The problem with taking your business elsewhere is that the customers don't think to browse Craigslist (which is local anyway) or Etsy, etc. EBay has done such a terrific job of marketing itself that it is the go-to place for shoppers. I agree that the fees are outlandish, especially for the small sale seller. I am trying to build a business selling small items and there is no profit left after eBay's AND payPal's fees are taken out. Now eBay is taking a cut of the shipping charges, also. What is the good of having a store? They are giving all the discounts to the people who are big sellers to begin with. I see people selling $.99 items and would think there is nothing left over after all the fees are taken out. Then I click on the item and see they are top selllers--which reduces their fee per item sold. They can charge less, which results in more sales, which allows them to qualify as top sellers. How can I possibly compete with that? The system is stacked against the small business...and that may be eBay's plan. They care about their bottom line, not ours, and possibly they benefit more from the handling a few big ticket items than the processing of thousands of inexpensive sales. As pointed out elsewhere in these forums, it is ironically the thousands of small sellers that allowed eBay to build up to the giant it is today. Sorry, I just discovered I should have posted this reply in another thread.
... View more
