did you know that ebay is going to shut down all me pages in June…that means you can not advertise your web sites any longer …don’t ya just love them
I saw that on Saturday when I tried to update my “Me” page – gee – sellers are so screwed anyway, twist that knife, Evilbay
there shutting it down because people have there web site address and phone numbers on it…its the only way we can get people to our web site…well not the only way but the least expensive way…Ebay has never been fair to the sellers …we would not care if they made all of the money in the world if they would just be fair to us sellers and charge a reasonable amount…if they would , we would not have to keep finding ways around there stupid rules…I used to pay maybe 10.00 for a listing and a small final fee…now they made the big announcement that they are lowering the listing fee but they did not bother to tell us they raised it finale fees to ugly amounts …I never pay less that 50.00 for a final fee, god forbid if I sell a doll for over 1000/… I may as well just give it all to ebay…I have a friend that has been helping me get around some of it but its just got so hard any more to make any money on ebay…
They are just too greedy. I’m not liking it at all. I have a very generic website right now but I was hoping to improve it in the future. I just set it up so I could sell on reborn.com. I was hoping to place it on my ebay listings once i revised it, but I guess that’s not happening.
— Begin quote from “pumpkin patch”
there shutting it down because people have there web site address and phone numbers on it…its the only way we can get people to our web site…
— End quote
Well, yes… why would you think that unreasonable? ebay is a business, they are there to make money. Would you try to stick pamphlets for your shop on windows of other businesses? By the way, linking your listing with a website where you offer sell anything was always against rules and could see you deregistered if reported.
I do not think that 10% fee is unreasonable, actually it is very cheap considering you get worldwide exposure. Try to place an ad in a newspaper and then compare. Or how about stall in local market, and tell them you will only pay if you sell something. The ebay website does not run itself. I do not get it, if people are so unhappy with ebay, why do they stay?
And by the way the FVF is capped; it used to be at $50, but may have gone up bit. What ever the max is, you would just pay that whather you sell something for $1000 or $2000.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
Why are they shutting down Me pages?
Can you just get an ebay store? Is there a fee for that?
— End quote
Yes & yes. But store is not worthwhile unless you have at least 20 items listed at all times, and with store you can only list BIN and there is a listing fee, albeit small - store is for seller who has large number of the same items.
Store info for eBay.com:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/store-getstarted.html
So unless you want to buy some reborning items in bulk and list them that is not an option for you. I think that eBay is very generous letting us list our dolls for free, does not matter how many times we need to re-list. I am more than happy to pay the 10% once it sells.
I have been going to the eBay boards for a long time, and every time there is a change people get upset and swear they never use eBay again, and try other options and in no time they are back.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
However, there is NO need to charge fees including shipping if sellers charge the shipping amount calculated by ebay.
— End quote
The shipping calculation is done by what info the seller enters. If people would want to avoid fees all they have to do is to enter incorrected weight (larger) and the shipping cost would be calculated much higher than it will be in reality.
Actually, ebay.com.au still only charges fee on the item, not shipping, but you guys blew it by too many US sellers who were trying to sell for practically free. I cannot belive that people are complaining that eBay does not allow them to steal from them! I get angry when people are offering ridiculous amounts for my dolls, why should eBay not expect to make their profit?
In any case it really does not matter if eBay charges lets say 10% FVF on the whole amount, or 12% on the sale price only. The fee is very reasonable. With Internet & eBay being in business has never been easier, but that also means that has never been more people doing that = more competition. In the past you needed a shop = you needed thousands of dollars to rent a shop, equip it, stock up and sit there 6 days a week etc., Now you can start business with few unwanted items from your house and check your computer once a day.
That is the free market system, only the best survive the competition.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
So you’re saying it’s U.S. seller’s fault that shipping is included in fees?
— End quote
Well, in other countries eBay did not feel it necesary to do that; I do not remember when last time I saw 99c item with $100 shipping here; it used to happen now and then in the past. But I have a feeling your FVF are less than ours; we pay 9.97% (I think) do you know what you pay?
I do not care if offering GSP would become mandatory, as long as other options can also be offered. Just like we have to offer PP but can offer other payment methods.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
And if it’s just plain mandatory? That’s what I’m talking about here. Not mandatory to simply offer it.
— End quote
I would imagine that would cause number of issues. USA seller have been making lot of money selling internatinally, but the GSP charge is pricing them out of competition now especially on low priced items. Paying extra $10 or $20 on $400 item is not really relevant, but when I was looking at the $4.50 booties the $35 shipping with GSP means that nobody from o/s would buy them, and if the seller did not offer normal & combined postage on her other items, I would have just hit the back button the moment I saw the cost.
And another issue is that in countries where there is import tax/duty collected, there is somebody who is doing that, and they are not going to be happy to have their jobs taken by somebody in the USA.
As far as dolls go, I have been up till now buying most of my kits & supplies from the USA, but with the postage being so ridiculous, I will be looking more towards Europe.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
We all have to watch out for our finances as reborning doesn’t start out cheap and adding high shipping to all that just makes it more prohibitive, so whatever solution you find that saves you some money can only make sense.
— End quote
It’s not about me, I do not particularly care where i buy my supplies; it is about US eBay sellers who are getting lot of business from o/s buyers, who will find their business dwindling if they choose/have to use the GSP. I just looked at a kit which from USA with GSP would cost me US$70 to ship, and exactly the same kit from Canada is only US$27 shipping.
— Begin quote from “Ludmila”
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
We all have to watch out for our finances as reborning doesn’t start out cheap and adding high shipping to all that just makes it more prohibitive, so whatever solution you find that saves you some money can only make sense.
— End quote
It’s not about me, I do not particularly care where i buy my supplies; it is about US eBay sellers who are getting lot of business from o/s buyers, who will find their business dwindling if they choose/have to use the GSP. I just looked at a kit which from USA with GSP would cost me US$70 to ship, and exactly the same kit from Canada is only US$27 shipping.
— End quote
Ok but by the same token, most US sellers are probably selling primarily to a US market. They probably groan internally when an international buyer hit’s that buy-it-now button, because for them it means potential hassles, and more stress. Trust me, they have quite a healthy market in their own country, and don’t particularly care if you buy from them or not (after all, Australia is a fairly small market comparatively speaking). The fact that so many US sellers are choosing to use the Global Shipping Program is indicative of the fact that they are tired of dealing with international buyers, and either a) do not care to have their business; or b) would rather have someone else deal with the problems that accompany that business.
— Begin quote from “dothehokeypokey”
They probably groan internally when an international buyer hit’s that buy-it-now button, because for them it means potential hassles, and more stress…
— End quote
Nobody is forced to list internationally; people list internationally because it benefits them. Most do not realise what GSP means, or how much it puts prices up.
What I do not understand is that almost everybody here seems to hate eBay, they resent the fact that ebay actually expects to get paid for the service they provide; everything ebay does is bad, and then when ebay really does something that is a worry, people do not seem to care.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
Well, yes, if you’re buying domestically doesn’t it stand to reason that the shipping will be cheaper?
Not saying there isn’t more of a difference shipping internationally without GSP v. with GSP, but I wouldn’t expect to pay the same with an international shipment as a domestic one…unless I’m not understanding you?
.
— End quote
I am in Australia, NOT Canada.
— Begin quote from “CaliMel”
As for what Pokey pointed out, yes, many U.S. sellers are afraid to ship internationally. There can be so many problems (and I’m talking without the GSP). Buyers discovering their (in-country) fees and refusing the package and the seller has to eat all those costs, “item not received” (again, usually due to a buyer thinking his/her package was going to get “under the radar” but it didn’t) and Paypal refunds the buyer out of the seller’s pocket, and so on.
— End quote
Yes, there were cases when the buyer refuses to pay the tax/duty on arrival, but I doubt there would be many. Most people know what are their country requirements. In any case statement like: “Internatinal buyers please note that any customs tax/duty required by your country is your responsibility, and is NOT included in the postage charges quoted”, should protect you against such claims. I do not think PP would side with buyer who refuses to accept delivery. GSP does protect seller against that, but nothing else. The info on ebay page clearly states that any insurance paid by the seller becomes void from the moment the parcel reaches the GSP premises, and they do not accept any responsibility. I wonder what would happen if my parcel that came via GSP and was in the end delivered by FEDEX, was left in the FEDEX depot (I believe about 100km from here) and I would refuse to collect it? You would have the same situation like when people refuse to pay the tax. Obviously, if I was not here when they delivered it, I would have driven to the other side of the city to collect it, swearing all the way. But some people just do not have the time, some people do not drive.
If I want to keep my costs down, I have no choice but to buy kits internationally; kits are sold locally, but they are mainly very small sellers who buy kits retail o/s, pay the postage, and then ad their mark up. They buy BB kits on special for the $15, or buy BB seconds and then sell them here for $50 - $60 plus postage (usually about $15) often not mentioning it was 2nd grade.
WOW…well …i believe in a business making money , im a business woman and have been for many years both the construction business and the real estate business BUT I don’t care what anyone says…ebay is out of line all over the board…i charge a flat 30 to ship a doll…works out great …sometimes i make a little and some times i pay more but it all works out for both parties and i dont see the reason for ebay to make money off our buyers shipping cost and yes the price of the item goes up…in the old days lol lol i made a lot more money in my pocket selling dolls for 100 to 200 and a lot of happy new mommies…but now the kits went up the shipping went up and ALL of the cost went up and so did the price of a doll so who is the winner here …EBAY… they got where they are today because of the small seller and now they want to kick us in the ass again and again…yes we can go else where and soon we wont have a choice . Due to the high cost and ebay it will be as you said…big business bulk sellers…sad though , a lot of us have been making our babies and selling them on ebay for many years and we depend on the income for house hold expenses…some of us have been forced to go to web site selling to recoup some of the expenses and trying to get people to your web site the old way is just to hard and costly…I have to say that FaceBook is running a close second to ebay for showing people my babies and web site , the extra non fee selling i do there makes up the dif. that im over charged on ebay…i still have ways to get around ebay and there stupid rules but they are making it a lot harder… all they had to do was be fair to the seller and people would not have to find other ways to sell, we were sooooo happy to just do our little selling , make a reasonable profit and go on with our life
thanks …can you tell im fed up lol
I am just puzzled that 10% fee is considered over the top. What would be reasonable then? When I ran B&M business we sometimes took few bits and pieces (like jewellery or scarves) on consignment. The deal always was we got 50% of the selling price. 100% mark up is also what shops that buy their stock do.
I have noticed long time ago that people whose business is thriving always take all the credit for that (even if one of the reasons why it is doing well is number of other people), but the moment something goes wrong the fault is with everybody else but them
Of-course, it would be lovely if we could sell on eBay for free… But eBay is so huge now; can you comprehend what it takes to keep such a enormous website functioning properly?
I am sorry, but if you cannot make a profit here why is it eBay fault? If you had a B&M shop in a mall and you would not be making profit would you be getting angry with the owners of the mall for charging you rent?
I am not getting what I feel would be fair price for my dolls, but I do not blame eBay for it, and I do not begrudge them the fee. I am grateful I can list for free and only pay FVF when/if it sells. That to me is a very good deal, and I am only worried that they might go back to listing fees per value.
If I am not getting what I want for my items, I try harder to take better photos (I just invested in the light system), I am looking for better templates and try to work out what else might help. But we are trying to sell in very competitive market, with thousands of reborns and only few buyers. To expect making reasonable money, as for income, is just not reasonable. Reborning is a hobby, which could develop into profitable business only if you become one of the very top artists, who is in demand by serious collectors. I spend about 40 - 60 hours on each baby if I root it; that would mean I would need minimum of about $1000 per doll to earn reasonable income and cover my costs.
— Begin quote from ____
But eBay is so huge now; can you comprehend what it takes to keep such a enormous website functioning properly?
— End quote
I’m kind of confused here because this statement makes it sound like keeping their website up and running is pushing ebay to the brink of bankruptcy, and that we should perhaps feel some sympathy for their plight. But I was under the impression that ebay is a gigantic multi-national company that makes many billions of dollars in profit per year. Am I mistaken in that?
The question I asked was : **I am just puzzled that 10% fee is considered over the top. ** What would you consider reasonable? I mean 10% on less than $200 doll cannot make the difference of making living or not. Cali you were the one who said somewhere that the FVF is “prohibitive”.
Remember that when the FVF was lower there was a listing fee, which was payable everytime you listed (and bigger volume sellers & store owners still pay it). I remember when i started selling dolls paying quite a bit everytime I listed baby, that was really eating into any potential profit. the only way to avoid that charge was to start at 99c, but that was just too risky - I have seen dolls going for $20.
If I was anti American I would not be shopping from USA. I was just stating simple fact that eBay.com (and some other countries) reacted to the number of people who tried to direct their sales off eBay - no company would allow that. We have here some clever people doing it as well; I remember one guy advertising wheel nut from a car for 99c, and then offering practically the whole car for spares. LOL