Re Ruby Lane Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive Seller Fees and Benefits

catseyevintage

catseyevintage

VFG Member
I am starting a new thread pertaining to the issue of Ruby Lane non-exclusive sellers paying the same fees as exclusive sellers. Below are the postings made by myself, Carol of RL and guest Foo Foo Gal:

Hello Carol -

I would like to know why Ruby Lane charges a non-exclusive seller exactly the same fees as an exclusive seller.

It is my understanding that the exclusive seller's listings are automatically placed in the appropriate category lane as long as they list seven items within one week, whereas the non-exclusive seller has to pay 30.00 for each separate lane. This means if one is a non-exclusive seller on RL selling both vintage clothing and jewelry, that seller would pay 60.00 for four weeks exposure on the two lanes, ie the vintage clothing lane and the jewelry lane. If a seller wants to list housewares or other collectibles they would pay an additional 30.00 for four weeks in those lanes.

Please explain how this is possibly fair to the non-exclusive seller.
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Registered Guest Foo Foo Gal responded:

http://kb.rubylane.com/category.php?catID=14
Here is the fees. I will let Carol answer but unless something very recently changed this is not true at all Catseye.
I have been at RL 3 different times over the years but am exclusive now. Once I had 6 other venues at once.
I have always paid what is in the link and sell on all the lanes except artisan one. I also do not sometimes list 7 items in a week?
Sandy
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oops. sorry Carol.
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Catseye Responded:

oo Foo Gal - there is nothing in the link you gave that pertains to the cost of being featured in a lane.

When I sold on Ruby Lane as a non-exclusive seller I was charged 30.00 for four weeks of placement in each lane I wanted to be in, i.e. Vintage Clothing as one lane and Jewelry as my second lane.

When I was on Ruby Lane as an exclusive seller I was not charged for placement in the different lanes.
Additionally, I was informed by customer service that as long as I listed 7 items per lane per week I would be featured in appropriate lane at no cost to me.

Have the rules and fees have changed since November of 2011?
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CatseyeVintage
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Foo Foo Gal responded:

I may be misunderstanding you but I did not become exclusive till August of 2011. I was on RL in Feb. of 2011 and closed. I never paid to be in different lanes.

Being featured does cost extra as it does all places I know of. Paying for clicks is why I was only there 6 months in 2007 or 2008 as I went a bit overboard.

I am sorry but Carol will have to answer your question as I am not completely understanding what happened with you.
----------You may be referring to this?
http://kb.rubylane.com/question.php?ID=324​
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Catseye Responded:

Here is the link that talks about exclusive sellers receiving free featuring in the Lanes -

"Shops listing Exclusively on Ruby Lane can earn Free Featuring for a Lane and make the featured list by adding least 7 items to that Lane within a 7 day period. Your shop will remain Featured regardless of whether one or more of the items sells. You must also have 10 or more items in your shop for that Lane, and you must have selected at least one item from that Lane to be featured in your shop before you can be on the site's featured Lane pages. Items that are removed, placed in your backroom, or listed at auction do not count towards featuring."

This link talks about paying to be featured in the individual lanes -

"Paid Featuring allows a shops' items to be showcased on Ruby Lane along with other shops' items. Items are seen on the Ruby Lane Home page next to the arch, on the Lane pages under the arch, in the showcase section located at the bottom of the Ruby Lane Home page, and on every page of the Ruby Lane blog, Notes from the Lane, in the Shop Spotlight section. Shops are also listed on the Featured Shops page of Ruby Lane.

The list of Featured Shops is updated through out the day, allowing shops who pay or are qualified for Free Featuring to begin being featured right away. Shops may choose to be featured on an individual Lane Home page only with the option to be additionally featured on the Ruby Lane Home page.

We have separated out the cost so shops have the option to pay only to be featured on a Lane Home page, if they choose. Shops must have at least 10 items currently listed in a lane in order to qualify to be featured on that lane.

Here's how the cost structure works:

Cost Structure for Lane Home Page:
$3 for 24 Hours
$10 for Week, $1.43 per day
$15 for 2 Weeks, $1.07 per day
$30 for 4 Weeks, $1.07 per day
$90 for 13 Weeks, $0.99 per day or $0.89 per day with 10% Pre-Pay Bonus
$170 for 26 Weeks, $0.93 per day or $0.84 per day with 10% Pre-Pay Bonus

Cost Structure for Lane Home Page plus Ruby Lane's Home Page:
$10 for 24 Hours
$30 for 1 Week, $4.29 per day
$50 for 2 Weeks, $3.57 per day
$90 for 4 Weeks, $3.21 per day
$270 for 13 Weeks, $2.97 per day or $2.67 per day with 10% Pre-Pay Bonus
$525 for 26 Weeks, $2.88 per day or $2.60 per day with 10% Pre-Pay Bonus

Please Note: In order to purchase featuring on the Ruby Lane Home page you must first purchase featuring on at least one Lane Home page. Shops may not pay to be featured only on the Ruby Lane Home page. Once Lane featuring has been purchased and the transaction finalized, home page featuring can not be added at a later date as a separate transaction. It can only be added as part of the purchase of Paid Featuring for another Lane. "

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Catseye Said:



foofoogal said: ↑
I may be misunderstanding you but I did not become exclusive till August of 2011. I was on RL in Feb. of 2011 and closed. I never paid to be in different lanes.

Being featured does cost extra as it does all places I know of. Paying for clicks is why I was only there 6 months in 2007 or 2008 as I went a bit overboard.

I am sorry but Carol will have to answer your question as I am not completely understanding what happened with you.
----------You may be referring to this?
http://kb.rubylane.com/question.php?ID=324​
1. If you were a non-exclusive seller and did not pay to be featured in different lanes, then you weren't featured in the lanes.

2. My question is not whether or not it costs extra to be featured. My question is why are non-exclusive sellers charged the same fees as exclusive sellers when:

a. Exclusive sellers are featured in lanes with no additional charge as long as they meet the 7 items in 7 days listing criteria, whereas non-exclusive sellers are charged 30.00 for four weeks exposure for each and every lane they wish to list in.

b. It was my understanding from RL customer service that RL submitted the exclusive shops new listings to Google and other search engines every evening and only intermittently/randomly submitted the non-exclusive sellers listings.

I was on RL for several years and I certainly know what their fees and benefits are.​
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CatseyeVintage
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I believe you do. I have learned several things from this thread.
1. I can list homemade that is over 20 years on RL.
2. and your no. 2 a about listing 7 items.

I did know about the Google listings.
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2. My question is not whether or not it costs extra to be featured. My question is why are non-exclusive sellers charged the same fees as exclusive sellers when:

I certainly cannot answer this. RubyLane is implementing many new features as recently as today. Mainly with social networking but possibly .........Carol started this thread and added this so...open dialogue is always good IMHO.
--------------------
Before I continue addressing the individual posts, let me share the following with you. (This is a result of this discussion and has been added to the TOU on Ruby Lane and the FAQ updated.)​
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I was exclusive to Ruby Lane for years, but bc of their restrictive policies, ( i LOVE vintage swimwear!!) i "had" to look elsewhere to sell those garments; opened on Etsy, and (happily) dropped my exclusive status.

i do not pay extra to be featured (I think I tried it once, maybe twice. but did not see a jump in sales OR traffic, so I simply don't...same with click fees), and I'm happy enough with our sales on RL, and we DO generally get better prices on our goods there (than on etsy).

fwiw.
 
In the close to four years that I sold on Ruby Lane, I did much better sales wise when I was featured in the VCA lane.

When I shop Ruby Lane, the first place I go to is the different lanes to see "what's new"....

My point is not whether or not being featured in the individual lanes is beneficial to sellers; my point is that it is unfair for non-exclusive sellers to pay the same fees as exclusive sellers while receiving significantly less promotional exposure and benefits.
 
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