Question:
It would seem that if Ebay doesn’t lose too many sellers, all that will happen is the same number of buyers is chasing fewer auctioned items, which will probably mean higher final bids for the sellers that remain. The increased fees won’t deter buyers, because they never see them. Fewer buyers with the same number of bidders means higher bids on the remaining auctions, so the sellers (on average) will easily make up the higher fees. At least, that’s how it seems to me.
Excellent point. You’re right, the bidders really don’t give a rat’s ass about what the seller’s cost of doing business is. Ebay still has the name recognition among the bidders, so they’re likely to stay with Ebay. All we can selfishly hope for is that the sellers that depart Ebay sell the same sort of merchandise that we do!
Response:
I just got the email about ebay jacking up their fees for enlisting items. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, since all companies seem to increase rates over time.
The difference is that most companies jack up their fees to keep up with inflation. Ebay, with its bragging about how it hasn’t raised fees since 1996, is trying to make us think they are just doing the same. But eBay is taking a bigger cut of the listing fee for a $20 starting bid than it took for the same $20 starting bid a couple of years ago. The only sense in which eBay wasn’t keeping up with inflation is that items in the most expensive category weren’t being "graduated" by inflation into a higher category, since there *is* no higher category. This wouldn’t be a problem if eBay did what I think they should, which is make the insertion fee a percentage of the starting bid. – Tom Something has gone terribly wrong and there’s no place you can hide. Impeach George dWi Bush. http://www.petitiononline.com/ddc12/petition.html
Response:
It would seem that if Ebay doesn’t lose too many sellers, all that will happen is the same number of buyers is chasing fewer auctioned items, which will probably mean higher final bids for the sellers that remain. The increased fees won’t deter buyers, because they never see them. Fewer buyers with the same number of bidders means higher bids on the remaining auctions, so the sellers (on average) will easily make up the higher fees. At least, that’s how it seems to me. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just got the email about ebay jacking up their fees for enlisting items. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, since all companies seem to increase rates over time. The question I have is this: how much more money do you think ebay is going to pull in due to the increased fees for listing items? I suppose even a nickel increase for listing small items will add up when you have a zillion people putting up auctions. Joe. They claim to have over 5 million auctions at any given time. Assuming the average auction length at 7 days, and assuming the most common minimal increase in listing price is 5 cents (for any auctions starting at $24.99 or lower, which is undoubtedly the vast majority), that easily means an extra $250,000 per week. Factor in the auctions starting at higher listing prices and the 10 cent extra fee on 10-day auctions and probably looking at another $25,000 to $50,000. This assumes that there’s no mass exodus of sellers, which I really don’t see happening over this increase.
Bill Funk bfunk1 on Ebay
Response:
I just got the email about ebay jacking up their fees for enlisting items. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, since all companies seem to increase rates over time. The question I have is this: how much more money do you think ebay is going to pull in due to the increased fees for listing items? I suppose even a nickel increase for listing small items will add up when you have a zillion people putting up auctions. Joe.
Response:
. The question I have is this: how much more money do you think ebay is going to pull in due to the increased fees for listing items? I suppose even a nickel increase for listing small items will add up when you have a zillion people putting up auctions.
5 cents times a zillion however much that is.
Response:
I just got the email about ebay jacking up their fees for enlisting items. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, since all companies seem to increase rates over time. The question I have is this: how much more money do you think ebay is going to pull in due to the increased fees for listing items? I suppose even a nickel increase for listing small items will add up when you have a zillion people putting up auctions. Joe.
They claim to have over 5 million auctions at any given time. Assuming the average auction length at 7 days, and assuming the most common minimal increase in listing price is 5 cents (for any auctions starting at $24.99 or lower, which is undoubtedly the vast majority), that easily means an extra $250,000 per week. Factor in the auctions starting at higher listing prices and the 10 cent extra fee on 10-day auctions and probably looking at another $25,000 to $50,000. This assumes that there’s no mass exodus of sellers, which I really don’t see happening over this increase.
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