Lifetime Membership Sign-up Needs CLEAR Disclosure of Final Value Fees

[wizeguy101]

A new thread was created for this reply because the discussion/subject was off topic for the thread in which it originated...

Yes if you are a Seller+ Lifetime you get 5 free photos and one free video fro every listing.
And there is no charge fro the listing unless it sells and then you pay 2% fvf.
You can list with no fvf but then you don't get a gallery pic.

Wow, really?? Until I read your post, I had NO IDEA about this!

I realize this is off-topic for this thread, but I must ALSO admit that as a new lifetime member, I was "missing something" here, and feel *very* misled!!! The front page Limited Time Offer ad and the Account Plan Comparison Chart which is displayed to all new users when upgrading both say, "Zero Listing Fees, Zero Final Value Fees, 5 Free Photos, For Life". Nowhere does either even *suggest* -- even in small print -- that *none* of my five free photos will actually be *seen* by buyers when they browse or perform a search! Nor is there a line item on the Account Comparison chart for Gallery Listing Cost. Why not? It is obviously a *huge* factor in comparing any account plan costs.

This needs to be changed! It is readily and intentionally inferred from every piece of literature placed in front of me before this point that the inclusion of my first picture in the gallery search is included in the price paid. This information -- that a service which is included for free at nearly every other site imaginable isn't included *even after paying for membership* -- appears to be deliberately omitted, or at the very least heavily obfuscated, until after I've paid my $50 to join. This promotional tactic will ultimately result in short term gains followed by buyer's remorse and resentment for all things Ebid.

I do *not* feel cheated or want a refund. Nor am I suggesting that a 2% FVF for "lifetime" members to post unlimited items in the industry defacto standard gallery format is necessarily unreasonable. I fully understand that without revenue, there is no Ebid. But I *do* feel tricked and lied to! Others are certain to have the same reaction and feel (and blog) negatively about Ebid's "Hidden Fees".

Please change this. Full Disclosure is absolutely imperative to building the trust of new and potential clients, buyers and sellers alike!

[Juliebabe25]

Yes I do agree the whole ebid membership and listing fees and pages and wording need tidying up.
They are unnecessarily complicated.
But of course it does seem to be working for the owners.
The question is whether they would get more members or more income if they simplified it

Yes I have always thought they should say there is a fvf of 2%, unless you don't use gallery when it is free.

I also think ebid should do away with the free joining option.

[JanetB]

Yes if you are a Seller+ Lifetime you get 5 free photos and one free video fro every listing.
And there is no charge fro the listing unless it sells and then you pay 2% fvf.
You can list with no fvf but then you don't get a gallery pic.

This is a little misleading/confusing.

It should read:

Free auction style listing = no thumbnail in search list - no FVF when items sells
Gallery style listing = thumbnail in search list - 2% FVF when items sells.

[JanetB]

A new thread was created for this reply because the discussion/subject was off topic for the thread in which it originated...




Wow, really?? Until I read your post, I had NO IDEA about this!

I realize this is off-topic for this thread, but I must ALSO admit that as a new lifetime member, I was "missing something" here, and feel *very* misled!!! The front page Limited Time Offer ad and the Account Plan Comparison Chart which is displayed to all new users when upgrading both say, "Zero Listing Fees, Zero Final Value Fees, 5 Free Photos, For Life". Nowhere does either even *suggest* -- even in small print -- that *none* of my five free photos will actually be *seen* by buyers when they browse or perform a search! Nor is there a line item on the Account Comparison chart for Gallery Listing Cost. Why not? It is obviously a *huge* factor in comparing any account plan costs.

This needs to be changed! It is readily and intentionally inferred from every piece of literature placed in front of me before this point that the inclusion of my first picture in the gallery search is included in the price paid. This information -- that a service which is included for free at nearly every other site imaginable isn't included *even after paying for membership* -- appears to be deliberately omitted, or at the very least heavily obfuscated, until after I've paid my $50 to join. This promotional tactic will ultimately result in short term gains followed by buyer's remorse and resentment for all things Ebid.

I do *not* feel cheated or want a refund. Nor am I suggesting that a 2% FVF for "lifetime" members to post unlimited items in the industry defacto standard gallery format is necessarily unreasonable. I fully understand that without revenue, there is no Ebid. But I *do* feel tricked and lied to! Others are certain to have the same reaction and feel (and blog) negatively about Ebid's "Hidden Fees".

Please change this. Full Disclosure is absolutely imperative to building the trust of new and potential clients, buyers and sellers alike!

http://us.ebid.net/help_money.php

Scroll down to:
2) Do you have a list of your different auction fees?

Yes.

[wizeguy101]

http://us.ebid.net/help_money.php

Scroll down to:
2) Do you have a list of your different auction fees?

Yes.

Yes, but the existence of the Gallery Fee(or even an explanation of what that means, after all, it says my pictures are Free!) is not made known to the new user on the Comparison Chart or the Recruitment materials, is it? You have to first assume there is a catch and go looking for caveats before you're going to find it. And that leaves a seriously bitter taste.

That's one of reasons I feel so strongly that they should change it. But the second reason is because there is no need to hide it. The Free listings is no less true because the gallery fee exists, and it's even easily justified.

I won't defend eBid's decision to not make the 2% fvf for Seller+ Accounts upfront and obvious to people signing up.
But in defense of the fee itself, there are two noteworthy points that should be made:

1) It's Optional! So very incredibly don't have to do it Optional.
There is a good share of users who don't use it, and they aren't paying any fees, as promised. I don't know if they're actually moving product, I haven't been here long enough to ask them, but they definitely aren't paying.

2) eBid's 2% FVF for seller+ members is "Pay for Performance", not "Pay for the Priveledge" like feebay's listing upgrades. Use it on 5,000 auctions, but you only pay for it when you sell.

That is a Big Deal to the nickel and dimed masses. I know! I'm one of them. The buyers got my stuff, ebay got my money ...and all I've got left are pennies and a few hard earned feedback points. I'm left sitting there going, "wait - what just happened?"

But that's what a final value fee IS, after all, pay for performance ...it just seems odd to have it tied to having your thumbnail displayed. I get a free thumbnail displayed on craigslist posts for crying out loud. But whatever, point is, I'm on board with the concept, not with the painfully roundabout way I found out about it. Had I actually first learned of it when I got my bill? Well, let's just not go there.

[suesjools]

HM posted an auction fees chart on another thread, which details the charges for listings at all levels of membership. I agree it should be made more obvious up front, but IMHO a little homework never hurt anyone.

Oh and wizeguy welcome to eBid, we're glad you're here.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[wizeguy101]

Oh and wizeguy welcome to eBid, we're glad you're here.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

Yes, the wise one's always do their homework no matter what they're told or read -- and having said that, now I have to admit that I did in fact do my homework... and I did read *somewhere* about this fee prior to sign-up. But after triple checking the comparison chart during sign-up and finding nothing to that effect, I promptly went and forgot all about it. :-P
Nevertheless, new ebay-converts and impulse-buyers (who are the target market for the 24-hour upgrade offer) shouldn't be expected to browse years of forum posts to find information that should be in the *top 4 lines* of the comparison chart. Intentionally leaving something like that out is a common predatory maketing tactic, and it works, but it could also have a really tangible backlash.
To eBid: You want me to trust that you're not trying to screw me in the background or in the future? Then don't start be deceiving me at *step one*. Because now, frankly, I don't trust you a tenth what I did when I joined.

And thank you for the welcome! I didn't exactly start by introducing myself, I just jumped right in! So thanks for taking the time, Sue.

[bighickory]

I just figured this out myself. It is deceptive and they should fully disclose. The fee is nothing much and reasonable but it's not free. Haveing said that I really like this site. I spent a lot of time doing things over and over again until I figured it out but I think I've got it down now. I don't expect to sell much like all the rest so I'll still have to sell on Ebay. I will keep some stuff on auction here and promote this site and hope for the best. This site clearly looks like it has the potential to compete with Ebay someday.

[Juliebabe25]

I don't think that ebid are being deceptive on purpose.

But they need to realise that joining a new site is a big step for a seller. Especially as ebid is the only one that asks for a "large" amount to join as a full member.

It took me a while to get my head around how the ebid fee structure works.

It needs to be simplified, and reworded.

The fee structure also encourages the Run Until Sold type of listing.

[BAGHAG999]

I don't think that ebid are being deceptive on purpose.

But they need to realise that joining a new site is a big step for a seller. Especially as ebid is the only one that asks for a "large" amount to join as a full member.

It took me a while to get my head around how the ebid fee structure works.

It needs to be simplified, and reworded.

The fee structure also encourages the Run Until Sold type of listing.

Have to agree when joining you get information overload and its easy to miss the fine detail if its not clear.