eBay.DE puts S+H limits in certain categories - I scratch my head.

I haven't seen this blogged anywhere else (maybe because it's in German - A consipracy by eBay to keep it quiet? --kidding--).

The post is here for you German speakers in the house.  For the rest of us, here's a summation/translation that was done by one of the talented multilingual folks at ChannelAdvisor:

----------------------------------
eBay Germany is starting a new policy. From June 15 a seller cannot list any items again with shipping costs higher than what eBay has determined to be a reasonable rate in certain categories.

eBay is starting this for 2 main reasons:

1. eBay asked buyers about shipping and for the categories to where this new policy applies, buyers said that shipping costs were unreasonable high.
2. eBay sellers get low rating for S&H DSR in those specific categories.

(You can look at the post to see the long list of categories and prices)

----------------------------------
As we've all learned in the eBay ecosystem, eBay has been testing things in AU/IT/DE/UK and then taking the ideas that are the winners and then spreading them to every country, so this is one to keep an eye on.

It does raise some interesting questions that I'm not sure eBay has thought through:

• CBT - What if I'm in the UK and listing on eBay.DE - is it fair that I have to charge the same S+H price as a native?  What about the US?
• Some of these are crazy.  For example, in the B+I category for wholesale lots, they are saying 8 euros is the max.  Ummm, ok. What if I have two PALLETS of computer monitors for sale and my true shipping cost is 70 euro?  Do I put 8 euro and increase the cost of my products by 62 euro?  Is this the best buyer experience?
• If you asked me as a buyer which shipping and handling is too high, I'd of course being a cheapskate tell you, well, all of them of course!  Sure I'd love free shipping on everything.
• What's eBay going to do when everyone lives by this rule and the S+H cost DSR is still too low?  Why even rate on S+H cost for these categories?  eBay has essentially set the price so shouldn't they be rated on it and not the seller?
• Which came first: The chicken or the egg? (just checking that you're paying attention)

One thing I do know, if this policy comes to the US on top of all the other stuff sellers are dealing with, it's not going to be too popular, in fact the word kerfuffle comes to mind.

Comments

[Steve]

Why do the buyers get to decide everything? Ebay just seems to gather data and feedback from the buyers and implement policy based on what the buyer says. Of course a buyer is going to want rock bottom shipping but with increased postal prices, supplies, transportation, etc. I don't think the buyer should make this decision as they don't actually see the behind the scenes costs. The price on a shipping label does not reflect this.

If Donahue has a vision for the company what is it? In my opinion all I see him doing is A) copying what Amazon is doing and B) letting the buyers decide eBay rules and policy. Vision is original, it is not just doing what the other guys are doing.

[Ruth]

I don't think it's a good idea for eBay to regulate the amount of money a seller can charge for S&H. That seems to be encroaching into the seller's boundaries too much for comfort.

[Jim]

I wonder if they put the limit on S&H does that mean that they will also put a low limit on the DSR? If eBay feels that $5.00 for an item is reasonable then if the buyer dings with low S&H DSR now what?

[Jool]

The egg - it's cheaper to ship

[Walter]

Not surprising. eBay's been hearing about the green, green grass over at Amazon and it's not surprising that they're going to try some of what Amazon has going on. Amazon sets some guidelines for S&H rates and the perception is that they're not too tolerant of the high S&H model. The fact that they charge a FVF on S&H as well, and that the default sort is based on the total cost including S&H gives sellers little incentive to inflate their S&H charge.

I would guess that if you have bulk product to sell, eBay's answer would be to list it in the wholesale lot category or some other category that's appropriate for the physical size/dollar value of the items being sold. Those categories should be left alone with regard to S&H guidelines since the items being sold could vary so much.

It would not surprise me at all to see this in the U.S. They're already giving you nasty notes when you list an item with what the system sees as higher than average S&H. What's to stop them from disadvantaging individual listings based on average S&H in a particular category, or denying the ability to list at all with S&H above the average (or by a % above the average, etc.)? It's just a matter of programming the rules into the system.

There's a part of me that applauds eBay for finally tackling this problem. The rest of me sees many of these initiatives for what they are (in part anyway); an attempt to extract additional revenue and profit in the short-term, at the expense of sellers, who WILL leave the site once their individual pain points are reached.

You cannot ask sellers to sell items for less, ship for less, provide better service, have less control over their policies, while they're being squeezed by inflationary pressures on products and supplies, skyrocketing shipping costs, and eBay fees that in some cases have been increased by 75% on a year over year basis.

This is a storm of trouble for many sellers who will see eBay in a new way I suspect.

This may be the last growth year for eBay in the U.S., albeit a slow one. Sellers will get through this coming holiday season because that's the pattern, and inventory sometimes gets stockpiled with a particular channel in mind, and they'll make a strong push toward alternatives to eBay for 2009 and beyond.

You will be busy talking about alternatives to eBay at the upcoming Internet Retailer Conference Scot. Very busy.

[BC]

This is no different then including shipping costs in Best Match and the items with higher shipping get penalized. If someone is selling one widget and it cost $1.00 to ship and I am selling a 50 widget lot that costs $15.00 to ship I get penalized. There are many of these new policies which it appears that eBay has not thought thru, all the way.

[Abbi Vakil]

I'm beginning to think that no one in eBay upper management actually sells anything on eBay. This might explain a lot of the recent changes, since most everything is skewed towards the buying experience and if you're mostly buying on eBay, then of course you would want to "fix" that part of it. We've all heard of high level CEO's too busy to even buy their own socks- is it far fetched to think that those same people don't have the time to take a well lighted photograph, crop it and align it just so, white balance it, prepare an attractive listing with lengthy description, figure out exact shipping costs to many parts of the world and answer the inevitable questions (even though the answers are right there in the listing)? If you ask an eBay employee if they are an eBay user, they will of course answer yes, but being a buyer on eBay is only half of the eBay user experience. Scot, I would love for someone at the next analyst meeting with eBay managers to ask this question: "How often do you sell something on eBay yourself?" where "yourself" means without the help of personal assistants, wives, kids, etc. I'm willing to bet that the answer is "rarely."

[Roy]

Scot- I wonder how this relates to a recent ebay US promo that if a seller ran free shipping they would get an additional FVF credit? I ran the numbers and although I have low shipping fees, and a high DSR as a result, it was not worth the credit as I'm generally selling low ASP.

Regards,
R