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EBay's unfair discount program

Posted Jun 20 2008, 04:25 PM by Kim Peterson
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EBay sellers have been looking suspiciously at eBay's Buy.com store for a while now, and with good reason. There are currently more than 500,000 items for sale in this one store, and Buy.com appears to be offering all of them as a "buy it now" option. 

The fee eBay charges a normal seller to list this many items is astronomical. But Buy.com can afford it because EBay has started discounting fees for large sellers. And that's got small sellers worried they're being pushed out. The S.F. Chronicle has the details: Sellers get a discount if they have sales of $500,000 a month and a feedback score of 4.9 out of 5.

EBay shares fell more than 3% today to close at $28.17.

It's unclear what level of discount eBay will give its biggest sellers, and some have already wondered if Buy.com gets to list for free. Why else would Buy.com be selling a single AA battery for $7.99 with $6.98 shipping?

EBay has for years promised sellers an even playing field, according to the terrific AuctionBytes blog. Former CEO Meg Whitman has reportedly said that "EBay has to be a level playing field. That is the core part of our DNA, and it has to be a part of it going forward."

Now, eBay says the policy changes will encourage good customer service. Is it fair? Absolutely not. Smaller sellers are being pushed out, and many are finding better opportunities on their own Web sites or at rival auction sites. EBay wants its sales to skew toward bigger, fixed-price listings, and the vendor discounts are one way to reach that goal.

Related reading:

EBay's changing auction strategy

Did the eBay boycott work?

EBay isn't cheap, says ValueCruncher

 

Comments

 

If you want to know how Astronomical the Fees (and % of Sellers Total Profit) that eBay/PayPal charges it Normal Sellers, Please check out this new free online eBay & ALTERNATIVES Fee & Profit CALCULATOR here:

www.pheebay.com/1

Thanks and if you like it let others know. :)

This is only a small part of what eBay has done to it's sellers of many years who built the site up. Ebay has driven many good sellers away with their unfair changes and dictator ways. Many sellers around the world got fed up with being told how to run THEIR BUSINESS and what they could do with THEIR BUSINESS and what types of payments they could take with THEIR BUSINESS. So these sellers have boycotted and yes the boycott is still going and making a difference. Ebay says No but  eBay has sent out coupons for this and that, padded their listings with Buy.com items, suspended or threatened to suspend sellers for all kinds of reasons and more. Right now eBay is the biggest scammer of all time. Sellers are leaving - many have opened their own web sites, many have listed on other sites and the newest site that is going FAST is GoZbay.com and will be the next top auction site.

only $7.99 for a  AA battery?   where do I sign.

I stopped using Ebay years ago because of the ridiculous bull they try to pull.

It's only a matter of time before they fall and it will be a big one I am sure.

I have sold a ton of personal items on Ebay and have  had NO problems whatsoever. Recently we sold a Kawasaki and the high bidder did not pay - EBay refunded our selling fees and if the bidder was suspended or threatened with suspension - oh well! She should not have kept bidding if she didn't have the money in hand to pay for it. I love EBay - I will stay with them.

Wake Up!! This is nothing new. Fifteen years ago I leased space in a new, beautiful, high dollar center owned by a well known leasing corporation. As with all the tenants,the rent was high, not to mention their percentage of our yrly. gross, maintenance fees, and they required our personal guarantee for the life of the lease. That is, the  "Mom & Pop-ers" .  Meanwwile, the "Anchor Tenants"  received all of the perks!! The landlord now own a NFL team....I wonder which player I bought?!

Ebay execs are trampling consumer laws. Ebay sells a service which means sellers are a consumer and our buying a product from ebay. This company has horrid customer service, paractices unfair business tactics on a daily basis . Ebay execs are being hit with the quiet talk of insider trading, they sold their stock in massive quantites before there latest round of ill thought changes. It is only a matter of time beore the attorney generals of every state sue ebay for unfair business practices. This company is being looked at for violation of the RICO ACT because of its Paypal policy. Their stock is tanking, there sellers are fed up and the buyers who are out there daily looking to defraud sellers because ebay allows then to do so, are running rampant on the site. Small businesses on ebay are trapped there for the time being, other venues which treat the sellers with respect are growing and ebay is having tosend out coupons nationwide to keep buyers there. The bad vibes, the terrible mangement, the disrespect of sellers, the horrid customer service, and the shoplifting con artists will be the demise of ebay. Ebays war chest will not be large enough to pay off the massive class action lawsuit which is coming from millions of sellers.

It is no wonder.  Ebay has an automated system where those sellers who can "work the system" harass buyers into removing their negative feedback to the point that it becomes criminal harassment.  And then Ebay ignores the purchaser's complaints.  So then Ebay implements this new rule to stop sellers from harassing purchasers in order to keep their numbers up and receive ebay special status, but it also affects good sellers who do not harass their purchasers and can't leave legit feedback or get help when they are stiffed by the buyer.  Ebay needs to get rid of automation so that real people can deal with legit complaints, and boot off those who are the harassing sellers and deadbeat buyers.   That will stop the harassers and not penalize the good faith sellers and buyers.  Also, Ebay needs to lower their prices and stop discriminating against the smaller seller.  To Ebay, one seller is expendable, but as the word gets out that they do not favor the small seller, and many hear about this, then you can see, their overall profits are affected because together, taken as a group, there are a lot of small sellers.  Finally, Ebay needs to quit harassing craigslist and groups like that who offer alternatives to Ebay.  Thanks.

I dont understand all the anger from these unhappy sellers. If you dont like them stop using them. Must be that they are your best option and you want better. Is someone twisting your arm to use them?

just go to www.pheebay.com to see the latest and greatest e-bay and paypal rip offs they are stealing blind from you everyday stop selling on e-bay, they screw the seller everyday, stop using paypal and e-bay. they cant win if we dont sell on there. they screw there biggest customre base the seller the little guy, it is time you all crush the big guy take them out do not sell your items on e-bay anymore and dont use paypal either there affilate, there is a new site on the way to help take out e-bay you will see full page ads stating in the next few months in major publications.

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