Sadly that is something that sellers have largely bought upon themselves. In my view an item description should be – well an item description.

Unfortunately eBay does not share the same view. See announcement http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200901081220082.html :

“The following text, or very similar wording, must be included in the listing and be prominently displayed (in the upper half of the description, free-standing, etc.)”

That in no way describes the item. But if sellers followed that rule and eBay later does decide descriptions are just that (surveys have shown this was once on the table), can you really blame sellers for that one?

Interestingly I experimented listing an item with no description (only using pre-filled info) two weeks ago. The item sold for over double what everyone else was asking and after only 8 pageviews. I tried to sell exactly the same thing years ago and failed many times.

Sadly that is something that sellers have largely bought upon themselves. In my view an item description should be – well an item description. It’s not the place for things like shipping costs and never has been. It’s also not the place for terms and conditions or additional information.

Firstly buyers never read that stuff anyway. Secondly more sellers have quite frankly rude and obnoxious T’s and C’s than have reasonable ones, largely caused by trying to prevent a reoccurred of every customer service problem they’ve ever had.

Finally if you leave a description as product info only and use the boxes eBay provide for shipping, returns policy, additional information and of course if those spaces aren’t enough the Business Seller inserts then you’ll never have a problem bulk editing listings in seconds.

I copied from the eBay.com website the following

“Related fees: Things like gas, mileage, time spent at a carrier, employee wages, or eBay and PayPal fees should not be added [to shipping and handling costs].”

Not only do most eBay sellers forget to include the cost of their time in any calculation for the true costs to sell on eBay but there is an opportunity cost incurred. Every time a seller has to change the wording in their listings to comply with new policies or change any number of things as part of a strategy change necessary to remain competitive on eBay, the seller loses the opportunity to develop their business outside of eBay which then puts the seller in a weaker position, even more dependent on eBay and subject to the effect of eBay’s whims.

eBay fails to look at their own registration information and analyze the information they already possess.

It is no secret that many small & medium sellers maintain separate buying ID’s as well as multiple ID’s. As such, S/M sellers ranked among eBay’s most frequent buyers, with many buying more than they sold through the site.

eBay consistently shoots themselves in both feet by turning the cold shoulder to S/M sellers.

As eBay management has continued to insult and assault S/M sellers, those sellers have left eBay, taking their buying volume with them.

How much do the Diamond Sellers purchase on eBay? Nothing, nada, zip, zero zilch.

Diamond sellers simply use eBay to poach buyers to their own websites. Example, one of the first Diamond sellers maintains their own website. They made the deal with Donahoe to sell on eBay and flooded eBay with listings.

Problem for eBay is that the majority of this Diamond Sellers listings are sold for less through the seller’s own website. Items selling with shipping fees on eBay many times ship free on the sellers own website. The listings show the SKU number which when entered on the sellers own site takes buyers to the exact same item, but at a lower price.

eBay is bending over for these Diamond Sellers, charging them nothing to list, and cutting huge discounts on Final Value fees. Remaining S/M sellers are subsidizing the Diamond Sellers with the high fees they are forced to pay.

What eBay gets in return are sellers that are poaching eBay’s remaining buyers while at the same time, helping eBay drive fee paying S/M out of the marketplace.

In 2 years time, eBay will have succeeded in running off the majority of S/M sellers .

Sales will continue to decline as the ranks of S/M sellers continues to thin out. In no time, eBay will be left with the millions of listings placed by Diamond Sellers, and a handful of buyers.

John Donahoe is executing his plan which is designed to make the eBay marketplace extinct.

I don’t want to be one of those “eBay used to be…” people, but eBay used to be…

1. a platform that was egalitarian for all entrants.

2. a platform where one could effectively analyze performance and make calculated decisions about moving a business forward (without having the boundaries revised constantly)

3. where search was straightforward for both buyers and sellers

4. where feedback had its flaws, but was balanced and allowed both buyers and sellers to make decisions on interacting

5. where the level playing field allowed consumers choice, and a motivated seller could create a meaningful business

6. where sell-through didn’t bounce around based on changing search algorithms

/Off soap box and on to the topic at hand.

Fees had never been an issue for my business; I always worked them into my prices. Sell-through is the key, and I can’t compete if potential customers can’t see my items.

My sell-through was a consistent 66-77% for years (with excellent customer feedback); and when Best Match and other changes came around, it now hovers around 17-20%. Same seller, same policies and procedures.

I offer about 35% of my items on eBay now; with better sell-through I would offer lots more and fees would be a non-issue. I used to have an active Trading Assistant business – labor intensive, but profitable. I’ve closed it entirely.

Bottom line: if fees were lower I would list more as a test. But it’s all predicated on sell-through, and that’s based on search.