eBay Charges Final Value Fees on Shipping WTF? TYS

eBay has started charging final value fees on the shipping price paid by buyers on all products bought through their platform. This is not news, they announced it, they did it, eBay sellers complained, fees were charged yet life goes on and still millions of sellers continue to sell on eBay - many of them still charging for shipping, despite eBay's desperate attempts to convert the world to a free shipping system.

What I'd like to comment about is the reaction from the selling community, or at least the eBay selling community that I deal with. Last weekend was my first real exposure to eBay sellers since the final value fees on shipping was announced. It was the first local flea market of the year, a market with around 500 vendors. I must have heard the same sob stories from at least a dozen vendors, many of whom I consider friends, aquaintences, or at the very least "pickers." The consensus among the flea marketeers was that eBay is the devil and that eBay is raping sellers. The sad part is that even the longtime eBay sellers are saying this....like it is fresh news or they had an epiphany.

Back in 2006, FVF's on shipping was discussed as a way that eBay would continue to increase revenue. Also discussed during that time was eBay mandating a Paypal only payment method and even higher fees for sellers. At the time management laughed off those theories as silly and denied that they would ever happen. Oh, and the eBay fanboys all reiterated their same old crap that eBay pays the bills and that they were willing to bend if the eBay winds blew harder.

Well, let me congratulate eBay on remaining relevent, because five years later, they've fulfilled every prophecy that we forecasted and still people keep listing shit for sale.....and all the while Craigslist remains free and local classified sites have sprouted up around the country like wildfire.

I find it odd, but somehow familiar, that the sellers at the local flea market are willing to continue to bend to eBay changes. This is 2011 for God's sake! I can update my Facebook page with photos I just took on my Blackberry, photos that are tagged with my GPS location from a 4G network or wifi instantly for free, yet eBay keeps charging more for their service that has disimproved (word "disimproved" copyright ©Firemeg 2011) for the past six or seven years. Prices of stand-alone shopping sites have plummetted and their ease-of-use has increased exponentially while average selling prices have dropped on eBay. Still, die-hard sellers continue to post on eBay.

So I'm wondering....what is the breaking point for the masses of sellers still selling on eBay? They seem to disregard higher fees, lower selling prices, more seller restrictions, decreased traffic, etc. etc. So what does it take to get someone to look beyond eBay? A subscription fee to be allowed to sell? Sound out of the question? We'll just save this blog post and see about that, perhaps 3 years down the road.