This week eBay announced some fee changes and quite minor amendments to the offerings on their European properties. Find out more here. But in the US eBay.com has made some more comprehensive changes and made a formal Seller Release (periodic packages of changes). We expect a Seller Release in the UK sometime soon. Watch this space.
The US Seller Release is explained in detail on these pages. But here are some of the key points:
– eBay Store subscribers will see a variety of Final Value Fee increases detailed here. There will also be an increased branded packaging coupon allowances. Meh.
– From May 1st the Top Rated Plus final value fee discount will change from 20% to 10% on qualifying listings.
– All Top Rated Sellers will be eligible to receive a quarterly $30 credit to create promoted listings campaigns from April 1st.
– The tracking requirement to qualify for Top Rated Seller status will increase from 90% to 95% on June 20, 2017.
– The ability to create up to 20 shipping rate cards for your business to help shoppers.
But perhaps the most interesting change relates to sellers who are not meeting the basic standards and are branded by eBay as Below Standard. Not only will such sellers have to suffer diminished visibility in eBay search but they’ll also have to pay more for the privilege.
As they say: “Final value fees for sellers who do not meet eBay’s minimum performance standards will increase by 4 percentage points on items sold on or after May 1, 2017. To make sure you’re meeting eBay’s minimum selling requirements, follow our selling best practices and check your seller dashboard regularly.”
It’s a mixed bag of initiatives. Not only is eBay.com lowering the incentive to play well by halving the FVF discount for the best sellers, they’re also putting up FVF prices for the worst. It will be interesting to see if it works.
5 Responses
The police state by bot wats an extra %!!!!!
That’s it, enough, they have finally given the spur to finaly get off ebay.
For the last year, I have tried to shake off the results of several, obstinate bad buyers -Christmas 2015- before they changed the seller assessment criteria. The business was reorientated towards extra EU customers,but everything still sold on the Irish site, hence coming under UK rules. Once you get above standard Ire-UK they then point to Christmas 2016, some North American a******s who ended up getting free expensive items, and even though everything is 100% UK-Ire, “your account is below standard”.
4% is the last straw, and perhaps the greatest nudge I’ve ever got, as regards selling online.
It’s time to move on. it’s not so much the percentage, it’s the incontrovertible proof that, if you don’t give in to buyer demands, whatever they are, it will cost you, one way or another. Enough of this charade, May 1st, by then I will have everything reoriented. It’s clearly what they plan.
I have been an ebay seller for 6 years. Although the seller updates are alway foreboding, never anything good, what they give with one hand they take with the other, the first nail really hammered home was the revamped return process, wherein a dishonest buyer can decide whether they would like to pay return costs or not – CSR “You have to accept the return” (buyer broke the item: nothing wrong with item buyer doesn’t want to pay for return; …..) No evidence, no matter, suck it up.
There are so many gripes I could presonally relate about this company that I would be here all day. It is something I have been planning to do, so this latest insult to my intelligence may be the best thing ever.
Ebay, I just waiting for the day that a more ethical quasi-monopoly roles along, but I may be waiting. Ethics are bad for the bank balance. Ebay to be nationalised/ UN agency? Are your taxes in order?
tamebay censors untoward comments. The suggestion is that the ‘site is linked to ebay
A quite civil comment about ebay’s untoward practices was removed. If this comment is removed, I for one, will regard it as confirmation of said censorship.
Retry the already asterisked insult: Morally impaired people
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If they introduce this in the UK eBay will need to be careful about how they write it. Penalty charges are illegal. The only allowable charges are liquidated damages which relate exactly to the loss incurred. If someone challenges this and the court decides that it represents a penalty charge then Ebay will not be able to enforce it.
On the TRS discounts I’ve been half expecting such a move but Ebay have to take note of the effect this has. How many sellers will say achieving TRS isn’t worth the effort if the discounts are lower?
i wish that this bilion dollar multi-national could employ someone that understands written english.
“sellers who do not meet eBay’s minimum performance standards” should not ebay sellers. if you do not meet the minimum standards for anything, you’re not -bad- at doing it, you’re incapable of doing it.
if you dont meet the minimum standards for swimming, for example, you’re not considered a poor swimmer, you’re considered as that guy who drowned.