A new direction for Ebay?
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
United States
June 10, 2008 9:52pm CST
The more I read about Ebay, the more it seems that Ebay is going off in a new direction. Their fees were never real low to begin with and yet they've raised them again recently. This makes turning a profit on low priced items nearly impossible.
Ebay has also eliminated the listing on ebooks that need to be downloaded ad followed that decision up with no longer allowing sellers to leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers.
Before you begin to think everything ith Ebay is currently negative, there are a few positives. Besides the fact that Ebay garners the bulk of the traffic that go to auction/ fixed-price listings sites, Ebay is also participating in cash back incentive sites, where the buyers get a % of the sellers fees as cash back when they win a listing.
Don't feel bad for the sellers, they can promote their Ebay stores on some of these sites and also promote the cash back program to their buyers, giving the buyer a chance to get cash back on future listing wins and the seller makes a little bit of money themselves (thereby creating a passive income)
Another free program benefits sellers. An auction tool for sellers is available, one that not only promotes between 25-30 of the sellers Ebay listings, but when this tool is used to view another listing of the seller, the click earns the seller money (much like a PTC site) Should click on the tool and decide they'd like to use this tool for their Ebay listings, the seller is rewarded with up to $10 for the referral.
It really is tough to say where Ebay is going, but they do seem to be willing to allow both buyers and sellers to receive/earn money from the use of their site. While I don't think auctions will disappear from the Ebay site, I do think the buyers that remain are mcuh more informed that the buyers of 5 years ago. I reaaly think that bidding wars will be more of a rarity, rather than the norm on Ebay.
What do you think? Will you still be listing items on Ebay or maybe just cutting back on your number of listings? How about as a buyer... will the bargain prices become few and far between and maybe chase you away, looking elsewhere for bargains?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@gxnfly (1147)
• China
11 Jun 08
I'm new to Ebay,I'm thinking of selling things on Ebay,just don't know how it work.I 'm from China,I want to sell things abroad,so I'm not sure if I could afford the fee.Do they charge you everytime you sell things?Perhaps I will open a shop on Ebay if the fee is not quite high.
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
11 Jun 08
I used to list a lot of my unwanted things on eBay, mainly clothes and household things, but it seems to be a pointless exercise now as the fees are so high and the prices low. I have a lot of lovely clothes currently in the wardrobe that I can no longer wear and wanted to list them all up soon but I think I will have to have a re-think before comitting to paying more fees and getting no sales.
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I stopped listing things on Ebay a long time ago. I found it too hard to sell on Ebay. I ended up spending more in fees than I did making any money.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I know what you mean. I sold a few items a couple of weeks ago and was very happy with the prices they sold for. The items had been listed previously, and didn't receive bids. But this time around, they not only received bids, they all had multiple bids on them.
I didn't know if it because I was using a new tool to help promote my listings (and maybe finding impulse buyers with this tool) but it was working.
The last few items didn't do as well however, so once again I'm re-thinking my approach.
I may just lay low until the "hot holiday" items reveal themselves and then just try to jump on the bandwagon and sell them for a profit.
Thanks for your response!
@alcazar (761)
• India
24 Jun 08
well..i have a very hard time with ebay....first there are a lot of problems from the charge to the service and now...the price hike......now i have to look for some alternatves....
@missbdoll (1165)
• Australia
11 Jun 08
I'm definatly listing less and putting loads more on another site.And I sure know that "bargainsa" will sure disapera.Shortly Ebay Australia will force all sellers to accept paypal as the only method of payment.I already benn told by some freinds taht are staying with Ebay taht they"l just put there prices up.And I'm sure tht's what a lot of people are going to do.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I heard about the forced Paypal in Australia and I thought it was only supposed to be a test to see how it works out. I know there are many sellers that don't accept Paypal in the US (which as a buyer, I can't stand because I then need to go to the post office for a money order which costs me over $1, so the fees go to the buyer)
I find taking Paypal just easier to deal with, the money's there right away, I can get my cash immediately using my Paypal debit card and both free programs I use as a buyer and seller pay via Paypal.
A lot of sellers are raising their listing prices, which is a very smart move. Listing items for the price you want to sell it for and using the free programs to make "extra" money with Ebay seems like the new way of doing business on Ebay.
Thanks for your response!
@di1159 (1580)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I used to list a lot of stuff on ebay and had some success. Lately, I've cut back on a lot of listings unless I'm pretty sure something will sell. Between their fees and paypal fees it was really cutting into any profit margin. The whole point was to try to find good bargains and it has become more commercial over time. I am going to look into the information you provide regarding the incentives as that might be a way to help both buyers and sellers. In the meantime I'm going to check out some of the free auction sites and list the merchandise that I didn't sell on ebay. I've seen some good buys there too.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I've had some success selling items that previously went unsold on Ebay. I don't know if it's the new Ebay auction tool I'm using , but I'm not complaining (one item I sold was listed several times, came away with zero bids and now the item sold with 5 bids, more than doubling the listing price)
If you'd like to check out the links to the sites I mentioned, I have them in my profile or just accept my friend request and I'll send them to you. Both are free to use and earn $$ with and I think the cash back program is going to be big this year... it also offers cash abck for 250+ well known companies online purchases.
I think you're right on about looking for bargains and selling them on Ebay, especially when you know you could get a possible bidding war.
I'm about to start doing the fixed-price listings, once I see what the fees are for these listings.
Thanks for your response!
