Do EBay Powersellers Know What They Really Pay?

Once again the blogosphere erupts in to cries of 'foul' and 'seller strike' as eBay hike fees to the sky and intoduce even more complexity in to the world Amazon have managed to make so simple.

I'm not sure how they manage it, but eBay have an amazing ability to overdo their desire to pocket increasing amounts from the value of other peoples property and seem surprised and seem almost indignent when their sellers simply walk away to Amazon or any one the alternative auction sites on offer now.

So this time around the eBay spin machine has predictably managed to get numerous new sources to blindly swallow the 'fee cut' lie. Yes they've thrown a few nickels at the front end listing charges to justify claims of cuts and that's as far as lazy journalists looked. But a final value fee hike from 5.25% to 8.75% is not a cut in anyones eyes. It really is a 60% hike in the back end fee rate. It is a huge increase in costs for sellers to swallow, particularly with so many reporting falling sales levels and skinnier margins already before this assault.

As if that were not bad enough, eBay is removing the ability for sellers to offer feedback about buyers AND at the same time giving buyers total control over any much needed discounts the increasingly worried volume sellers can earn from eBay.

And eBay have fended off the wave of criticism by telling sellers they will get used to the changes and it wont seem so bad down the line. Do they realise they are lamely brushing off concerns about people's only main income in many cases?

Regardless of this ignorance, the purpose of this article is to highlight the true cost of selling on eBay, particularly for those Powersellers who may now be in limbo wondering what to do next.

There is some fantastic news for you according to this article published at Pheebay.com.

The article models a typical powerseller type business and then calculates the costs this business will have to pay eBay in future. Where the article surprised me is the same model is then applied to alternative methods of operating a powerseller type business and calculates the savings and extra resources that can be gained by a powerseller. It makes very interesting reading and I would think a similar excercise tailored to their specific profile would be excellent advice for any Powerseller right now.

I don't want to give too much away and spoil the read, but lets just say the conclusion is worth a potential fortune in more ways than one.