posted on January 13, 2005 04:36:00 PM new
I came across this while reading an eBay Stores board - thread was discussing the server overload on the stores today, not being able to access, etc. Maybe I am just feeling a little punchy, but this comment gave me a good laugh I most definitely needed...
HEY EBAY EMPLOYEES!! Its time to stop picking the nits off of the other monkies and get back to work!
Some of us have businesses to run!
__________________________________
"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work." - Richard Bach
posted on January 13, 2005 04:40:24 PM new
LOL, wgm. That was funny! I've been reading the boards over at eBay and there are a lot of angry sellers. I wonder how many stores have been closed since the announcement and how many more will follow.
Cheryl
"Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains why we have so many stupid leaders."
-Sloan Wilson
posted on January 13, 2005 04:50:24 PM new
(I am still laughing about that!)
Several different threads over there are quoting numbers of stores that have closed yesterday since the fee increases were announced - some as high as just under 2000. They are basing their numbers on going to eBay stores home page and clicking on "list all stores alphabetically", getting the total number of pages, and multiplying it by 25 (the number of eBay stores per page). I don't see this as reliable, because I went there also, and the page number changes each time you click "refresh" - fluctuates randomly, sometimes up, sometimes down.
You are right, cheryl - there are some mightly unhappy sellers. No doubt a lot of stores have been closed. I am not particularly thrilled with the increases either, but all day long I have been able to hear my mom's voice saying "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" LOL
I am keeping my store for the time being - still working on my 2005 business plan.
__________________________________
"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work." - Richard Bach
posted on January 13, 2005 05:38:30 PM new
Also remember that there are plenty of people every single day opening and closing stores. There are probably plenty of people who haven't heard about the rate increases too.
There's going to be plenty of day-to-day fluctuation under even normal circumstances.
So someone said 2000 stores closed. Is that a bunch? Doesn't sound like it to me.
Figure it this way. The stores $10 a month. Now it's $16 a month.
$10/$16=0.62 (38% increase)
So... if anything less than THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT of all stores close, they're still making more money on store fees.
The FVF went up by 2.75%, figure that one as:
5.25%/8.00%=65% (35% raise)
So if final completed sales drop by less than THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT, they're still making more money.
eBay doesn't care if you go away. It really doesn't care if anything under thirty percent of us go away.
Work around the new fees or quit entirely if you want, but boycotting eBay or closing your store "just to spite them" isn't going to have any effect.
--------------------------------------
Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web!
http://www.replaymedia.com
[ edited by replaymedia on Jan 13, 2005 05:40 PM ]
posted on January 13, 2005 08:00:22 PM new
Well,
There is a new site where stores and listing fees are 100% free! and no final value fees for at least six months!
posted on January 13, 2005 08:14:05 PM new
As long as we are getting screwed, are they furnishing the KY Jelly? I'm no virgin, but I don't want the pain.
posted on January 14, 2005 08:04:36 AM new
Alternatives to ebay stores. I think it is useful to consider the many alternatives to ebay stores. There are a lot of other sites and options to having your store hosted on ebay and some work very well. One example is shoporium.com. You can have a store with an unlimited number of items, no per item fees, no final value fees all for under $20 a month. You can even have your own domain name for your store. One very nice feature of a shoporium store is that you can use the free auctionsubmit.com software to launch both your ebay listings and your store listings and change between them. Different solutions work for different situations. I think for some people you can come out WAY ahead with some of the non-ebay options. Vote with your feet as they say!
posted on January 14, 2005 03:17:11 PM new
"postcardman.... does that site have photo hosting too?"
No photohosting on shoporium. I like to use a plain FTP account on pair.com for photohosting. for $6 a month you get 200 meg of web space to do with whatever your please. If you can use a simple ftp program like ws_ftp or cuteftp it is a breeze to host your own photos, literally 1,000's of them $6.00 a month flat, no ups, no extras and they don't expire! They are there until you take them down, works with webstores, ebay or whatever. And unlike a number of dedicated photohosts I have used in the past pair.com has been 100% reliable, the images always load, they are never down or slow.
posted on January 23, 2005 12:06:18 PM new
Replay -
I agree with your reasoning to an extent about the number of store closings and FVF's
but don't forget they are in business to make money.
Surely they anticipate a loss in stores and FVF quantities... but they are not trying to break even with the increase.
They want to increase their bottom line.
The only way to change bad behavior is to stop rewarding it.
We are all rewarding this Ebay child by continuing to buy and list even though they are whining and crying about profit loss and passing additional costs on to us.
Break it down to basics and you can change it.
The problem is everyone wants a new site to be as good as Ebay.
Have we forgotten it took them 10 years to get to this point.
With the proper support a new site could do even better in theory by learning from Ebay's mistakes.
The only problem is generating traffic.
Traffic flow is what has kept me and millions of others from listing elsewhere, we want exposure to sell.
Maybe someone like Donald Trump should start up a new site. He could afford the start up and get alot of Media Hype going and hype is what a new site needs.
There are options......... the question is do we want them or do we keep telling Ebay it is ok, you are a good kid, you will grow out of it.
posted on January 26, 2005 08:42:15 AM new
We have had an eBay store for about 2 years, and it has done fairly well for us. HOWEVER, with the coming increases, I anticipate about February 14, as a Valentines to eBay, we will close our store. Since we have 4 major web sites, and it cost less to maintain a web site apart from eBay than one of their stores, for us, it is probably a much better investment.
We do not rely on eBay anyway and I post and sell just enough to keep us in the Power Seller category.
NEVERTHELESS, I do not think, without a major option to go to, that many saying they are going to leave will actually leave. I have heard such for years, and I have never seen such happen except when Amazon was new and really competing with eBay, and when a new site opened up which many liked, think it was called Golds or something like that.
People normally stay in their comfort zones, which for most is eBay.
I think OVERSTOCK is a major option if they can get their site renovated a bit, and get some buyers in - they are doing a good bit of TV advertising, at least on the channels we watch on satellite TV.
Personally, I think Yahoo is hopeless, they have never recovered since their fairly successful suicide attempt 3 years ago; the same for Amazon.
I am going to try the Big O again for a few weeks I understand they are offering a major discount, which starts about the time eBay's Fee Increases go into effect.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
posted on January 26, 2005 08:51:57 AM new
We have had an eBay store for about 2 years, and it has done fairly well for us. HOWEVER, with the coming increases, I anticipate about February 14, as a Valentines to eBay, we will close our store. Since we have 4 major web sites, and it cost less to maintain a web site apart from eBay than one of their stores, for us, it is probably a much better investment.
We do not rely on eBay anyway and I post and sell just enough to keep us in the Power Seller category.
NEVERTHELESS, I do not think, without a major option to go to, that many saying they are going to leave will actually leave. I have heard such for years, and I have never seen such happen except when Amazon was new and really competing with eBay, and when a new site opened up which many liked, think it was called Golds or something like that.
People normally stay in their comfort zones, which for most is eBay.
I think OVERSTOCK is a major option if they can get their site renovated a bit, and get some buyers in - they are doing a good bit of TV advertising, at least on the channels we watch on satellite TV.
Personally, I think Yahoo is hopeless, they have never recovered since their fairly successful suicide attempt 3 years ago; the same for Amazon.
I am going to try the Big O again for a few weeks I understand they are offering a major discount, which starts about the time eBay's Fee Increases go into effect.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
posted on January 26, 2005 08:52:03 AM new
We have had an eBay store for about 2 years, and it has done fairly well for us. HOWEVER, with the coming increases, I anticipate about February 14, as a Valentines to eBay, we will close our store. Since we have 4 major web sites, and it cost less to maintain a web site apart from eBay than one of their stores, for us, it is probably a much better investment.
We do not rely on eBay anyway and I post and sell just enough to keep us in the Power Seller category.
NEVERTHELESS, I do not think, without a major option to go to, that many saying they are going to leave will actually leave. I have heard such for years, and I have never seen such happen except when Amazon was new and really competing with eBay, and when a new site opened up which many liked, think it was called Golds or something like that.
People normally stay in their comfort zones, which for most is eBay.
I think OVERSTOCK is a major option if they can get their site renovated a bit, and get some buyers in - they are doing a good bit of TV advertising, at least on the channels we watch on satellite TV.
Personally, I think Yahoo is hopeless, they have never recovered since their fairly successful suicide attempt 3 years ago; the same for Amazon.
I am going to try the Big O again for a few weeks I understand they are offering a major discount, which starts about the time eBay's Fee Increases go into effect.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
