eBay just dropped a bombshell…
February 4, 2008
Many expected eBay’s policy change announcement last week to include higher fees… but, they actually lowered them! Of course, it isn’t all good news for eBay sellers - but, it really depends on how you look at it. Over the next few weeks we will look at these policy changes in more detail and discuss what this means for sellers. We will look at the good… bad… and the ugly - starting with the good :)
eBay has LOWERED their insertion fees by 5 cents! This is great news for those who are just learning or would like to do some testing in their market. One of the best ways to take avantage of this is to use your auction listings to drive customers elsewhere… to your eBay store, your About Me page (and then to your non-eBay business), your website, etc. If you look at your auction listing as an advertisement or marketing tool - this means same amount of advertising with lower fees… very nice!
eBay has made gallery pictures FREE! Of all the extras eBay offers for your auction listing, the gallery pictures tend to bring in the biggest return on investment. I have always recommended that sellers invest in a gallery image (the little thumbnail that shows up next to the title of your item in the search results)… Most bidders browse through the search results by glancing at the thumbnails - I believe that you really can’t compete with other sellers if you don’t include one. Although the gallery image option almost always paid for itself… now with the FREE price tag, there is no excuse for sellers to NOT include it! :)
Well, like I said, it isn’t all good news though… eBay has raised their final value fees by 2% - but, hold tight! Next week I’m going to share a way you can benefit from this fee increase… seriously.
(Click here for a detailed report of the eBay announcement)
Last 5 posts by Jenni Hunt
- A good change about the links policy... - June 14th, 2008
- eBay - What Are You Thinking?? - June 5th, 2008
- eBay Has Discounted Their Final Value Fees - Limited Time - May 24th, 2008
- Let's Talk About Shipping... - May 15th, 2008
- Secrets To Garage Sale Bargains... and Finding Inventory - May 5th, 2008
Well, ebay is finally listening to their customer’s complaints about the fees? Amazing!
However, you knew it couldn’t be all good news. I’m wondering how much these “reductions” are offset by the increase at the end?
Ebay’s escalating fees are just one of the reasons I stopped selling there. Hopefully they’ll start to listen to their customers before it’s too late.
What eBay is doing is really interesting… They are shifting the fees from the front-end to the back-end. Although I just posted how this can be a good thing, one thing I didn’t mention is that if you have a dead beat buyer and report a non-paying bidder, you will get more of your fees back now.