Question
This AuctionBytes article includes a humorous but accurate sequence of events which typically occur after a fee hike is announced.
January is the Cruelest Month for eBay Sellers
By David Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
January 09, 2006
With apologies to T.S. Eliot, January is the cruelest month for online sellers.
Not just because the holidays are over, and there's really no good reason for snow to stick around anymore, but January is also the time that eBay historically announces fee-increases on their site, effective in February. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't believe things will be any different this year. Snow isn't going anywhere until April, and eBay fees are going up. If I were a betting man, I would place money on changes in store fees, and new auction duration fees for 3-, 5- and 7-day listings.
eBay fee increases touch off a series of events that are so predictable, that veteran sellers in this industry must feel like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day. The calendar flips over to January and the month begins playing out almost exactly as it did 12 months prior. Here's the tentative schedule of events, if you don't have last year's score card:
Full artcle: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m01/i09/s04
Blanche
Answer
Well Blanche, aren't you just the bringer of joy!!!!!!
Happy New Year!
Answer
I'm betting that at least part of this years fee increases will be based on "community input" OR the need for "vibrancy".
Answer
I expect this year to be one that leads more and more sellers away from eBay and towards alternatives. Yahoo appears to be changing directions into a site that can compete. They've integrated most of the auction side with Yahoo Shopping and the site is completely free. Other atlernatives are also gaining ground, and people seem to be past the point of angry to depressed that they're stuck at eBay.
On top of that, you have Google Base which may or may not be some sort of player in this, and Microsoft's Live system which is going to be simply amazing. There might not be another eBay to match eBay, but I think sellers will disperse in different directions towards something they enjoy. Pricegrabber, for instance, is great for electronics sellers and other sellers with items listed on the site, and the smaller sites all seem to be making sales for certain niche sellers. There's no one direction to point in as to where to go from eBay, but I think more and more sellers will find their own way out in 2006.
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Happy New Year to you Bill. I hope it's a good one.
I'm betting that at least part of this years fee increases will be based on "community input" OR the need for "vibrancy".
Well of course!! We asked for it and we got it. LOL
Photo courtesy of eBay seller adsgoneby
Blanche
Answer
I'm betting that at least part of this years fee increases will be based on "community input" OR the need for "vibrancy".
Don't forget the need to keep the "exclusivity" of some feature that sellers have learned to use, on the grounds that the feature won't attract buyers if it appears on every auction (e.g. Gallery last year). Of course after that fee is raised there will be free and discount promotions throughout the year to encourage as many sellers as possible to start using it again, because Ebay of course DOES want it to appear on every auction.... and to collect higher fees at the same time.
Kevin
Answer
I decided to look up the dates of the previous eBay fee increase announcements. They range from January 5 to February 16 although the latter was an exception. Most occurred in January and since the 5th and 12th have already passed, I expect eBay to announce the fee increases early next week.
The linked articles below include the details of the fee increases:
January 16 2001 (Tuesday) effective January 31
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic....WR JPX0?pid=37
January 17 2002 (Thursday) effective January 31: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m01/i17/s01
Interestingly, although eBay removes all of the previous fee hikes announcements from their searchable database on the Announcement Board, I found a FAQ page regarding the 2002 fee increases http://pages.ebay.com/community/news...creaseFAQ.html
February 16, 2003 (Sunday evening) effective March 4 (this one was later than usual)
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m02/i17/s01
January 5, 2004 (Monday) effective February 2
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m01/i05/s01
January 12, 2005 (Wednesday) effective February 18
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y05/m01/i12/s00
Blanche