eBay - The very last final straw

[Dudley]

I think this is the best thing they've ever done.

EVERYTHING ELSE they've done recently is censored, but forcing people to specify what you actually have to pay is something they should always have done.

If postage costs a pound, increase start price by a pound then,

[psj3809]

Exactly, starting prices will simply be the 'norm' from 99p to 1.99 as it obviously includes postage. Dont think this is a terrible move, the worst one is the feedback system in my view.

[Joey]

Increasing start prices doesn't always work though. For example say you've got a game that always sells for £5-£10 it doesn't matter if you start the bidding at 99p or £1.99 (to include the postage cost) it's gonna make the same end price meaning your no better off.

[firebreather]

One thing i dont understand is why you can still list postage on cd`s, when ebays arguement for free DVD & Games postage was that it was the industry standard, when was the last time anyone ordered a cd and paid postage.

[Britnostalgic]

The post office charges me 49p to send a music CD, around 74p to send a PS2 game and £1.40 for Amiga 500 games. And that's within the UK, sending to the US or other places cost a hell of a lot more. They recently wanted £30 to send 36 PS1 games to France. Those are the b@stards doing the ripping off.

People forget about packaging, anyone that has ever purchased an item from me will tell you that the item arrived in perfect condition and well packaged, so a PS2 game to the UK I charge £1.00 or £1.75 rest of the world. Packaging materials aren't exactly cheap, and on some items I sell I end up losing money. The point being, it's clearly stated in my auctions that postage is not free, and the plus side is when buying something rare from me you bid with confidence that the item isn't going to turn up broken.

Oh well...

[psj3809]

Packaging the item is one thing (God i hate packaging !), for me the biggest pain is spending my whole lunch hour going to the one post office in town and queueing up ! So frustrating when the items 99p !

We've had this chat a few times before about high postage, its annoying when people put it sky-high but to me it normally puts off a lot of bidders so you can get some bargains when many people dont bid on the item (because of the high postage) so you can get a bargain. But when you can see the postage from day 1 you cant win an item and then moan about £5 postage afterwards. If you dont like the postage dont bid. But that doesnt matter now.

The postage thing isnt that annoying for me personally, but i still cant stand the feedback system. Wish there was an alternative to ebay, we've created a monster !

[Mayhem]

If postage costs a pound, increase start price by a pound then,

Except you'll have to increase the starting price by more than a pound to cover yourself. An increase in starting price means eBay charges more for listing, and you'll be charged more at the end in final value fees should someone bid (even if it's one bid at the starting price). That's also partly why eBay have done it; its profits had obviously stagnated for 2-3 years and it was looking desperately for any way to try and get the ball rolling again.

Mind you, with the recent free listing periods offered (I suspect because actual number of listings on eBay has gone down 20-30% in the last year) some people were really taking the yellow stuff with the company by listing hundreds of budget titles at once...

[Matt_B]

Increasing start prices doesn't always work though. For example say you've got a game that always sells for £5-£10 it doesn't matter if you start the bidding at 99p or £1.99 (to include the postage cost) it's gonna make the same end price meaning your no better off.

Yes, but increasing the starting price is only insuring you against having something that costs more to post. Instead of starting at 99p plus £1 for postage, starting at £1.99 is giving you effectively the same starting price. Also, seeing as practically everyone has always been factoring the postage cost into their bid prices, I'd think we'll still see end prices go up accordingly too.

The only real losers out of this are those who artificially inflated their postage prices so as to avoid seller fees. Sure, it's been an established loophole for a while, but one that you can hardly be surprised that Ebay are starting to close.

[James A]

Looking back i had a right whine when they put maximum postage costs for a short period a few monts back. That system was far better than the crap they've got now.

[levon2807]

I don't know if any of you keep an eye on eBay.com but eBay are just about to introduce a new system over there called "Bill me later". Basically, it allows buyers to buy an item, recieve it and then pay for it at a later date! What's wonderful is eBay will be making this a compulsory purchase option! We can only hope it won't come here...

[Cauterize]

I don't know if any of you keep an eye on eBay.com but eBay are just about to introduce a new system over there called "Bill me later". Basically, it allows buyers to buy an item, recieve it and then pay for it at a later date! What's wonderful is eBay will be making this a compulsory purchase option! We can only hope it won't come here...

This = the end of eBay.

How far from reality eBay actually are is beyond me now.
What they fail to see is that eBay is NOT a shop. They arent Amazon, Play or any of the like. Their sole income depends on the users selling their items via their service. censored them off and you have no income eBay, its simple...

I really hope that this backfires on them. Will Yahoo Auctions be reborn, or even Goggle Auctions is created. (Come on, I cant be the only one expecting Goggle to get their hands messy in another adventure)

[rossi46]

I truly hope this is the end for them, too. I've been a member since 2003, but it's gotten way out of hand recently with unfair changes and the like.

Like the Master says in a previous post: the only was things will change is if people stop using eBay en-masse, vote with their feet and go elsewhere.

[Lorfarius]

All it needs is someone with a big enough network and advertising clout as suggested. Google would be the best choice as they hhuuggee and could quite easily setup a company like Paypal plus the auction side of things. I'm amazed they haven't done it so far.

[Mayhem]

eBay make it compulsory to not get your money before you send out, then yeah that's the end of anyone ever selling.

[levon2807]

I've found various articles and opinions on it, including one that says Amazon is one of Bill Me Laters best customers (not any more I suppose!).

Basically Bill Me Later is a credit company of sorts that eBay has bought for billions...I think it will be a case of eBay paying us and then people paying eBay however there are reports of money being held in our paypal accounts for up to 180 days before we can withdraw it...this might be scare mongering?

One thing is for sure...in a global recession based on a "bill me later" idea why would eBay want to do what the banks have all done and failed at?