ebayselling

If you have a lot of multiple fixed price listings, don’t forget the changes to the fixed price listings. On the 16th the price will change to a flat fee of .35 no matter how many are being sold or what the price.

If you are currently running auctions, now is the time to load up and get those pre-Christmas, back to school sales. But if you have a lot of fixed price items to sell, it’s probably better to wait until the listing price goes down.

If you have listing fever and can’t wait, you might take the photographs now and write the description in Word. That way, the listing will be ready and simple to launch on the day the price changes. Or, if you use TurboLister, load the listings into it and let then sit until the 16th.

The fall eBay season is now gearing up. Each year I notice that the first week after Labor Day marks a huge jump in buyers. Kids are back in school, vacations are over and sitting outside has gotten boring. It’s time to buy crap online!

If you’re selling items online, it’s the best time of year to start loading up on the listings. Hit the ground running and start listing the fall items that have been accumulating. Winter coats and warm clothes sell great right now as do textbooks. I’ve sold three textbooks just this week and look forward to many more sales this season.

There are quite a few subcategories that are about to be launched in the Jewelry and Watches, Collectibles, Sporting Goods and Toys and Hobbies categories. I don’t believe that any subcategories are being taken out- it appears that existing subcategories are being expanded into still more subcategories.

Some of the subcategories are highly specialized, such as Gaelic sports and Star Wars games.  It hasn’t been long since quite a few of the subcategories were consolidated, so I’m guessing that as Dr. Phil would say, that didn’t work out very well for them.

Subcategories are a double-edged sword- they do allow for faster surfing and finding exactly what it is you want. However, it also means less exposure for other items that might have been purchased on impulse. The fewer things a buyer sees the fewer impulse buys he will make.

There are many categories that have a large number of recalled items. Anyone selling items in those categories ought to check the recall lists periodically simply to make sure that they are not selling a recalled item. Selling something that has been recalled is illegal if the recall was not mandatory. It is also possible to make yourself liable for injuries due to a faulty product.

If you sell children’s items such as toys, clothing and baby gear, checking the recall lists is a must.  If you sell home appliances, outdoor items or pool items, it’s also a good idea to check the lists every month to stay on top of the latest recalls.

Once change that has gone into effect ahead of all the others is the mandatory shipping price disclosure. If you’ve ever been interested in bidding on something but had to email the seller first to ask how much shipping would be, you know the kind of hassle it caused. I always advised to disclose it because anyone who didn’t was losing sales.

Now, listing the domestic shipping cost is mandatory. Hurrah! If you haven’t already gotten into the habit of listing a shipping price, you’ll need a system in place now. Make sure you have an accurate scale on your desk and weigh anything that is more than a pound. Shipping prices have skyrocketed so much in the past two years that a few ounces can make a big difference.

Check USPS.com for domestic postage rates based on the size and weight of the item if you don’t already have a postage meter. And if you sell more than a few items a week- get a postage meter!

If the changes seem never-ending to you, they certainly do to me as well. One of the most perplexing new changes to the eBay rules is that there are now maximum shipping amounts allowed.  I certainly agree that shipping rates sometimes seem excessive, but packaging and postage are expensive. The maximums don’t allow for varying sizes of items and instead give each subcategory of item a blanket maximum.

If you look at the shipping charges table, the rates for now are only with the media items. However, I do expect eBay to start implementing something similar with other categories. I have been shocked lately to see how much some people are charging.

However, that being said, there have been many, many times that I shipped a book that could not have gone for $4. I used to sell law text books and other huge books occasionally and the postage cost was huge, and that’s even before the packaging prices were factored in. This maximum does make the site more of a player in the huge Amazon media empire, but it also seems a little silly. The market was keeping most shipping prices reasonable, and media sellers were choosing eBay because they can choose their own shipping amount and their method of payments. eBay has now severely limited both of those choices.

There was a time when keeping an eBay store made a lot of sense for many sellers. With the low listing fees and the relatively low monthly fee (15.95), it was a good deal if you had a lot of things to list. But now, with the new lower fixed price fees, it might not be such a good deal anymore.

It’s time to reevaluate the listing prices for store and fixed price listings. I imagine that many people will be closing their stores because of the changes. I will likely not be doing so, though that remains to be seen. It’s a tough call right now. I get enough sales through my store that I’m not enthusiastic about closing it. However, the .35 30-day listings are awfully tempting.

If you sell few items but like the convenience and predictability of a store- don’t close it. If you sell few items and aren’t having good luck with sales and aren’t attached to your store- shut that sucker down.

For mid-range sellers, it will all come down to how many items then list per month and how fast they sell. Slow items may benefit from a store, but fast-selling items will certainly benefit from the extra exposure of fixed price listings.

Just when you didn’t think it could get any more complicated…

Another of the many new changes is that the new (and stupid) Best Match search, now largely based on seller feedback percentages, has now been changed again. The new tinkering will factor in the number of items bought from a fixed price multiple listing.

So, if you have a fixed price listing that lists multiple quantities of the item, the more of those you’ve sold, the higher that listing will appear in the Best Match search results. And since Best Match will still (stupidly) be the default search method, this will be a big deal for sellers. So- instead of listing items and getting your shot at good placement when the listing is ending, you now have to jump through still more hoops for placement. Great.

I was pretty stoked about the media items listing fee lowering until I looked a little deeper into the new policies. The media items will have amazing new listing fees- but they will also have amazing new commission fees.

Remember yesterday when I mentioned that they are likely trying to become competitive with Amazon? It looks like they are.  Amazon charges  a 15 percent commission, and now eBay charges the same. That’s right- media items will now have a 15 percent final value fee on items up to $50. In theory that does make them more competitive with Amazon- but Amazon also has no listing fee when you are a ProMerchant subscriber, and every serious Amazon seller is one.

That means that it is still slightly more expensive to sell on eBay, though being able to make your own shipping and selling terms is  extremely attractive. The slightly higher price may not be a deterrent at all if sellers charge a small handling fee that takes care of the listing fee.

The listing fees for media items- books, movies, music, etc., were lowered earlier in the year. The prices were lowered to less than the rest of the categories, and for good reason. Media items tend to move at their own pace and you need a lot of them to make any real money. Many sellers move to Amazon or half.com to get out from under the eBay media listing fees.

This will soon change with the latest lowering of media item listing fees on eBay. The new fees for fixed price media items is .15 per listing, no matter what the cost of the item.

And, from September 9 through December 31, the price will be .05 per listing if you use their stock information listings. If you aren’t familiar with those, read back through this blog to find out the details. If you’re a seller who often lists media items, you’ll have it made this year, and during Christmas rush, no less!