Scot Wingo started it. The rumour that eBay are about to increase store listing fees was flatly denied by an eBay spokesperson twice. Sellers, unsurprisingly, looked for the weasel-out, pointing out that there being “no plans to increase Store fees today” might of course mean increases *are* planned in the very near future.
What no one seems to have noticed is that eBay have already taken a huge stride towards making SIF listings much less profitable. They haven’t had to change anything on fees; in fact, sellers are rushing to take advantage of cuts to their profit margins, and complaining when it doesn’t work.
I’m talking – if you hadn’t already guessed – about Markdown Manager. This handy feature allows sellers to slash prices on SIF listings only, and it’s proved very popular. All over eBay sellers are cutting prices on Shop inventory, and raving about how much they love it.
There’s no doubt that this could be a very useful feature for many sellers, but with “sale items only” a permanently-linked search at the top of Shops, the temptation to overuse it is great. Price reductions need to be planned, not just started on a whim because eBay have suddenly made it much easier to do so. Markdown Manager should be a sales tool for you, not a way for eBay to make SIF less attractive.
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I was particularly leary about this new “markdown” feature at first. I tried it on a couple of items and it has brought more traffic to our store but as the statement said, you can’t just picked out items on a whim.
Plan carefully around big shopping times of the year to mark down. I’ve seen some sellers go haywire with this new feature, doing it in the middle of summer or whenever traffic is low.
I recently marked down my Ipod asscessories & any other electronic items because of the upcoming school year and forthcoming holidays.
I started a 45 day markdown from the middle of August until it expires and from there we will mark down even more items as the Holiday season draws even closer.
I try to stay focused on the most popular items that we carry and is in Ebays Top 10. We don’t sell Ipods only the accessories.
So, come on down!! visit our store, browse a bit, we have many interesting and some Unique items going up. If you have any question, please feel free to contact us.
In ending my only advice is to pick the items that you think are good mark down items and your customers feel are the right item for themselves to purchase.
We both thank you all at C&R Coins and Collectibles. Cathy&Ray 🙂
45 Day markdown?? In the UK we’re limited to a paltry 14 days maximum, and to comply with the law only when the item has already been on sale at the full price for 28 days or longer.