"reeded-edge-inc" complains about ebay's new reserve fees
dorkkarl
Posts: 12,691 ✭✭✭
got yet another spam from "reeded-edge", maybe somebody has an interest (other than reeded-edge)
K S
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 19:30:15
From: The Reeded Edge, Inc.
To: <dorkkarl>
Subject: New eBay Fees Create Headaches
Hello and welcome back! Today we cancelled several auctions we had listed the previous day because we were caught unaware of a drastic change ebay implemented in their reserve auction fees. We are not pleased with this change as it will make it almost impossible and defintely expensive to continue offering the premium quality coins you've come to expect from us. This change forces us to restrict your opportunity to bid on our items and conduct business with us through ebay by raising our starting bid levels to our previously listed reserve prices. We would ask that if you are as upset as we are about the restructuring of the reserve auction fees to contact ebay through coins_newsletter@ebay.com or any other contact address you may have for ebay. We feel that this change is unfair but not irrevocable and a strong voice from ebay's customers can effect a sensible change in policy! Below is a copy of the letter we emailed to ebay earlier today. Thanks for your time and we appreciate any support you can lend.
Rob
Tammy
Ray
The Reeded Edge, Inc.
Attn: Darlene Bisceglia
We are voicing our displeasure regarding the recent decision to change the pricing structure of reserve auctions on ebay. Not only do we disagree with the change in fees, we find the method in which this policy change was backdoored to be reprehensible, cowardly, discourteous, and inappropriate toward ourselves as well as other sellers in the ebay community.
The Reeded Edge, Inc. has been an active and high profile member of the eBay community since 1997. We sell premium grade certified coins to customers and have relied on eBay as a revenue source. The coins we buy and sell are not typical market fare and as such we rely on the opportunity to invite the potential customer to read our listing description and view our photographs of our items and understand why we offer such items at a premium above traditional market levels. In the past we would list our coins with low starting bids and set our reserve price at the level we wanted to sell the coin and this would accomplish our goal of entertaining a large number of bidders without placing the item at risk for less than our cost. Now that we are faced with a surcharge of 1% of the reserve price, we must make changes in our sales practices that will be detrimental to our success on ebay.
While we could continue to maintain the status quo, accept these inflated fees, and be led like lambs to the slaughter, this would not be an acceptable course of action. Like any other business, we are a financial concern. The Reeded Edge, Inc. is not in the business of making money for ebay, but rather making a profit for itself. The increased expenses incurred from continuing to list auctions as we have in the past would not allow our business to continue in a profitable manner, and over the course of a few months would force us to discontinue our relationship with ebay completely.
We could modify our auctions to simply list with a low starting bid an allow the ebay market to determine the final value of the auction item, however as we all know while some days are brisk with eager buyers, most are not and the handful of coins that would actually generate a profit would not realistically offset those that would produce a negative net. Placing such premium quality items at such a large risk would not be sensible and therefore, not a viable option.
The path we chose to take, which is in our view the safest, but potentially equally detrimental, is to list our coins with the starting bid equal to what used to be our reserve price. This has a negative impact on our listings as the price alone is a deterrent to view our listings. Where once our listings enjoyed the viewing of many potential customers, now we find just a small handful with the rest being chased away. The one customer that may have made a strong bid for a coin now looks elsewhere because he/she is driven away from the opportunity because of the high protective starting bid. Reducing the number of potential customers is not good for our business either and unless we see the reserve price structure revert to its previous state, we will certainly have to revisit how much ebay will contribute to our business effort.
We also find the method in which ebay instituted the changes to be underhanded and slighting in nature. Any policy change that would have such an impact on all its sellers should have been published in a mailing sent to all of its sellers, not simply posted on a bulletin board. We find the way in which ebay arbitrarily instituted the reserve fee to be unfair and without opportunity for review.
We would ask that the Board of Directors reconsider this policy change as it is detrimental to the people who make ebay money: The Sellers. Remember, without nothing to sell, there are NO listing fees and NO commissions. While many sellers can offer five and dime candy with no repercussions from this fee augmentation, we and many other sellers that offer more expensive offerings will be forced to take our four and five figure "toys" (and consequently our potential commissions) and go elsewhere.
Robert Lehmann
The Reeded Edge, Inc.
eBay ID: reedededge
K S
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 19:30:15
From: The Reeded Edge, Inc.
To: <dorkkarl>
Subject: New eBay Fees Create Headaches
Hello and welcome back! Today we cancelled several auctions we had listed the previous day because we were caught unaware of a drastic change ebay implemented in their reserve auction fees. We are not pleased with this change as it will make it almost impossible and defintely expensive to continue offering the premium quality coins you've come to expect from us. This change forces us to restrict your opportunity to bid on our items and conduct business with us through ebay by raising our starting bid levels to our previously listed reserve prices. We would ask that if you are as upset as we are about the restructuring of the reserve auction fees to contact ebay through coins_newsletter@ebay.com or any other contact address you may have for ebay. We feel that this change is unfair but not irrevocable and a strong voice from ebay's customers can effect a sensible change in policy! Below is a copy of the letter we emailed to ebay earlier today. Thanks for your time and we appreciate any support you can lend.
Rob
Tammy
Ray
The Reeded Edge, Inc.
Attn: Darlene Bisceglia
We are voicing our displeasure regarding the recent decision to change the pricing structure of reserve auctions on ebay. Not only do we disagree with the change in fees, we find the method in which this policy change was backdoored to be reprehensible, cowardly, discourteous, and inappropriate toward ourselves as well as other sellers in the ebay community.
The Reeded Edge, Inc. has been an active and high profile member of the eBay community since 1997. We sell premium grade certified coins to customers and have relied on eBay as a revenue source. The coins we buy and sell are not typical market fare and as such we rely on the opportunity to invite the potential customer to read our listing description and view our photographs of our items and understand why we offer such items at a premium above traditional market levels. In the past we would list our coins with low starting bids and set our reserve price at the level we wanted to sell the coin and this would accomplish our goal of entertaining a large number of bidders without placing the item at risk for less than our cost. Now that we are faced with a surcharge of 1% of the reserve price, we must make changes in our sales practices that will be detrimental to our success on ebay.
While we could continue to maintain the status quo, accept these inflated fees, and be led like lambs to the slaughter, this would not be an acceptable course of action. Like any other business, we are a financial concern. The Reeded Edge, Inc. is not in the business of making money for ebay, but rather making a profit for itself. The increased expenses incurred from continuing to list auctions as we have in the past would not allow our business to continue in a profitable manner, and over the course of a few months would force us to discontinue our relationship with ebay completely.
We could modify our auctions to simply list with a low starting bid an allow the ebay market to determine the final value of the auction item, however as we all know while some days are brisk with eager buyers, most are not and the handful of coins that would actually generate a profit would not realistically offset those that would produce a negative net. Placing such premium quality items at such a large risk would not be sensible and therefore, not a viable option.
The path we chose to take, which is in our view the safest, but potentially equally detrimental, is to list our coins with the starting bid equal to what used to be our reserve price. This has a negative impact on our listings as the price alone is a deterrent to view our listings. Where once our listings enjoyed the viewing of many potential customers, now we find just a small handful with the rest being chased away. The one customer that may have made a strong bid for a coin now looks elsewhere because he/she is driven away from the opportunity because of the high protective starting bid. Reducing the number of potential customers is not good for our business either and unless we see the reserve price structure revert to its previous state, we will certainly have to revisit how much ebay will contribute to our business effort.
We also find the method in which ebay instituted the changes to be underhanded and slighting in nature. Any policy change that would have such an impact on all its sellers should have been published in a mailing sent to all of its sellers, not simply posted on a bulletin board. We find the way in which ebay arbitrarily instituted the reserve fee to be unfair and without opportunity for review.
We would ask that the Board of Directors reconsider this policy change as it is detrimental to the people who make ebay money: The Sellers. Remember, without nothing to sell, there are NO listing fees and NO commissions. While many sellers can offer five and dime candy with no repercussions from this fee augmentation, we and many other sellers that offer more expensive offerings will be forced to take our four and five figure "toys" (and consequently our potential commissions) and go elsewhere.
Robert Lehmann
The Reeded Edge, Inc.
eBay ID: reedededge
0
Comments
Overall, we have probably lost a little, although there are occasionally big winners. But the whole point for using eBay (for us) is to convert slow- or non-selling coins into ready cash that can then be reinvested in better coins.
We also do not shill our own auctions, but I think shill-bidding is still the biggest problem on ebay.
jcc
<< <i>The path we chose to take, which is in our view the safest, but potentially equally detrimental, is to list our coins with the starting bid equal to what used to be our reserve price. This has a negative impact on our listings as the price alone is a deterrent to view our listings. Where once our listings enjoyed the viewing of many potential customers, now we find just a small handful with the rest being chased away. The one customer that may have made a strong bid for a coin now looks elsewhere because he/she is driven away from the opportunity because of the high protective starting bid. >>
Huh? If a coin has a (hidden) $500 reserve, and I bid $400, there's no sale. If I see a $500 opening bid, and I still only want to spend $400, there's still no sale. He seems to be saying if the reserve is hidden, bids will go higher than if there's a opening bid equal to what the reserve would have been. I'm missing something here.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
- jcc