eBay tightens it's grip further, more fee grabbing...

[Max...]

This is sneaky:

eBay: 2012 Fall Seller Update - Ending Auction-style listings early

[Boats&Outboards]

That's going to stop a lot of deals being done

On further investigation it looks like this is for the US, not us...yet. Plus there's a few exceptions. Boats being one

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Hightower]

I actually agree with eBay. As someone that has bid on an item to have it removed minutes before the auction ends because the seller doesn't was to sell at a low price is very frustrating.

[Salty]

ebay fees have soared in the past few years

I pile on the postage charges with stuff I sell now to compensate for it.

e.g stuff I want a tenner for I sell buy it now for a pound with £10 postage. Won't be long though I expect before they have some sort of clamp down on that !

The sooner they have a rival internet auction site the better, they have had the monopoly for far too long

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by Hightower

I actually agree with eBay. As someone that has bid on an item to have it removed minutes before the auction ends because the seller doesn't was to sell at a low price is very frustrating.

I don't think that can happen. Once it's gone past 12 hours remaining you cannot remove it by cancelling the sale. You can only end it for the current winning bid

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by Salty

ebay fees have soared in the past few years

I pile on the postage charges with stuff I sell now to compensate for it.

e.g stuff I want a tenner for I sell buy it now for a pound with £10 postage. Won't be long though I expect before they have some sort of clamp down on that !

The sooner they have a rival internet auction site the better, they have had the monopoly for far too long

They've already banned that. For private sellers not as bad but trade you get marked down on the 5 start system. Plus if the postage is found excessive they kill you.... Ok maybe not yet but they can suspend you.

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Leapy]

There, in a nutshell, is both the problem and the business opportunity

Originally Posted by Salty

The sooner they have a rival internet auction site the better, they have had the monopoly for far too long

[Max...]

Hi Peter - you're right it's on the global site, not had any notification via bulletins (as an eBay business seller eBay send out notifications of changes of policy long in advance) but it will come to ebay.co.uk for sure before long!

They have had the monopoly for years and hard to see any real competition establishing itself for decades...

[Max...]

Just to add: like many I like to list items like engines or boats on the classified section - much easier all round. Or, list an engine with an over the top BIN or best offer accepted - at least that way you can chat to prospective people, preferably get them to come and view the thing and then sell for cash, works better and protects everyone that way.

[Nasher]

I'm with Hightower and ebay with this one.

Price your items according to what you want for them and take the risk, or you can always advertise them in your local paper

Oh, and people asking me to end auctions early get a sh1tty reply.

The fees are higer now than they were, and an alternative site would be good, but at the moment it reaches a bigger audience than the other options.

I started selling on Freeserves own auction site, which was completely FOC, but it had to close down because it was costing them too much to support without starting to charge fees.

Nasher.

[Poly]

Nasher & Hightower

Its an auction, it goes to the highest bidder at the end. If you don't want to sell that way use a different format. If you don't want to use ebay's services to advertise to a UK (or world) wide audience then you don't have to - if they are the "best" that is available then pay for the service they provide and don't complain if they change the rules to stop people 'fee dodging'.

[Dhf]

Yes it's very annoying when the seller ends early, it's even worse when you actually win the bid, and then to be told by seller his partner sold the item/vehicle earlier that day, because they did'nt realise the item was listed on ebay, grrrr!
It's not put me off eby though, you'll always get the odd one! in every.....

[Salty]

Originally Posted by Poly

Nasher & Hightower

Its an auction, it goes to the highest bidder at the end. If you don't want to sell that way use a different format. If you don't want to use ebay's services to advertise to a UK (or world) wide audience then you don't have to - if they are the "best" that is available then pay for the service they provide and don't complain if they change the rules to stop people 'fee dodging'.

I think you are missing the point Poly.

Some people advertise items in more than one place at the same time eg. on here or in local newspapers. You see the statement on a lot of items on ebay "this item is advertised for sale elsewhere so I reserve the right to end the auction early" in particular boats and outboards.

Why should ebay think it's fair to charge you an "extra" fee if you do not complete the sale on their site when you have already paid them an insertion fee? They are just getting even more greedy in my opinion by in effect charging the seller twice.

As far as complaining about the rule change, don't we as consumers have the right to complain if we don't like something?

[Salty]

Originally Posted by Dragonhawk ficht

Yes it's very annoying when the seller ends early, it's even worse when you actually win the bid, and then to be told by seller his partner sold the item/vehicle earlier that day, because they did'nt realise the item was listed on ebay, grrrr!
It's not put me off eby though, you'll always get the odd one! in every.....

If you win the item, thats a different kettle of fish altogether.

Once the item is ended the sale should be honoured in my opinion

I'm refering to ending auctions a day or two earlier in my previous posts for whatever reason

Maybe if ebay reduced the charge for placing a reserve price it might reduce this sort of thing?

[Dhf]

As previously said though, they have the ace card/selling platform, with there buyer and seller protection, easy listing format, well known World audience etc.
I fully agree though there fee's just keep hitting profits, not to mention P pal + post. Pink Floyd's Money comes to mind...

[Salty]

Originally Posted by Dragonhawk ficht

As previously said though, they have the ace card/selling platform, with there buyer and seller protection, easy listing format, well known World audience etc.
I fully agree though there fee's just keep hitting profits, not to mention P pal + post. Pink Floyd's Money comes to mind...

Yep I totally agree

The only thing I have gripes about are the spiraling fees

They used to have a cap of £45 quid on sellers fees per item but I believe they have recently increased that to £75 !!!! Shocking

[PeterM]

I used to sell on Ebay , but was put off by high fees. I still buy via it .

Gumtree for me seems to offer all the advantages of ebay without the cost (even though ebay own it ! ) .Its more akin to old fashioned classifieds in the paper and you sort out payment between you .

Not an auction style , but we managed without that for along time . Price stuff sensibly and be prepared to do abit of good natured haggling seems to work ok .

[Dhf]

Personaly I like snipper bidding, look at the item and ask yourself realisticaly what 's the max you'd be willing to pay, then put your bid in within the last ten seconds, the other bidders will have no time to think should I....
Beware there's plenty other snippers out there, and sometimes you'll loose anyway because someone has already put a higher bid than you where willing to pay in the first place, so no disapointment if exceeded.
This is where you really need to work out the value and maybe go an extra bit if desperate.
I find searching previous listing history a fantastic way to find a current valuation and selling trends.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Salty

I think you are missing the point Poly.

Some people advertise items in more than one place at the same time eg. on here or in local newspapers. You see the statement on a lot of items on ebay "this item is advertised for sale elsewhere so I reserve the right to end the auction early" in particular boats and outboards.

which is against the ebay rules: Ending Your Listing Early
and always has been! Its an auction. If you want to sell via multiple routes use a Classified / Best Offer approach. The concept of an auction where the seller can withdraw undermines the system.

You can advertise on here by pointing people to your ebay ad. You see we are not precious because we don't charge any fees!

Why should ebay think it's fair to charge you an "extra" fee if you do not complete the sale on their site when you have already paid them an insertion fee? They are just getting even more greedy in my opinion by in effect charging the seller twice.

Its not an 'extra' fee, you agree to the fee upfront or, on the otherhand, their users are just taking the mickey and using the advertising prowess of ebay with no serious intent of completing the transaction on ebay. I'd guess this is a particular problem with cars, boats, bikes etc where people need to collect, its high value (so high fees) and often people want to test/inspect. Ebay's pricing model is based on a fee for the ad and then a fee for 'success' if you cut them out the success but still sell that seems unreasonable to me. I note they are allowing people to do it once per annum without penalty anyway so it really is for those trying to circumvent the system.

As far as complaining about the rule change, don't we as consumers have the right to complain if we don't like something?

Well not much point moaning here - ebay aren't regular visitors! However are other people not allowed a different view? The best way to convince any corporation you don't like their pricing is to stop paying them. If you want their services accept their pricing or find an alternative.

Maybe if ebay reduced the charge for placing a reserve price it might reduce this sort of thing?

maybe you could set up your own auction site, invest in its development, market it and run it - and offer lower prices?

[Andy B]

As someone who is selling a boat on ebay at the moment i can see both sides of this. There are a lot of fender kicker out there and the bottom line is all i want to do is sell my boat. The listing has a reserve on it and after just one day over 100 watchers. There are several bids on there but none of them have made the reserve so in my mind they don't count. If you were really interested in buying something then you'd contact the person selling the item and turn up with cash in your pocket! If you want to take your chance on grabbing a bargan then good luck to you but don't get upset when somebody gets out of there chair and goes and does a deal. The big problem is when people list stuff with no reserve and then pull the item if they think its not going to make the money. It cost £4 to place a reserve price on an item so if you know how much you want for something then protect it. Mind you i would not end an item once it had met its reserve. So maybe there's a point for improvement there. All items to be listed with a reserve and not being able to end the item once the reserve was met.