wants to compete with Amazon, but what they do not understand is that Amazon is a retailer themselves and are not subject to the 15% FVF over there. They can sell this stuff in masses at nice margins. Sellers cannot even compete with Amazon on something that Amazon sells. How does ebay think this will work? Ebay is not a retailer and relies on sellers to sell on the site for profit. If sellers cannot profit they will not sell that item any longer and customers will stray to Amazon because of lack of product or high prices.

Think about it now.

A game that retails for 49.99 everywhere else would get us tiny profits if we sell it on eBay. Cost on video games averages 18 – 20% under the MSRP. Video games are very low margin items and you cannot get better deals. What we pay is what Amazon pays and Wal-mart etc…

Game sold on eBay for 49.99

Cost is 42.00

Ebay FVF @ 15% = 7.50

Paypal fee at 2.2% + .30 = 1.49 for a 53.99 sale (4.00 shipping charge assumed)

Actual cost to ship 6 oz first class 2.20

Bubble mailer .20

Leaves us .60 cents profit.

The only way to avoid this is to sell over retail price. Then buyers will quickly learn that eBay is not the place to find bargains and go to Amazon anyway.

How will this change help sellers or eBay? This will backfire on eBay IMO.

Soon eBay is going to be known as the place to buy media items over MSRP. Now how is this a bargain? Amazon will eat this up unless eBay takes a few steps back and hits the meeting room again. This decision was not thought out well at all.

Chris

JJH / August 20th, 2008 at 10:50 am

So far these changes seem to be for FIXED price sales only. Auctions appear unaffected. However I’ve seen the numbers run in several places, and once again this “fee reduction” comes across in reality as a fee increase. So it’s the same old spin. The only benefit is if you sell crap that has a low sell through percentage. If you have a high sell through, you’re paying more fees.

Also, the “standardized postage” won’t always work unless SMART exceptions are made using item specifics. One item I sell is motion picture film, 16mm & 35mm. In the case of 35mm, this stuff is heavy. I constantly get “warnings” that my shipping costs are “out of line”, which is ridiculous, because eBay has NO IDEA what it is I’m selling and how much it weighs. All they know is “Media” and “Movie” and they ASSUME I must be sending a DVD which should ship for a few bucks, when in reality to ship several reels of 35mm film costs $40+ via UPS and more via USPS – and the buyer of this item KNOWS THIS. We’ll have to see how this works out. Frankly I don’t understand why eBay doesn’t look at the weight (and dimensions) of the item you sell before issuing that idiotic warning message. Also, as Pat indicates, a light item in a B-I-G box is going to cost more. Many times I’ve shipped a big 5 pound item, and had to pay the 30 pound rate due to “dimensional weight”. The eBay shipping system is not smart enough -yet- to know all this. If eBay wants to dictate to me how much something costs to ship, they dam well better understand about the item being shipped.

Now, again, I know this is fixed price items that these limits are starting on, but it’s only a matter of time before it comes to auctions.

As for Paypal ‘only’, I don’t really care. 99% of my sales are through Paypal. A few buyers will abandon eBay because they can no longer use check & MO, but I think eBay is assuming the loss will be acceptable.

Dakota / August 20th, 2008 at 11:05 am

Brett said:
I don’t understand why Mechelle would question this comment “The truth is that today, items paid with check or money order are 80 percent more likely to result in a customer complaint than those paid with credit card or PayPal. What is your source??” His source is that he works for eBay and he knows what people call in about….it seems like a silly question to me.

Brett really, since when can we believe the sites fuzzy numbers and half baked stats? I don’t remember a time!

That statement is garbage!
About 15-20% of my sales are completed with checks or money orders and guess what? Not a bad check or money order has come my way and not one of those buyers ever left me a complaint or bad feedback. All of my PITA’s, complaints and etc. have been PayPal users who are looking to get something for nothing!

Brett said:
PayPal is more secure than any other payment source that eBay has to offer and it makes sense that they would want to cut down on fraud and customer service issues.

Oh my Brett, are you really serious?!
I have never been scammed via checks or money orders. NEVER! But I have been scammed several times through PayPal and the lovely PP user got the item and the money. The desicion makers at PP do not use good judgment and nearly always side with the buyers. Then those wise ones don’t even wait to see if the seller gets the item back BEFORE closing the dispute. This means it could take several months to get an end result to the scam after appealing the original decision. Of course, we are not paid interest for the time in which our money is tied up if you just so happen to be lucky enough to win the appeal.

Richard said:
eBay will offer several other electronic payment options in addition to PayPal, namely ProPay to start, with more electronic payment providers to be added in the coming months.

So this means that we have to get our own merchant account to get around using Pay Pal or use the even more overpriced ProPay (never heard of that one til now – what a joke!). Thanks for the convenience.

If the site really wanted to do sellers a favor in this stupid electronic only thing, they would allow us to use Google Checkout. They are the best alternative and far more safe than PayPal. I have never been scammed through Google Checkout – NEVER. That means a lot to me. There fees are far less than PayPal. If eBay was really offering us a good choice of options, they would offer Google.

The only reason they offer ProPay is that they know sellers can easily figure out that they are more of a ripoff than PayPal and will opt to use PayPal because of it. That means, they are really offering no options unless a seller wants to get their own merchant account.

I am really tired of this. Sick and tired of this!
I am working like a dog to get my own site up and when I do – this site will be just a bad memory!

Usher Lieberman / August 20th, 2008 at 11:12 am

@Pat:
you can find information about Final Value Fees here. (http://pages.ebay.com/sell/August2008Update/BasicFees/)

Scroll to the bottom for the breakdown by category.

Mark / August 20th, 2008 at 11:31 am

ON INTERNATIONAL SALES, SOME COUNTRIES DO NOT ALLOW FOR PAYMENT THROUGH PAYPAL. WHAT DOES EBAY PROPOSE, OR WILL SALE IN THOSE COUNTRIES BE PROHIBITTED?

John McDonald / August 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Hi, I’m John McDonald, senior director for eBay Trust & Saftey. Several of you replied to Richard’s post with your own experiences with accepting checks or money orders from buyers. Specifically, that you have had few, if any, problems accepting checks or money orders, particularly from long-standing buyers. First of all, congratulations and thank you for delivering great customer service and delighting your buyers.

The reason we are prohibiting paper payments for all sellers, even top performing sellers like you, and integrating the permitted electronic payment methods into eBay checkout is buyer trust and changing expectations. eCommerce shoppers expect online checkout and payment to be secure, fast, and convenient every time they pay . That’s what eBay’s largest competitors offer. We need to offer a checkout experience on par or better every time a buyer pays in order to keep our buyers coming back to eBay and encourage them to buy more of your items. Currently, buyers must leave the eBay site to pay for about 1 out of 5 transactions. We’ve clearly heard from buyers that they are concerned about fraud when they pay off the site. And it is often a cumbersome experience. We’re making these change to enable buyers to pay without leaving the eBay site. In addition, the new checkout experience will be easier for your buyers, and you’ll have more immediate access to payment, so you can ship items faster.

As part of the changes, we are integrating seller Internet merchant accounts into eBay checkout. Paying with credit cards will be more secure and much more convenient for buyers. We are also fully integrating ProPay into listing tools and eBay checkout. These changes will make this PayPal alternative much more visible and convenient to use for both sellers and buyers. There will also be more electronic payment providers to be added in the coming months.

Jay / August 20th, 2008 at 12:09 pm

I’m sure they’re not prohibiting international sales.

I can’t believe any seller would accept an international money order. My warehouse would be PACKED if I waited 20 days for payment that may or may not be real.

Jay / August 20th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Merchant Accounts are a merchant’s best friend.

Hate Paypal? Merchant Account.
Bounced Check issues? Merchant Account.
Fights against chargebacks? Merchant Account.

I just don’t see why everyone assumes eBay only wants Paypal when for the first time, they are going to implement an internal merchant account program, as well as allow ProPay (a direct competitor of PayPal) on eBay.

Bill / August 20th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

John,
I don’t understand how you can say you are offering the buyer a better experience, when the buyer is the one who chose to pay via check or money order.

Many buyers have poor credit and actually buy things, then save to pay for them until they can. We as sellers are willing to wait to give them the customer service they need. The seller is at risk, not the buyer.

Patricia1 / August 20th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

Mr. McDonald – 95 percent of my items are paid for by Paypal…no offense but the remaining ones who want to pay by check or moneyorder should be allowed to do so. They either don’t trust putting their information online or they are low income and have no credit. I understand that Ebay is on an Amazon “kick” but this will lose a lot of sellers a LOT of long standing customers who ARE trustworthy yet must pay for their purchases with a check or moneyorder.

Speaking of trustworthy, may I stray from the topic? I would also like to know why I am “untrustworthy” in Ebay’s eyes. They clearly stated only powersellers with 12 month reputations and good DSR’s are “trustworthy”. Well, I have 10 YEARS of 100 percent feedback with over 3,500 transactions and DSR’s of 5.0 across the board….so…please explain to me and others just like me WHY we are not “trustworthy”???? Thank you for a reply.

Dakota / August 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

By allowiing checks and money orders for buyers who want or prefer to use them will not stop those that want to pay electronically from doing so.

This is BS!

You could use your silling checkout system with an option to pay with money orders or checks that will take those buyers to a screen that would inform the seller of the buyers intent.

It would not cause any inconvenience to the electronic payers.

All of those pretty words saying the same thing from the site powers really mean:

We are jacking the cost to the sellers in an attempt to inflate the Q4 profits of PayPal.

I wish the big dogs would realize, sooner rather than later, that sellers are NOT stupid and can see through thier smoke screens and around their blurry mirrors.

Todd / August 20th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

Just some help:

Do all the changes announced today also apply to eBay Motors Parts & Accessories?

Yes from my sources it will apply to P&A in September.

Now my question to Richard/EBAY:

Why does ebay not just charge the FVF on the ENTIRE transaction (ie, item sale price + shipping fee). If ebay went this route it would:

1. encourage free shipping (especially if the free shipping item received an auto 5 star DSR)
2. eliminate the sellers who still make most of their profits on shipping (and thus have lower DSR ratings)
3. would allow ebay not to waste time enforcing shipping caps in categories
4. (evil part) capture a fee on the entire sales cycle if paypal was used (ie, sale of item %, shipping %, % on the payment of item)

Overall I think this would finally level the playing field for both seller and buyers.

Thoughts?

Monroe Labouisse / August 20th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

Hi, this is Monroe Labouisse, Director of North America Marketplaces at PayPal.

PayPal is available to buyers in 190 countries around the world, so it should accomodate virtually all of your international sales. You can find the list of countries here:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-signup-countries-outside

If you encounter a buyer from a country other than those 190, and the buyer does not have a PayPal account, then I would suggest you ask them to pay directly with a credit card. They can do that through your internet merchant account if you have one, or they can do it if you offer PayPal. Buyers without PayPal accounts can pay you via PayPal simply by entering their credit card details into eBay checkout.

Todd / August 20th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Response to Jay:
Merchant Accounts are a merchant’s best friend.

Once ebay requires every seller to use their checkout (Q109) I am not sure how any merchant accounts will be supported unless you use one of Paypal’s merchant services (ie, Direct, Payflo Pro).

ebay’s mandatory checkout is definitely one of the issues that I am most interested as ebay tries to “own” the customer.

Tony / August 20th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Cheques are rapidly going out of fashion in the UK, many high street shops don’t accept them anymore, ironically this rule isn’t being introduced this side of the pond where we’re all getting used to cheques being phased out.

I can fully understand where John McDonald is coming from regarding leaving the site, but all I’ll say is that as a buyer I prefer a choice of payment options and the more the merrier from a consumer point of view….which should include Google checkout.

Bill / August 20th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

I would like to make one more point, this time about the new fee structure. I sell automotive parts, which, particularly if they are replacement parts, are as competively priced as any market there is. I cannot absorb the additional final value fees, as profit margins are tight now. No choice but to find another way.

Patricia1 / August 20th, 2008 at 1:22 pm

I don’t see where we are serving our customers or “enhancing their experience” by telling them I cannot accept a check or moneyorder. How does tying up a buyer in this manner enhance their experience? How does it make ME look as a seller? This is BS. Tell it like it is…Ebay wants those Paypal fees from EVERYONE. At least be honest – as Dakota says we’re not stupid and when we see thru your explanations it doesn’t make you look very intelligent at all. I think most of the sellers here have been around the block more than a few times ;-)

Dakota / August 20th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

And what about the part dealing with 4.3 DSR’s or lower?

** Updated seller standards – minimum DSRs
Finally, we’re instituting a new minimum Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) requirement, as a way to further improve the customer experience for everyone on eBay. As of November 1, 2008, sellers will need at least a 4.3 across all four DSR categories, over the prior 30 day or 12 month period depending on volume, in order to list on the site.

Today, only a small fraction of sellers fall below this threshold, yet they are responsible for a high percentage of customer complaints, which hurts you and our marketplace overall. We’re urging all sellers whose scores fall below the 4.3 threshold to use the next two months to adjust their business models and/or work on improving their DSR scores.**

Those sellers get the boot but yet in the information provided buyers about the meaning of DSR’s, a flat 4 is good. (At least it is most worlds since the best is a 5.)

Are we being set up to get the boot or what?

The site needs to change the instructions given to a buyer so that they KNOW that they are destroying a seller with anything less than 5′s when leaving DSR’s.

If they don’t take that much responsibility, they shouldn’t be able to implement any other policy regarding DSR’s, including but not limited to sanctions and restrictions.

Patricia1 / August 20th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

I just heard on Seller Central that there is a rumor circulating that Ebay will close down the Antiques/collectibles categories. Anybody have the guts to come in here and give me a straightforward “yes” or “no”? Its a double-dog-dare but I’m betting all we hear is dead silence!

Tony / August 20th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

Dakota DSR’s should be consigned to the dustbin of history, they will never be an accurate measure of seller performance.

Sellers who don’t deliver, sellers who mislead, they are the people who should be being shown the door if they’re repeat offenders, not some automatic point scoring nonsense were one man’s three is another man’s five.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

Usher Lieberman / August 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

@Patricia:

(With apologies to Slim Pickens) I have been to a circus, 2 rodeos and the World’s Fair (I actually have) and that is just about the nuttiest thing I’ve ever heard.

In simpler terms: NO. There is absolutely no truth to the rumor. We love Antiques and Collectibles and we have no intention of shutting down that category.

Patricia1 / August 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

THANK YOU Mr. Leiberman for the straightforward answer. Lots of sellers will be relieved to hear that. Its the first straight yes or no answer I’ve ever gotten from this blog and I appreciate it.

TheBrewsNews / August 20th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

How wonderful that eBay employees have taken the time to come here and respond. Thank you.

I do have a question that seems to be very important to the people who contact me often regarding this issue —

When eBay moves to “paperless” payments (so that it will be extremely clearccut within the eBay system whether a buyer actually paid for an item or not) and given that sellers have to specify shipping costs in advance (max shipping in some categories) so that buyers know well in advance the TOTAL costs, will eBay then consider automaticallly removing negative feedback a buyer leaves for a seller (or prevent a buyer from leaving negative feedback) when the system shows the buyer never paid for the item?

Dakota / August 20th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

2 money orders and 1 check in my mailbox yesterday -
2 money orders in my mailbox today.

eBay is just mad that they don’t get a take of them.

How stupid is that?
Our “partner” doesn’t like to see us, “it’s partner” make a little profit.

Shame on eBay!

TheBrewsNews / August 20th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

I’ll even further clarify…. would eBay consider removing ALL feedback (positive or negative) if a buyer doesn’t pay?

For example, I had a competitor email me to ask if I would accept a payment method other than Paypal since I listed my items as PayPal Only – PayPal Required. I stated that my listings were PayPal Only and that I would not consider other payment methods. Four hours later the buyer (also a seller – a competitor) purchased my items. Ultimately the buyer never paid and DID respond to the UID stating that he would gladly pay by money order if I would accept it. He has a paypal account (or would not have been allowed to buy since my items were paypal required) and he accepts paypal from his buyers on his listings.

Weeks later, the buyer of my items left positive feedback stating that they couldn’t pay for the item because we would not take money order. Now, because DSRs are “anonymous” I can’t say what kind of DSRs this nonpaying buyer (competitor) left for me.

Buyers who do not pay should not have the ability to leave negative feedback or even positive (with low DSR scores) for a seller.

JJH / August 20th, 2008 at 3:32 pm

“he reason we are prohibiting paper payments for all sellers, even top performing sellers like you, and integrating the permitted electronic payment methods into eBay checkout is buyer trust and changing expectations. eCommerce shoppers expect online checkout and payment to be secure, fast, and convenient every time they pay .”

John, it that were TRUE then NO ONE would ever send a paper instrument for payment. But that is NOT true, regardless of your corporate speak. Some user STILL want to send paper instruments, so not all “eCommerce shoppers expect online checkout”. You’re just whisking away those that do want to use paper, and in the process you’re taking an acceptable loss of buyers. But, at the same time you’re causing financial loss to sellers whose buyers are now excluded from the buying population (because they don’t trust electronic commerce). While you may find this loss of buyers acceptable, sellers will not find this acceptable.

Please, save the corporate line, and speak plain English here, you’ll be more respected that way.

Brandon Crotts / August 20th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

@Mechelle @Simon @ Dakota

This is Brandon Crotts, a Senior Account Director at ProPay. Many people have made the blanket statement that ProPay is more expensive than PayPal. Although some of our transaction fees are slightly higher than some PayPal fees most users will save money on other service fees. For most users our solution is more affordable than competitive offerings, a mere $59 a year (less than $5 a month) compared to competitive offerings that cost as high as $200 to $300 a year, resulting in huge savings. A ProPay merchant account also gives the seller the ability to defend themselves during a charge-back situation. In addition, we offer telephone customer service support.

A ProPay merchant account can also be used outside of eBay, which customers find extremely useful. For example, they could use the account to sell at a flea market or any business outside of eBay.