Will the new Ebay flat fee comission change your selling strategy??

[bobbyw8469]

I was just curious if the new Ebay fee "decrease" which is actually an across the board increase would change the way you sell off part of your collection. It seems that if you sell a $2,000 card now, they will take a whopping $200 and some change (if you count PayPals cut) of your sell price! OUCH!

[vintagetoppsguy]

I gave up selling on eBay a long time ago. I use our B/S/T and a list of contacts that I have built. I’ve dealt with many great people on the boards and have always had pleasurable transactions. Our B/S/T is great and I thank Leon for that.

If I have a card that has $100 VCP average, I would rather sell if for $90 on the B/S/T and let the buyer save the 10% rather than giving it to eBay (or whatever their % is now). I’m going to net the same either way, right?

I still list some stuff on eBay occasionally, but only after I've tried the B/S/T. Not trying to sound like a jerk, but anybody that still sells on eBay is just a glutton for punishment.

[D. Bergin]

Hell, even on a lower dollar item, if you're working with true auctions and have a store, the straight Ebay fee (not including the Paypal fee, Paypal transaction fee, Ebay cut of the shipping) on a $100 final price just went from $5.75 to $9.00, which if my math is correct (and admittedly it's not a strong suit of mine), is about a 64% jump in fees.

The higher the value, the worse it gets.

But hey, you get to save 25 cents in listing fees, so it's not all bad news.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Hell, even on a lower dollar item, if you're working with true auctions and have a store, the straight Ebay fee (not including the Paypal fee, Paypal transaction fee, Ebay cut of the shipping) on a $100 final price just went from $5.75 to $9.00, which if my math is correct (and admittedly it's not a strong suit of mine), is about a 64% jump in fees.

The higher the value, the worse it gets.

But hey, you get to save 25 cents in listing fees, so it's not all bad news.

I spoke with a large ebay vintage seller yesterday. He doesn't know what he is going to do but is looking at maybe doing a small auction...as so many others are now doing. I don't sell on ebay but if I did I would have to re-evaluate if it was worth my time.

[bobbyw8469]

I spoke with a large ebay vintage seller yesterday. He doesn't know what he is going to do but is looking at maybe doing a small auction...as so many others are now doing. I don't sell on ebay but if I did I would have to re-evaluate if it was worth my time.

If it is who I think it is, that would be so cool. Ebay is just a venue, and quite honestly, has long gotten too big for its' britches! That person would probably be very successful if he opened up his own auction house, thus controlling the comission and fees he could charge.

[rjackson44]

Agree with David and Leon feebay will kill you if you sell a big ticket item along with PayPal its nuts.I only buy on eBay and not like I used to.I stuck to net 54 Leon runs a great ship no scams here and I've made good friends octavio.

[Runscott]

Ebay continues to encourage the 'store with free shipping and no-question returns' model.

Doubt I'll run any more straight auctions on ebay, other than to clear out junk inventory.

[sports-rings]

I spoke with a large ebay vintage seller yesterday. He doesn't know what he is going to do but is looking at maybe doing a small auction...as so many others are now doing. I don't sell on ebay but if I did I would have to re-evaluate if it was worth my time.

I see more and more that the small and mid-size auction houses in our hobby are using simpleauctionsite.com for their auctions.

Anyone have any knowledge or idea what the threshold is, where it makes sense to start your own auction website using their software?

[drc]

Sterling Sports Auctions and Love of the Game Auctions would be considered big on eBay, if that helps.

If you don't have a lot of stuff for auction, I don't think starting your own auction would be good, though a sales page might work. For the average eBayer, I don't think it would work to start up their own auction site. I'm also sure its tough to get people to sign up for you auction.

Love of the Game started off well, in part because they had quality stuff the first auction. Sterling has been around a while so its new owner had a built in audience.

[Exhibitman]

The problem is audience. Ebay cannot be beaten for its audience--you get a lot of eyeballs on every listing. That may not be needed to sell a T206 Cobb but it sure comes in handy for more esoteric items.

Candidly, the new fees should not be an issue for a casual seller because what Ebay has done is to move its fee structure into line with the lower end of AH consignment costs. Even if you get a 0% commission, you are still 'paying' the BP, which runs anywhere from 10% [Lew Lipset, who is running his last auction] on up to 20%. It just depends on the items. Sterling [15%] and LOTG [18%] were mentioned above; from where I sit, both of them charge more than the combo of Ebay final value fees and paypal fees. Not criticising them--far from it, I consign to both and find both to be exemplary in every respect and worth the cost--just referencing the math as a counterpoint. The thing I appreciate about Ebay is that I can use the free listings to fish for sales on rare items. An AH wants to sell the items outright, not let me roll them through for months in the hope of finding a buyer.

Starting an auction of your own is a nice idea but not exactly a viable one if you work full time.