eBay announced some shocking changes to fees in their latest announcement. The one that will affect us the most is that we will now be paying final value fees (fvf) on our shipping and handling. Luckily we are in the OOAK (One of a kind) business! That is the great news. We do have the larger margins to cover the eBay fee changes.
I ran my numbers for February and my eBay fees will definitely be increasing on July 6th (my birthday). Not what I was asking for . I would have paid approximately 19% more to eBay in overall eBay fees in February with the new fees. It works out to about 50 cents more per item sold on average. At a $49.99 price point with a shipping fee charged, my fees actually start to decrease. Remember this price point, but of course do your own research.
However, keep in mind that eBay is still the best place to sell our items, as eBay gets the most traffic and eBay believes that these changes will drive more buyers to their site and in turn to our items. Let’s hope they are right!
In the last 12 years of selling on eBay I have seen a lot of changes. Some of them hit you hard, but I always sit back, take a good long look at my business model and figure out how I can evolve and still continue to run a profitable business on eBay. We can do it!
One of my favorite quotes that I shared with those of you in attendance at Lynn on Location was, “I have lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” Samuel Clemens.
Keep this in mind as we navigate our way through the newest eBay changes. It is often a lot worse in our minds than what actually comes to be.
Especially if we all work together and brainstorm. That is what the Queen’s Court is all about. I can’t wait for our calls this month. I just know we can figure this all out and make positive changes.
Now let’s look at some key issues.
Heavy Items
Since we are selling heavier items, we can’t and won’t be able to offer free shipping on everything. In the past two weeks, I have been testing a few ways of listing and when I took a $9.99 coffee mug, added in the $9 shipping and would have to list it on eBay starting at $18.99 to offer free shipping, I just had to say NO.
Carmen had a really great point when we were all putting our heads together at Headquarters on Monday. She said, “Lynn, I shop on eBay all the time for items and I am not stupid. I will see an item that is cheaper but has a shipping price, and an item that is inflated with free shipping. I look at the total price charged.” I agree with Carmen, our eBay shoppers are not stupid.