Comments on: Ruby Lane Hits Up Buyers and Sellers with New Fees

By: cookiepuss

cookiepuss — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 01:18:22 +0000

These bozettes want to charge me for taking my money?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahhhaaaaa!

No.
Process my payment, take the cut and send it to the seller, greedy bastards.
Or…there are a bazillion places to shop online. I’ll take my money elsewhere.

I shall bury their pithy service fee in my doodoo box.
>^.^<

By: oberon1

oberon1 — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 22:22:47 +0000

In reply to Leathermermaid8.

Or offering them the opportunity to get what they pay for – the items – without unfair taxes and sneaky fees which are effectively “dead money!. In the UK we have a massive 20% sales tax on goods and services. So if you spend $100 on an item you only get $80 worth for your money. This is why we have such a flourishing black economy built up around avoiding this tax.

By: Leathermermaid8

Leathermermaid8 — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 20:47:04 +0000

RL would be better served to seek out the handmade and artisan goods lost from Etsy/eBay and add them to the seller base, and take back market share. Undisclosed fees are gotchas that erode trust. Did they learn nothing from those two or does everybody have to jump off a cliff because everybody else is?

I’m waiting for some of these sites to start demanding “membership” fees, if you want to see more than 12 shirts, 4000 hand bag knock offs and a broken roller skate on them. Be interesting to see just how much tolerance a consumer will have for the tactic. Amazon has prime after all.

There’s nothing to stop any shop owner from adding their email/website to the invoice when they ship, urging buyers to visit them off site.

By: oberon1

oberon1 — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 20:16:15 +0000

In reply to DogAndPony. I too have a feeling of foreboding. Etsy got slated for raising a seller charge which included shipping. Shipping is NOT a service provided by the site. Packaging and shipping are done by the seller. Charging a % on it appears to be greedy and money grabbing;

By: oberon1

oberon1 — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 20:11:23 +0000

Selling antiques on social media may seem odd to those of us who have shops but there are dozens of “buy/sell vintage” groups on Facebook etc. I suspect that some RL sellers who have held off from it will be moving onto social media where deals are done between private individuals with no taxes, user fees, etc. And a lot less in the way of rules and regulations.

By: oberon1

oberon1 — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 20:06:59 +0000

In reply to DogAndPony. Ebay make sit difficult for buyers and sellers to communicate but there are still "ways" of coaxing regular customers off the site to make private deals.

By: DogAndPony

DogAndPony — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 12:09:18 +0000

I am rebating the fee (surprised they didn’t use the Orwellian “convenience fee” monicker), to my customers and have a shop announcement to that effect.

I have almost 500 items in my shop, and another 150 or so in the process of listing, so can’t just turn off RL right now. But in the coming year I will be selling off more locally, and get my RL shop presence reduced and maintenance fees downsized.

By: katyl

katyl — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 13:16:56 +0000

I was a Ruby Lane seller, and I’m still a buyer. The sudden onset of taxes and now a “fee” to keep Ruby Lane online? Uh, no thanks. I can guarantee Ruby Lane sellers are going to find that that “fee” just FOR Ruby Lane is going to turn a lot of buyers OFF.

By: DogAndPony

DogAndPony — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 18:32:43 +0000

In reply to oberon1. I would do the same, but my concern is that buyers will back out when the see the service charge and not contact me at all. Plus I wouldn't count on this method long term. Closing the "off site sale" opportunity will be the next shoe to drop.

By: DogAndPony

DogAndPony — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 13:13:32 +0000

In reply to oberon1. I plan to do what I can to accommodate - but my concern is with buyers who just walk when they see the service fee and never communicate with me.