I love the idea. I hope they end up selling all sorts of stuff. I am a bargain junky and if someone has a cool lamp for sale or a dog sweater etc.I want to know about it, lol.

I just think the sheer force and popularity of ebay would be a problem to overcome.

Unless of course the new shopping forum is like a boutique selling house.

21 days on money through paypal? I thought that was the whole point of paypal - it is safe, secure, and rapid.

Why the hold on funds through paypal?

I got the new policy Didnt see anything about a hold on Paypal.
No way they do this. eBay is dead and so is Paypal if there is a hold!

I got an e-mail that directly contradicts what gone2seeds stated see here:

Seller Update: Fees, Rewards & Standards
eBay buyers want value and selection from sellers they can trust--and good sellers deserve rewards for delivering great customer service. That's why we're making a number of important changes that may affect you:

1. Reduced Listing Fees
   You asked, we listened. We're reducing Insertion Fees and adjusting Final Value Fees to lower your up-front cost to sell on eBay. You wanted free Gallery, now you've got it--plus more feature discounts.
   * Lower Insertion Fees
   * Making Gallery free
   * Lower fees for Gallery Plus, Picture Pack, and Feature Plus

2. Rewards for great sellers
   There will be discounts and incentives for those who satisfy customers best. Who decides who gets rewarded? Customers do, by giving sellers high Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs).
   * More search exposure through Best Match
   * Fee discounts for PowerSellers
   * Increased protection for PowerSellers

3. Feedback Changes
   Significant changes coming soon will increase buyer confidence and showcase good sellers.
   * Buyers will only be able to receive positive Feedback.
   * Positive repeat customer Feedback will count and Feedback more than 12 months old won't.
   * Negative and neutral Feedback left by the buyer will be removed for transactions in which a buyer doesn't respond to the Unpaid Item (UPI) or if the member is suspended.

For more details on how these changes may affect you, attend a special Seller Webinar at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, February 1. You may also see announcements from eBay executives on the

Seems like a lot of people are concerned about the selling on DGs.

Funny thing - there's a trading forum here - and we all know when others here are buying on Ebay.

This forum seems to function quite well with a commercial (albeit ebay) semi-integrated into our discussions.

Doesn't seen to be a problem here.

I've posted my observations

oxmyx says"We're reducing Insertion Fees and adjusting Final Value Fees"
notice that they stress the part about reducing insertion fees.The adjusted final value fees more than make up the
difference,leaving them a nice excess.

Oh yes final value fees increase is terrible. The lower insertion fees and free gallery fees is just covering the 3.50 percent increase (more if the item sells for 25.01) of final value fees.
Janice

Wouldn't it be wise to sell off one's own site and not have to share what you make with anyone?? Ebay or Dave's??

kharma says"Wouldn't it be wise to sell off one's own site and not have to share what you make with anyone?? Ebay or Dave's??"

In a perfect world,yes.The reality is that if you sell only off your site then you are completely at the mercy of the search engines.I can be on page two of Google today and page 25 or 30 tomorrow if they change algorithms.They do change often.One other avenue is this and other forums.Anytime there is a positive mention of the site,we get a nice spike in sales.To keep plants moving,it takes more and,at this time,that means Ebay.Plants that sit too long wind up as commpost and that doesn't do any of us any good.

I guess I am a little confused...LOL I recieved the same one that Barry did.. Sounds as tho they are trying to lower not raise fees for sellers...The seller fees was one of my major complaints.. What am I missing???

They are decreasing the listing fees but increasing the final sale value fees, if I read the memo correctly. I sell some on ebay, not much and not plants so it's not that big of a deal to me. I didn't hear anything about changes with Paypal. If plant auctions open on DG I'll certainly check it out but it doesn't really matter to me who holds the auction. If I was a plant seller I'd be looking more closely into this but I'm just a buyer.
Karyn

Yes that is what the e-mail makes it sound like, but they did not go into detail in the email of the final value rate changes.

If you still have the e-mail, click on the line: Lower Insertion Fees. This will take you to the list of ebay changes.
The increase of cost to sellers will cause us buyers higher prices. That is what make me mad!!!!!
Janice

Ya know I send folks your direction, I understand search engines but I have a hard time of selling stuff when I have to pay some one else. Reputation is what this is about?? If everyone heads for Dave's, well you know my history there and it was be a total waste because I won't pay the piper. Sorry!! (h?)

Does Amazon sell plants and stuff like that? I never go there but I would.. as well as any other site that had what I wanted...

karhma,Even though it was years ago,I remember exactly when you left Daves.You left because you were mad with one person and I still laugh every time I remember your parting shot....."I don't give a damn if you have an email from the King of Prussia"....
I nearly fell off my chair laughing.

gone2seed, I would like to hear the story?? I believe there was more than just one person and I believe the drunk knows as he sent several folks that sent hate mail.
I thought we were friends? (H?) But ya know I didn't leave I was banned, forbidden was the words. Would you like for me to post some of those emails?

I threw in my support on DG under my sn over there, along with my usual .02 cents lol.

Chena, I have bought plant related items from Amazon, I think I saw tropical fruit trees on there once but didn't buy them at the time cuz they were really high priced.

O0O0 karma got banned from somewhere? naughty naughty LOL

I didn't realize you were banned karmah.As far as I know that never surfaced there.Most of that kind of stuff went on behind the scenes.All I saw was your exchange with Ar...e.
Still think your line was one of the best ever.I still get a chuckle when I think of it.

gone2seed, maybe you should as Old Dave but again I'm sure the whole story won't come out.

sultry_jasmine_night, I've even been banned here!! Yep Old Spike sent me to Disney on the bottom of my Birthday card, like have a nice trip?? Being banned is just a part of the control process that some folks feel they need. Whom cares, it just goes to show me, I was right!!

I don't think it would be a problem if DG launched either an integrated selling/auction function or launched a separate one.

If his fees are low enough to make it worthwhile for a seller - and free to the buyer, I think it would work quite well.

And I would go there to buy stuff, just like I do on ebay. I don't sell stuff so I'm not in touch with what fees are involved for selling on Ebay.

What will happen is all the smaller people won't or can't pay and they'll only end up with larger ticket items/larger vendors. The smaller items won't justify the increase due to the fees.

Of course - that may be ebay's goal. To weed the "junk" sellers out. People selling "garbage" - not decent goods.

In either case, it won't necessarily be a "bargain" situation any more.

Gone2seed: Yes, Search Engines are an art. There is a lot of good info out there and a lot of very, VERY bad information out there on optimizations for search engines. They change frequently to prevent a monopolization, and it's tough - you're right. What worked last year may not work at all this year.

However, when you search for plants, DG seems to have a decent placement - first page primacy. DG could be successful for sellers as well as buyers.

I would give it a shot if vendors were over there.

I'm still confused about the paypal thing though. Why the hold?

I had thought at one time Dave's set up little shops and folks were selling out of those? So these aren't being used now?

I don't know why they would hold someone's money doesn't paypal give you like 45 days or something to get your money back? So what's with the 21 days?...unless perhaps someone would want a little interest on the cash they are holding? Is that even legal?

karma, DG has some classified ads where people pay a fee and also a co-op forum but haven't seen a store lately. Did there used to be stores?

Technodweeb types"I'm still confused about the PayPal thing".
I'm sure PP meant it to be confusing.Here are a couple of urls to discussions on Ebay.You can dig a s deeply as you wish on these.

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000505225&tstart=0amp;mod=1201624584992

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000635275&tstart=0amp;mod=1202495064911

Being on a fixed income I just can't handle these changes in the final value fee. And the possibilty of PayPal holding my money for 21 days, even after charging me to receive money. Oh HE_ _ NO!!! This has just put the nail in the coffin of me ever selling at eBay again. And taken PayPal as method of payment off the table too.

Since I don't have a website, I guess that I will have to do as I have done in the past, sell my plants privately.

Boy that is strange about the Paypal hold.

Seems the seller's money won't be held if you meet the

following requirements:

1. Ebay Tenure is greathan 6 months

2. Total Feeback score is more than 100

3. Dissatisfied buyers percent: Less than 5%



Or the following:

Detailed Seller Rating: Greater than 4.5

Total Detailed Seller Ratings Received: More than 20 in
the last 12 months.

that if you've got a proven track record - it won't impact
you as much. Less than 5% neg.

If you money is held, it will be release when one of the
earliest occurs:

The buyer leaves positive feedback,

OR

3 days after confirmed item delivery*

OR

21 days without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal
filed on that transaction.

Ok - I'm not sure I'd like some of it as a seller - but it
seems theyr'e trying to protect people from new sellers that they're unsure of.

Gone2seed, do you know if there's been a decision made yet about the plant auction site? I think it's a great idea. Ebay has been raising their fees for a while now and things have gone completely downhill there over the last 2 years. With the first rate hikes, sellers stopped buying as much because they had to pay the increased fees to sell and therefore less money to buy anything. Sellers on ebay just happened to be BUYERS also. They've increased fees I don't know how many times in the last couple of years but it's outragous. I quit griping about it (well almost!) 3-4 weeks ago and finally shut down my store. I've been complaining for about 2 years about their fees. 3 or 4 years ago, it was worth it to sell there, but not anymore. The paypal thing is rediculous. So you're supposed to fork out the shipping $'s out of your own pocket and then wait 21 days to get any money at all out of the deal? They have completely lost their minds.

I've been hoping that someone out there would open a plant auction site besides the lily auction. A place for plants of all kinds and garden related items would be awesome. There are lots of different auction sites popping up out there and specializing in something specific such as handmade items, anitques, etc.

KHT, I totally agree that selling off your own site and not sharing $'s with anybody is a great idea. (BTW, if anyone here builds websites and is interested in doing one for me for a reasonable price please e-mail me. Mine would have nothing to do with plants.) But to get whatever you have to sell out for the world to see, you do a heck of a lot better with an auction site than with a website only.

G2S I am thinking about it... In another thread I mentioned that I am http://brugmansias.us. Need something to do with it
I like the idea!

Here's a CNN link discussing the fee increases.

Specifically noted in the story:

"The greatest fee increase will come for goods selling for
less than $25. EBay's fee for those transactions will
rise 67 percent, to 8.75 percent of the final sale price."

Eesh - that would DEFINATELY hit plants.

"Incoming CEO John Donahoe, president of eBay
Marketplaces, which encompasses its shopping sites and
classifieds, has said he will aggressively change eBay's
product, customer approach and business model."

Eesh - if he did this - he needs to go take a macro
economics class. Econ 101 - if you want to increase an
activity - you try to cut fees - cut some costs on admin
side - increase the activity. Not hike your fees in the
face of stagnating usage. Jeeez, duh! We're hurting -
people are complaining! Increase the fees to make up for
them not using the site!

Wow, some people don't get it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cnn link to ebay story

KARMA!!!! At least I am in good company.. Altho I have not got the Boot from Daves yet...LOL

You know the ole saying Money Talks and ( you fill in the blank) Walks... These seller fees will have a trickle down effect on buyers.. They sell to make a profit and ebay is getting their greedy little hands on every dime they can.. As a consumer I DON"T want to pay a higher price..

There is action being taken by ebay members.. To refrain from selling or buying Feb 18th~25th..
I personally will whole heartedly respect this action and hope that each and everyone of you will take the time to consider , research and voice your opinions ... reguardless what they are ..
this will at some level affect anyone who chooses to do business there..
There is a petion if anyone is interested in reading it..

Here is a link that might be useful: FYI

I have been an ebay member since 1999 as buyer and seller...They've had some bad ideas in the past but this one totally takes the cake...Absolutely ridiculous!!

I am definitely going to honor the boycott!

BTW.. Did you guys see this cartoon?...Click Here

I just found this and I am very excited to share...This is a response from Dave's Garden ..That I got from BGI( which if you haven't checked out you should..LOL)

The response to the auction idea has surprised me, and I'm definitely going to be creating this feature.

My desire is to have it ready for beta testing later this week or early next week.

It will be 100% free during the first testing period, which will last for a couple weeks after launch. After that we'll nail down the fee structure and introduce the fees at that time. They will be reasonable, and all of ya'll will help me determine what the fees will be.

Photos will be free and DG hosted, just like the other features of DG. If we start having resources problems with the photos (bandwidth and server space) then we may start charging a small fee for more than 1 photo.

I have a lot of programming to do. :)"

SOOOO be sure to keep an eye on this who knows may be some Bargins there...

Some of you have seen my site, here is where I went to start mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Microsoft sites

I am not a seller. I am a buyer. People will go where they can get quality for less. I buy close to 80% of my items off the internet and have for many years. Use ebay as a marketing tool to lead to your own web site. This will make up the difference in fees. I like ebay due to the rating system. I have a 100% rating and try to only buy from people who have the same. Just look at Sears ratings very poor. I like dealing with people not corporations.

Price a service too high and the market will make another avenue or the price will be compensated for increased fees. I like the idea of competition and would like to see alternate sites for buying and selling. I will shop them.

By the way Country Gardens rocks.....

Bump. (grin)

hey Jim do you mind if I ask who you are at eBay? What do you sell ?

Barry sent you an email. Read the thread above I am not a seller. I tried it for fun many years past. I made a few thousand in few months buying and selling. It was just too much work. Too succeed you need one product and a readily assessable mailing location. None of which I had.

I did buy something today. 2 arborea's and 2 candidas from dogwooderitternet today. I heard he had nice plants. Oh sorry I am the same as on here jeep461.

Well I'm thrilled to know that he decided to do the auction site. Kylie or anybody, let as know us soon as he's up and running!

Thanks for the link KHT. What I want is too complicated for me...It's possible I could do it but I'm just not in the mood to try it by myself again.

Jim, you think you'll be able to refrain from buying on ebay for the one week? :)