ebay made a loss last year is this true???

[moonwitch]

Go back to the beginning of the thread. They didn't make a loss, they made less profit than the year before.

I read the entire thread...I wasn't commenting on their having made less profit.

I should have made that more obvious in my reply

Still confused though...I don't count my profit until I have paid out my business expenses

My profits per sale is ploughed back into my business expansion programme so it looks as a loss when the accounts get seen by the tax office

[rokins_toys]

When you're building a business or rebuilding a customer base like after jumping of DungBay, gotta love that new nickname, and starting on a new auction site, you will run at a loss until things really do pick up and you start running at a profit.

Trouble is, it's ok to say sellers shouldn't need to raise their prices etc, but the fact remains, services you use, their fees go up. The products you buy from manufacturers or distributors, the price increases, so retail prices change accordingly so profit margins remain the same.

Like for instance, it's costing me £5.99 per star wars figure for Clone Wars and Legacy, where as last year, the figures were £4.80 per figure. Both including VAT by the way. Although Hasbro put up the price, because they put up the price, the percentage the VAT is worth increases as well because of the initial increase. Although in the UK, the Government has cut VAT from 17.5% to 15%, on some items, I'm only saving 10p where as on other, larger, more high end items, I'm saving pounds, and my prices reflect that.

Toys R Us, selling the same figures as me for £7.99, some, you may be lucky to get for £7.79 from Toys R Us. Either way, I'm still cheaper at £7.49, while my competitors on FeeBay are asking between £8.99-£19.99 for the very figures I;m selling for £7.49.

One thing I do love on FeeBay is, a competitor of mine, based in the UK like myself, is selling the Legacy Saga Legends Snowtrooper for £17.99 and he is claiming it is rare. It's not rare, he's imported it from a USA distributor because the wave is comes in is currently out in the USA, wave 3 I think. The Snowtrooper won't be released in the UK until another few months, we only had Legacy Wave 1 release about 2 weeks ago! Trouble is, some people are willing to pay him £17.99 for that one figure when if they just wait a few months, they can buy them from Toys R Us for £7.99 or from me for £7.49. I'll never understand why some people pay these ridiculous asking prices in the first place.

But anyways, my profit margin on the Legacy and Clone Wars figures is £2.00 per figure. I'm selling the figures at £7.49, so I've shrunk my profit margin and by choice. I can not in any way afford to sell those figures on eBay for £7.49 let alone £6.99 because eBay and PayPal fees on a £6.99 figure will wipe out the £1.00 profit margin completely and cause me to sell at a loss.

I actually sold a complete set of The Clone Wars action figures on eBay a few weeks back, mainly because it's stock I need to get rid of as they are not selling so well. My profit margin was £16.00, £2.00 per figure, as I did them as the set at the full RRP £7.99 per figure seeing as it was eBay:

I sold The Clone Wars Wave 1 Complete Set of 8 Action Figures for: £63.92 + £4.95 P&P = £68.87
Profit Margin £2.00 per figure £16.00

EBay Listing Fee 40p x2 (Fixed Price 7 Days x2) £0.80p
EBay Final Value Fee £5.77
PayPal 3% Transaction Fee (based on total price inc P&P) £2.54
Total Fees paid £9.11

Profit Margin £16.00 - Total Fees paid £9.11 = £6.89 Profit I was left with out of £16.00

That's disgusting that eBay and PayPal combined took so much of my profit margin, and my acquaintences in the Government agree completely and were also just as disgusted with the fees I had to pay.

So, on eBay, you can see why some of my competitors are asking £17.99 for one figure while selling another for £6.99, they sell the bad sellers at a loss and make up the difference on a more popular figure.

Still, though, it's disgusting. So I'm glad eBay are losing profits. It's because of their greediness in the first place that has brought them to this position.

One single carded action figure sold for the RRP £7.99 on eBay:

EBay Listing Fee (based on 7 day fixed price listing) £0.40
EBay Final Value Fee £0.79
Total: £1.19

Straight away, even before the PayPal 3% Transaction Fee I have lost £1.19 of my £2.00 profit margin on that action figure.

Again, my acquaintences in the Government are disgusted by this.

FeeBay, DungBay, whatever you want to call them, they're just out to make money, and raising fees is how they do that. I've argued that on a transaction under £100, PayPal should only take a maximum of 25p instead of what they do take. I've argued that they should only take 50p-£1.00 on transactions over £100. Either way, still more than enough for them to make money.

I've argued that eBay have no need to take such a high percentage on the value of the item sold. They could easily make profit with a 2% FVF. And to be honest, 2% is more than enough, and more than fair, and doesn't eat so much into people's profit margins when they're just trying to earn a living.

But their listing fees are ridiculous. Because I'm registered a business sellers, my fees are double that of a prive seller straight away! It's just more of very slim profit margins going into someone elses pockets and not back into your business so your business can grow.

If you're constantly selling at a loss, with rising bills, then that will affect your business. Especially mine. I have to pay a set price for my stock, and with rising bills/fees, it means less stock I'm able to buy, which means less profit. If I'm only breaking even or making a constant loss, it's not worth me being in business. Bills still need to be paid both business and personal. It's why some businesses get into debt and end up going under, because they keep borrowing on top of borrowing, to buy stock, to keep on top of new releases, that over all, is still selling very slowly in the first place because people are tightening their belts, spending less on going out, spending less of things they collect etc, saving every penny they can to keep clothes on their back, food on their table and a roof over their heads.

I really believe eBid needs to advertise on TV. I think that is the only way they can really compete with eBay. eBay have dominated because it has been a brand name people trust, so they turn to eBay first, but over recent years, fees have risen so much, it's driven a lot of people away. So eBid needs to take advantage of this and widen their advertising and get some adverts on prime time TV and put up on the TV screen a price comparrison eBay 9.9% FVF, eBid 2% FVF. That will attract more sellers here. But then eBid needs to hit back at eBay because eBay reckon most of the items on eBay are cheaper than the High Street, that's BS. If you're looking for Star Wars figures, you're paying £2.00-£18.00 more for ONE figure than they are in Toys R Us and my shop! So eBid need to point out in their adverts on TV that because their fees are so much lower than eBay's, sellers can afford to sell for less, undercutting eBay sellers prices.

For Moonwitch: Still confused though...I don't count my profit until I have paid out my business expenses - That's correct. You need to pay out business expenditures first (wages/bills/new stock/new materials etc), then what's left is profit, yours.

I should point out though, like for my shop, I have buy Star Wars figures in cases of 12 figures per case. So the less I sell, the less I can afford to replace. Same with vehicles, they can come in cases of two or four vehicles per case, some larger ones, are single cases, one per case. And with the Star Wars line in particular, there are constant new released every 1-2 months, then with figures, I have 3 different lines to buy, Clone Wars, Legacy Build-A-Droid, Legacy Saga Legends, not to mention battle packs, deluxe figures and vehicles of varying size and expense. SO the less I sell, not only the less I can afford to replace, but no money to expand to get other items on top. Like I currently do not stock the Star Wars comic 2-packs which is a comic and two star wars figures. Because I'm not selling enough of everything else at the moment, I have to be selective on what I buy, and buy in smaller numbers. But once I've shelled out for the 3 lines of figures which I need to stock anyway, I have very little left for anything else. So I'm glad I have no shop on eBay otherwise I'd have to cut back further on stock.

So the less profit you have, the less you have to reinvest. And if you're selling at a loss you having nothing to reinvest. If you're only breaking even, basically, you can only afford to replace what has been sold and not much room for growth.

[westlondoncarparts]

Potential customers who have had bad purchasing experiences in the past on eBay will recognise that eBay has tried to clean up the site and get rid of the bad sellers. EBay buyers also have a degree of protection when purchases are made through PayPal. When eBay buyers have a look at eBid, they find a nice looking site. However, if they look at the eBid Forum postings they get a nasty surprise. They find all the eBay bashing comments and wonder if the bad sellers that eBay has booted off their site have come to eBid. People referring to eBay as DungBay, EvilBay, etc., and referring to PayPal as excrement by calling it PayPoo give the wrong impression and do not generate confidence in the eBid site. I am talking from experience here. When I have tried to introduce some of my customers from elsewhere to eBid, they have said that they will not buy here because of some of the Forum postings about eBay. Most potential buyers are not likely to be interested in baggage that people have from their days on eBay – they just want to be able to buy with confidence from good sellers with a professional selling attitude. I suspect also that some sellers might be put off from listing here because the eBay comments undermine all their hard work in putting listings up. Until these kind of Forum postings stop, I do not think that there is much point in the eBid management increasing the advertising budget. I would like to see eBid grow a lot bigger and to be very successful but do think that the tone of some of the Forum postings is problematic and needs to be reviewed. With respect, eBid members who post up these kinds of comments ought to spend ten minutes imagining that they are in the shoes of potential buyers who have the choice of plenty of sites to buy from on the internet (.....repeat - plenty of sites - eBid is just one of many.....) and work out what it is in the presentation of an internet site that creates an image that gives people confidence that they will have a good buying experience and figure out how best we can all ensure that it is eBid that they buy from and not some other site.

[kedo]

Potential customers who have had bad purchasing experiences in the past on eBay will recognise that eBay has tried to clean up the site and get rid of the bad sellers. EBay buyers also have a degree of protection when purchases are made through PayPal. When eBay buyers have a look at eBid, they find a nice looking site. However, if they look at the eBid Forum postings they get a nasty surprise. They find all the eBay bashing comments and wonder if the bad sellers that eBay has booted off their site have come to eBid. People referring to eBay as DungBay, EvilBay, etc., and referring to PayPal as excrement by calling it PayPoo give the wrong impression and do not generate confidence in the eBid site. I am talking from experience here. When I have tried to introduce some of my customers from elsewhere to eBid, they have said that they will not buy here because of some of the Forum postings about eBay. Most potential buyers are not likely to be interested in baggage that people have from their days on eBay – they just want to be able to buy with confidence from good sellers with a professional selling attitude. I suspect also that some sellers might be put off from listing here because the eBay comments undermine all their hard work in putting listings up. Until these kind of Forum postings stop, I do not think that there is much point in the eBid management increasing the advertising budget. I would like to see eBid grow a lot bigger and to be very successful but do think that the tone of some of the Forum postings is problematic and needs to be reviewed. With respect, eBid members who post up these kinds of comments ought to spend ten minutes imagining that they are in the shoes of potential buyers who have the choice of plenty of sites to buy from on the internet (.....repeat - plenty of sites - eBid is just one of many.....) and work out what it is in the presentation of an internet site that creates an image that gives people confidence that they will have a good buying experience and figure out how best we can all ensure that it is eBid that they buy from and not some other site.

Well, I can't argue with your experience but I think you must have some very unusual buyers. I don't think any of mine bother with, or even know that the forums exist.

I'm not sure but I don't think you're right with regard to P*ypal. I've certainly had a buyer claim for non receipt of an item here. They got a refund just the same as they would of on e*ay (plus the item I suspect).

[victorfrank]

......People referring to eBay as DungBay, EvilBay, etc., and referring to PayPal as excrement by calling it PayPoo give the wrong impression and do not generate confidence in the eBid site. I am talking from experience here. When I have tried to introduce some of my customers from elsewhere to eBid, they have said that they will not buy here because of some of the Forum postings about eBay. Most potential buyers are not likely to be interested in baggage that people have from their days on eBay – they just want to be able to buy with confidence from good sellers with a professional selling attitude. I suspect also that some sellers might be put off from listing here because the eBay comments undermine all their hard work in putting listings up. Until these kind of Forum postings stop, I do not think that there is much point in the eBid management increasing the advertising budget. I would like to see eBid grow a lot bigger and to be very successful but do think that the tone of some of the Forum postings is problematic and needs to be reviewed. .......

I think this is very true indeed. When I was an employer, I would never appoint anyone who criticised their former employer, on the basis that if they have done it to them, they could do it to me. Good news, praise and recommendation for eBid is what is needed and this can be done without denegrating other sites.

[moonwitch]

I think this is very true indeed. When I was an employer, I would never appoint anyone who criticised their former employer, on the basis that if they have done it to them, they could do it to me. Good news, praise and recommendation for eBid is what is needed and this can be done without denegrating other sites.

Very good points...if we want to avoid E*bay getting picked up by Google here (I think that was the reason why it was suggested we don't name them on the forums)...we don't need to use rude names...just miss out some of the letters.

[florida33549]

Well, I can't argue with your experience but I think you must have some very unusual buyers. I don't think any of mine bother with or even know that the forums exist.

I agree, and if they have read ebid forums, they have probably read e*ay's forums which have the same complaints or even worse on their own site.

[baconsdozen]

Don't mention ebay by name on here because Google will pick it up?
Oh whoops a daisy I just did,does that mean another few thousand buyers and sellers are winging their way over there?.
I don't think so.

[GoodBuyGail]

Television advertising would really help this site in the US and probably everywhere. Given the lousy state of the world economy spots are cheaper than they ever were.

[hush77hush]

goodbuygail
when was the last time you did anthing a tv add told you to do????
the only ads that get remembered are the c*ap ones or the ones that bug you so much because they are over played.
also ads in the US are on the tv for 70% of the time they all blend into guff that no one takes any notice of them anymore.
TV adds will be a waste of money even the big river and E*ay have given up on them.