Don’t Buy into eBay’s Tricks

The eBay magic has come and gone. There is no need to “find it” or to find anything for that matter on eBay. eBay is only a shadow of it’s former self largely because they do not know how to manage the innovativeness of their product and they do not know how to take care of their customers (more importantly the sellers.) With a few promotional tricks, eBay has easily generated more sales for themselves by doing absolutely nothing.

In 2007, after many pricing changes, suspensions of accounts, and the introduction to eBay Express and eBay Motors, they are quietly trying to sucker more eBay sellers to spend more money so that they can generate more and more customers to bid on something they had no intention to purchase.

Here is what eBay doesn’t want you to know: eBay offers “specials” on listing fees for their sellers, hoping the seller would over list their usual amount of auctions and flood the market with products.

ebay tricks

Now, to most sellers this is great, they can list the same amount of listings and save a bundle on the cost. However, with the reduction of these fees, other sellers are going to be listing more products which floods the auctions page. With the surge of auctions, sellers have to keep up with the rate of listings or be left in the dust by other sellers who have deep pockets.

Here is how it works:

Normal:
1. Seller A, lists 100 Auctions, and Seller B lists 100 Auctions
2. Total 200 Auctions, 1:1 ratio, $1 per listing, eBay makes $200
3. Sell Through: 10% ~20, Non-paying Bidder: 10% of Sell Through ~2
eBay imposes a 50% reduction in fees : (Scenario A)
1. Seller A lists 100 Auctions Seller B lists 200 Auctions
2. Total 300 Auctions, 1:2 ratios, $0.50 per listing, eBay makes $150
3. Sell Through: 10% ~30, Non-paying Bidder: 10% of Sell Through ~3

At this point, Seller A will not get as much exposure than Seller B because his auctions are flooded at the rate of 1:2. Seller A will lose a percentage of the sale to Seller B simply because of visibility. So it would be better if Seller A listed the same budgeted amount as before.

eBay imposes a 50% reduction in fees : (Scenario B)
1. Seller A lists 200 Auctions Seller B lists 200 Auctions
2. Total 400 Auctions, 1:1 ratio, $0.50 per listing, eBay makes $200
3. Sell Through: 10% ~40, Non-paying Bidder: 10% of Sell Through ~4

It seems harmless, except for one thing, eBay now makes money from the inconsistency of this ratio. There are easily 50+ sellers for each category, and the chances are the better sellers will not be able to make a sale and sellers with “deep pockets” and ridiculous prices will have taken good eBayers who genuinely want to purchase something.

Sure, eBay has given their sellers a great deal when it comes to their listing fee, but it’s sort of like charging free admission to a movie theater and charging $10 for a small popcorn.

The key here is Non-paying bidders. eBay has also racked up 100% more non-paying bidders and other fees that accompany the 400 auctions posted in Scenario B.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Don’t buy into eBay’s tricks, you will just get burned.

*We have been selling on eBay for over 4 years. We have accumulated 24,000+ positive feedback and we still sell on eBay. Hopefully, not for long.