Looks like eBay has driven in the final nail...

[goofyGAguy]

http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/bl ... 78244.html

[AMATX]

Gotta admit I get tired of seeing ebay auctions where the seller makes their money off of exorbitant shipping charges on a $.15 product.

One way or another, the ebay will be based upon the total price to the buyer; too high, and everyone loses; too low and the sellers can't make their margins.

[goofyGAguy]

Gotta admit I get tired of seeing ebay auctions where the seller makes their money off of exorbitant shipping charges on a $.15 product.

Then why the [censored] can't eBay just deal with these bad apples, instead of punishing all the honest sellers?????

[NorrisCell]

Because policing individuals takes too many resources. I always report phone listings for $50 with $200 shipping, but unless someone else reports the same seller the next time he does it, nothing definitive ever happens. It's easier to just cover everyone, honest or not. Drives me nuts

[pianowizard]

This is good for buyers though, because from now on we will see more items with free shipping.

[goofyGAguy]

This is good for buyers though, because from now on we will see more items with free shipping.

You might want to think this through a little further. Just sayin...

[pianowizard]

You might want to think this through a little further. Just sayin...

You mean the sellers would just raise their starting bids or Buy-It-Now prices to offset the fees? I am not too concerned about that.

On eBay, I prefer free shipping because I earn points that are based on the sale price, not the total price.

[goofyGAguy]

You mean the sellers would just raise their starting bids or Buy-It-Now prices to offset the fees? I am not too concerned about that.

Nice. Well, as a seller, I am concerned about it.

[jronald]

Here is a heck of a good buy. Note the number of bids, note the shipping!
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-T30-p4 ... 27b9786c19

Ron

[goofyGAguy]

That's just the kind of @sshole we have to thank for eBay pulling this crap.

[goofyGAguy]

Here is a heck of a good buy. Note the number of bids, note the shipping!
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-T30-p4 ... 27b9786c19

Ron

I just wrote this guy a nastygram. I can't wait for his reply.

[sysiphus]

Ouch. I keep saying "...and now I'm done with selling on eBay." I think I mean it this time, even!

[underclocker]

That's nothing, take a look at this fine MacBook for sale on eBay. It's only $1.00 Buy It Now (plus only $1099.00 for shipping!)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0537234373

I'm not sure eBay has a choice. However, on a related note, taking 5% or more of every sale plus 3% PayPal fees on most, is a little outrageous. eBay should lower its fees.

[Unknown_K]

This kind of sucks for me as a buyer since quite a few items I get on ebay are super cheap and shipping is more then the item itself usually (because of bulk size). I can see sellers not bothering to list old vintage items I collect if they have to (for example) pay fees on $15 real shipping for something that sold for $3.

[ajkula66]

I closed my account last year and am not missing eBay one bit.

Abusive buyers and exorbitant fees are something I can live without.

Does it hurt financially? Yes and no...

It's nice to have some extra money coming your way every week but...

It's not good when everyone's favourite uncle gets to know about it...

I'd rather lose a few bucks by not working than work for next to nothing...thanks eBay and PayPal...

I said a while ago that the end of the original eBay concept was nearing once they've taken away the seller's right to leave negative feedback for buyers...

What upsets me is the fact that I've been there long enough to remember how good things once were...five, six, seven years ago... ...but of course someone had to be rock the boat that was sailing quite well IMO...

My $0.02 only...

[Nohbody]

The one thing I don't understand is why they charge a fee for a service they don't even provide. It's not eBay that ships an item, it's the seller contracting with a shipping organization (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc). It's not like they incur any extra server operation costs for listing shipping fees. Even at the levels of traffic they get, it's not exactly some huge burden to do the same math that a $5 toy calculator can do.

Fortunately, I almost never have any particular need for using eBay, so sellers raising their prices to keep from going into the red with fees isn't going to affect me personally. I do, though, feel sorry for those who don't find it so easy to avoid getting bent-over by eBay, **MOD EDIT** (Graphic content removed - Lets keep this a 'G' rated forum OK? - Harryc)

[t140568]

I'm done selling things on eBay - have been for about a year. I'll stick with classifieds (including craigslist), forums, and garage sales. eBay has become far too overcomplicated. 3% on this, $0.10 on that, but only on Tuesdays during a full eclipse, etc. It's not worth my time to figure it all out when all I want to do is to clear out a closet and make enough money to take my wife to dinner in the process. Let's be honest, trying to figure out what you will earn from eBay is as complicated as doing taxes.

Still, I'll continue to buy from eBay. Though, I suspect I will be cutting back on that as well.

[Unknown_K]

Ebay Inc. is a multi billion dollar company, like any other company they need to increase revenue (never happy just making the same old profit) any way they can so they will keep increasing fees untill people use something else and quit going there.

Ebay already makes money from shipping (which is included in the total you sent with Paypal and Ebay owns Paypal so they get those fees). What they decided to do is take a double cut (ebay and paypal fees) on shipping because so many people are selling things for $1 with $$$$ in inflated shipping. The people who will be affected the most are sellers who have a hard time selling large bulky items that cost too much to ship and are worth very little. Those people are better off selling locally on craigslist anyway or just freecycling the stuff (packing large items is a pain anyway). The only thing that went up faster then Ebay fees in the last 10 years is the price to ship stuff!

[goofyGAguy]

That's nothing, take a look at this fine MacBook for sale on eBay. It's only $1.00 Buy It Now (plus only $1099.00 for shipping!)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0537234373

Someone actually bought this. I hope if he doesn't like it they get a refund on shipping.

[RealBlackStuff]

Someone actually bought this...

I doubt that very much! That listing was reported to eBay and they must have shut him down.
Have you looked at his feedback?

[robert213]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0537234373
Someone actually bought this. I hope if he doesn't like it they get a refund on shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0537234373
Seller: Member id kman910
Seller's other items

Anyone up for a $1 Apple iphone 4 Black (16GB) Jailbroken FLAWLESS??
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0538928548
Last updated on 06:39:56 PM PDT, Mar 20, 2011

Shipping is only $469.00 !!!!

[Sandstorm83]

As someone who likes to sell old computer junk lying around the house that I no longer have need for, this will hurt me as shipping charges from Canada to the US is expensive for us canadians.
I will either be forced to sell only to Canada which will severly limit the amount of people who may want to buy old parts/games/software or just increase the base price to compensate for the fee on shipping charges as I do not charge that much on old, obsolete items.

Either way, I do not see this as a good change for eBay users (sellers and buyers).

[pianowizard]

I think eBay should have solved this problem of outrageous shipping charges by coming up with a shipping calculator that determines the shipping charges for all sellers. This calculator would ask the sellers to type in shipping method, weight, dimensions, etc.

[Nohbody]

I haven't sold anything on there in a while, but IIRC they do have one. However, it's not very good at calculating things, and for some items it's not practical to have them packaged prior to the sale being made.

One thing they could do to combat abuses is to actually have an effective abuse report handling staff, with enough people to handle the traffic. That, however, would cost real money, so of course they won't do that instead of cooking up a scheme whose real purpose seems to be milking the sellers to pad their bottom line, whatever their PR team may claim.

[ajkula66]

pianowizard wrote:

I think eBay should have solved this problem of outrageous shipping charges by coming up with a shipping calculator that determines the shipping charges for all sellers. This calculator would ask the sellers to type in shipping method, weight, dimensions, etc.

Nah...two strikes against your proposal, my good friend: it's way too honest and it makes sense...none of that on eBay...

All jokes aside, the biggest problem with feebay - or at least one of them - is that they have absolutely zero interest in resolving any problems...apart from the price of their stock, and their profit margins...

[underclocker]

How about this, 1) eBay bases fees on the entire price including shipping, unless 2) actual shipping charges can be verified through an online service linked to the seller's eBay account like PayPal, USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc. Then fees would be based only on the selling price.

Since most transactions are usually shipped via an online service like those mentioned above, it would work for most people, it would be fair and it would be flexible.

Maybe I should sell this elegant solution to eBay. Better yet, they can have it for free. You're welcome!

[rossmosis]

I didn't want to create a new thread about it, but I think it fit in with this discussion: I sold a guitar pedal on ebay for $160 buy it now with free shipping, and now I'm being charged about $14.50 in ebay fees for it. Is this right and happening to everybody else? I've sold things before and never was charged this much. Plus Paypal charged me five bucks just for having the payment sent to them. Ridiculous

[Neil]

Yup, that's about right now-a-days. I think the ebay final value fee is about 9%, then Paypal fees are about 3%+ $0.35. Then if you had to pay a listing fee, it's not at all uncommon to spend 15% on fees.

But, another way of looking at it is the amount of exposure (advertising) you get for the money. I have a friend that runs an on-line business that ships around 200 order a day, sold from their own web site. They estimate they spend 15% of their sales on advertising to drive potential customers to their site. So, it seems, the fees may beh in line with today's market.

[rossmosis]

I guess it's better to know that I just didn't get that kind of outrageous fee for no reason, but if I would've known that I had to pay $20 to sell something for $160, I probably would've just put it on Craigslist or on a musician's forum. I'm a cheap guy and while ebay and paypal are convenient, they arent $20 to sell one product convenient.

[dsvochak]

if I would've known that I had to pay $20 to sell something for $160, I probably would've just put it on Craigslist

Where is the buyer located? Is it worth $140 locally?

I've paid similar fees but I netted significantly more than I would have had I sold the items locally.