So, it seems someone out there at eBay really is listening! Based on an AP article by Rachel Metz that came out today, eBay will make changes yet again. This time it seems they are trying to appease their upset seller base. They’re promising listing fee discounts and a new higher tier of PowerSeller: Diamond, where highest-volume merchants may be eligible for reduced fees.
They’re also talking about reduced pricing for listing identical items. Starting Sept. 16, eBay will let U.S. sellers pay 35 cents to list an unlimited number of identical items at a set price, for a month at a time. Previously, fixed-price listing fees could run as high as $4 per item, and the listings were good for a week.
For some sellers, the sheer number of changes alone is understandably frustrating. For others, the changes on eBay have given them the incentive to move completely off eBay and start their own sites utilizing the “eBay alternative” AuctionAnything.com technology.
The biggest complaint we’ve heard from a number of our customers is that buyers are “extorting” lower prices in exchange for positive feedback. We certainly hope that eBay will get it right this time – although it seems as though it may already be too late to recoup the sellers that have abandoned eBay in lieu of more favorable selling platforms.
I believe it’s the new crop of seller sites like ours and others that have gotten eBay to sit up and take notice of the full extent of the damage they’ve done to their seller base. Many eBay sellers are using our service as a protective shield against bad buyers. If you aren’t downloading updated blocked bidder lists on a weekly basis, do so – you have nothing to lose and only better sales to gain!
As always, happy, safe selling!
Laurie