New eBay Fee Increase will Kill Bullion and Coin Sales

[Dr. Cadmium]

If you routinely shop for coins and bullion on eBay, be prepared to see higher prices and a much smaller selection in the coming months.

The new eBay fee structure announced a couple of weeks ago is going to force a lot of bullion dealers off of the site. See the details here: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation ... ation.html

While it's a much simpler fee structure, the flat 7% final value fee in the Coins category means that sellers of most coins and bullion will be paying more than the double the fees they're accustomed to paying.

Most PM dealers operate on very small margins, often 2% or less. Many, if not most of the small to medium sized dealers on the site will be forced to either greatly raise prices on their products or to stop selling on the site.

This change will greatly affect sellers in all categories, but as usual it's buried in the typical eBay announcement of "we say we're decreasing fees but we're really increasing them and changing 3 dozen other things at the same time."

[Dr. Cadmium]

In afterthought, "kill" is probably too strong a word, but this change will definitely have a negative effect on the marketplace.

[pennypicker]

In afterthought, "kill" is probably too strong a word, but this change will definitely have a negative effect on the marketplace.

Ebay has always been good at "pissing down our backs and telling us its raining".

[CLINT-THE-GREAT]

Well if you have a eBay Store, the flat fee for Coins and Bullion is 9% and then if you are Top Rated seller that's another 20% Final Value fees. So if you have a store and top rated, it really is a wash from what the fees are now.

-The Great

[NDFarmer]

Doesn't matter much to me I quit selling things on FEEbay a long time ago.

[Rodebaugh]

Let's get to cutting through the bullchit sandwich the good news crew of eBay is trying to feed us.
Here is the new shakedown for small part time sellers without a store. (95% of RCers I know)

10% FVF ($250 max fee)

So if you list an ounce of gold and it sells for $1650 (nicely above spot). You get $1436.85 after eBay -$165 and Paypal -$48.15 do their money grab.

Feeling warm and fuzzy....thanks for the nice new streamlined fee schedual eBay.

[Morsecode]

It really hurts the numismatic coins more than straight bullion, don't you think?

You can ditch bullion pretty quick for a decent price in any number of fee-free ways, including here on RC. But if you're looking to sell a slabbed seated dime you really need to reach a wider audience, unless time is not a factor.

[CLINT-THE-GREAT]

Very true, I was just saying that I don't think the big sellers of Coins/Bullion will leave in droves. If you take the same scenario but with a Store and Top Rated

9% FVF (store discount of 1%)
20% Top Rated seller discount of FVF

$1650 gold = $1,483.05 $118.80 ebay fee and still same Paypal of $48.15

So it will save Stores/TRS $46.20 versus the small time seller. So the big boyz won't take a hit, But take a guess who eBay cares more about.... . If you are a casual seller, you better have gotten that 1oz of AU for about $900 or you are taking a huge bath!!!:

-The Great

[Rastatodd]

Has anybody done business on "eCrater". Everybody has like their own kiosk to sell what ever wares one would like to sell. A few years ago I score a sweet buy on some 72% Mexican junk silver . I believe it's free to join. Just create your stores website with some help from eCrater and you are in business. One just needs to get the word out to the masses about your store, that's all. Just a thought. eBay is dead for me anyway. Stuff there goes for way to much cash.

[blackrabbit]

E-bay pisses me off more and more!

[slickeast]

The fees are ridiculous. I plugged in some numbers. Some fees were more than double with the new structure. Looks like e-bay is getting greedy.

[Engineer]

On the bright side, this might help to convince the owner of my LCS to make better deals in his storefront. With his feebay costs going up, he'll be looking for other outlets.

[blackrabbit]

Don't forget they are now going to charge you 10% of your shipping cost too. So you have to factor that into the numbers too.

[chris6084]

Well if you have a eBay Store, the flat fee for Coins and Bullion is 9% and then if you are Top Rated seller that's another 20% Final Value fees. So if you have a store and top rated, it really is a wash from what the fees are now.

-The Great

No, it is not a wash. One thing that people seem to forget is that the structure today is not a straight line percent final value fee. After $50, the fee is greatly reduced. I can not remember off the top of my head, and it varies weather you have a store or not, but I will say from $50 to $1000 the final value fee was 4%. After $1000, the fee is reduced even further. So now, with the new straight percentage fee, the final value fees for higher priced items is significantly higher than they are today. As slickeast pointed out, there are items where the final value fee more than doubles. This makes me not want to sell ANY item over $50 on ebay. I have sold many CTU's on ebay for slightly more than they sell here on Realcent after fees. With the new structure, I might as well dump them back at the bank.

[Thogey]

Does anyone here sell bullion on e-bay? I've done it (as doc says:tuition paid)

The only silver I sell there is low purity foreign that you guys would not touch with a 10 foot pole.

Even for numistimatics, the exposure and convenience is worth the fee IMO

E-bay is great! I sell crap, I mean stuff that I buy as junk, for 1000% more than any sane person would pay.

Look at the steampunk thread. e-bay has it's place and they deserve their cut. It costs money to sell things and they understand that.

[SilverDragon72]

This is why I will continue to NOT shop on Ebay, thank you very much.

[Thogey]

This is why I will continue to NOT shop on Ebay, thank you very much.

I don't think you understand. I have a perfect 600+ 5 star across the board rating.

The point is: you can find things that others want, and make money. "one man's garbage is another man's gold"

Everything I sell is describe exactly as is and I make a few house payments a year selling " a 1950's TheroDerm oil heater controller' Now how else are you going to move something like that?

E-bay provides great international exposure.

E-bay is a great place to buy , tax free, materials for business. Chain saw chains, air filters, packing materials.. I just bought my wife a $150(retail) pair of shoes for $90.

[db23]

I'd bet that Apmex and the other big dealers are immune to the fee increases. In fact I bet that they are loving it because it's driving away any competition.

[OneBiteAtATime]

I tend to agree with Thogey. eBay is awesome for something that needs a wide exposure to sell. I love flipping crap on eBay. The only change I see is re-calculate what I can afford to pay for an item to sell. Until someone comes up with a viable alternative - feeBay is the place.

[currencydebasement]

Ebay has its place. Whether you want to sell there or not is a rational business decision, does the increased premium you may get on the sale and ease offset the costs. That said, I was pretty annoyed to get the, "Hey, we are giving you these listing options that you never wanted, or anyone else apparantly, for free! In exchange we are "streamlining" the fees and making you pay at least 10% more. It's a win win!" They did the same thing with shipping, they acted like all you had to do was ship stuff for free and avoid the costs, as if the shipping was not an actual expense you had whether or not you charged for it.

[pennypicker]

Even though I strongly dislike Ebay's greed they do offer great exposure. Perfect example: five years ago while visiting my grandmother I found an old wooden early 1940's Pepsi 6-pack bottle container with nice graphics. We took it to the local antique shop in town and he looked it up and found a picture of the exact item and showed us that it listed for $120. He offered my grandmother $60 for it but we decided to throw it on ebay where it sold for a whopping $315!! Two bidders fought over for it. So ebay, though I don't like them, does have it's advantages.

[SilverDragon72]

This is why I will continue to NOT shop on Ebay, thank you very much.

I don't think you understand. I have a perfect 600+ 5 star across the board rating.

The point is: you can find things that others want, and make money. "one man's garbage is another man's gold"

Everything I sell is describe exactly as is and I make a few house payments a year selling " a 1950's TheroDerm oil heater controller' Now how else are you going to move something like that?

E-bay provides great international exposure.

E-bay is a great place to buy , tax free, materials for business. Chain saw chains, air filters, packing materials.. I just bought my wife a $150(retail) pair of shoes for $90.

Don't get me wrong, Thogey. I was just saying that I don't shop on Ebay much. I've only done it like once or twice maybe.

Everyone keeps calling it FeeBay....so I'm guessing that people don't make lots of money when it's all said and done, and now less with the fee increases.

[fb101]

i dont shop on ebay much anymore and i havent sold anything there in a while but it's time for some real competition.
i like the gold example, and frankly i cant wait for ebay to hit the skids.

[daviscfad]

The only thing with this that aggrevates me is, when you sell something it's yours not ebays, when ebay makes more money than you, "that you hunted down and paid a good price for, and you done all the leg work", it gets discouraging. I mean why should you pay 2000 for something that sells for 2300, then ebay get 230 and you get 70? And thats before paypal takes their cut. That does not add up to me. Yes they gave you a broader audience, but with out the item they got nothing.