<< <i>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.... >>
America Onlie was B2C model with tons of competition. Blockbuster, the model changed (rental to streaming). Every one of BB competition went out of business save the niche rental store.
Ebay has little to no competition for the majority of buyers and sellers, and has the best model.
And no, AH that move high end product is not competition to 99.9% of Ebay card sales.
<< <i>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. >>
Sure, for the seller. You may be forgetting one important piece of any transaction - the buyer. Most of us have no interest in going to card shows so sellers can get full pop for their cards.
<< <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. >>
Once again, Brokerage you described is a B2C model with tons of competition. In the B2B world - which is the relationship model a seller has with Ebay - you either source a new supplier, or you pass fee's forward.
Hate to beat this to death but these posts that claim the end of Ebay is imminent, and that sellers are going to pull all their cards, goes against basic business principles. If the majority of buyers AND sellers are on ebay, a price increase should eventually trickle down to the buyer be it through higher reserves, shipping or BIN prices.
Why are so many getting their panties in a bundle? A false rumor sparks the same "The sky is falling" commentary that always happens when people want to bash eBay. The answer is simple. Either find a better mousetrap or develop your own.
This critique has been going on since the early days of eBay. Many "alternatives" have come and gone. The truth is, there isn't a better venue to get your goods exposed to as many eyes as eBay. Even at their current fee structure, it is a bargain for many given the alternatives.
If you don't like it, that's fine, but come to the table with an argument that makes sense.
And stop worrying about a 15% final value fee structure when it was only an unsubstantiated rumor and NOTHING has been provided to suggest that it is remotely true ANYTIME in the near future.
Comments
<< <i>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.... >>
America Onlie was B2C model with tons of competition. Blockbuster, the model changed (rental to streaming). Every one of BB competition went out of business save the niche rental store.
Ebay has little to no competition for the majority of buyers and sellers, and has the best model.
And no, AH that move high end product is not competition to 99.9% of Ebay card sales.
<< <i>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. >>
Sure, for the seller. You may be forgetting one important piece of any transaction - the buyer. Most of us have no interest in going to card shows so sellers can get full pop for their cards.
<< <i>
<< <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. >>
Once again, Brokerage you described is a B2C model with tons of competition. In the B2B world - which is the relationship model a seller has with Ebay - you either source a new supplier, or you pass fee's forward.
Hate to beat this to death but these posts that claim the end of Ebay is imminent, and that sellers are going to pull all their cards, goes against basic business principles. If the majority of buyers AND sellers are on ebay, a price increase should eventually trickle down to the buyer be it through higher reserves, shipping or BIN prices.
Why are so many getting their panties in a bundle? A false rumor sparks the same "The sky is falling" commentary that always happens when people want to bash eBay. The answer is simple. Either find a better mousetrap or develop your own.
This critique has been going on since the early days of eBay. Many "alternatives" have come and gone. The truth is, there isn't a better venue to get your goods exposed to as many eyes as eBay. Even at their current fee structure, it is a bargain for many given the alternatives.
If you don't like it, that's fine, but come to the table with an argument that makes sense.
And stop worrying about a 15% final value fee structure when it was only an unsubstantiated rumor and NOTHING has been provided to suggest that it is remotely true ANYTIME in the near future.
<< <i>Keep this thread open so I can bump it when the fees get raised end of year..... >>
They will be raised, but not to 15%...