eBay Sellers Seething After Jan 29th Announcements
Published February 1st, 2008
The recent eBay announcements of major changes to the fee structure and feedback have struck a negative chord with the eBay sellers nationwide, including the world’s largest eBaybes & eMales, comprised of more than 700 members and four chapters throughout Texas.
A primary concern is the removal of the ability of a seller to rate a buyer on a sales transaction, while giving the buyer the ability to anonymously rate the seller and to directly affect the sellers’ income.
While the new fee schedule allows the Powersellers to earn bonuses in the form of discounts to selling fees, the seller is measured for these discounts by measurement out of their control. This concerns the sellers even more, because the buyer is anonymously rating the seller on subjective matters and on criteria that the seller does not control.
EBay is lumping all sellers into one group without considering the variety of products they sell and how those products are being delivered to the buyers. How can the delivery time and cost for a E-Book or other product that can be delivered digitally and free over the internet compare with a large heavy item or with a product that can be sent using Media Mail. EBay is using delivery time and cost of shipping to determine seller bonuses. In most cases, the seller is at the mercy of the deliverer (USPS, UPS, DHL, FEDEX, Etc.) for delivery time. Buyers want the fastest delivery time at the lowest cost. These are often mutually exclusive- fast delivery equals high cost of shipping and conversely slower shipping is less expensive. How can sellers be measured by the same criteria and how can they be measured on criteria that they do not control.
The eBaybes & eMales are not happy with the arbitrary way EBay is treating them. Many share the opinion that the new EBay management is not in touch with real needs of the professional seller on EBay. They will host an eBay Seller’s Sound-Off Luncheon on February 7th in Dallas to discuss other available options for online merchants, including eBay sellers. To learn more about this organization, please visit their website.
Related Articles