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Setting the Tone for Your Auction: eBay’s Changed the Rules

Okay, you may have come to think that I am on an eternal summer break. Well, admittedly so, apparently the sheep (see previous post) used their power to lullaby me into a deep slumber :-) But I am back now with fresh content and upcoming exciting posts. The next 10 entries belong to ‘Listings:  Tips and Tricks of the Trade’. Follow along and please let me know what you think. Your thoughts and insights are always welcomed!

Setting the Tone for Your Auction: eBay’s Changed the Rules

eBay’s affiliate program made it possible for a lot of people – including those who provide tools to sellers for free – to make a lot of money.

No more.

Changes to eBay’s affiliate program mean that seller tools like Auctiva, which used to earn about half of its revenue from the program, will no longer earn affiliate money as a result of their program’s users.

eBay says it made the change because affiliate programs are meant to reward affiliates for drumming up new business, not continuing to sell to existing eBay users. eBay announced that it is switching to a more “traditional” affiliate model, in which only people who spend money on eBay for the first time will earn money for the referring affiliate.

Auctiva, which used to be completely free, recently announced its new fee structure and admitted that because of eBay’s policy revamp, the change is necessary. Auctiva users will now have to pay between $2.95 and $34.95 per month, depending on the features they’d like to use. There is also a “free” plan, which costs nothing monthly but charges 12 cents and a 1.25% transaction fee for every eBay listing.

Many Auctiva users have considered switching services, although if you’re one of them, be aware that no service worth its salt is truly free. Many charge exorbitantly for image hosting or various advertising tools. Auctiva still provides a number of marketing tools, such as their scrolling item bar – a fantastic addition to your listings – at no cost.

Auctiva management hopes to retain at least 70% of their existing client base and continue to market its advantages to potential new customers.

No one likes to pay for something that used to be free, but since eBay’s changed the rules, what alternative do they have? My instinct is that Auctiva is simply a step ahead of any service still claiming to be totally free for its users. After all, aren’t we all in this business to make money? For my own part, I am sticking with Auctiva for now!

Thank you for your interst!

Svenja

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 and is filed under Listings: Tips & Tricks of the Trade, eBay. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “Setting the Tone for Your Auction: eBay’s Changed the Rules”

  1. Hi Svenja, I had a feeling something was in the pipeline from some comments made on posts about a month ago. I guess this has not come as a complete shock to some.

    Enjoy the journey.

    Mandy

  2. Hi Mandy,

    eBay continues to pull out more and more tricks out of a bottomless bag filled with goodies that keep sellers and buyers on their proverbial toes :-)

    Thank you for stopping by!
    Svenja

  3. Ebay Evolution, thanks for the silver lining Svenja, not that I am trading on Ebay yet.
    John

  4. Hi Svenja,

    Thanks for keeping us in the loop or the latest change to eBays ever-changing rules & regulations.

    You make it easy for the rest of us with these head-ups.

    Thanks a lot and keep up the great work!

    Steve Wilkins
    http://steve-wilkins.com/

  5. Hi Steve,

    Thank you for your kind comment. I think eBay is on some kind of mission to keep us all on our toes (as if we don’t have enough our plates already) :-)

    Always nice to have you stop by!
    Svenja

  6. Hi John,

    Hope all is well over at your end! Well, once you get cranking on eBay, you’ll have already all the answers :-)

    Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment!
    Svenja

  7. Hi Svenja

    Nice information. Great post.

    Best wishes

    Mike

  8. Hi Mike,

    Thank you for stopping by!

    Wishing you the best!
    Svenja

  9. Poorly written descriptions are another cause of failed auctions. Poor grammar and mispelled words drive people away. Your description is essentially your’ sales copy’ so it must be well written. If you need to, type your description into your word program and use the spelling and grammar check. When you have corrected the errors, just copy and paste it into your listing form. It will more than pay for the little bit of extra time you will spend. If there are a lot of errors in the listing, people will…

  10. Hi,

    Thank you for your comment. Indeed, poorly written descriptions drive potential buyers away!

    I also checked out your sales page and it seems you are offering some great eBay related products.

    Many Thanks,
    Svenja

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