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The Auction Guild Notes Tuesday 12 Feb 2008
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THIS ISSUE -
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20 CENT AUCTION AND FIXED PRICE LISTING DAY
ON EBAY US ON WEDNESDAY 13 FEB 2008
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20 CENT AUCTION AND FIXED PRICE LISTING DAY
EBAY CA ON WEDNESDAY 13 FEB 2008
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EBAY MATH - WHEN A SIGNIFICANT FEE INCREASE IS CALLED A
SIGNIFICANT FEE REDUCTION A 4% TO 55% FEE INCREASE
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MEGGIE GOING GOING GONE - MEG'S GOODBYE MESSAGE
TRANSLATED FROM THE CORPROSPEAK INTO PLAIN LANGUAGE.
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OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST - MORE DETAIL WILL FOLLOW
IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF TAGNOTES
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What Sells on eBay - Prices and data for every category
ALL NEW Save Time AND Money on Research
http://www.Yardsalers.net/bookstore.asp
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The most successful Online Sellers have their own website
For professional, affordable web site design, development,
& low cost web hosting: http://www.tjbailey.com/
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For VHS Films, Books, Games, Toys, Sewing Kits & Patterns,
Collectibles & Craft Items http://www.attiegirl.com/
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This issue brought to you by the preceding ads, supporting TAG
through their advertising dollars. Please support them, by
clicking on or copy/pasting their links and buying their products.
TAG's advertising rates are at -
http://www.auctionguild.com/generic99.html
Visit The Auction Guild Web Log at -
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A link to the complete TAGnotes archive can be found at -
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Don't forget to visit our chat site at TAGchat-OAI.
We post ebaY promotions on the chat site, particularly those promos that
don't warrant sending out an issue of TAGnotes
http://tagchat-oai.com
TAG does not endorse the companies or products advertised
12800 subscribers
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EBAY US 20 CENT LISTING DAY 13 FEB 2008
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It appears that ebaY has resumed its once a month promotions. If they
follow last years pattern these promos will occur on the Wednesday
closest to the 15th of the month, or on the Tues or Thurs of the
following week.
ebaY US is holding a reduced price auction and fixed price listing day
from 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) on WED 13 FEB 2008, and
ending that same day at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).
ebaY is excluding all ebaY Motors listings (including parts &
accessories, passenger vehicles, motorcycles, powersports and other
vehicles), international, live auction, professional services, real
estate, Ad Format and Store Inventory Format listings, and business and
industrial categories in tractors & farm machinery (91952), heavy
equipment (25249), concession trailers, carts (67145), imaging and
aesthetics equipment (92035), forklifts and other lifts (97185),
manufacturing equipment (92080), metalworking equipment (92082) and
commercial printing presses (26247).
All other fees apply.
You can list auction and fixed price items through Sell Your Item Form,
ebaY seller tools, and most third-party tools.
Note: For sellers listing with any tool other than the latest version of
the Sell Your Item form (SYI 3.0) ebaY will not show the promotional
price during the listing process. Instead the discount will be reflected
in the "View Account Status" section in My ebaY, as well as in your next
invoice.
http://pages.ebay.com/promo/feb20cent2008/
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EBAY CA 20 CENT LISTING DAY 13 FEB 2008
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ebaY CA is holding a reduced price auction and fixed price listing day
from 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second) on WED 13 FEB 2008, and
ending that same day at 23:59:59 ET (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).
Note: For sellers listing with any tool other than the latest version of
the Sell Your Item form (SYI 3.0) ebaY will not show the promotional
price during the listing process. Instead the discount will be reflected
in the "View Account Status" section in My ebaY, as well as in your next
invoice.
Same exclusions and restrictions as for the US above EXCEPT that Motors
Parts & Accessories are included in the promotion for Canadian residents
only, who list on ebay.ca only.
http://pages.ebay.ca/promo/081320C/
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EBAY MATH - WHEN A SIGNIFICANT FEE INCREASE IS CALLED
A SIGNIFICANT FEE REDUCTION A 4% TO 55% FEE INCREASE
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ebaY said they are making, "three significant price reductions"
effective 20 Feb 2008. ebaY is reducing listing fees, they are making
galley free again, and they are changing the pricing on their featured
plus option. It is almost needless for TAG to say that ebaY, as usual,
is lying, as the new fee structure is a significant fee increase.
In addition ALL sellers will be required to offer PayPal as a payment
option, or have a merchant account, if they have less than 100 feedback.
Sellers who have " the worst rates of buyer dissatisfaction", will also
have to offer PayPal or a merchant account. TAG has not yet found what
a "worst rate" is. Also sellers who list in certain categories with
higher rates of buyer complaints, will have to offer PayPal or a
merchant account. TAG also has yet to find which categories are
included in the requirement.
Auction - NOTE any item with the Buy It Now option must start at $1.
or
more
01-99 cents was 20 cents - now 15 cents
1.00 to 9.99 was 40 cents - now 35 cents
10-24.99 was 60 cents - now 55 cents
25-49.99 was 1.20 - now 1.00
50-199.99 was 2.40 - now 2.00
200-499.99 was 3.60 - now 3.00
500 or more was 4.80 - now 4.00
Fixed Price
No item can be listed for less than $1.00
1.00 to 9.99 was 40 cents - now 35 cents
10-24.99 was 60 cents - now 55 cents
25-49.99 was 1.20 - now 1.00
50-199.99 was 2.40 - now 2.00
200-499.99 was 3.60 - now 3.00
500 or more was 4.80 - now 4.00
Store Inventory
No item can be listed for less than $1.00
1.00 to 24.99 was 5 cents - now 3 cents
25-199.99 was 10 cents - now 5 cents
200 or more was 10 cents still 10 cents
Final Value Fees for Auction and Fixed Price
*01 - 25.00 was 5.25% - NOW 8.75%
*25 -1,000 was 5.25% of first $25. plus 3.25% or the remaining balance -
NOW 8.75% of first $25. plus 3.50% or the remaining balance
*Over 1000.01 was 5.25% of first $25. ($1.31) plus 3.25% of $975.00
($31.69) plus 1.5% of the remaining balance - NOW 8.75% of first $25.
($2.19) plus 3.50% of 975.00 ($34.13) plus 1.5% of the remaining balance
Final Value Fees for Store Listings
* $1. - $25. was 10% - NOW 12%
* $25.01 to $100. was 10% of first $25. ($2.50) plus 7% of the
remaining balance - NOW 12% of first $25. plus 8% of the remaining
balance
* $100.01 to $1000. was 10% of first $25. ($2.50) plus 7% of
$75.($5.25)plus 5% of the remaining balance - NOW 12% of first $25.
($3.) plus 8% of $75. ($6.) plus 4% of the remaining balance
* Over 1000.01 was 10% of first $25. ($2.50) plus 7% of $75. ($5.25)plus
5% of 900.00 ($45.00) plus 3% of the remaining balance - NOW 12% of
first $25. ($3.) plus 8% of the next $75.00 ($6.) plus 4% of 900.00
($36.) plus 2% of the remaining balance
Reserve Fee
0.01 cent to $49.99 was $1. NOW $2.00
50. to 199.99 unchanged at $2.00
$200 and up unchanged at 1% of reserve price with max of $50
Business and Industrial Capital cats - unchanged at $5.00
The BIG difference with reserve fees is that they are now no longer
refundable, so you pay them if the item sells or not.
There are some fee reductions on ebaY frill features ALL of which are a
net waste of money and immaterial to the majority of sellers.
Lets look at some examples of how these fees add up:
Auction or Fixed Price
An item starts at $24.99 and sells for $85.00 Listing fee was 60 cents
and final value fee was $3.26 for a total fee of $3.86
Listing fee now is 55 cents and final value fee is $4.29 for a total fee
of $4.84
The cost to sell an item under the new fee schedule is now 98 cents MORE
than under the old schedule, a little over a 25% fee increase. No
matter how you add and subtract something that cost more than it did
before for the same service, is a fee INCREASE not a "significant price
reduction". Even if we add in the value of the gallery feature -
something NOT used by all sellers, the net result is STILL a fee
INCREASE.
An item starts at 99 cents and sells for $25.00
Listing fee was 20 cents and final value fee was $1.31 for a total fee
of $1.51
Listing fee now is 15 cents and final value fee is $2.19 for a total fee
of $2.34 for a price increase of 55%
Store Item
Item lists for and sells at $180.
Listing fee was 10 cents and final value fee was $11.75 for a total of
$11.85
Listing fee is now 5 cents and final value fee is $12.20 for a total of
$12.25
Last time we looked $12.25 was 40 cents more than $11.85 for an approx
4% price increase. For items selling under $100 the fee increase is
closer to 16% higher.
One thing that ebaY is doing that has been long overdue is giving large
sellers a discount on their final value fees, if they also maintain a
reasonable standard of detailed seller ratings (DSRs). It has always
been a normal business practice for those who use the product in the
largest quantities to get some discount for their bulk volume, and it is
about time ebaY started to do the same. This applies to US or Canadian
PowerSellers on ebaY.com, ebaY Motors and ebaY.ca sales.
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/basic/index.html
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MEGGIE GOING GOING GONE - MEG'S GOODBYE MESSAGE
TRANSLATED FROM THE CORPROSPEAK INTO PLAIN LANGUAGE.
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PINK QUOTE OF THE DAY - posted by Meg Whitman on the ebaY announcement
board on 23 Jan 08 at 01:04PM PT, and translated from the corprospeak by
TAG.
Many of you know I've said in the past that 10 years was about the right
amount of time for any CEO to stay at the helm of a company. Now that
Iıve reached that milestone myself, I still believe this. It's time for
eBay, and this community, to have a new leadership team, a new
perspective and a new vision. [TRANSLATION] Ten years is a nice amount
of time to milk any one group of people, and now that I have sucked my
billions out of the ebaY cash cows (the sellers), I am ready to move on
to new pastures. Don't worry though, I will still be skimming over a
million a year from you folks, in addition to all the stock options I
still have to sell, before the stock come crashing down.
As we announced today, I will step down as eBayıs President and CEO on
March 31, 2008, and our current head of eBay Marketplaces, John Donahoe,
will succeed me in my role. Rajiv Dutta, our current president of PayPal
and former CFO for several years, will replace John as the president of
eBay Marketplaces. Youıll be hearing more from them and their teams in
the coming weeks and months. [TRANSLATION] ROFLOL, you all thought of me
leaving with hope and anticipation for a better future without me, but I
am sticking you with one of my clones. I have tortured the ebaY
community for 10 years and will take great pleasure in knowing that my
minions will continue to do so in my stead. How dare any of you cash
cows dare think that you could create something new and different from
the exploitive corporate model we MBA types have perpetrated on this
country for such a long time. You thought the internet, being new and
starting from a collaborative base, would be an opportunity for a new
kind of marketplace, but I made sure THAT wasn't going to happen! Oh
yeah and remember Rajiv Dutta? He was the one time ebaY Chief Financial
Officer who said that the 2002 price increase was intended to reduce
clutter from what he termed marginal sellers. Well I'm promoting him
cause he obviously has the right idea about you sellers, and the right
stuff to keep you cash cows in misery.
Looking back, I was given a remarkable opportunity when Pierre Omidyar,
eBayıs founder, asked me to join eBay in January 1998. Ten years later,
I couldnıt be more in awe of what we accomplished together. When I
joined eBay, it was a small site, in some ways still very much an
experiment. Most people didnıt know, or didnıt believe, that perfect
strangers would trade with one another, and that they could almost
always be counted on to do the right thing. [TRANSLATION] Ten years
ago, that pony tailed nut Omidyar had made promises to cut all those
approx 200,000 sellers who had really created ebaY and made it work and
grow, into the IPO and let them buy 10 shares each at IPO price. Well,
I was not going to let THAT happen either! Think about how many people
would have been able to have an influence on the future of ebaY,
especially if they worked together to vote their stock. But fortunately
Pierre was as corruptible as most people, and I convinced him that he
would be harming those 200,000 folks, by letting them buy stock at the
IPO price. I was able to assuage any guilt he might have felt about
lying to his "community" when his billions started to pour in, and all
those suckers who spent a ridiculous amount of time manning the boards
on the site, teaching new users how to use the site, promoting the sites
in their communities were shafted royally by me, which gave me no end of
joy. I taught those folks the TRUE meaning of community, a herd of cows
there to be milked or slaughtered at my convenience.
Over the course of a decade, you have helped revolutionize the way
people use the Internet, buy and sell things, create and grow
businesses, and connect with each other. In 2007 alone, our community of
hundreds of millions of people around the world traded more than $60
billion in goods. Millions found the courage to tap their
entrepreneurial spirit and start businesses. Millions more have pursued
passions and made connections that will last a lifetime. And countless
others found that perfect thing an old high school yearbook, a
favorite toy from their youth that they couldnıt get anywhere else.
[TRANSLATION] Even I have been amazed at how easy it has been to use
and abuse you idiots and you just keep coming back for more.
I am truly astounded by what has been built here. And all the credit
goes to you, our community. You took the chances to start businesses.
You created markets for products where there were none before. You
defined what it means to be a good citizen in this Internet-enabled
world. And yes, we hit a few bumps along with way, but that's to be
expected when youıre building something that has never existed before.
But even, and especially, during those times, I was always inspired by
the passion you showed. [TRANSLATION] Wow, even my hyperbole
amazes me sometimes - I'll tell you what I was inspired by. I was inspired by the
millions and millions I was able to rake in, and the millions I was able
to cut my buddies in for, like the folks at Goldman Sachs. Heck, we
even got a little sloppy and kinda stepped far enough over the line of
the law that they had to do something about it, but hey, all we got were
a few slaps on the wrist, and otherwise we basically got away with it.
Itıs with great pride and a strong sense of accomplishment that I leave
this post and hand it over to the capable leaders we have in John and
Rajiv. Iıve known both of them for many years and have believed for a
long time that they are the ideal people to steer eBay into the future.
[TRANSLATION] I know exactly whom I am handing this cash cow over to.
A couple of people whom I trained and who are just as sleazy and money
grubbing as I am. Just the right sort to continue to milk you cash cow
sellers for all you are worth, while providing the maximum amount of
abuse and pain. And who wouldn't feel a sense of accomplishment? You
idiots made me a billionaire and helped me let my influential buddies
latch on to the cash cow teat and cash in on millions and millions of
your hard earned dollars.
eBay is in my blood and always will be, so I'm not stepping back
completely; I will remain on eBayıs Board of Directors. And of course,
I'll keep buying and selling on the site. [TRANSLATION] And you sucker
sellers will be handing over something like a million a year to have me
on the board, which will help fund my political ambitions.
I'm so very honored to have worked with you in building this incredible
community. Thank you for letting me be a part of it for the last decade.
[TRANSLATION] You sellers have made my every dream come true and I have
never had more fun in my life, exploiting such a bunch of losers! I
cheated you, defrauded you, destroyed your businesses, made astronomical
profits for me and my buddies and kept raising your fees to squeeze your
profits to nothing. I took a great idea and a great community, and
crushed and mutilated it, pressing every bit of good I could out of it
for my own benefit, and I am laughing all the way to the bank. Goodbye
you suckers.
Meg
TAG sees that with Mitt Romney's presidential bid going down the tubes,
Meg is now talking about a run at the California Governors seat. If she
does as well in California as she has at ebaY, everyone there will have
to move to the mid-west!
PQOD II - Bill Cobb in his 29 Jan 08 posting on the announcement board
said,
"We, and our friends at PayPal, have heard you and I think you'll be
happy with what we're going to do for you." Someone needs to tell Bill
that PayPal is not ebaY's friend, but a company owned by ebaY. No
wonder Bill did not get the promotion to CEO.
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OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST - MORE DETAIL WILL FOLLOW
IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF TAGNOTES
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ebaY is changing their feedback system effective in May to no longer
allow sellers to leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers. It is
hard to know if this plan will actually go into effect as written as it
appears to be one of those things that ebaY threw to the community and
will somewhat modify before actually implementing.
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ebaY has reduced the listing fees on certain media categories. These
reductions will take place on 20 Feb with the other fee changes.
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ebaY is changing the default search to give higher precedence to sellers
ebaY decides is more worthy of appearing in search, so though sellers
will get to pay the same or more for their listings (see PowerSeller
discount comments above) they may not appear in the default search for
an item. Buyers will still be able to specify different search
criteria, such as ending soonest, and as far as TAG can tell, all
seller's items will appear in ending time order despite ebaY's
discrimination.
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Many more sellers will now be required to offer PayPal as a payment
option. Such criteria will be based on ebaY's "judgment" of seller
performance, or because a seller has less than 100 feedback, or because
a seller lists in certain categories ebaY has judged to be high risk.
PayPal criteria have changed, and PayPal will now reserve the right to
not send payment to sellers until a buyer has left positive feedback or
21 days later whichever comes first. This will allow PayPal to float as
much seller money as they desire whenever they desire with no seller
recourse.
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Microsoft is trying to do a hostile takeover of Yahoo. This is
interesting since it has been rumored that Microsoft was negotiating to
buy ebaY.
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THE AUCTION GUILD
and eTRADERS GUILD
www.auctionguild.com
Not just a venue
http://www.auctionguild.com
email us - tag@theauctionguild.com
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Copyright 1999 - 2008 The Auction Guild Inc All rights reserved
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