| A few times every year eBay rolls out a few new updates for sellers. In years past they have made changes to things like the return policy, requirements for being a Top Rated Seller and introduced the Global Shipping Program. Some of the changes are positive for sellers but I would argue it is usually a net loss for sellers on the platform. This update is no different, we have fees going up and value going down. In this post I want to go over the specifics changes that eBay is implementing for the 2017 Spring Update. |
Store Updates
Final value fees will be increasing for eBay seller with an eBay store. The interesting thing is that sellers who do NOT have an eBay store will NOT see an increase in fees. Here is a breakdown of the fee increases eBay store owners will see starting on May 1, 2017
Final Value Fees
| Store Subscribers | Current Rates | New Rates |
|---|---|---|
| Select Computers/Tablets & Networking, Video Game Consoles, Heavy Equipment, Concession Trailers & Carts, Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment, and Commercial Printing Presses | 4% | No Change |
| Select Consumer Electronics, Select Cameras & Photos, Coins & Paper Money, and Stamps | 6% | 6.15% |
| Musical Instruments & Gear (except Pro Audio and DJ Equipment) | 7% | 7.15% |
| Select Motors Parts & Accessories and Automotive Tools & Supplies | 8% | 8.15% |
| Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Collectibles, Home & Garden, Select Camera & Photo Accessories, Select Cell Phones Accessories, Jewelry & Watches, Sporting Goods, Toys & Hobbies, Health & Beauty, Select Business & Industrial, Books, DVDs & Movies, Music, Video Games, and all other categories (exclusions apply) | 9% | 9.15% |
| Non-Store Subscribers | 10% | No Change |
For those of you with an anchor store, your eBay branded shipping supplies coupon will double from $75 to $150 per quarter. I feel like this is an added benefit for the people who need it the least. If you are paying for an anchor store then you are likely doing huge sales numbers and wouldn’t even notice or need that additional $75 in shipping supplies.
Performance Standards
eBay is making some changes to the Top Rated Seller progam to “better meet buyer expectations and retail standards”.
The big hit to eBay sellers in this update comes right here. In the past, if you were a Top Rated Seller you would receive a 20% discount on your eBay final value fees. This discount is being dropped to just 10%. That really is huge. Their are only a few benefits that come with being a Top Rated Seller on eBay and this was arguably the biggest one. They have now cut it in half and opened the door to removing it altogether. Keep in mind that one of the other major benefits to being a Top Rated Seller is the commercial plus pricing on your Priority Mail packages. This benefit is also in danger of soon going away. Pretty soon being a Top Rated Seller will likely mean you get a badge next to your username and nothing else.
One value add that TRS’s are receiving from this update is a $30 credit for “promoted listings campaigns”. This is more or less creating ads that appear on eBay for specific listings of yours. I used this once when eBay first rolled it out and was not impressed. At the time it restricted the ads to only certain categories and you paid an additional final value fee for items that sold through that ad. I have not kept up to date with the specifics of this program because I never saw much value in it.
The last thing to mention regarding changes to the TRS program is that now instead of having to upload tracking information 90% of the time you will now have to do it 95% of the time. Keep in mind that not only do you have to upload the tracking number but you also have to do it within your stated handling time. That means depending on how many items you sell, missing your tracking just 1 time could make you lose your TRS status. On the plus side…. TRS isn’t as valuable as it used to be.
If after the monthly seller review your account is found to be “below standard” you will not pay an additional 4% in final value fees, OUCH. Really, their is no reason to ever be below standard and if that happens you should be more worried about your abilities when it comes to selling on any online platform. But if for some reason this does happen to you that sure is a boost to get your stuff together and get back to the “above standard” level.
Listings Visibility
One change eBay is making that is actually positive for sellers is that they are removing 3rd party ads from the site. These ads have traditionally appeared in various places on the listings of the items you have listed for sale. The ads would be for a similar product and would take potential buyers off of eBay and onto other sites to make their purchase. This was always a negative for sellers but eBay was able to get ad revenue every time one of these ads appeared on a page or whenever a user clicked one of the ads. Now the ads are not going away altogether. They are being replaced with eBay Promoted Listing Ads. Remember earlier in this post we talked about that $30 promoted listing credit? If you were to use your credit on a specific item then your listings including your picture, title and price for the item would appear as an ad on someone else’s listing of the same or similar product.
Shipping Tools
eBay is changing how the shipping rate tables work. I always either provide free shipping or use the built-in shipping calculator. I have never used the shipping tables nor do I know anyone else who does.
eBay is also making some changes in regards to shipping cut off times and work days. This is in regards to people who offer same day shipping. You will be able to select which days of the week you offer same day shipping. You will also be able to edit the cut off time for same day shipping and set the correct time zone.
The above options will be available through your Seller Hub sometime this summer. (In other words if you are reading this in March don’t run over to your eBay account looking for the screen above.)
You can find additional information on the 2017 Spring Seller Update here.