posted on February 10, 2001 07:26:47 PM
I received an email from ebay the other day warning me about fee avoidance. I have checked all my auctions and cannot find what they are talking about. I am running the same auctions I have been running for 2 years with very little change(colors, templates, etc.). I replied to ebay and asked for more information so that I can correct it, 4 days and no response. Below is the email sent me.
Recently we became aware that your eBay registered account has been involved in the following activity:
* Fee Avoidance- Avoidance of paying listing fees through any manipulation of eBay's system.
We realize that you may not have been aware there was a rule against this activity. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to review our site policies, which can be found at:
Please understand our goal is to help you understand our policies to ensure successful experiences at eBay. We respectfully request that you refrain from this activity in the future to avoid the possibility of a suspension of your eBay registration.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this important matter.
posted on February 10, 2001 07:39:12 PM
Are you foolproof on Ebay as well?
If so, perhaps it is your dutch auctions. I saw one starting at .49, but the bidders pay $1.49 PER DECAL.
If someone bid and won 9 decals, that is a heck of a lot of shipping for 9 decals. Auctions with low starting bids and unreasonably high shipping costs are considered fee avoidance.
I don't know what it is, but it's a thought?
You got that letter because someone reported you to Ebay, not because Ebay saw it and sent you the letter.
posted on February 10, 2001 07:48:02 PM
I cant understand why my auctions were questioned. You see this in most low reserve dutch auctions. I won a set of cheap fake GInsu 2000 knives for .29 but paid 5.95 for s/h. How do these guys get away with it? You may be right, these are the first auction of this type I have run.
posted on February 10, 2001 09:18:38 PM
Hi foolproof & kidsfeet:
I agree with kidsfeet, you are in violation of eBay rules on fee avoidance. When you sell many items specially at a Dutch auction at a low price and your shipping charges exceed 300 percent of the selling price, you got to think that something is wrong. We all know that you can ship a decal for $0.34 USPS First Class what you charge is almost 450% of actual shipping costs. What would you call that? What is the purpose?
If you want to obtain $2.00 for each decal including shipping, you should list them for $1.66, instead of the $0.49 you are presently listing at. But them your FVF would be increased to $0.08 instead of the $0.02 you currently paying. That means that eBay is getting only 25% of their fee.
I am not passing judgment on your behavior, I just trying to answer your question. You got away with it for a while, now it is over.
Think about it, does it not make sense at all? You presently paying eBay a $0.30 listing fee, FVF $0.02 and $0.04 for envelope. Discounting all other costs, your profit is $0.13 providing you get the Decals for free. Now, the only profit you could be making is on shipping $1.51 less actual shipping costs $0.34, profit in shipping $1.17. Your total profit is: on Sale of Decal is $0.13 and your Profit on Shipping is $1.17 on which you don't want to pay a fee to eBay, for a grand total of $1.30.
Now, if someone pays using PayPal or BillPoint there is another $0.30 fee, so you actually would be loosing $0.17 on each and every sale of a Decal and your total profit from shipping would be reduced to $1.00, due to the fee of PayPal or BillPoint on the sale of the decal.
The fact that a few others got away with those tactics, does not make them right nor does it nullify eBay rules on fee avoidance.
With all due respect, I don't think you have any other choice, but to admit you made a mistake, the injured party was eBay. If you want to continue listing, pay the correct FVF like the rest of us. I believe that you are an honest and honorable person, I just wanted you to look at it, from eBay view point.
Personally, I never buy anything, unless the seller ask for ACTUAL SHIPPING COSTS, no matter how inexpensive the item looks.
I hope this helps you to understand their email. I am not an eBay cheer leader, I only list there when eBay is the best venue for my merchandise, most of the time they are not.
posted on February 11, 2001 07:51:34 AM
This the first time I have run the .49 auctions and thought I would try to stimulate some bidding. On these particular item I was receiving massive hits but no bids. I just wanted to see if a lower price would motivate some of the lookers to bid. The bids are still slow though. I get 1 bid for about every 50 hits, whats up? These decals normally sell for $7-10 each but I hate having to cut them one at a time. I dont think I will relist them again.
