A Summary of Changes at eBay
The year 2008 is the year of huge changes and overhaul at eBay. This will definitely shake
things up, bring in a slew of changes that will change the way you do business.
All these changes have left a lot of eBay sellers reeling. Here are some information you
may need to help you sort through it all.
1. Insertion Fees - Effective February 20, 2008
Various fees charged for listing a product on eBay have been lowered by between 5 cents
and 80 cents, depending on the starting or reserve price.
Bill Cobb, eBay North America’s President, said that prices were cut because users preferred
to pay only when they’d successfully sold an item on eBay. He also asserted that high
insertion fees have been a deterrent for people looking to sell items eBay in the past.
Suggested action: Nothing - just sit back and pay less to list!
2. Gallery Fees - Effective February 20, 2008
It’s now free to add a Gallery picture to your listing - You save $0.35.
Suggested action: Take advantage of this offer and always add an image to your item
listing.
3. Final Value Fees - Effective February 20, 2008
Final Value fees are now 2.5% higher!
Suggested action: A 5 cents saving up front is not going to cover the cost of losing 2.5%
hike of the final value fee! What can you do about it apart from protesting?
4. Media Listing Fees - Effective February 20, 2008
Books, music, movies and video game software now have lower insertion fees than other
items for auctions and fixed price listings under $24.99.
Suggested action: Nothing. As long as you’re selling media items under $24.99, then you’ll
be saving up to 25 cents on the original listing fees.
5. Minimum Starting Price for Fixed Price, Store Inventory and Buy It Now Change - Effective
February 20, 2008
You must now list any item with a fixed price for a minimum of $1.00 - So, no more free
listings on eBay! The lowest you’re expected to pay for a product in “Fixed Price, Store
Inventory or Buy It Now” is 35 cents. Even an Auction-style listing will cost 15 cents.
Selling an eBook below $0.99 used to cost you a total of 5 cents after the final value fee
(5.25%). Which means you got $0.94 profit - and, more importantly, you weren’t out of
pocket if the item didn’t sell. Now it costs you almost 44 cents, leaving just 55 cents of
profit for you after the final value fee (8.75%)!
Suggested action: Perhaps sell your information products as auctions.
6. Tiered Pricing for Featured Plus Listings - Effective February 20, 2008
Featured Plus listings used to be at a flat rate of $19.95 previously.
Now items with a starting price of $24.99 will cost $9.95, those under $199.99 will set you
back $14.95, and items over $500.00 have gone up by $5.00 to $24.95!
The biggest advantage with this change will be for sellers with items being sold close to
$200.00… saving $5.00 to have your auction come up on Featured Listings.
But if you have more than one of an inexpensive item to sell, Featured Plus is a great way
to get those items in front of a huge crowd — and now if you feature an item listed for
under $24.99 you’ll save $10.00.
Featured Plus rates for Classified Ads have also increased by the following:
* 30 days — $24.99 (+$5.00)
* 60 days — 49.90 (+$10.00)
* 90 days — $74.85 (+$15.00)
7. Expanded Seller Protection from PayPal for PowerSellers - Effective February
2008
PowerSellers are already protected against unauthorized and non-receipt claims and chargebacks.
Now, with expanded seller protection:
* PayPal will no longer require PowerSellers to ship to confirmed addresses for items sold
on eBay. Every address in the PayPal system will be considered a confirmed address for PowerSellers.
* There will be unlimited protection coverage (rather than a $5,000.00 limit).
* Seller protection will also cover transactions with buyers in many markets around the world
(instead of only to US, Canada and the UK).
Cobb of eBay believes PowerSellers will definitely be happy with what eBay is doing for you in
this regard.
These are positive changes… but only applicable to PowerSellers.
8. Safe Payments - Effective March 2008
For certain cases, eBay now requires sellers to offer either PayPal or a merchant credit card
to buyers for payment.
What to do: Most sellers offer PayPal or merchant credit cards as a payment option, but
if you don’t, and you fall into one of the following categories, it will be mandatory as of
March if you:
* Have had more than 5% dissatisfied buyers in the last 30 days
* Have a feedback score of less than 100
* Are listing items in the following higher-risk categories (and sub categories):
Gift Certificates, Video Games, Cell Phones, Computers, and Consumer Electronics
If you fall into one of these categories, you should read the safe payments section on
eBay’s “FAQ” page or the “Accepted Payments Policy” page.
9. PowerSeller Fee Discounts - Effective April 2008
PowerSellers in the United States or Canada will start getting Final Value Fees discounts
in April. These will be based on their detailed seller ratings (DSRs) for the last 30 days.
Discounts will apply to sales on or after February 20, 2008.
You get a 5% discount if your DSRs are 4.6 or higher, and a 15% discount if they’re 4.8 or
higher.
What to do: You qualify for the PowerSeller fee discounts if you:
* Are a member of the United States or Canadian PowerSeller program; and
* Have maintained excellent DSRs over the last 30 days in all four areas — item description,
communication, shipping time, and shipping and handling charges.
All four of your DSRs must be equal to or greater than 4.6 for deeper discounts.
These discounts are for those who qualify as PowerSellers before the new terms come into place.
Once the new terms come in, you have to meet those before you can still qualify for these
discounts.
10. Feedback - Effective May 2008
By far, this is the most controversial new change at eBay! Sellers will no longer be able to
leave negative or neutral Feedback for buyers???
Bill Cobb of eBay had more to say on this change than any of the others, stating,
“Today, the biggest issue with the system is that buyers are more afraid than ever to leave
honest, accurate feedback because of the threat of retaliation. In fact, when buyers have
a bad experience on eBay, the final straw for many of them is getting a negative feedback,
especially of a retaliatory nature.
“Now, we realize that feedback has been a two-way street, but our data shows a disturbing
trend, which is that sellers leave retaliatory feedback eight times more frequently than
buyers do … and this figure is up dramatically from only a few years ago.
“So we have to put a stop to this and put trust back into the system.
“But I think — and I’m sure you’ll agree — that the most compelling reason we need to
change feedback is so that buyers will regain their confidence on eBay and they will bid
and buy more often.”
Obviously the implications of not being able to leave negative Feedback can be huge for
sellers. Get more information on how this might affect you by checking out the FAQ page
eBay has created to address this change.
Note that the current Mutual Feedback Withdrawal system will remain in place until the
second half of 2008. In other words, any unresolved issues you have before the Feedback
changes take place in May can still be acted upon until then.
11. PowerSeller Status - Effective uly 2008
PowerSellers are awarded a number of benefits on eBay, but to qualify for them is getting
harder and harder!
Starting July, a score of 4.5 or more on all DSRs (based on the last 12 months) will be
required for membership in the PowerSeller program.
According to Bill Cobb of eBay, “We want the PowerSeller icon to really mean something
to buyers and sellers.
“Given that this program has historically only required a certain level of sales and a
98 percent positive feedback rating, a number of our buyers have complained that there’s
not a consistently great experience when they’re buying from PowerSellers.
“We’re going to change all that by making PowerSeller status a competitive advantage…
and it all starts with setting a higher bar for sellers using their DSRs.”
This means you will be rated on…
* Describing items well;
* Communicating with buyers effectively;
* Shipping items quickly; and
* Charging fair and accurate shipping costs
The overall score (your DSR) must remain above 4.5 for 12 consecutive months to qualify
for PowerSeller status.
One of the biggest disadvantages for sellers is that you now have to maintain your DSR
rating for the full 12 months.
If your figure dips below 4.5 one month — in June, for example — then raises again,
you won’t qualify as a PowerSeller again until the following June. Your 12 months starts
from scratch each time your DRS falls.
Final Thoughts:
What a bruiser!
But don’t freak out, don’t panic. You will STILL be able to make good money by taking
advantage of eBay’s incredible reach. But now, more than ever, you’ll need to MARKET
your items, not just list them and hope for the best.
Need a reliable mentor?
My recommendation: Derek Gehl of IMC is the man!
Click Here
And don’t forget to subscribe to the FREE “eBay Quick-Start eCourse”.
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