nitrosportsandrunner

we want to complain that ebay is greedy, but only cause we didnt come up with the idea first and we're not the ones making profit off of it.

why bash ebay for its fee's? Nearly all large biz takes money from us. How much interest do you pay on your home, car or credit card? I have a 65k dollar home, in 30 years when its paid off the bank will have gotten 120k from me. They doubled their money! In contrast, $15 in ebay fees on a $200 item sold doesnt seem as big a deal.

Has anyone ever seen the "pay day loans"? Holy crap. I looked at one that would loan you $700 and you had to pay it back in 3 months. It was bi weekly payments and it added upto $1600. More than double the original loan.

And what about appliance rental stores. $20 a week for a tv? $1400 to own it?

All of these biz are there to make money. And they will all charge as much as the majority of people are willing to pay. Thats just the world we live in.

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

The part you are missingEddie is where you don't do your homework and apply the best possible listing type or subscription for your application. You just blast in there, list at random, and them blame ebay! LOL, that is funny to me.

Why would you list a $4.95 with a gallery plus? Are yopu kidding me? Upgrading a $4.95 item? LOL! That's like putting a set of Foose wheels on a pinto. Just doesn't belong. You just do not know how to use eBay to your advantage.

You are only paying that outrageous amount because you are not doing anything to better your deal. If you fly blindly into something, you cannot blame the entity that you are not paying attention to.

My July bill on one of my smaller account is looks nothing like what you are freaking out about. 1943 items sold for $52,459.36. eBay fees for the month, INCLUDINGtwo third party apps was $3332.28.
6.35% in eBay fees. I'd have to guess, but about $900 in PP fees factors about right. ALL eBay & Pay Pal fees, Store cost & 3rd party subsriptions = 8.06%. A Far cry from what some of you are preaching.

I don't need to send you my bill, I just disclosed it. The numbers DONOTLIE. And to even sweeten the pot further... I use a PayPalMastercard to run my business. Got back a tick over $400 in July! Woo Hoo.
I seem to make the fees work out just fine.

nitrosportsandrunner

yeh, I love getting the cash back bonus on my paypal mastercard.
I use it for the ebay store, so each month i get between $10 and $40 back.
I couldnt buy/sell on ebay or RCU without paypal. The fees are worth it for the added safety.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Really , Taz?  That's the best you can do is cherry-pick one tiny item? LOL!!

Those 20 items averaged over $43 each, and you KNEW it was IMPOSSIBLE for eBay to charge over 9%. How can you swallow all that kool-aid with your head so far in the sand (if indeed that's where it's buried)?

There's no way I could approach an 8% total, as your fee structure is obviously much different.  Mine STARTS at 9% and only gets worse.

No comment on all those fees? No apology? I figured as much.

It still appears, despite your smoke-n-mirrors cherry-picking and bragging about rebates, that you're the one who doesn't know what he's talking about.

JohnP2

As someone relatively new to eBay....can one of you offer some "buyer advice"? In the past I've only puchased items (ie "Buy Now") without bidding. However, the other day I bough some parts for my 810 (just to stock up) and got some insane prices by bidding on them. I kept hearing that at the last moment the price would jack up, but they only went up .25 in the last minute and I bought quite a few things (and received them on time). Mind you this was all from the same seller, but would like to hear about some tips and tricks for someone new to bidding from eBay.


Thanks!

SyCo_VeNoM

it all depends on the item
I've seen that damn sniper thing shoot auctions up $200 in the final 2 seconds before.
Its like OHH COOL I'M WINNING look 10 seconds from end
refresh at 4 still winning
refresh at 2 seconds 40 bids placed in the 2 seconds it took to refresh...
you lose

RC parts from what I seen generally don't get nailed by that too much.

Only advice I can honestly say on bidding is don't lose your cool in a bidding war, and if buying used RC's look VERY carefully at the pics.

my one Jammin X1 CRT was described as good condition. The seller forgot to mention holes were drilled in the chassis, red locktite was on EVERY single screw, there was 2lbs of clay on it(none was visable in any of the pics), all the nuts were missing for the axles, and a pile of other crap. Honestly I almost don't even think the pics were of the same roller, or the pics were taken before he screwed it up.

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

Yes... clearly I have no idea what I am talking about. I gross over 6 figures a month total and pay about 8% in total fees, subscriptions & costs! Yup, I am clearly the stupid one! LOL!

clackey02

I do not leave feedback until they do. My way of being safe.

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Taz,
ebay-of-pigs might work for you, and you may be happy with it. But for the AVERAGE guy selling a few items on that miserable site, or trying to turn it into a business, the fees total 15~20%. That is enough to crush any start-up venture. But e-bay-of-pigs counts on ripping off the thousands or millions of little guys who don't know, nor have time to learn all the ins-and-outs of that complicated system, or ever get to a higher level. That is also why many people have said they fear doing business on that website. Because you never know when the seller will drop off the website. More 'small businesses' have died on that site than in the real world.

Secondly, I don't care what ebay-of-pigs has for 'overhead'. What I can tell you is that for taking at least 15% of a sale from the typical seller, they should provide a tangable service to their sellers ... not just provide a website. If someone is taking 15% of my profit, they better be working for me by packing and shipping the product, doing paperwork, and taking me to dinner three times a week.

When advertising fees for ANY company are in the area of 15%, it is simply too much. If you don't mind, then that is OK for YOU. But for large and small corporations, the advertising/marketing budget/limit is 3~4%. Anything above that, is deemed excessive. But like I wrote, if you are happy parting with that much of your money, then good for you. But don't try to shove the ebay propaganda. No one seems to be buying into it.

And as far as exposure to millions of people!?
Remember this ... of those millions, there are millions of people NOT interested in your product, and NOT viewing your product. Yet you 'think', or are 'led to believe' that millions are looking at your product. For the most part, the item you list is viewed by just a few hundred (maybe a few thousand people) who are mostly 'tire-kickers.' The reality of it is that millions are ignoring your listing. Just look at how many different bidders you have on one item ... 2? 3? 4? The average is between 4 and 10 bidders per item. Not much of an audience, huh? Having exposure to millions of people means nothing if they are not the ones who will buy your product. TARGETING your audience AND marketing to THEM is the key factor. Without that, you have nothing. At e-bay-of pigs, you are lost in the crowd.

Next, the item you list, is lost within the hundreds or thousands of other similar/identical items that people have to sort through to get to yours. Most of the time, people don't have the time to do this.

Then, to avoid sniper bidders, you have to pay an added protection fee! All those fees add up. The biggest profit maker on any item is e-bay-of pigs. You are working your ***** off for them!

Also, you have no branding on e-bay-of-pigs. No real identification or recognition either.

QVC would be a better venue, but that also does not TARGET the audience you need or want unless you are selling bras and kitchen items to women.

You have no advantage on e-bay-of pigs. As big as your 'store' may be (and in actuality it is probably your garage and home), you are competing on the same level as every other seller. You develop no outstanding profile. No real store that people can see or relate to. To any buyer, you are just another listing ... which there are thousands of!

Now add the 'punishment factor' that e-bay-of-pigs inflicts on you if you mess up or have a few ungrateful customers! Come on, are they nuckin kidding someone with that! No 'business should have to deal with that crap! Then to top it off, you can't leave a bad rating for some lunatic who deserves it. You can't get warned by other sellers, nor warn others !!! That is just NOT right.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

JohnP2,
Read all the fine print, if you have the time, and still hang onto the family jewels til your monthly bill comes in. You can view each item's costs independently as you go also. Work at keeping your mouth closed.  [X(]

You'll wait a LONG time for your money, so look at the qualifications for getting paid on time. If you get 4 'unsatisfactory' reports, they put you back to zero and you start all over. I was late shipping some items due to being out of state (daughter was ill), and I'm still waiting a long time for payments. They don't care what happens once they have your money in their coffers.

Sell some smaller things first to get your feet wet. Use 'Buy it now' only for things you really can't take a loss on.

You can spend days learning the ins-and-outs on their website. They are the biggest, but definitely not the best. Caveat Emptor, and good luck.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

No one called you stupid. You're killin' it, good on you. But we both agree, you don't know what you're talking about.

SyCo_VeNoM

I will say I do see where eddieC is coming from
I remember reading a while back(dunno how long it was quite a while) there was a few different fee levels depending on how much you sell.
people with under so many sales get hit with higher fees than people that basically run business's from it.
Don't remember how great the difference was but it was a decent amount. Also not sure if its still in practice (was a while back I said)

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Thanx, SV. Their fee schedule is available online, and it's lengthy.

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

No actually they hold newbies money so they don't run off and screw the buyer. Used to be that a seller would get paid instantly, then transfer the money to their bank and never ship the item. Buy the time the buyer filed a complaint, Seller Dirtball was long gone with unshipped product and money. Then they'd open another account and do it again. So the whole "They don't care what happens once they have your money in their coffers" is about the most absurd thing I have heard so far. They care enough to protect the customer and the seller.

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

Oh My God... Is there anything you don't cry about? I can get a good deal on tissues on eBay and ship them to you free if you like!

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

Yes, I clearly don't know. I started this deal with less money than I have in one of my planes. Oddly enough I managed to make enough profit thru all those overinflated fees to buy more inventory, change locations, buy more inventory, continue to grow, hire an employee, change locations, grow more, hire a second employee, grow more until we are bursting at the seems currently.

In fact, from the very first month I had as an eBay business until say last month... we have only grown an average of 216.23% per year in the worst economy in recent memory. Yup, I have no idea what I am talking about. None....

And you do what for a living?

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Corporate pilot. I find it works better at the bar than 'Ebay vendor'.    You asked!

I've congratulated you at least twice on working the system to your advantage, but am still waiting on point-by-point answer to my fees, which range from 16-29%. You ignore the major points and have no answers, and offer no retractions. You've shown your lack of credibility in doing so.

haikt

My Feedback: (11)

Taz,
You sound like a cheap talking head for eBay lol, bragging how you made 7 figures on eBay so everyone has to admire you.
Sound like an 11 year old.
Maybe your screaming is the reason you get to only pay 8% on your eBay fees.
My last sale on eBay was for 650$ and I got 561.59 by the time it got to the bank so do the math if you can.
I forgot only you are smart the rest of the people are dumb

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Ok, I'm not going to make fun of Taz for being an ebay vendor. Good for him that he makes money at it, and works his ***** off. But he wouldn't get any respect from a woman at a bar if he told her he was an ebay vendor. I couldn't imagine her saying, "Wow! How interesting! Tell me more. What was the most exciting thing you sold on ebay?"

But I can see her jumping in bed with a pilot! Now, THAT happens all the time! [8D]

Good come-back, eddieC. I gave you 5 points fo that! That was funny as hell.



BTW ... $561.59 is 13.7% of $650 ....... That's a hefty ebay fee!

okdreamin

My Feedback: (9)

Wow man I feel your pain.  dealing with an a@# like that sux.  We dont use ebay that much anymore due to a couple of bad exp.   You went above the call of duty to make him happy.    Hope it works out in your favor.  

pmerritt

My Feedback: (118)

Taz, I admire and respect your professionalism and business wisdom.  I have bought items from you before.  It takes me at least 15 minutes to list a new item on Ebay and 5 minutes to copy and post duplicates.  Not to mention the time packaging, shipping, procuring mailing materials and then the follow up, feedbacks and email responses.  That's a whopping 12 items per hour at my speed.  
  
It never ceases to amaze me how paranoid people have to slam an organization that has allowed sellers of all values to present their items to billions of potential buyers.  Ebay has turned garage sales into an international client base.  it's THEIR playing field people.  If you don't like it, simple don't use it ....DUH. 

Truly, if they are in the slightest unhappy with a PRIVATE company charging to promote items people chose to sell, they should just get their old folding up bridge tables out, hand paint some signs and staple them to the telephone poles and have themselves a fine old time sitting in the driveway selling stuff the people that will try to argue them down to 5 cents on a dollar instead of 10 cents! 

Ignorance of the ability to list/sell/profit off of Ebay does not constitute a fault with Ebay.   They invented their system and if they charge 10% and one receives 75% (or more) of it's value, that person is still ahead by 65% over the traditional garage sale.  Plus you don't have to watch the arriving garage sale grunts steal your items while their friends try to distract you.

When I see a seller on Ebay with thousands of items sold and a 100% positive feedback, I'd buy from that person in a New York minute!
When I see a seller with a few "neutral" or a couple negatives, I'll read his/her response and determine whether I want to trush them with my money or not.   IT'S A CHOICE...no one is holding a virtual gun to a sellers head to buy anything from anybody on Ebay.

You can't prevent a buyer from hammering you on Ebay.  If a 100% perfect Cherry rating is the most important thing in life, REFUND THEIR MONEY...they can't leave a negative if you refund their money!  Negotiate if possible!  Reply to a negative with positive attitude and most buyers will see that when they review your ratings. 

Sell the hell out it Taz!  Make sure you block all these paranoid people sitting in their driveway selling trinkets to the garage sale grunts from buying from you!

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

WHEN I SELL I TELL TJE BUYER TO SEND ME A MONEY ORDER WHEN I GET IT ILL SEND THE ITEMS HE ASKED FOR SOME PEOPLE WANT A OLD USED ITEM TO BE LIKE NEW WHEN THEY GET IT> YOU JUST CANT PLEASE THEM THEN TELL EVERYONE NOT TO SELL TO THEM

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

Nobody is bragging junior, but the facts have a pesky way of blowing holes in people crying. I could give a rats ***** less if you or anyone else admires or gives a crap about me dude. You are ALL wrong on that.

Awesome! To net $561.59 on a $650 sale is what fee percetange?Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Thanks for making my point for me. It's simple math that even I can do. It's roughly 13.50% eBay AND Pay Pal fees COMBINED! Much less than the 18-29% numbers that are being thrown around!

But to be boastful & brag as much as I can in hopes you'd admire me... I would have netted $604.10! Uh Oh! What is that percentage? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? $33.25 in eBay fees and $12.65 in pay pal fees looks alot like about 7.05% to me, no?

Maybe I am smarter? Or just more dedicated to the details?

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks for your business, we really do appreciate our customers. And I understand at the entry level how much time & effort it takes. I was there not too long ago.

I agree. ebay has also allowed people like myself who were tired of bringing in mega dollar contracts to employers only to be ripped off on the commission, who were tired of putting in 100 hour weeks only to have expense accounts closed, travel expenses minimized, sales & contract bonuses get smaller and smaller, etc.

The head of the nail is getting worn out from you hitting it square!

We have received negatives that were meant for other vendors (buyer leaves a group of negs when leaving feedback in bulk and accidentally has too many sellers checked) and when confronted they tell you too bad they are not changing it. We have received negs from customers who were mad because they bought items for a vehicle they don't even own and instead of admitting fault, they have to blame somone (Sound familiar Ed?) and so on and so on....

Thanks brother. I am only doing this to put food on teh table and make sure the little guy has a future. My eBay business will put my kid thru Harvard if he so chooses. And I have some GREAT customers to thank for that as well.

Taz_Hobbies

My Feedback: (15)

Ummmmm... who gives a crap about a bar slug? If that is the mark you are shooting for, or the benchmark in which you measure success... I feel for ya.

He isn't the only one around here with a ticket and a log book with time in it I am sure. And he says corporate pilot, but I am inclined to believe that based on the amount of time he is one here, isn't exactly the whole story. I know a couple of guys with tons of hours, most of it turbine time, and a one or two with CE550 & CE525 & Falcon 50 ratings, which are nice bells & whistles to have, yet they don't make even close to what some ebayers do, if they can find work.


It's actually 13.59% but who is counting ??? Still less than 29% that someone was throwing around!