I was in the process of posting a reply to another forum member's thread that raised the issue of eBay's new Managed Payments system. After I posted my reply, I signed on to my eBay account to look further into the way that eBay charges fees. Much to my surprise, I came across a $1.00 "Special Duration Fee" that I was charged on an auction listing. Say what? I always set up my eBay listings to avoid the various listing fees. So, what is a Special Duration Fee?
I couldn't find the answer on eBay's Help site, so I Googled 'eBay special duration fee'. Turns out, eBay charges a $1.00 fee for selecting a 1-day or 3-day auction listing rather than a longer auction listing like 5-day, or 7-day, or 10-day.
Why? Because, according to eBay, "Charging this fee will help discourage the use of shorter durations where they are least successful." Hmm, so why even allow 1-day or 3-day listings?
Well, guess what. I had previously tried twice to sell an item using a 7-day auction listing. No luck. Very few views and most of those views took place on the final day of the listing. So, I re-listed again, this time using a 3-day auction, and the item sold with multiple bidders. Go figure.
By the way, to check on your prior sales, you now have to navigate a new section of eBay called Seller Hub (see later discussion).
Rich
Alton Junction
I always used 7 day auctions, and I timed them so things would end on Wednesday evening between 9 and 10 PM Eastern Time.
One time I wanted to add some items to a weekly batch, so I was going to use a 3 day auction starting on Sunday, so they would all end at the same time.
That is when I found out about the fee for 3 day auctions.
That was quite a while ago, so the fee is not something new.
Pokemon cards would reach full value in 3 days with no problem. Maybe other items did not. I guess charging the extra dollar helps eBay get some additional money back from the lower final item fee.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I have no idea how long the Special Duration Fee has been around, and the $1.00 fee isn't going to break the bank. I was just surprised to see it when I dug deep into the eBay statements.
I have always used 7-day auctions, but I have continually noticed that the number of views dramatically increases on the final day of the auction. So, in this case, when the 7-day auction didn't produce a bid, I went with a relist and a 3-day auction.
I will say this. eBay keeps the Special Duration Fee a well guarded secret. It is not obvious when you create a listing, and trying to find it in the eBay Help section is almost impossible.
richhotrain I have continually noticed that the number of views dramatically increases on the final day of the auction.
I have all my saved searches set up so I see new items the day they are listed. I am usually the first bidder on every item I am interested in.
Most bids seem to come in the last day. I think most people have their searches set up for "ending soonest" rather than "newly listed" like I do.
SeeYou190 Most bids seem to come in the last day. I think most people have their searches set up for "ending soonest" rather than "newly listed" like I do.
I've always preferred 7 day auctions, but these days, many don't seem to get any action until the last 24 hours. That said, I was unaware of the short time fee.....
On the subject of Ebay, I'm in the process of listing structures and misc. detail items. Good grief, the process has changed in the last 3 weeks since I did the bulk of my auctions. I sure miss the old versions of screens, for they were easy to view and easier to use than what I see today.
Thankfully all of my previous listings closed before the major changes. And now my intent is to get all of the remainder in place within the week, so as to avoid having to deal with managed payments - which I was told is a must by the end of May.
Seems like Ebay is playing with a series of "self destruct" buttons, and its really disappointing and discouraging.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
And there are those here who get testy when some of us call it FEEBAY!
Wonder why that name has stuck?
oldline1
oldline1 And there are those here who get testy when some of us call it FEEBAY! Wonder why that name has stuck? oldline1
That $1.00 Special Duration Fee is no big deal. It is just that I find it perplexing to charge a fee for 1-day or 3-day auctions but not for 5-day, 7-day, or 10-day auctions. eBay's reasoning for the $1.00 charge makes no sense to me. According to eBay, "Charging this fee will help discourage the use of shorter durations where they are least successful."
mobilman44 Good grief, the process has changed in the last 3 weeks since I did the bulk of my auctions. I sure miss the old versions of screens, for they were easy to view and easier to use than what I see today.
Good grief, the process has changed in the last 3 weeks since I did the bulk of my auctions. I sure miss the old versions of screens, for they were easy to view and easier to use than what I see today.
When I try to navigate the Seller Hub, I feel like a member of the Board of Directors of a Fortune 100 company. I am presented with a series of bar graphs, line graphs, and bar/line graphs. There are tabs for Marketing, Performance, Research, just to name a few. Under Performance, for example, there are links to Traffic and Service Metrics.
The entire Seller Hub is designed for a high volume commercial seller. It is not designed for, and not intended for, someone like me. I sold two used golf clubs in April. Yet, I am swamped with reports on Cost Analysis, March Sales versus April Sales, etc.
I'm not sure where all of this is headed, but the little guy, the occasional seller of used items, is getting crowded out. Maybe eBay needs to set up a separate site for the little guy who occasionally sells a used item or two. Treat it like the flea market site that eBay began as so many years ago. Call it FleaBay.
The fee for listing an item for a less than a five day auction has been in place for as long as I can remember. The switch to Managed Payments was not the genesis of it.
- Douglas
Doughless The fee for listing an item for a less than a five day auction has been in place for as long as I can remember. The switch to Managed Payments was not the genesis of it
The fee for listing an item for a less than a five day auction has been in place for as long as I can remember. The switch to Managed Payments was not the genesis of it
I didn't mean to suggest that the fee was new as part of Managed Payments. That said, I only realized that I had paid the $1.00 fee a few weeks later following my call to Customer Service about how to intepret the various reports associated with Managed Payments.
richhotrain Doughless The fee for listing an item for a less than a five day auction has been in place for as long as I can remember. The switch to Managed Payments was not the genesis of it Douglas, I am sure that you are right. I just had never used the 3-day auction before, so the $1.00 fee did surprise me. I didn't mean to suggest that the fee was new as part of Managed Payments. That said, I only realized that I had paid the $1.00 fee a few weeks later following my call to Customer Service about how to intepret the various reports associated with Managed Payments. Rich
Douglas, I am sure that you are right. I just had never used the 3-day auction before, so the $1.00 fee did surprise me.
A few auctions of interesting items have closed with the final bids on used items being over original street discounted price of the item when it was new. One item went for over MSRP when new.
I won a different auction. Between sales tax and seller mandated "insured" shipping charges (BTW, I have never had an issue with any carrier losing or mishandling a package. All of my shipping damage has been solely due to sellers not packing the item properly), I paid $30 over the price of the item.
The prices and final costs on Ebay are becoming noncompetitive with the big internet retailers, IMO.
Doughless richhotrain Doughless The fee for listing an item for a less than a five day auction has been in place for as long as I can remember. The switch to Managed Payments was not the genesis of it Douglas, I am sure that you are right. I just had never used the 3-day auction before, so the $1.00 fee did surprise me. I didn't mean to suggest that the fee was new as part of Managed Payments. That said, I only realized that I had paid the $1.00 fee a few weeks later following my call to Customer Service about how to intepret the various reports associated with Managed Payments. Rich A few auctions of interesting items have closed with the final bids on used items being over original street discounted price of the item when it was new. One item went for over MSRP when new. I won a different auction. Between sales tax and seller mandated "insured" shipping charges (BTW, I have never had an issue with any carrier losing or mishandling a package. All of my shipping damage has been solely due to sellers not packing the item properly), I paid $30 over the price of the item. The prices and final costs on Ebay are becoming noncompetitive with the big internet retailers, IMO.
at least with the retailors, I fit does get lost, it can be replaced easily. Not on eBay. I find I only visit if I seek something not in production any more or a difficult to find odd ball eBay is really working to shrink sellers and buyers there it seams
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
richhotrainNavigating the My eBay page has changed dramatically since the beginning of May.
I do get irritated when they mess with the "My eBay" page.
The last major overhaul of the page made it much harder to use, and many of the features I liked became well-hidden.
It took a long while to get used to it.
SeeYou190 richhotrain Navigating the My eBay page has changed dramatically since the beginning of May. I do get irritated when they mess with the "My eBay" page. The last majot overhaul of the page made it much harder to use, and many of the features I liked became well-hidden.
richhotrain Navigating the My eBay page has changed dramatically since the beginning of May.
The last majot overhaul of the page made it much harder to use, and many of the features I liked became well-hidden.
Well, I figured out how to list and view in the new environment, but this morning all the "sale" pages show up with an "apology"...........they won't load. I'm sure they will fix it, but not having it perfected before installation is just wrong.