Don't know if posted, but just received from eBay.

[Brian Van Horn]

Our research shows that in many popular categories—particularly fashion and collectible items—listing your items auction-style is the best way to make a sale. That’s why the standard selling fees will be updated to give sellers without an eBay Stores subscription up to 100 free auction-style listings per month* in the following categories: •Antiques
•Art
•Baby
•Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
•Coins & Paper Money
•Collectibles
•Dolls & Bears
•Entertainment Memorabilia
•Health & Beauty
•Jewelry & Watches
•Pottery & Glass
•Sports Memorabilia, Cards & Fan Shop
•Stamps
•Toys & Hobbies
Starting May 15, 2014, the following changes will be made to eBay’s standard fees: •There will no longer be an allotment of free fixed price listings in these categories for sellers who don’t have an eBay Stores subscription. The insertion fee to list fixed price in these categories will be 30¢.
•You still have your 50 free listings* every month that you can use for auction-style or fixed price in other eligible categories—or you can use them for auction-style listings in the categories listed above.
•Plus, starting May 15 you’ll have an additional 50 free auction-style listings* that can be used only in the categories listed above.
We encourage you to take advantage of the free auction-style listings to make your selling even more successful. Get complete details on this update.

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
eBay Selling Team

Feel free to comment folks.

[thecatspajamas]

I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I'm glad to see them doing something to encourage auction listings again.

Free Fixed Price listings and free Auction listings regardless of the starting amount were what killed the"good ol' days" of ebay. Without any up-front cost or required skin in the game, too many sellers will opt to let their wares sit indefinitely rather than put a reasonable price on them. If they're paying out-of-pocket every month without realizing sales, there is more incentive to price things reasonably or move them on to auction with reasonable starting prices.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Brian, you need a good avatar to match your obsession.

[Brian Van Horn]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Brian, you need a good avatar to match your obsession.

I don't there is an equivalent junkie out there that would match the true look of my overall addiction.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by Brian Van Horn

•There will no longer be an allotment of free fixed price listings in these categories for sellers who don’t have an eBay Stores subscription.

This pretty much sums up what will happen with free listings....unless a seller is going to ante up at least $19.95/month, the free listings wont be available to them, but the large allotments of free listings will still be available to all store owners.

It seems that when ebay consistently started offering free listings to sellers several years back, they did so as a way to generate some incremental income to help improve the company's overall financial results. They obviously are seeing results from the free listings as they keep offering them as a way to comp their previous incremental sales that were generated by previous free listing offers. As ebay has shareholders to appease, they must continue to grow their business...since at this point their silver bullet seems to be these free listings, the free listings will continue(for store owners only now).

Until ebay can discover a new "silver bullet" to increase company revenue, the free listings will be their "silver bullet" of choice. There are multiple e-commerce websites available that for only a $200 monthly fee, you can list up to 100k items. Unless ebay remains competitive with these e-commerce sites(by offering free listings), they will continue to have sellers migrate to these non-ebay sites to sell their products.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I'm glad to see them doing something to encourage auction listings again.

Lance, I don't think that's what they are doing. Ebay's business plan has been stores with fixed-price listings. This new rule actually encourages that.

Could be that these particular categories are actually better for Fixed Price listings, rather than auction-style as ebay claims. By making non-store sellers switch to a format that brings in less profit (auctions), they are encouraging those sellers to purchase ebay stores so that they can continue with fixed price listings.

[thecatspajamas]

Scott, I probably should have phrased that "I'm glad to see them doing something that will encourage auction listings again." I totally agree that their intent is to get more people to sign up for Stores (especially now that they have it set up like cell phone plans, where you're actually committing to an "annual subscription" unless you're willing to pay more to go month-to-month). I just think that there are a great many sellers out there who will only ever use the site to the extent that they can do so without up-front cost, and those sellers will gravitate toward whatever listing method is available to them for $0 up front. Unfortunately, those are often the same sellers who won't risk selling their stuff for less than high-end retail (or some multiple thereof) so that's where all their prices start.

Ebay has gotten themselves into the same rut that many retail stores do where they have been running "sale" pricing (in their case, Free listings) so frequently that very few regular users pay regular price any more, opting instead to hold out for the next Free Listing Day which is surely just around the corner. What was originally a tool to produce a spike in activity (eBay stockholders cheer, "Yay, more money!") before returning to the norm ("aww, do it again!") now has the effect of a lesser spike ("yawn, remember when this used to be exciting?") with noticeable lull in between Free Listing Days ("wait, what?")

Ideally (to me anyway), sellers could have a Store that they pay a flat fee for and get free Fixed Price listings, or anyone could list at auction for free but only if your auction starts at $0.99 or less. Everything else would be available, but at a per-listing up front fee. Otherwise, the auction listings just effectively become Fixed Price listings with an open top end in case you mis-priced something, and if it doesn't sell this time around, you can just list it again next week during the next round of Free Listing Days.

That's what I think anyway.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I'm glad to see them doing something to encourage auction listings again.

Free Fixed Price listings and free Auction listings regardless of the starting amount were what killed the"good ol' days" of ebay. Without any up-front cost or required skin in the game, too many sellers will opt to let their wares sit indefinitely rather than put a reasonable price on them. If they're paying out-of-pocket every month without realizing sales, there is more incentive to price things reasonably or move them on to auction with reasonable starting prices.

I recently purchased an Al Rosen autograph from you, and it is proudly displayed in my office.

[thecatspajamas]

Thanks! Glad you like it

[tschock]

I think Lance and Scott are both right on this one, and this may actually be one of those changes that may be a win-win for all.

It will coerce those using free BINs to pony up for a store, while allowing those using auctions more free listings. Is the way around this for those using free listing BINs for their "museum" listings to now list them as auctions but with a high starting bid? We'll see....

[Exhibitman]

What an unbelievable pile of malarky. So basically, if I am reading the eBay gibberish correctly, the fixed price with BIN option is no more unless I agree to pay a membership fee--that is really what a 'store' is for any weekend warrior.

I doubt that they have a shred of research that shows auction-style is the best way to make a sale. I call BS on that. Price is the sole reason why an item sells, not format. What they're really saying is that they want a membership fee and to get it they will try to force sellers to risk everything on an auction listing or ante up. It isn't good for buyers; eBay doesn't give a rat's arse about buyers or sellers. If they force everyone to list at $0.99 or pay a fee, watch the number of casual listings plummet. Again. If the free auctions are at any start price, though, all they do is cause me to start my auctions at what would have been my fixed price. Or maybe I will just say "WTF, that thousand dollar card can start at $0.99" rather than pay thirty cents to fix price list it. Sure. Right after I pull a flying monkey out of my @$$.

The most infuriating line in this eBay crap-fest is the claim that limiting my ability to list items and adding to my overhead will "make [my] selling even more successful"; can someone explain that one to me, because I am unable to wrap my tiny intellect around how fewer options at a higher cost is better for me. Or is "successful" eBay-speak for "expensive for customers but more profitable for us"?

Thanks, eBay, you definitely 'inserted' something...

[Brian Van Horn]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

What an unbelievable pile of malarky. So basically, if I am reading the eBay gibberish correctly, the fixed price with BIN option is no more unless I agree to pay a membership fee--that is really what a 'store' is for any weekend warrior.

I doubt that they have a shred of research that shows auction-style is the best way to make a sale. I call BS on that. Price is the sole reason why an item sells, not format. What they're really saying is that they want a membership fee and to get it they will try to force sellers to risk everything on an auction listing or ante up. It isn't good for buyers; eBay doesn't give a rat's arse about buyers or sellers. If they force everyone to list at $0.99 or pay a fee, watch the number of casual listings plummet. Again. If the free auctions are at any start price, though, all they do is cause me to start my auctions at what would have been my fixed price. Or maybe I will just say "WTF, that thousand dollar card can start at $0.99" rather than pay thirty cents to fix price list it. Sure. Right after I pull a flying monkey out of my @$$.

The most infuriating line in this eBay crap-fest is the claim that limiting my ability to list items and adding to my overhead will "make [my] selling even more successful"; can someone explain that one to me, because I am unable to wrap my tiny intellect around how fewer options at a higher cost is better for me. Or is "successful" eBay-speak for "expensive for customers but more profitable for us"?

Thanks, eBay, you definitely 'inserted' something...

Subtle and understated.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[jhs5120]

If members are going to list 100 ridiculous BINs each month ebay might as well make money on the practice.

[auggiedoggy]

So, if I list an item via Fixed Price with the "Good till cancelled" duration then do I get charged $0.30 once or for each 30-day period the item remains listed.

[auggiedoggy]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Or is "successful" eBay-speak for "expensive for customers but more profitable for us"?

I'm afraid so.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by auggiedoggy

So, if I list an item via Fixed Price with the "Good till cancelled" duration then do I get charged $0.30 once or for each 30-day period the item remains listed.

Yes, if you list GTC, you get charged whatever the listing fee is every 30 days. Also, when they do run Free Listing Days, GTC and 1-day listings (and sometimes 3-day listings) are typically excluded from the offer.

Adam, whenever eBay says, "This is what's best for you," you can pretty much guarantee they mean, "This is what's best for us." I have yet to see a policy change that was accompanied by a "this will save you money on fees" statement where I actually saved money. As with every change they make, you just have to figure out how best to work around it, and I this case, I think there will be a great many sellers doing exactly what you described and changing their Fixed Price listings to Auctions starting at their original Fixed Price rather than risking taking a lesser price or paying to list the item how they would prefer.

Personally, I've had an Ebay Store subscription for a long time now because in the overall scheme of things, it saves me money on the back end. There have been times when I've questioned if it was worth it due to the frequency of the Free Listing Days, but I prefer to do things on a predictable schedule rather than waiting and trusting Ebay to keep throwing those bones to sellers. That may not work best for everyone though, and does require a certain listing volume for it to make sense.

[Centauri]

Perhaps this is unpopular around here, but I am strongly in favor of more auctions. I find the buy it nows are almost always overpriced as a buyer, and boring as a seller.


I also find it quite reasonable that stuff sells easier via auction than fixed price. Ebay makes their money off of sales, not insertions.

[Exhibitman]

Look, the jackholes at eBay can do whatever they want and I have nothing against auction listings, but I despise weasel-speak. Don't piss down my back and tell me it is raining.

[Brian Van Horn]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Look, the jackholes at eBay can do whatever they want and I have nothing against auction listings, but I despise weasel-speak. Don't piss down my back and tell me it is raining.

My favorite line from "Outlaw Josey Wales" and John Landis stated that was the line that got John Vernon the part of Dean Wormer in "Animal House."