eBay Is Dieing

What Has Happened To eBay

-I have been an ebay seller for many years. When I first started selling, I was choosy about what I listed. After all, I had to pay an insertion fee, so I wouldn’t list things that were not worth the risk of paying to list something that more than likely would not sell. It had to be a good value and my start price had to be reasonable. I loved ebay.

I actually went to a garage sale and spent $100.00 that I turned into over $400.00. It was early spring and the location of the sale was way out in the boonies. It was a moving sale, so things were priced to sell fast. With my $100 of product investment in hand, I began listing the things I did not wish to keep for myself, which was about $60.00 worth. I paid insertion fees and went with an auction format w/calculated shipping. After all was said and done, I actually made enough money to buy a new desktop computer and cover my costs for the $40.00 I spent on items I wanted for myself. Not one unhappy buyer either, I’ll have you know.

Times Have Changed

As a buyer and a seller, I’ve noticed big changes and definitely not for the better. It has become a buyer’s market, which in turn has caused many sellers to list their items with other venues. eBay is cluttered with junk and mass produced items from other countries. All because of free insertion fees. Many businesses are using eBay for a free sales platform. Buyers are not getting a bargain.  They are actually paying a little more because the business adds the final value fees to their price.

It has become harder and harder for sellers to make a profit. Buyers have left, because the selection of products is not what it use to be. Sellers are leaving because they are fed up with final value fees. 10% straight across the board, including shipping fees, is absurd. They did this for several reasons I’m sure, but a big one was to control sellers over charging for shipping to avoid fees. Easier fix would have been to subtract actual shipping charges from the final value, then charge sellers a percentage of what they brought in, on top of that.

I called eBay to complain about being charged 10% of my costs to ship my items. They actually credited my account for the final value fees they charged me based on my shipping charges for the month. I use eBay to print my shipping labels, so it was quite easy for them to figure out what I paid. All sellers need to do this. Complain, complain, complain and maybe they will hear the sellers need for more reasonable fees.

I had to laugh when the gal I was talking too, said in the future, I may want to list my items with free shipping. I said, “that would be great, I just can’t find a shipping service that will ship my items for free”. EBay needs to make their profits from eBay, NOT from the shipping services people use to deliver their products to their buyers. Keep your hands in your own pockets eBay!

eBay Sellers Beware

Now that eBay has become geared toward a buyers market, catering to the buyer, so they can attract more buyers, sellers have to be very careful. I have heard stories of buyers complaining about a purchase that clearly state, “returns are not accepted”, but eBay steps in and refunds the buyer anyway. The buyers then return the product, but do not actually return the product, they put enough weight in the package to meet the same weight on shipping return label (wood, old batteries, ect.) and send a box of junk to seller. Seller is out, a product, shipping fees and valued feedback. Sellers have NO protection. “Wow, sounds great, where do I sign up.” as a buyer.

If It Isn’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

You can not please everyone all the time. I believe eBay felt that the buyers needed more protection to bring them in, but it’s the sellers who bring in their buyers. To cater to the buyer at the expense of the seller was a huge mistake and eBay’s downward, spiraling, swirl is going no place, but the sewer.

eBay Is Clueless

Without sellers eBay will have fewer and fewer buyers. Sellers are often buyers, if sellers are not making enough to go shopping, then they have lost a big chunk of their buyers. I’m actually going to sell the majority of my items on Etsy. I get a lot bigger bang out of them. I get stats that let me know important information to help me reach more buyers and I love this feature, well worth the small insertion fees. With a much lower, than eBay’s, final value fee that does not include my shipping costs, makes it an easy choice.

I like to use the carnival ride example for this. Carnival rides have become very costly at $1.50 to $2 per ride. I see 4 kids on a ride that is twirling and spinning round and round. That ride has to go round and round if it has 4 or 30 people riding it. A ride that is $2 with 4 people brings in $8, a full ride at 50 cents a ticket, brings in $15. I quit taking my kids to the local carnivals because it’s just too expensive. Many people have done this and carnivals are a far cry from what they once were.

eBay has done the same thing and it will be 10 times harder to get people back once they lose them, than it would have been, for them to do all they could to keep them in the first place. eBay is going round and round, but it’s not even half full any longer and they are over charging those who still remain to make up for the losses. Good Luck eBay, was fun while it lasted. I opened my Etsy shop and I love it. Fees are low, I have more control and I get valuable information, so I can do all I can to bring in buyers to my shop. A win, win for Etsy and myself.

Your CEO has dropped the ball eBay, you can not fix this by handing the ball to your sellers. Sellers make eBay go round and round, without sellers, you will have no buyers. Sellers bring in buyers, we are the ones who have what they want. The sellers also have what eBay wants, final value fees.

A Work In Progress

My shop is newstuffandsuch4u and it will be growing as I create new products and find beautiful vintage (20 years old, according to Etsy rules) items to sell. I have a couple driftwood picture frames listed on eBay and they have some watchers, so not going to pull them until they expire. My current listings will not be relisted on eBay after they expire. I’m fed up with eBay and I’m not going to let them take advantage of me. Not going to help them cover their behinds for poor management choices. Seeing as though eBay is free to list, I’ll be listing items that are over priced. Buyers will search other venues to purchase them and they will find my products on Etsy, with more reasonable prices. I can afford to do that with Etsy. I’ll just use eBay to advertise my unique products……For FREE!……………lol

Update 7-20-2016

Now that my shop is up and running for a while, I can see a few downfalls. The biggest I have seen is that so many people do not know about Etsy. I tell people about my shop and they claim they have never hear of it before. All of them have heard about eBay and have shopped on the site before. Many people favorite my items, yet few buy. Because of the “hand made platform”, these items are often just a reference for someone to make their own or get ideas to make items for their own shops or stores.

I believe many place my items in their favorites, so they can purchase them at a later date for gifts. Holiday sales should go well, however my inventory will quickly be depleted. I will more than likely, not have the time needed to reinvest my profits. I won’t be able to create new products before the holiday shopping season is over.

On the upside, vintage or antique items will often sell for a higher price than I’ve seen on eBay. It takes a bit longer to sell, but well worth it. These items are some of the best items to have in an Etsy shop. Vintage, according to Etsy rules, only have to be 20 years old or older. So finding items at resale stores or garage sales is a great way to get items for your Etsy shop. I once found a great deal on something I bought for $3 and sold it in 2 months for over $100. It sold for it’s typical true value. On eBay some have sold for much less, however the shipping cost was double and usually would need repairs of some sort.

I feel more pressured to have quality items in my Etsy shop due to their feedback platform. On eBay sellers can only receive short comments for feedback and can become buried quickly. With Etsy, your feedback can be detailed and one bad one, can hurt you more than you think. As a shopper, I read FB before I buy.

Best of Both Worlds

Someone needs to come up with a cross between eBay and Etsy ( Ibuy). A platform that gives sellers a shop and buyers a choice as to how they shop.  Someone needs to bring back the original concept that eBay was first founded on. Believe it or not, sometimes, Less is More.

If your as frustrated about eBay’s choices as I am, please let eBay know it.