Ebay fees going from 10% to 15%?? Rumor or fact??

bobbyw8469

Someone across the street said that the Ebay fees are jumping from 10% flat to 15% flat. I can't seem to find any truth to that anywhere online. Is that coming soon or just a rumor?

mattinglymint23

Don't see any news on the Internet about it. If its true I'm going to plan B and setting up a table in Times Square in front of a Starbucks. I'd rather grease a cop than pay 15% on a 10 dollar sale.

dapro

Too bad there is no competition for ebay. I am surprise there ain't another company like ebay already.

byronscott4ever

<< <i>Someone across the street said that the Ebay fees are jumping from 10% flat to 15% flat. I can't seem to find any truth to that anywhere online. Is that coming soon or just a rumor? >>



If it's true, then COMC would love it. At the same time, ebay would have to allow more free auctions. I wonder how much they make off their store fees compared to if they were letting everyone post unlimited numbers of items out there and then take a bigger cut out of sales.

robert67

15% is high.

I wish they had a true competitor as well.

What do COMC's fees equate to percentage wise on a $10 sale, for example? I'm not familiar with that site.

Thanks!

digicat

COMC charges around 25 cents to $1 to enter a card into their system, and 20% to cash out your balance, so it's not a great ebay substitute if you're looking for cash.

Easiest way to avoid the cashout fee is to just spend the money buying cards on the site.

mygotta

15% is not high. Amazon charges nearly 30% on sales less than $10. And I am pretty sure eBay is already near 15% on low priced sales.

jgrigali

15% would wipe out half their sellers. They may get there. But they will incrementally raise fees. They just raised auctions to 10 percent from 9. And store fees etc. recall the threads about probstein ditching ebay?

zurbs17

I think we need to bring the guy from across the street on and get to the bottom of this.

vols1

Yikes, 15% is what a real auction company charges.

dytch2220

<< <i>I think we need to bring the guy from across the street on and get to the bottom of this. >>



HAHAHAHAHAHA.

bobbyw8469

<< <i>Yikes, 15% is what a real auction company charges. >>



LMFAO!! I think that is the idea! Are you saying Ebay is not a real auction company???

Meatloaf

It is all about profit margin for ebay sellers...if you are a small time player on ebay, 15% hurts like a broken arm. If you are moving tons of items each day on ebay, 15% feels like a small bug bite.

jfkheat

In order for Ebay to keep making money they have to raise their fees. It seems like 85-90%, maybe more, of items listed are Buy It Nows. 90% of those items have high prices and don't sell. Back when everyone actually auctioned their stuff Ebay made fees on almost everything that was listed. Now they only get fees on 10% of the items listed. JMO
James

jfkheat

<< <i>

<< <i>Yikes, 15% is what a real auction company charges. >>



LMFAO!! I think that is the idea! Are you saying Ebay is not a real auction company??? >>



No they aren't. How many auction companies do you know of that have set prices on most items? Buy it Nows aren't auctions.
James

greenmonster66

15% is way too high, 10% is bad enough! I have tons of inventory on Minor League Baseball sets to move out!!

WalterSobchak

If that turns out to be true, I think my group of cards to "someday" submit to PWCC for consignment goes out a LOT sooner.

jgrigali

I will flat stop selling on ebay, and will just have to work harder to move product...i still cant believe that collectors universe doesnt run an auction...they would flat annihilate ebay in the collectibles market, i'd instantly list on it.

miwlvrn

For the items that I have a lower profit margin on, when fees increase I in turn just increase the price a little on those items and make the same amount, though the buyer has to pay a little bit more to account for the difference.

cardsnbeads

Ebay doesn't deserve 15% for what little they do . It's not enough that they own Paypal . I wish somebody break their stranglehold , I the old collectors boards from the early days when I had AOL . Ebay destroyed the competition . Yahoo auctions sucked and ebay bought out Up4Sale before they became threat . Ebay has a monopoly .

Probstein123

I haven't heard anything like this and I just came back from top seller meetings...
I would think they would raise again in the Fall...but not to 15%

vols1

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Yikes, 15% is what a real auction company charges. >>



LMFAO!! I think that is the idea! Are you saying Ebay is not a real auction company??? >>



No they aren't. How many auction companies do you know of that have set prices on most items? Buy it Nows aren't auctions.
James >>



Plus the seller has to do all the work. shipping,listing, processing payment,advertising,answering questions

1985fan

eBay is in a position of strength, and their web traffic and market dominance allows them the ability to charge what they want. CU doesn't do auctions because (a) they couldn't possibly compete with traffic and (b) there would be (I would think) a strong potential for conflict of interest.

MooseDog

I have heard that eBay is indeed raising fees but only on those who do not have Store subscriptions. I don't know specifics as yet.

otwcards

I heard they were raising their final value fees fees to 47% and increasing PayPal to $11.00 per transaction plus 54%. But then again, I believe everything I hear, because I'm silly like that. I suppose we'll have to make it up on shipping...

zurbs17

<< <i>I heard they were raising their final value fees fees to 47% and increasing PayPal to $11.00 per transaction plus 54%. But then again, I believe everything I hear, because I'm silly like that. I suppose we'll have to make it up on shipping... >>



Did you hear this from the same guy across the street? FYI the guy across the street from me was out trimming his hedges last night at 11pm.

frankhardy

<< <i>eBay is in a position of strength, and their web traffic and market dominance allows them the ability to charge what they want. CU doesn't do auctions because (a) they couldn't possibly compete with traffic and (b) there would be (I would think) a strong potential for conflict of interest. >>



I was thinking the same thing about the conflict of interest part.

bobbyw8469

<< <i>I heard they were raising their final value fees fees to 47% and increasing PayPal to $11.00 per transaction plus 54%. But then again, I believe everything I hear, because I'm silly like that. I suppose we'll have to make it up on shipping... >>



If they do that, then I guess the catalogued auction houses will grow bigger and bigger! REA is already doing two auctions this year instead of their usual one!

GrandMasterB

Didn't PSA run auctions about the same time Teletrade card auctions were going? I thought they had to stop for conflict of interest.

sbfinley

I'd be happy to pay 20% if they would remove Arnie Grape from head of Policy & Procedure.

soundgard

<< <i>In order for Ebay to keep making money they have to raise their fees. It seems like 85-90%, maybe more, of items listed are Buy It Nows. 90% of those items have high prices and don't sell. Back when everyone actually auctioned their stuff Ebay made fees on almost everything that was listed. Now they only get fees on 10% of the items listed. JMO
James >>



This

stormtrooper80

Here's how I use Ebay now......

1. high BIN price
2. receive offer from buyer
3. sell card off ebay


thanks Ebay!

gemint

<< <i>Didn't PSA run auctions about the same time Teletrade card auctions were going? I thought they had to stop for conflict of interest. >>



I don't think so. At one time, I believe they teamed up with an auction company but I don't recall which one. You could have your submissions shipped directly from PSA to the auction company for listing. Last time I asked Joe about it. He said they did a lot of research into it but in the end they decided against it for reasons he didn't share.

gameusedhoop

<< <i>1. high BIN price
2. receive offer from buyer
3. sell card off ebay >>



How do you contact the potential buyer with ebay's ban on email addresses being exchanged without a transaction being made?

otwcards

<< <i>Didn't PSA run auctions about the same time Teletrade card auctions were going? I thought they had to stop for conflict of interest. >>



CU purchased Greg Bussineau's Superior Sports Auctions around 1999 with the agreement that Bussineau would continue to head the house for three years. When the contract was up, Bussineau left and formed Legacy Sports Rarities and later, his current company, Greg Bussineau Sports Rarities. Superior later faded from view.

DCanfield

<< <i>Didn't PSA run auctions about the same time Teletrade card auctions were going? I thought they had to stop for conflict of interest. >>



I thought PSA ran auctions back in the early days also.

JMDVM

You have to spell out your email in some type of code , like spelling out numbers and substituting "at" for "@" . Ebay's pretense is they are looking out for the buyer but we all know this is BS. I would recommend Sirius Sportscards as an alternative to sell. He does charge a 12.5% buyers premium but will work would you on consignor fees.

gameusedhoop

^^ I've tried that, it doesn't work anymore. They pick up at, dot, net, com. The only thing I've found that works now is writing it backwards, but some are too stupid to be able to work it even when you tell them it is backwards.

miwlvrn

Some people make enough in sales through ebay that it isn't worth the risk of a temporary sales suspension. One way to get a little further from getting caught is by not having any reference to email contact in the message at all, and if you get an offer from someone, ask them if they have a set registry on the PSA website and leave it at that within the messaging system on ebay. Then, contact them through the registry to finish the transaction. Another point is that if you deal with returning customers, they have your email already in their invoice from their first purchase and you can have them find it there and contact you. I've more or less, with some exceptions, switched to only dealing w/ return buyers and set registry participants for off-ebay sales, and new buyers go w/ ebay.

japhi

<< <i>You have to spell out your email in some type of code , like spelling out numbers and substituting "at" for "@" . Ebay's pretense is they are looking out for the buyer but we all know this is BS. I would recommend Sirius Sportscards as an alternative to sell. He does charge a 12.5% buyers premium but will work would you on consignor fees. >>



Of course Ebay is looking out for themselves. That said, I've had sellers offer to sell me at a 10% discount if I agreed to send the money PP gift. IMO, a buyer has to be nuts to send PP gift - which offer no protection - in exchange for 10% discount.

billwaltonsbeard

<< <i>I've had sellers offer to sell me at a 10% discount if I agreed to send the money PP gift. IMO, a buyer has to be nuts to send PP gift - which offer no protection - in exchange for 10% discount. >>



Agreed, that would be crazy. But when paid via a Paypal invoice, the charge to the seller is about 3%. Screw ebay

dontippet

<< <i>It is all about profit margin for ebay sellers...if you are a small time player on ebay, 15% hurts like a broken arm. If you are moving tons of items each day on ebay, 15% feels like a small bug bite. >>




I disagree. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy moving tons of stuff is hurt more because he is probably running with tighter margins already.

jeffcbay

I use a Fee Calculator to estimate my fees and where I need to be to comfortably sell a card. If I can't sell it for what I need to get out of it, I just don't sell it.

Mickey71

What's bad is........EBAY can charge 25%-30% tomorrow and what could we do? At some point I will be a 100% collector. No more selling for me at some point in the future. As much as EBAY has helped this hobby; they will do their best to destroy it.

One good thing could come from this: Shows could possibly come back; but they are even clamping down more with that in regards to taxes and everything else.

byronscott4ever

<< <i>What's bad is........EBAY can charge 25%-30% tomorrow and what could we do? At some point I will be a 100% collector. No more selling for me at some point in the future. As much as EBAY has helped this hobby; they will do their best to destroy it.

One good thing could come from this: Shows could possibly come back; but they are even clamping down more with that in regards to taxes and everything else. >>



If ebay gets too greedy, you'll find more people going to COMC or some other outlet I imagine.

japhi

For every 50 small seller's grumbling about Ebay fee's there is one large seller ready to pick up the slack.

And if a 2% increase in fee's destroys your (generic you) business model you probably didn't have much of a business anyways. In every other business community extra fee's get passed to buyers; if I was a seller and got hit with 5 or 10% increase I would pass that right through, or change my model to BIN w/offer.

Last point - cards I'm watching seem to be going for strong prices. So even with an increase in fee's, these cards are selling for significantly more than they were a few years ago, which should be a net benefit to sellers.

bobbyw8469

Bottom line - consumers speak loudly with their dollars. Look at America Online, Blockbuster, and a bunch of others who kept overcharging and never conforming. The best way to make them change, is to not give them the business. Easier said than done, I know....

jeffcbay

I haven't been charged a listing fee on ebay for over a year. With the 50 free monthly listings, and the periodical (virtually) unlimited listing specials, it just works out.

Also, I've been selling most of my higher dollar cards for BIN with OBO. They just seem to sell for more money that way. For example, I recently popped the first two PSA 10s of a certain Hall of Fame Hockey player. I listed the first one as a $0.99 auction and it ended a week later at $129. I immediately listed the second at $199 BIN with OBO, and it sold within hours at the $199 BIN. So yeah, I'll go ahead and stick to that method.

groupbreakers

Collectors should go back to shows and cash deals. With the type of money that cards demand these days. a $5000 cash deal at a show is better then a $6000 deal on ebay when you consider the income reporting to the gov and what not comes into play.

Straight unreported cash deals. the best way to go.

Raulsmaster

Screw it! I'll just open up my own auction house like everyone else seems to be doing. If you keep an eye on what they get for cards it can be more than ebay on a regular basis even with the limited exposure in comparison.

CollectorAtWork

<< <i>And if a 2% increase in fee's destroys your (generic you) business model you probably didn't have much of a business anyways. In every other business community extra fee's get passed to buyers; if I was a seller and got hit with 5 or 10% increase I would pass that right through, or change my model to BIN w/offer.
>>



I don't know if I quite agree with this statement. Think of than analogy with another investment vehicle like stocks. If all brokers said that they charge a 15% transaction fee every time you sell your stock, i think people would be outraged. And then if they said, we're going to add another 2% fee on top of it, and you should just be picking better stocks that have a higher upside, I don't think it'd go over too well. Everybody would be saying we're just going to stop buying stocks. In a way, ebay is like a clearing house for cards, so if ebay continues to raise fees, I think there will be a point where fewer people will be buying and selling cards. It will simply not be profitable with such a high overhead and risk potential. There is always an inherent value with just owning a card and having it in your collection, which is why it's a collectible. However, even with that, people will not want to be taken to the woodshed every time they purchase a card for their collection.