eBay Increases Fees For Sneakers, Calls It A Better Experience
UPDATE 10-27-22
It looks like eBay will be offering flat rate shipping for authenticated sneakers to Canada and Australia as well.
What is eBay shipping?
In addition to our Authenticity Guarantee service, we’re also streamlining shipping to make it much easier for buyers and sellers!For all Authenticity Guarantee eligible sneakers, buyers will pay a flat shipping fee of $14.95 USD in the US, $30 USD in Canada, and $45 USD in Australia.
Our new handling time requires that sellers send Authenticity Guarantee eligible sneakers to the authenticator in 3 business days or less, and buyers will receive their items within 3 days from following authentication. That means buyers can expect to receive their sneakers faster than ever!
Sellers have been frustrated with eBay's communication about the new flat rate shipping program because eBay failed to make it clear it would be a "phased rollout" not available to all sellers immediately at launch.
Currently eBay is saying it should be available to more sellers by the end of November "worst case scenario." More info 👇
Liz Morton ~ Founder
UPDATE 10-5-22
eBay has announced the same fee increase for sneakers in Canada.
Effective October 27th, 2022, sneakers sold in men’s or women’s athletic shoes categories will be subject to the following fee changes:
- The final value fee for sneakers sold under $150 will be 12.9% for sellers without any store subscription, and 12% for sellers with a Basic, Premium or Anchor Store Subscription. In addition, a $0.30 per-order fee will apply to sneakers sales under $150.
- As part of this change, items listed for under $150 may be subject to insertion fees if the seller has used up their monthly zero insertion fee allotment. Sneakers listed for $150 or more will continue to receive free insertion fees.
- Final value fees for sneakers are not changing unless otherwise specified above.
UPDATE 9-27-22
And we have an answer - eBay sent out a notice to sellers today saying they will be using FedEx for the new sneaker authentication shipping service.
As part of our continuing drive to streamline and simplify the Authenticity Guarantee shipping process for sneaker sellers, eBay is partnering with FedEx.
Beginning in October, upon sale, eBay will provide you with a FedEx label at no cost, to ship your Authenticity Guarantee-eligible sneakers to our authentication center. The change will apply to both new and revised listings, and eBay shipping will be the default domestic shipping service.
To enjoy these benefits, you will need to ensure a handling time of 3 business days or less.
You’ll be able to use QR codes, print from home, desktop or from the eBay app. If using a QR code, ensure you find a location which can print your QR code here.
When you use eBay's shipping label, we'll also provide you with loss and damage protections if anything goes wrong during the first leg of shipping to the authenticator.
Also don't miss the changes to seller protection announced yesterday - eBay is clearly pushing sellers to use the FedEx labels they'll be providing.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Apparently some sneakerheads are not thrilled with the choice of FedEx for this service, as there have been horror stories in the past of FedEx drivers stealing shows shipped by Nike.
Chris Burns at Arch USA shared some interesting thoughts about why he's not concerned.
UPDATE 9-26-22
eBay has finally put out a public announcement with the same information sellers received in email announcements last week.
eBay has announced a fee increase for sneakers between $100-$150, but is somehow still calling this a better experience?!
Effective October 10th, final value fee for sneakers sold between $100 and $150 will increase to 12.9% for sellers with a starter store or no store subscription, and for sellers with a Basic Store or above, it will increase to 12%.
There will also be a mandatory 3 day handling time & setting a required flat rate shipping cost of $14.95 to be paid by the buyer.
Sellers received the news in an email announcement today:
Introducing a better sneakers experience on eBay
You asked us to streamline the selling process, make shipping easier and faster, and expand Authenticity Guarantee to more sneakers. We heard you, and now we’re delivering. And we’re just getting started.
Sneakers updates at a glance
- Expanding Authenticity Guarantee. Making more sneakers eligible for authentication.
- Streamlined selling. Keeping shipping costs low by providing a free shipping label to sellers and managing shipping for them.
- Final value fee increase for sales between $100 and $150. As part of these changes, effective October 10th, 2022, Sneakers sold between $100 and $150 will see a final value fee change.
- Expanding Authenticity Guarantee eligibility to the most in-demand sneakers
We want to make sure the most in-demand sneakers are eligible for Authenticity Guarantee, so we’re expanding our list of eligible sneakers within our robust list of sneakers brands. And we’ll continue to add more models to our list.
Listing sneakers is faster, too. Soon, the Shipping section in the listing flow will automatically specify the free domestic service eBay will provide to ship sneakers orders that are eligible for Authenticity Guarantee. The Authenticity Guarantee checkmark will be prominently displayed on eligible listings so that buyers can shop with complete confidence.
Streamlined shipping with required handling time of 3 business days or less
We’re removing the complexity tied to shipping for both sellers and buyers. Beginning in October, eBay will provide you with a label at no cost to you upon sale to ship your Authenticity Guarantee-eligible sneakers to our authentication center. The change will apply to new and revised listings and eBay shipping will be the default domestic shipping service. When you use eBay’s shipping label, we’ll also provide you with loss and damage protections if anything goes wrong during the first leg of shipping to the authenticator.
In addition, our new handling time requires that you send Authenticity Guarantee-eligible sneakers to the authenticator in 3 business days or less, and buyers will receive their items within 3 days from the authenticator following authentication. We're also taking the guesswork out of shipping costs to enhance transparency, build trust, and drive velocity. Buyers will pay a flat shipping fee of $14.95 in the US. We'll share more details about these shipping updates soon.
Final value fee increase for sneakers sales between $100 and $150
Effective October 10th, 2022, sneakers sold in men’s or women’s athletic shoes categories will be subject to the following fee changes:
- Sneakers sold for less than $100, or sneakers sold for $150 or more, which account for the vast majority of sneakers sold on eBay, will not be impacted. The final value fee for sneakers sold between $100 and $150 will increase to 12.9% for sellers without a Basic Store subscription or above, and the final value fee for sellers with a Basic Store or above subscription will increase to 12%.
- As part of this change, items listed for under $150 may be subject to insertion fees if the seller has used up their monthly zero insertion fee allotment.
- The new $14.95 flat rate shipping fee for buyers will not be subject to final value fees. The total amount of the sale for Authenticated items includes the item price, sales tax, and other applicable fees.
We’ll continue working with you to create a better sneakers experience on eBay
It's funny that eBay is trying to spin this as "expanding our list of eligible sneakers" - they literally just reduced the list of eligible sneakers last month by changing the terms to only apply to certain models within the eligible brands, when previously it was any sneaker made by those brands.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Allowing a few more "select models" back into the program, but not as many as there were prior to a month ago, is not an "expansion" no matter how badly eBay wants us to think so.
It's also interesting to me that eBay specifically says the new flat rate $14.95 shipping fee will not be included in the final value fee calculation - but doesn't specify if it will still be included in the calculation for any Promoted Listings ad fees that may be incurred (my guess is it will).
That flat rate $14.95 for shipping could actually make shoes more expensive for the buyer overall and since eBay is providing the shipping label "at no cost to the seller" what happens to the extra money if it doesn't cost $14.95 to ship?
With their negotiated shipping rates, I'm pretty sure eBay will be making out like a bandit on that deal.
Sellers are discussing the changes in the eBay community and so far I'm not seeing anyone who thinks this is a better experience.
They just announced it a few hours ago. It’s pretty devastating. Glad I decided to liquidate.
This is basically doing the same thing as StockX and it's not for the better for sellers. It's worse.
Streamlined selling. Keeping shipping costs low by providing a free shipping label to sellers and managing shipping for them. - Most sellers offer free shipping. This actually makes it more costly for buyers and it hurts sellers' chances of competing against larger sellers. Why can't you just offer free shipping without being a requirement.
Final value fee increase for sales between $100 and $150. As part of these changes, effective October 10th, 2022, Sneakers sold between $100 and $150 will see a final value fee change. - Incredibly hypocritical. Promoting the best fees in the game earlier this year when you rolled out fees on shoes above $100 and then changing the fee to 12-13% several months later is hypocritical.
The 3 day max handling period is wild. WHy
What do you think of eBay's new "better" sneaker experience? Let us know in the comments below!
