Feebay again :(

I did a bit of a naughty thing, I cancelled an auction as it was underperforming perhaps due to a lot of people being away on holiday.
It certainly pissed someone off big style.
And then I received an email from ebay saying words to the effect that 'its ebays policy not to allow cancelling an auction for that reason. You must set a reserve price, etc. etc.'

I suppose in principle they are correct, however, this along with other things is making me a little concerned that they are starting to get too dominatrix.
They get listing fees, big fees for reserve listings, then take a healthy cut of your end price, AND then not allow you to take your 3.4% for paypal.

It all seems to be getting a bit much, and a bit gestatzpolizi? anyone else feel that way?

 

How do they not let you take your 3.5 % paypal fee? I always just put on that if paying with that, they add the extra. Seems fair enough to me.

 

I don't know - I mean, I was watching a lovely pair of walnut Harbeth speakers on there - the price was low so I was about to bid then all of a sudden they disappeared only to be relisted with a much higher starting price

Seriously though, it's probably best to either have a reserve price or to start at a level where you would sell if pushed. Alternatively, set a reasonable 'buy it now' price at a little above the starting price and see if anyone goes for it.

Also, I'm not sure what the rules are about cancelling as I've seen some listings saying that the article is for sale elsewhere and that the seller therefore reserves the right to cancel the auction at any time.

With the cost of selling at ebay it does make you think whether hififorsale is a better bet as plenty of people seem to look at that.

Matt.

 

Ok looking at ebays fees:

above £100, its 2% initial listing, so that's £2

2% of the initial listing value for a reserve price, say on £500 that makes £10 gulp.

final value fee is:

5,1/4% upto £30
add 3,1/4% upto £600
add 1 3/4 % above that.

so, say you put an £800 reserve price, and it sells at £1000.

That makes

£2 to list + photographs and extras.

£16 for a reserve!!

£1.50 commision+ £18?? comission to £600 + £17 for the £1000.

that if I am correct makes around £50 to sell a £1000 item + you lose £34 to paypal.

Sounds too much for me. Bit much in anyone's book I would think.

that's nigh on 10%.

Selling a car in the local paper is £20, that makes 2% if its £1000 1/4% if its £5k.

greedy bastards, Ebay

 

I dont think you pay any extra after the auction ends - as far as I know you just pay a fee based on the start price or the reserve whichever's higher.

As an eBuyer I do think folks who pull their auction because the price isnt going where they want are out of order. However if they include a comment in the description saying "I reserve the right to end early... for sale elsewhere, etc." then I dont have a problem.

My advice - list it low (so pay low listing fees), near auction end get a friend to bid it up - if noone outbids then you end with an apparent sale (but no sale, or loss) - then you can relist... if someone else gets interested and out-bids your friend then you're a winner. Make sense?

 

New rules say that you are not allowed to ask for paypal fees on top. So if you list something and it sells for £1000 and you've said 'plus 3.5% for paypal' then a buyer paying by paypal does NOT have to pay you that extra 3.5%. In otherwords - if he or she pays you just the £1K by paypal then, like it or not, you have to send out their goods.

I guess this approach mirrors what happens when you pay for your shopping with a credit card at Tesco's i.e. you wouldn't be happy if they charged you 1% (or whatever it is) on top to cover the credit card transaction fees.

Matt.

 

I think the only thing that will result from that is people will stop accepting paypal, slowing the buying process down, IMO.

 

They have a fixed listing price for selling cars - plus 3.4% for paypal makes Postal Order fees look enormous. 3.4% for the convenience of an electronic payment method without requiring a PDQ account is not too bad, PayPal is particularly good for intra-currency payments - wiring 50 EURO directly to a German bank account cost me £10!

 

Ebay charge way too much, but I still use it as it is quick and easy.

As for the paypal charges, they are out of order. I always charge people extra for using paypal. If they don't pay the extra, then I don't accept payment via paypal. Simple as that.

 

Playing devil's advocate a bit here, and....

...although losing £84.00 from a sale with the value of £1000.00 is a lot, for sure (if it would cost that much - don't reserve fees get refunded when the reserve price is met?), would you be expecting the item to go for £1000.00 in the first place, if ebay hadn't forced up the secondhand value of items being sold? I know eBay is a bit of a rip, but it has, I think, done wonders for the resale value of a number of secondhand goods.

 

I'd agree. Selling used Hi-Fi before eBay was less effective IMO. If you listed in a local or regional paper/free-ads thingy you seldom sold very quickly or, in the case of specialist stuff, the price you sold for never seemed reflective of the value. Selling via a dealer never returned full value either. eBay charge fees because they can and you would all probably charge similar fees if it were your job to research and set pricing policy for eBay. It's a pretty effective application and its prices reflect its fairly low level of competition.

Its only a matter of time before a better, lower cost alternative sweeps the globe, in Google style and puts eBay under considerable pressure in the way MSN, Yahoo and AltaVista have had to regroup since google arrived. We have estimated it would take a technical team of 1 project manager, 2 testers and 4 or 5 developers a total of 6 months to build 97% of what eBay does (using our server platforms and dev tools anyway), but to create the same brand awareness and the gravitational powers (which are essential for a successful trading hub) through viral marketing would be quite hard. Though as eBay has achieved the hard job of carving the public's perception of what a C2C/B2C trading hub is and why its useful - creating an alternative hub now would prove to be an easier task I think. Any investors out there?

 

I don't think that'll happen, especially not for "international" sales where PayPal is really the only serious payment option in most cases.

What will happen is that people will just incorporate the PayPal charges into the main item price or the postage fees.

Michael.

 

Yeah,it makes sense.
It also makes my blood boil.
Shill bidding I think its called.
Obviously its never happened to you.
No one wins with these ploys - it will only be a matter of time before I get fed up with 'mates' upping the price,"advertised elsewhere" and all the dodgy feedback malarky.
Actually,i'm sick of it already.
And I think a great deal of others are too.
Ebay raising their fees may just be the final nail in the coffin.

 

I was surprised to learn recently that someone who was buying something from me from abroard was quoted £25 by their bank to do a straight transfer. Greedy bastards!

 

Well, if you choose to breach the rules then that's up to you. Just don't be surprised if you end up with negative feedback or having your account suspended.

The rules from ebay state:

"Sellers who accept electronic money services as a means of payment for an item purchased on eBay, may not impose a surcharge. Electronic money services include, but are not limited to, services such as PayPal, Nochex, FastPay or Moneybookers. "

Also, can we presume that your logic means you would have no objection to a hifi dealer charging you a percentage or two over the list price if you wished to purchase an item using your credit card?

Regarding your point Birks, I think some sellers might be put off offering paypal but you've got to remember that the only reason a lot of people are able to buy an item in the first place is because they can put it on their credit cards i.e. if paypal is not offered then you discount a number of potential buyers straight away.

At the end of the day it's a useful service and you can choose whether or not to pay for the privilege. I agree that the fees are on the steep side mind.

Matt.

 

Also - I believe if you pay for an eBay item via PayPal, where PayPal then debit your Credit Card - they (Paypal) will be subject to a fee of around 1.5% (and that's a reduced fee) like any trader who can accept credit card payments - though if you pay PayPal by debit card (if you see what I mean) they would be subject to a fee of a few pence regardless of transaction value. I maybe wrong but I cant see how it would work any other way.

 

Nope.

In this particular case I dont follow the "Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you" philosophy.

Instead, I just list things honestly, with low/reasonable starting prices and state what my terms are in the ad. I don't get friends to bid for me, I don't withdraw listings, and I don't set reserve prices. To my eye, if more people did all that, ebay would be a better trading environment.

 

Here here. :beer:

 

I was going to cancel my auction for my Cambridge Audio DAC 1 as the bidding was only £16, however I decided it would be mean so left it, in the last day everybody started bidding and I ended up getting £52 for it. So a little bit of patience some times pays off.

 

Most of the time, you get 90% of the bids in the last hour. The 7 days is just to give people chance to see its there, really.