eBay bucks program change
 

Just received this e-mail:

Starting on January 1, 2017 some new eBay Bucks changes will be taking effect and we're excited to share them with you. We want to make sure you're always in the know as we continue to improve and expand the program. We think these latest changes will make Bucks even more flexible and beneficial for all of our loyalty members.
Here is a list of the upcoming changes and new benefits:
• Base earnings are changing from 2% to 1%, now with more ways than ever to earn eBay Bucks.
• From car parts to copiers & you can now earn rewards for shopping in the Parts & Accessories and Business & Industrial* categories.
• Earn Bucks when you sell. We’ll be adding occasional promotions so you can also get rewarded when your items sell on eBay.**
• No more $5 minimum earn restrictions for redeeming—now you'll receive your rewards, no matter the amount.†
• Sign up for promotional emails and get invites for special bonus offers.




So they're excited to tell me that rewards are being cut in half?

wonderful...

The only thing good about this is the $5 limit for redemption is gone.

However, that is quickly negated by the 1% earnings reduction.

Well, this is great news. My two collecting passions happen to be pre-war baseball cards and refurbished copiers, so I'm good to go.

I am sure they are excited. Us, not so much. :D

The least they could do is give it to us straight, rather than putting lipstick (better! excited!) on this rather awful change

In other news...
 

PSA announced 2017 price hikes.

It's like Black Thursday (1929) for the baseball card collecting community.

Not a surprise.

Ebay has been screwing it's sellers for the last 4+ years with a new shaft weekly.

They are just logically spreading the love butter to their buyers too.

- Justin

Be interesting to see if the eBay Bucks program goes away or is severely curtailed.

Whenever someone says they have 'exciting changes' for you, that's code for 'You're not going to be happy with this.'

I'm somewhat curious about earning them as a seller. I don't sell a ton on eBay but I'll be interested to read more about that. Although, even there it says 'occasional' opportunities. I'm wondering if they'll limit it to special items when they're trying to have a sale on certain things (i.e. sell your iPhone 5 on eBay and earn 1%). Hooray.

Whenever Ebay gets "excited" about something, you know bad news is sure to follow. :D

Lots of complaining around here! Nobody spoke up when ebay cancelled the ebay bucks program for Canadians. At least you still have 1%!:D

eBay buyers remember this sound: squeal!!!

I'm not surprised eBay is cutting the regular program from 2 to 1%. They certainly have been ramping up the promotional eBay bucks programs lately. For instance, I can get 2% regularly (currently), but then they'll do a "flash sale" with 8% eBay Bucks for 1-2 day periods on orders of $50 or more. These come up at least once a month. The 2% is an after-thought. The 8% usually sparks activity.

I was wondering recently if these type of eBay promotions + the 1-5% you can get back from eBates might be impacting the price of cards upwards. A simple VCP pricing model simply can't adjust for these mid-month perks that aren't reflected in the price. A card that is purchased for $1,100 on eBay is really worth only $1,000 when a person can get $100 back from eBay Bucks + eBates. As a seller, I hope my listings are ending on the day that the 8% promotion takes place! It also pushes me to consider doing more fixed price listings (and not auction listings) so I can take advantage of these flash sales when they pop up.

Anyway, yes, disappointed about the decrease from 2 to 1%, but I suspect we may simply see more flash sales and/or seller promotions to increase buying activity at the whim of eBay.

bucks
 

I have been a buyer and seller on eBay since 1998 and I have never been offered a flash sale or any type of incentive other than regular ebay bucks.

I bet the days of the 8% (or even 10%) ebucks are also over. Bet the knew "big incentive" will be 2-4%. Just glad I took advantage of the last 8% deal offered to me a couple days before this announcement! Might be my last one.

Cheers,
Patrick

I responded to the email by indicating that their positive spin on negative information was laughable.

Duane Clark

Check your account settings. Also, I don't always get an e-mail but sometimes I notice the promotion on eBay's homepage in one of the image windows.

From the ebay website FAQ:

How do I know if I am signed up to receive emails from eBay Bucks?
To check that you're signed up to receive emails from eBay Bucks, follow these steps:
Log in to your account and go to My eBay
Click on the Account tab
Select Communication Preferences
Scroll down to Promotions and Surveys and click Show
Select General Email Promotions and click Save
By signing up for general email promotions, you will receive emails from eBay Bucks.

Did you check the box to receive promotions from Ebay (or some similar language)?

Need to check you ebay subscriptions. Once I signed up for promotional emails over the summer they basically came all the time. Maybe once every 2 weeks.

Actually, we seem to be doing the spreading again...

...just try to relax and enjoy it.


eb

This information could result in the resumption of the Frank Bucks program.;)

This is obviously a bummer, but also quite odd. They have been giving out 4x, 6x, 8x quite a bit lately. I wonder why they've been offering so many promos if they really just wanted to cut the program? I guess it could have been intentional to make us feel like we have got some good perks lately right before they shut it down.

2% to 1%
 

As long as they keep offering the 4X, 8X or 10X promotions every month or so, I don't think the changes will effect me much. I usually only buy during those times anyway. I always have a few overpriced BINs saved in my Watch List and justify the purchase when they offer one of those promotions.

My guess is that the 4x, 6x, 8x promos will continue. Most likely these promos are offered during a historically "stale" selling periods ebay has experienced in the past as a way to supplement their results during this period.

The fine print accompanying this change now states that each user will only be entitled to the rewards on a single account only, no matter how many accounts they have. I wonder how they will police users with multiple accounts that accrue ebay bucks....should I put my second/buying account in my kids name or start using my wife's long time account?

I think it will level out since they are going to give ebay bucks to sellers

Earn Bucks when you sell. We’ll be adding occasional promotions so you can also get rewarded when your items sell on eBay.**

Between eBates cutting off sports memorabilia (5%) and this, my discount on eBay items has fallen from 7% to 1%.

Not happy.

ETA: Bet that they jack up selling fees too...

Nice cards, good luck on the sale!

anyway, i guess this will encourage more direct sales ..

I believe the technical term used in the corporate world for this type of action is "damage control."

For extra savings. If you have a Target store credit card you can buy Ebay gift cards and get 5% off at the register.

Ebay does have some limits though:
No more than a total of $2000 in Gift Cards may be redeemed per day, and no more than a total of $5000 in Gift Cards may be redeemed per calendar month. Further, you may only redeem a maximum of eight Gift Cards in any single transaction (and fewer if you are redeeming Gift Cards in combination with other redemption codes, such as coupons or vouchers).

I believe last time it was offered to sellers it was something ridiculous. Ie: list an item today and sell it within 7 days. I cant remember exactly

Darn tootin!
 

Darn if this doesn't say it all

"I responded to the email by indicating that their positive spin on negative information was laughable."

I sent them a similiar reply!

More likely profit control.

Another 10% eBay Bucks Day! :D

Today and Tomorrow.

Me too:)

15 years and 100% feedback and Ebay can't send me one bucks offer since it's inception.

...and yes I have checked my settings and called Ebay 3 times to get the runaround on it.

The answer is simply..."we have no competition so run like a ship with no rudder and a hole in the hull." (maybe that's just what I hear, lol)