Subject: eBay UK raises fees - and members abandon ship.....
On Wednesday 4th June, eBay UK announced that they would be adding VAT to their fees on 1st July, as per EU legislation. But members were outraged
to find that not only was VAT being added, but eBay was using the opportunity to raise fees at the same time. Almost all listing, final value, feature etc fees were increasing - the largest of which was a massive 250% on Home Page Featured: from £19.95 to £49.95.
eBay UK members were understandably outraged, and discussions on the
Community Forums led people into talk about other auction sites and off
eBay. The most spoken about selling site was eBid (www.ebid.co.uk), where there are no fees for listing or final value, and with a fast and friendly
customer service.
eBay members were leaving en masse. And lots of them registered with
eBid - almost 500 people, most of them eBayers, signed up with eBid in just over 24 hours of the VAT & Fee Raising announcement by Henry Nutford on the Community Boards.
The first thing that people noticed was the outstanding customer service. New members were requesting a transfer of feedback from eBay, most of the requests were completed within 30 minutes, some actually taking less than
5 minutes from initial request through to confirmation email from Gary or
Mark, the site owners. Gary and Mark were also seen posting on the
Community
Forums, welcoming new members and handing out advice......
With a Customer Service Telephone Number due to be unveiled in the next
few weeks, eBid seem set to challenge the market leader by focussing on what matters most on an auction site - the members themselves.
"Free to Join, Free to Sell, Free to Enjoy" is their front page slogan -
with no fees and 100% customer satisfaction, eBid can only go the way that eBay's fees have - UP.