dbest
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posted on June 3, 2003 09:08:16 PM new
Ebay is trying to nickle and dime us to death. There is no advantage to this for the sellers. Why no Lower fees or more Free Listing days?
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kiara
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posted on June 3, 2003 09:25:14 PM new
dbest, you are always here whining and waiting for the free ride. ebay is cheap when you compare it to the costs of running a brick and mortar store.
Where else will you get the amount of exposure for such a cheap ad? Real businesses can't afford to sit on their stock waiting all year and hoping there will be a free listing day or a free store to set up in.
What kinds of things do you sell?
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Libra63
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posted on June 4, 2003 12:49:57 AM new
We are in a time where there is "no free lunch" anymore. eBay offers this instead of a free listing day to keep us coming and I for one will still list if there isn't a free listing day. I have said it before free listing day is a joke. Everyone, well most, list blank auctions pages to be filled out before the 7 days are over, Very high ticket items are listed that you can't touch and then the junk that is just hanging around. Maybe there are some honest sellers that list on those days but I for one stay away from that day. If you think listing on Sundays is slow do you know that it takes about 8 hours to list auctions on free listing day because of the overload eBay has and also the overload on Vendio. Just my opinion...............
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rarriffle
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posted on June 4, 2003 01:39:33 AM new
well Libra, your opinion is the exact same as mine.
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alldings
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posted on June 4, 2003 08:10:31 AM new
Right Libra & Rarr.. Wise eBay sellers (not me!) make use of any sales opportunity eBay chooses to offer. The reason for not lowering prices and for limiting FLD's is to stem the flow of worthless junk into the eBay market place.
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clivebarkerfan
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posted on June 4, 2003 08:21:52 AM new
Where else can you get international exposure on an item, with full color pictures and as long of a description as you'd like, and have it run for 7 days for only $.30 to $3.30?
They should really change the name of FLD to Goodwill Day since it's stuff that should've ended up at Goodwill! I hate even being a buyer during that time. You can't find what you're looking for since you've got to wade through so much garbage.
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lindajean
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posted on June 4, 2003 08:30:56 AM new
I list the same things I list all year on FLD and I always do great!
I don't hold up hoping for one, but they don't hurt my sales, I release all my items at 12:05AM before the glut hits and I have great weeks!
The area I sell in only has a 30% sell through so I rotate several thousand different items during a two to three month period. On FLD I can just release them all. My relists always bring the same 30% as new listings as long as they have at least a 30 day wait between listings. I always make several thousand dollars during FLDs!
Why don't I just list that many every day? Because my Ebay bill would be $1,000 a week if I did! And, I don't want to try to ship 1,000 items every week. But to save a thousand dollars I will do it every chance they give me!
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kiara
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posted on June 4, 2003 09:26:32 AM new
lindajean, I can see where FLDs are beneficial for you. That's why I asked dbest what he sells.
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auctionace
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posted on June 4, 2003 09:38:11 AM new
FLDs are very beneficial for sellers on unusual items that may have a small audience such as high school year books. The sellers of those items can not afford to pay 30 cents every 7 days for months on end until the right buyers show up. To call old year books goodwill material is an insult. There are many other auction items that fall into these category.
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bkmunroe
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posted on June 4, 2003 12:08:09 PM new
Ebay is trying to nickle and dime us to death.
Ebay is trying to increase profits just as we are. If I could find a way to increase profits by 1 or 2% without any extra work, I would do it.
There is no advantage to this for the sellers.
It depends on whether or not the penny galleries increase your sales or not. If it does, then there is advantage to you.
Why no Lower fees or more Free Listing days?
Because it cuts into Ebay's profits. Ebay has an annual year-end FLD mainly to fluff up their statistics.
Here's a suggestion. Why don't you list all your items with a 1c starting price and free shipping. Something tells me that when you're on the other side of the equation you won't think "free" and "lower" are a good idea.
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stonecold613
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posted on June 4, 2003 01:40:17 PM new
The only thing I agree with is that there is no benefit to the penny gallery days. The gallery over time has not shown a significant increase in sales. I for one would like to see the gallery be free always. As for FLD's. Two a year is sufficient. Any more than that and Ebay will get flooded with worthless sports card and recipe auctions like bidville.
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clivebarkerfan
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posted on June 4, 2003 01:40:48 PM new
I wasn't specific with what would be considered Goodwill materials. But come on, you know that you've seen it. I was refering to the items you'd pass right by at a garage sale when it's marked at $.25. THAT's what I was referring to.
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leapfrogger
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posted on June 4, 2003 01:44:26 PM new
I guess it depends on what you're selling but I always use gallery and NORMALLY have a 95% sell through on first listings -- so these penny gallery days are great because they cut my listing fees almost in half.
This time of year sales are soooo slow, I'm not sure that anything can help.
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ahc3
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posted on June 4, 2003 02:41:06 PM new
dbest, let us know your auction ID, so we can bargain for a lower price, or free shipping, or something. Ebay is a business like anything else, they don't owe you lower fees or free listing days. If you look at their stock prices, they certainly are doing something right.
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amy6969852
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posted on June 6, 2003 08:11:50 AM new
There is a rumor that ebay is going to be having a free listing day in the next couple of weeks...supposedly to help all the sellers going to ebay live and around that time. That's what the ebay boards say. Keep an eye out.
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jensmome
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posted on June 6, 2003 08:46:05 AM new
Does anyone remember when the last FLD was? I don't.
If there is one, which I doubt, it will probably be around a holiday. July 4. And the deciding factor will probably be a huge slump in the number of auctions listed. There's likely an internal eBay number that listings can not fall below.
For all of you optimists, start getting your pictures and listings ready. If there is a FLD, uploading and indexing is going to be the pits.
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sanmar
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posted on June 6, 2003 10:14:36 AM new
Hey! Having been in the business in a brick & mortar store, eBay is cheap. I like the freedom it gives me & still do business without having to sit in a stuffy building on a beautiful day, & I don't have to pay $1800.00 a month rent plus utilities.
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neonmania
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posted on June 6, 2003 11:01:19 AM new
jens - Dec 26th was the last FLD
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stonecold613
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posted on June 6, 2003 09:50:43 PM new
Neon,
Wrong again as usual. The last free listing day was Feb 6th. They did it to counteract the FLD Yahoo did just two weeks before that.
[ edited by stonecold613 on Jun 8, 2003 09:56 PM ]
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sparkz
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posted on June 6, 2003 10:14:35 PM new
Dbest...Don't hold your breath waiting for a free listing day. I personally think we've seen the last of them. Ebay is in this business to make a profit. Their profit comes from fees paid by sellers. They're not going to give away the store unless they can get a shopping center in return. The last thing they want is a million free listings of .99 cent garbage slowing down their site. The only voices Meg and Pierre have to listen to are the shareholders. Because of that, the only possibility of a FLD will be around Christmas when they need to pad their listing total to make an impressive Q4 report to the shareholders. I believe they will probably opt for other type promotions instead such as the 3 day penny gallery day. If a .30 cent listing fee is going to cut into your profit margin that deeply, perhaps you should consider having a yard sale instead of listing on Ebay.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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auctionace
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posted on June 7, 2003 07:45:40 AM new
The Feb graph makes it look like Feb 6th was the last FLD or whatever ....
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
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Twelvepole
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posted on June 7, 2003 10:43:23 AM new
so dbest were you laughing the whole 3 days or just part of them?
AIN'T LIFE GRAND... 
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neonmania
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posted on June 7, 2003 12:12:38 PM new
Stone - That FLD was for FIXED PRICE auctions only, not a blanket FLD but then if you actually knew everything you would have known that wouldn't you.
[ edited by neonmania on Jun 7, 2003 03:30 PM ]
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stonecold613
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posted on June 7, 2003 04:30:37 PM new
So at least you admit you were wrong. That last one was Feb 6th. I keep a print out of all my listings for reference and it was very easy to look back.
[ edited by stonecold613 on Jun 8, 2003 09:57 PM ]
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auctionace
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posted on June 7, 2003 04:44:45 PM new
It was Feb 6th
http://www.vendio.com/mesg/read.html?num=2&id=498145&thread=498097
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neonmania
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posted on June 7, 2003 05:08:50 PM new
Stone - do not misinterpret or twist what I was saying. Free Fixed Priced Listings are not the same as blanket FLDs.
Free Fixed Price listings are just like any other promotion - they help a few but are not an across the board as actual FLDs.
I don't think anyone who is hoping for the late June FLD was thinking of a Fixed Price only one - most of them would not be able to make much use of it.
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stonecold613
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:02:35 PM new
You must be kidding. If you cannot price your items for what they are worth on a free listing day, then you should move on and do something else. Does your mommy still pick out your clothes for you as well? To say it is not a full blown FLD is childish. Only difference in the fixed price is you need to price the items for what they are worth as opposed to putting them low and hoping they make what you want. Not major brain surgery.
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neonmania
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posted on June 8, 2003 10:51:11 PM new
Stone... I can play sacarastic too. Let me take you by the hand and take you on a magical tour of AUCTIONS. See I don't run a store, I run AUCTIONS. I allow my customers to assign their value to my items. This is why tonight I had four auctions end with minor bidding wars that led to the items in question selling for 30-100% above what they would normally sell for.
I start my auctions out at their value, one bid is great but lets take tonights closings.... 85% sell thru of those 60% had more than one bid.
If these were fixed price auctions I would have lost these additional funds. You may be willing to do this but I am not.
I do occasional fixed priced auctions but they are generally on items I have an abundant supply of and would like to sell quickly.
The only items I even start low are:
1) High valued items that history has proven end higher with a low starting price and reserve than an actual value starting price or
2) Junk that I could not care less what it sells or as long as it sells and I don't have to see it anymore.
It's not childish - it's called having a successful business module and following it.
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