The ebay Boycott

Written by Texas Tracy on March 20, 2008

Tagged under category: $250 a Month

To start, I did not see what the big fuss was about. I have never been one of those ebay users who saw ebay as an online community , even with as much as ebay wanted all of us to.

So, over the years, when ebay has a fee increase I just took it in stride, kind of with the “Please Sir, may I have another?” attitude. What could you do? Get on the ebay sponsored chat boards and complain?

Ebay has stated that the new fee structure is in response to complaints and issues raised by the members. In a effort to increase quality, ebay has started to reward sellers who have stellar DSRs, or detailed seller ratings. This tool was put into place by ebay back in 2007. Theory being, if you are a quality seller with good customer service than you will naturally get great DSRs. I have no trouble with the tool, with the one exception being the evaluation of shipping. I will from this moment on print my shipping dollar amount on the label. People think that they are being gouged when in reality I just charge the amount charged by the post office. It is never my intent to make money on shipping.

With the new fee structure, I think ebay has created one large antbed of problems waiting to be stepped on and unleashed. What I find interesting is that ebay is doing all kinds of promotion on how much they have lowered their insertion fees. In fact, in the email I received from ebay, I don’t think it even mentioned that the Final Auction Value fees were going to be raised. The FAV fee on items sold under $25 will now be 8.75% vs. the previous 5.25%. I think they left that part out of the email.

Also, PowerSellers will be rewarded with a 5-15% discounts for good DSRs. I did the math on a sale of $27 and it is still a price increase, no matter how you look at it. In addition, sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedbacks for their buyers. If you read my previous post, you will understand why I have issue with this change.

My oldest son can’t resist stepping on an antbed when he walks by one. Ebay has got ‘em one and it is only a matter of time before all the angry ants start coming out.

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