No free postage - eh?

[JamesEagle]

Ebay has recently imposed a rule that all CDs sold must have free postage within the seller's country (in my case, the UK). I have come across a few CDs that I want that are based in the UK, but with a postage cost in dollars. For example, this one:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

It says it is based in Nottingham, UK, but postage is over $6! That is ridiculously expensive for postage within England - I would expect it chauffeur-driven to my door for that price! Plus it should be free anyway.

 

I have sent questions to sellers, but not had any reply. Anyone have any idea what this is all about?

 

[zacharyamelie]

Why ship for free? That's retarded!!!!

Most cd's on ebay sell for under 2$, yet you have to ship within ones country for free. Basically you (the seller) would be paying the buyer to buy your cd's.

 

The only reason Ebay is doing this is so people start their sales at a higher price and they cash in on the the fees charged for a higher price on the insertion and closing fees. Ebay doesn't get any money from the shipping costs, so they want people to raise their selling prices and include the shipping in the sale of the disc, therefore making more money for poor little Ebay. Ebay is no longer a way to make money by selling music, unless of course all that you sell are the most sought after rarities in the world, than Ebay is still your friend.

[T-BONE]

I "Must" ship for free? At first they limited me to $3 and now it must be free? FU ebay....

[chocularok]

When did they post THAT rule? I've never heard of it, & haven't gotten an email from them about it.

[chocularok]

I just checked the announcements page & didn't find anything about required free shipping w/in the seller's country.

[JamesEagle]

Yeah, it's a pain. If I sell CDs or DVDs, I have to post free in the UK. Started a couple of months ago, ebay claimed to make its sellers 'more competitive in the market place'. I used to start most of my auctions at £0.99, but can't do that any more as I could lose money on a sale after all the fees are paid.

 

My theory is that it's just a device for ebay to take a final value fee on the whole sale price. In the past, they couldn't charge final value fees on postage costs, but now the whole sum the seller receives (having probably started the auction at a higher price to cover postage and packing) is subject to ebay fees. Sneaky.

 

However, that said, surely it should apply to all sellers and not just disadvantage some of us.

[chocularok]

So it only appiles to UK sellers?

[glam_junkie]

my theory on this....

 

as far as i know under the current fee structure ebay do not charge final value fee on the postage price, only the item price. By making the postage 'free' they are encouraging seller to build the postage price into the cost of the item (ie a cd that was once $1 is now $3), and hence ebay are receiving the final value fee on a larger amount.... therefore more money to ebay.

 

In essence, they are now able to charge you a final value fee for your postage costs aswell.

 

I stopped selling on there aobut 2 years ago, and it's only been getting better since...

[JamesEagle]

So it only appiles to UK sellers?

 

No idea - I have only ever sold from within the UK, I just assumed it applied to other countries too. We can still charge shipping for CDs sent to other countries though.

[Captain Howdy]

Yes, this is a UK only thing.

It started with CDs, DVDs and Games etc, but has since moved onto comics, books and magazines as well.

 

As has been said, to continue to list and sell cheap items (most of my comics start at 99p or less) and give free postage, leaves the seller out of pocket.

 

Two reasons they have done this, which they will not admit, is not only getting a bigger final valuation fee, but also a listing fee as well (99p items are free to list).

 

I contacted eBay and told them how disgusting it was, as they are just trying to get more money out of its sellers, or is gonna put people out of business, so of course I got a standard bullshit reply from them about moving in line with other online companies (I'm sorry, but since when does eBay sell anything? There was me thinking it was us doing the selling, so how nice of them to make that decision on our behalf).

 

One thing they said is that you only have to list the first postage option as free, and can list alternate choices.

They said that a good idea is to list the free option as collection only.

Thats all well and good, but how many people will not pay attention to the fact that free postage means they have to collect?

 

No way can anyone afford to offer free postage without upping there prices, so eBays whole idea that free postage encourages people to bid, when quite frankly the starting bid price is gonna put people off, is bloody ridiculous.

[Captain Howdy]

Oh, and as for the initial question about the UK seller listing in dollars. I'd assume he has listed the items on the US site to get round the postage rule.

[heavyharmonies]

It's only UK... for now.

 

All the other stupid shit that eBay has implemented has also started on non-U.S. eBay. Then when they see how much they can fuck the sellers there, they then apply it to the U.S.

 

It's only a matter of time until it hits the U.S.

 

Bastards.

[JamesEagle]

Yes, this is a UK only thing.

It started with CDs, DVDs and Games etc, but has since moved onto comics, books and magazines as well.

 

As has been said, to continue to list and sell cheap items (most of my comics start at 99p or less) and give free postage, leaves the seller out of pocket.

 

Two reasons they have done this, which they will not admit, is not only getting a bigger final valuation fee, but also a listing fee as well (99p items are free to list).

 

I contacted eBay and told them how disgusting it was, as they are just trying to get more money out of its sellers, or is gonna put people out of business, so of course I got a standard bullshit reply from them about moving in line with other online companies (I'm sorry, but since when does eBay sell anything? There was me thinking it was us doing the selling, so how nice of them to make that decision on our behalf).

 

One thing they said is that you only have to list the first postage option as free, and can list alternate choices.

They said that a good idea is to list the free option as collection only.

Thats all well and good, but how many people will not pay attention to the fact that free postage means they have to collect?

 

No way can anyone afford to offer free postage without upping there prices, so eBays whole idea that free postage encourages people to bid, when quite frankly the starting bid price is gonna put people off, is bloody ridiculous.

 

 

Yep, they can dress it up any way they want, but it's a racket and they are really hurting individuals like myself who are trying to get the most they can for their CDs, DVDs, etc so that they can have a little extra spending money.

 

If you list as free postage being collection only, I think it shows that in the search results, doesn't it? So that would put off most buyers. I also can't apply my combined postage discounts automatically for overseas buyers for some reason any more. The whole thing is ridiculous.

 

Complaining to ebay is pointless, imo. They couldn't care less about 'small' customers.

 

[bangerdave]

If they start this shit down under Ebay can go and

[JamesEagle]

If they start this shit down under Ebay can go and

 

Does postage in Australia vary depending on where you're sending to? For example, how much is it to post a CD from, say, Sydney to Melbourne, or Sydney to Perth?

[HighNDryRulz]

Very rarely do I sell on Ebay. Screw them.

[Geoff]

If they start this shit down under Ebay can go and

 

Does postage in Australia vary depending on where you're sending to? For example, how much is it to post a CD from, say, Sydney to Melbourne, or Sydney to Perth?

Don't quote me on this but I think they do have it restricted now, down to maybe $3 Australia-wide?

[JamesEagle]

Nice see to ebay has f***ed over sellers in the UK and not the US or Aus (yet).

 

Just to put into perspective what the seller I mentioned above is charging for postage though - $5.50 to send a CD within the UK. That's around £4. (When I was allowed) I used to charge £1, as postage itself is £0.75, the rest for packing materials. How outrageous is that? What a con artist! You could send a package weighing 1kg for less than £4!

 

I'm tempted to buy the CD anyway, I won't be leaving good feedback...

 

[Geoff]

Nice see to ebay has f***ed over sellers in the UK and not the US or Aus (yet).

 

Just to put into perspective what the seller I mentioned above is charging for postage though - $5.50 to send a CD within the UK. That's around £4. (When I was allowed) I used to charge £1, as postage itself is £0.75, the rest for packing materials. How outrageous is that? What a con artist! You could send a package weighing 1kg for less than £4!

 

I'm tempted to buy the CD anyway, I won't be leaving good feedback...

 

Yeah mate, don't get me started on either ebay or paypal. I've been reading this thread and it's unbelievable what c*nts they are. Imagine how much money ebay rakes in worldwide every day but it's still not enough. The motherf*ckers are still looking for ways to f*ck the people who use it and provide their income. Thieving c*nts.

[Uncle saxon]

If they bring that dumbshit idea to the U.S., you will be looking at the newest Amazon seller the second I hear about it. I am a hair from doing that the way it is [wholly fed-up with overseas criminal ebayers ripping me off. Lost over $1000 last year with zero help from ebay/paypal!]. If there was ANY reasonable auction alternative that had even 50% of the worldwide visability, I would have bailed years ago. That is the problem with monopolies.

[Captain Howdy]

I tried switching to eBid last year, as it is far cheaper to sell on there, but the customer base is tiny compared to eBay, and I got no sales.

eBid prices are great, as even as a basic seller, you can list items for free, and the fee they take at the end is only 3% compared to eBays 10%, but if you pay a one off fee (its normally something like £99, but they seem to often do it for half price) and then you never have to pay any fees ever again.

 

It has its own payment system, but if you want, you can link it up to accept PayPal as well, if you want.

 

I may try it again this year, as I really cannot see how I can possibly survive selling on eBay.

[JamesEagle]

I tried switching to eBid last year, as it is far cheaper to sell on there, but the customer base is tiny compared to eBay, and I got no sales.

eBid prices are great, as even as a basic seller, you can list items for free, and the fee they take at the end is only 3% compared to eBays 10%, but if you pay a one off fee (its normally something like £99, but they seem to often do it for half price) and then you never have to pay any fees ever again.

 

It has its own payment system, but if you want, you can link it up to accept PayPal as well, if you want.

 

I may try it again this year, as I really cannot see how I can possibly survive selling on eBay.

 

Hopefully a lot more people will do the same. If there were enough of us, maybe we could petition eBay and have some impact, but the odd individual complaint/plea has no effect.

 

Customer service? You must be joking!

 

[bangerdave]

If they start this shit down under Ebay can go and

 

Does postage in Australia vary depending on where you're sending to? For example, how much is it to post a CD from, say, Sydney to Melbourne, or Sydney to Perth?

When i'm selling it's $3.50 to Australia wide and some other's change $2.50,but my postage is to cover costs.

[Captain Howdy]

Ok, so aint been to eBay since the whole enforced free postage thing, but decided to check things out today and saw people selling comics (ie a media item that was affected) with postage charges, so decided to check out the announcements section, and found this:

 

In 2009 the free P&P requirement was introduced in Accessories, Media and other selected categories. Whilst buyers responded positively to listings with free postage, many sellers asked for alternative options to prevent excessive postage charges – especially for listings in the auction-style format with a low starting price.

 

In response to sellers’ feedback, the free P&P requirement for all affected categories will be replaced by maximum limits to P&P charges from 8 February 2010. These changes will enable sellers to continue to run successful businesses and help drive further sales.

 

What that says to me is that either they got so many complaints that they realised it was a mistake, or that so many sellers stopped selling that eBays profits actually dropped rather than went up.

 

They try to put positive spin on it by saying buyers were happy (no shit, of course they were), but they obviously are not mentioning that there were probably less buyers though as less people were selling.

[JamesEagle]

Ok, so aint been to eBay since the whole enforced free postage thing, but decided to check things out today and saw people selling comics (ie a media item that was affected) with postage charges, so decided to check out the announcements section, and found this:

 

In 2009 the free P&P requirement was introduced in Accessories, Media and other selected categories. Whilst buyers responded positively to listings with free postage, many sellers asked for alternative options to prevent excessive postage charges – especially for listings in the auction-style format with a low starting price.

 

In response to sellers’ feedback, the free P&P requirement for all affected categories will be replaced by maximum limits to P&P charges from 8 February 2010. These changes will enable sellers to continue to run successful businesses and help drive further sales.

 

What that says to me is that either they got so many complaints that they realised it was a mistake, or that so many sellers stopped selling that eBays profits actually dropped rather than went up.

 

They try to put positive spin on it by saying buyers were happy (no shit, of course they were), but they obviously are not mentioning that there were probably less buyers though as less people were selling.

 

 

Yeah, I just noticed that you can charge postage again on CDs. They f***ed up and the statement above is their way to dress it up. Good news though.