I have been thinking about this for awhile. For years, ebay was the only major marketplace to buy items from a private seller in a "secure" online format. Now, for years, other marketplaces have been available, but ebay was the world's "sweetheart" when it came to buying online. They've always come out on top. But starting in 2008, sweeping changes to both the feedback system and several changes to the fee structure have made it impossible for some sellers to co-exist with the "big box" stores that ebay just happens to be favoring in terms of fee discounts (some don't pay any at all). Under the new fee structure, up to and sometimes beyond, 30% of a sale will be absorbed in fees collected by ebay and paypal. For some smaller sellers, this is a deal-breaker. They cannot even afford ebay part-time anymore.
So what does this have to do with me? As an"online selling addict", I can vouch for the above information, because I was maintaining a store on ebay (InMommiesCloset). I was paying a monthly fee, listing fees per item, final value fees, and paypal fees. For the first two years it was managable part-time. I could list about 75 items, and still make a profit. But sales are not guaranteed on every item, and before long, I found myself upside down when the economy took that fateful dive. I was forced to close my ebay store and figure out what to do from there.
I haven't been on ebay in years. Way too expensive, as you say. eCrater is the first shop I started, but I wish they had a better shipping matrix as most of my items are under a pound.
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