Dilute the Magic

I think your advisors are wrong Meg and Bill. The “magic”, the “uniqueness”, of eBay is not in the thrill of auctions - it is, as your last ad campaign clearly states, finding whatever “IT” is on eBay. “IT” doesn’t necessarily sell in 14 days - “IT” cannot be found at Wal-Mart, “IT” cannot be found in a “smart search” that brings the results a nuclear scientist led think tank team decides you want, “IT” cannot be found in filtered search results. IT can be found because thousands (or is it hundreds of thousands?) store owners have been able to provide a larger inventory of items than they could possibly afford to auction. IT can be found because IT is available 24/7/365 and not in 1,3,7,10 day auctions.

Let me tell you some of the “IT’s” I have sold and maybe some others will post their magic “IT” stories. I sold a circa 1910 photo postcard to a woman in Idaho - her grandfather was pictured on the face of the card when he went to seek his fortune in California (she bought the card for her 70 year old father’s birthday); a woman in Washington state found several photo postcards of her family from a small town in Minnesota (also circa 1910); a woman about to celebrate her golden wedding anniversary found a postcard of the motel where she spent her wedding night (postmarked the same year), many people have found postcards picturing their homes, their small hometowns, their favorite vacation spots…many of these people didn’t even KNOW they were looking for postcards when they typed their surname, their hometown etc in the search box. They are not postcard collectors. How else could any of these folks world-wide find exactly the “IT” they want from a seller in Minnesota?? This is the “magic” of eBay! I desperately hope you can find a way to keep the “magic” alive without imperiling the company. You are smart people - surely there’s a way.

This is an excellent thread started by Moody Mommy’s Marvelous Postcards eBay store user neglus in the eBay forums. Check it out and be sure to add your own stories.

EBay store owners should read eBay’s latest announcement regarding eBay Stores fees and functionality changes effective August 22, 2006.

These Store Inventory format insertion fees take effect August 22, 2006:

Starting Price 	   New Insertion Fee 	Current Fee
$0.01 -- 24.99 	   5¢ 	                2¢
$25.00 and higher  10¢ 	                2¢

Some Store Inventory format final value fees also will also increase, effective August 22, 2006:

Selling Price 	   New Final Value Fee 	Current Fee
$0.01 -- 25.00 	       10% 	         8%
$25.01 -- 100.00        7%               5%
$100.01 -- 1,000.00 	5% (no change) 	 5%
$1,000.01 and higher 	3% (no change) 	 3%

The bottom line is that store fees will most likely at least double your monthly operating expenses.

We advise any eBay Store owners to carefully look over your expenses and make any needed changes by August 22nd.

Also, we’d love to hear what impact this has had on how you conduct your eBay business.

Related Stories: EBay to Boost Online Store Fees (via Wired)