eBay fine print FYI...

I've sold a few cars and motorcycles on eBay in the past, though never more than one or two per year. I've had my Harley Sportster on there for a while and last night, when I went to list my Miata, I noticed that the fee structure was different this time. I stopped short of posting the auction and did a little investigation. All of this info is presented clearly right on eBay's page, but it caught me off guard and I thought I would point it out here because it may impact some of you guys if you're not careful.

As I was posting the Miata ad, I saw that I was listed as a High Volume seller. I hadn't sold anything this year, but I had posted the Harley and despite a few low offers, it hasn't sold. I have relisted it five times. I guess I was a little optimistic... Regardless of how many sales you have, you become a High Volume Seller when you list your seventh item in any calendar year and you permanently become a high volume seller, so if you list one vehicle in the following year, you are subject to the High Volume Seller fee structure. Again, this is clearly spelled out, but you may not see it coming. Needless to say, I am stepping away from selling on eBay until after December 31.

Also, if anyone needs a nice Miata or a Sportster...

Let me guess. If you're a High Volume Seller, in which they have more chances to collect fees from you, they don't reward you with lower fees which make you want to list MORE things so they make MORE money, right?

They jack UP the fees, discouraging you from listing more, as you have done here, right?

Ebay drives me berkeleying insane.

Swank Force One wrote: Let me guess. If you're a High Volume Seller, in which they have more chances to collect fees from you, they don't reward you with lower fees which make you want to list MORE things so they make MORE money, right? They jack UP the fees, discouraging you from listing more, as you have done here, right? Ebay drives me berkeleying insane.

Its like dealing drugs. Your first sales are nearly free, set that hook and set it good.

Oh, how cool Ebay used to be!
It is now a mere shell of what it once used to be.

I sold a lot there in the past (like 1999-2001).
I last sold a car on there in 2011 but before that it had been years.

Man that Miata is pretty. Looking for an automatic for the daughter car, but still a few months away.

Yet another validation for leaving eBay back in 2005 or so. Don't get me started on Paypal buyers getting all the breaks.

In reply to Swank Force One:

Not exactly, and I refuse to be an eBay basher, as they have been very good to me.

If you are a Low Volume Seller, there's no fee to list your car and you pay a $125 Successful Listing Fee if the car sells for more than $2000. I think that's fair, given the massive exposure.

If you are a High Volume Seller, there is a $50 listing fee, but there is no Successful Listing Fee. I think that's a fair number as well, assuming that you have a vehicle that you expect will sell quickly and is priced accordingly.

It's just something that sellers need to be aware of.

Create a brand new eBay account?

That doesn't sound too bad, but it seems that it's becoming more difficult to have successful listings so you end up listing multiple times

Dave wrote: Create a brand new eBay account?

Not usually the way that I roll, but Hmmm...

I stopped selling vehicles there when they officially acknowledge that a high bid was "not binding", allowing a seller to back out without penalty post-sale.

Could be that they are trying to ensure a reduction in overlisting by sellers who flake. (not directed at you, Woody)

If you list a car umpteen times and done complete the deal, it provides a negative incentive for continuing doing it at volume, while maintaining ability for casual users to do their deals without penalty. The reduced overall fee provides relief for volume dealers and an incentive to try to complete every deal.

An interesting, if imperfect solution to a problem they might have been having.

Behavior control.

I was working on a project where if you fulffed what was an $x transaction which required you submit paperwork in a straight manner there was a $0.5x reprocessing fee. The project only involved established users. We have seen a strong reduction in errors as they started seeing it bite into their margins. Reduced the workload on the project by a ton and kept us from having to bring too many more people on board to cover it (or upping general fees due to a few substandard users). Problem was that they had no stake in ensuring accuracy of submissions aside from postage before.

Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to Apexcarver: You mean buyers who flake. The biggest issue with Ebay is there is 0 penalty for buyers if they do not follow through. I can bid on anything, not pay, and leave the seller negative feedback for fun. That seller can not leave me any feedback. Sounds fair.

The seller CAN ban you from ever buying from them again. I'm banned from a seller.

Because i reported them to the BBB then they were stupid enough to contest it. Once they got shot to E36 M3 i got a nice notice from Ebay saying that was banned from Ebay ENTIRELY for one week, then permanently disallowed from purchasing from this seller. Which is fine, i wasnt going to seek them out.

But turns out this seller actually involves 5-10 Ebay accounts. So... much of my supply of cheap chinese crap has been cut off.

BTW: Speed Daddy sucks.

I've really had nothing but good luck on eBay in about 400 transactions. I only had one non-payer, but it was for less than $100 I hadn't shipped the item yet. I've never been burned as a buyer. And everyone who has bought a car from me has later told me that it was better than they had expected.

Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to Apexcarver: You mean buyers who flake. The biggest issue with Ebay is there is 0 penalty for buyers if they do not follow through. I can bid on anything, not pay, and leave the seller negative feedback for fun. That seller can not leave me any feedback. Sounds fair.

This exactly. I like Ebay and I am a big time user of it but it completely and always favors the buyer. I have many examples of this but I will share just one. A buyer from South America purchased an item from me. Before everyone tells me what a bad idea it is to ship to South America, I have done it many times and generally have had good luck with it. This buyer was new to Ebay and had 0 feedback. So ya things started out poorly. Shipped item and hoped all would be well. A couple of weeks later buyer contacted me, he had never received the item. I explained to him that delivery to SA can sometimes take weeks. I actually had one item take 2 months to get there. Anyway, I asked him to be patient and give it one more week and if he still hadn't received it to contact me again. Next day I had negative feedback with a note saying I was a bad seller. And there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't leave him negative feedback. I couldn't do anything. That's Ebay.

In fact I am always surprised that everything is the sellers fault. If the item is damaged in shipping.......it's the sellers fault. If the item gets lost.........it's the seller's fault. If the buyer neglects to update his address after moving and the item get's shipped to an old address ........it's the seller's fault. It's just Ebay. That's it. That's how it works. It's the only game in town.

I closed my store when fee got jacked up. I've gone back to hording and selling at swap meets when I have time.