MessageI think eBay is indeed coercing sellers to offer free shipping but all this means is that sellers will inflate their prices to cover the shipping costs. The problem for sellers is that eBay will effectively penalise sellers who do not offer free shipping by lowering their search standings ie placing them below those who do offer free shipping.
In Sept eBay will be also taking approx 15% commission from the sale of 30 days Fixed Price listing items. For buyers that will mean that there will be no bargains amongst these items. The DSR seller ratings also have a huge affect on how a sellers items appear in the search ratings. If you drop below 4.7 in any category you lose various privaleges - worst of which is lowered search standings. Some very prominent sellers have stopped listing on eBay because their search standing is lowered. Why waste money on listing fees when no one can find your items? Some of the changes have clearly been designed to push sellers to free shipping so that they can protect their ratings. However some sellers who do offer free shipping are complaining that their ratings for shipping costs are still lowered. International sellers are penalised even more because our shipping costs are inevitably higher and it is very difficult to offer free shipping. I have just hit a bit of a milestone on eBay reaching the 10,000 feedback level but I have been putting more and more into my website lately. I will be interested to see what the next round of changes brings. Regards John Sign up for my regular newsletter on movie memorabilia: http://www.moviemem.com/pages/page.php?mod=account&go=register Visit my Website: www.moviemem.com All About Australian posters: http://search.reviews.ebay.com/members/johnwr_W0QQuqtZg My eBay Store and Lisitngs: http://myworld.ebay.com/johnwr/ Exhibitions: http://www.moviemem.com/pages/page.php?page=15 JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA PO Box 92 Palm Beach Qld 4221 Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Franc To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 5:38 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] EBAY Selling Question That's great Evan. Where did you pull that $8 figure from? I charge $9 and I usually wind up having to add $1 to $2 per shipment given the cost of insurance and that doesn't take into account the amount I pay for mailers or extra heavy cardboard since I don't use those flat boxes that the USPS always manages to crush. Those handful of negatives left by nuts (as you describe them) severely damage a seller's ability to get any sort of a discount from Ebay on the final values fees since one must maintain a 4.9 rating to get the discount and just one nut lowers the average to 4.8 or 4.7. I know. I've been there. In fact, I'm there right now. Your point about what deserves an exceptional feedback --- delivering an item in person--- illustrates why the entire feedback system needs to be revamped. Buyers decide to knock a few points off on the feedback scale since they have totally unrealistic expectations about what constitutes "exceptional" and a dealer gets screwed out of a Final Value Discount even though they provided a purchase to a buyer quickly and well-packaged. Lastly I agree with your recommendations about listing in the proper category but Ebay needs to do some enforcement especially since they are paid heafty fees for maintaining the integrity of the marketplace they provide. Your last point about the less the $15 merchandise is not grounded in reality. Usually this stuff sells MUCH faster than the quality items I offer. People love what they perceive to be a bargain. FRANC -----Original Message----- From: MoPo List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Evan Zweifel Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 2:37 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MOPO] EBAY Selling Question Advice for a seller? Charge $8 for shipping. Pack well. Don't pack in free USPS boxes flattened. Always use solid cardboard stiffeners inside the package. Protect the edges of the poster. Don't reuse flimsy cardboard. Require insurance. Use tape, but not too much. And ignore the feedback -- obsessing over perfect feedback is dumb. Buyers expect to see a handful of negatives -- with the nuts that are out there, what do you expect. Personally, I expect posters I buy to arrive undamanged -- if they do -- well, thats pretty much average -- exceptional would be you dropping it by in person. The only other advice I have is: Don't list junk on eBay and expect it to sell -- put the junk in the recycling bin and let the truck take it away. Don't list foreign posters in the US categories. Don't list reproductions in authentic categories. If its a frame, I don't care how wonderful it is, ITS A FRAME NOT A POSTER, it belongs in the FRAME category. Don't list anything worth, realistically, less than $15 -- and by realistically, I mean REALISTICALLY. Evan -------------- Original message -------------- From: channinglylethomson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Evan -- > > Interesting response. . . so how would you address the issue if you > were a seller? As it stands now, I do not overcharge for shipping and > I always pack exceptionally well and do full insurance and delivery > confirmation. > > Channing Thomson > > On Aug 25, 2008, at 9:53 AM, Evan Zweifel wrote: > > > > > When it comes to posters, I am a notorious tight wad. If I am > > willing to pay $50 for a poster, I will not pay $51. > > > > When it comes to shipping -- I DO NOT factor the shipping into the > > cost of the poster. If you think that I will pay $10 more for your > > item becasue "Free Shipping" -- you are sa dly mistaken. > > > > If you included "Free Shipping" and failed to provide adequate > > packaging and insurance, I would be very upset -- not unlike how I > > feel when I pay too little for shipping and the item arrives > > damaged, or when I pay too much and the item arrives intact but > > poorly packed. > > > > Evan > > -------------- Original message -------------- > > From: channinglylethomson > > > > > I'm thinking about going to all "Free Shipping" in my EBAY listings. > > > I'm tired of fighting with them about my various Powerseller > > rankings > > > so I think they may have won the battle on this. Anyone have any > > > thoughts about this? > > > > > > Channing Thomson in San Francisco > > > > > > Visit the M oPo Ma iling List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > > > ___________________________________________________________________ > > > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > > > > > Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > > > > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > > ___________________________________________________________________ > > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___ ______ __________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. 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