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British & Irish consumers extortionate fees on eBay.co.uk, READ HERE & SAVE MONEY!
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eBayRipOff
Posts: 197 Forumite
I will get to the point quickly, not many will be aware of this, unless you have been a business seller on eBay.
The main point is when buying on eBay, searching and shopping, to get the best price for UK based products, YOU MUST MAKE ADVANCED SEARCH, AND SEARCH FOR ITEMS LOCATED IN THE UK OR SEARCH ON EBAY.COM AND NOT EBAY.CO.UK, BECAUSE BUYING FROM BRITISH SELLERS ON EBAY.CO.UK WILL COST YOU MORE MONEY, BECAUSE OF EBAY.CO.UK SELLER FEES ARE NEARLY 10% HIGHER THEN THE REST OF THE WORLD!
But unless you do this Advanced eBay search or use eBay.com, eBay.co.uk will block you from being able to see these products located and sold in the UK.
Last May 2011, eBay.co.uk and ebay Irleand decided to put up the final value fee (sales fee) on eBay for business sellers.
The reason for this was according to eBay was:
Simpler, flat final value fees (hereafter FVF) will make it easier to predict and calculate your eBay fees when you successfully sell an item.
Benefits of the simpler final value fee structure include:
Flat final value fees
Simpler price structuring
More transparent fees
Easier to manage your business
With few exceptions the FVF was increased from an average of around 3 -4% on products at certain values to 10 - 12% on most products with few exceptions. This meant on an item valued at £500, the increase would be from £15 to £60
(in addition comes Paypal fees if you used Paypal to pay)
If the item you purchased cost £1500, the fee increase would be £45 to £180, last example to illustrate this, item purchased at £3000 would go from £90 to £360 in fees. We are looking at fee increases of 300 - 400% in these cases, in addition add approx. 3% for Paypal fees, which means every sale on eBay from a British or Irish business seller will have their prices increased with at least 15% compared to the normal market value, to be able to cover these NEW increased fees!
However you might say that the trader should adapt, source cheaper products etc., end of the day, only solution is to increase the prices on the products.
Now this would be ok if ALL eBay sellers would get the same fee structure, at least within Europe, as part of the EU is supposed to be that we are competing on level terms. However here eBay have made an exception, eBay UK and eBay Ireland have set these extremely high prices exclusively for eBay.co.uk business sellers.
USA, have an approx. fee structure on average of around 3% (scaled depending on value of products sold)
All European countries, except UK and Ireland have the same, this means sellers in Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain etc. only pay fees on average of approx. 3 % on higher priced products.
eBay have an option where sellers can list on the eBay USA platform, called eBay.com, if I advertise on this part of their platform, my product will be visible in the USA and parts of Europe, with exception of the United Kingdom. Because eBay UK wants that if product is located in the UK, that it is advertised/listed on eBay.co.uk, this way you will be charged the higher fixed flat fee of 10 or 12% when product is sold.
So eBay BLOCKS UK business sellers from advertising on their eBay.com (USA) site, for selling in the UK (if sold from eBay.com site, we would only need to pay 3% in fees) , but not good as UK potential buyers will not find our products on eBay in the UK when searching, due to eBay's blockage of this.
This means we are forced to list on eBay.co.uk, if we are going to be able to attract UK customers, and they are going to be able to find our products when searching on eBay platform.
Now ANYBODY from Europe, does NOT have this restriction when listing on eBay.com, or in the case they list on their own national eBay site in Europe, they can select international sales, and the advert will show up in the UK amongst all the UK sellers who is advertising on eBay.co.UK.
However the major issue is that these sellers, from outside the UK, or only paying on average 3% in sales fees, while we have to pay 12%! This clearly makes it an uneven playing field for us British business vs European business.
I seriously believe there must be a breach of European Law with eBay, as they are putting ALL British based business in a serious disadvantage! We are NOT competing on a level playing field with our EU neighbours, why are sellers from outside UK getting special treatment? It clearly seems eBay has an agenda against UK business, and are misusing their power.
They would never dare to do this Europe, because eBay's position there is not as strong as in the UK, this for me seems to be entrapment, they make business adapt and create a business model that works, and with 3 months notice they change their fee structure, which example for me, would mean 300 - 500% increase in Final Sales Fees to the eBay.
Now the British government must actively work to assist to help protect British business, and they have not with regards to eBay, eBay have been allowed to bully thousands of British business, brought us to our knees, sent plenty out of business, with these unfair and uneven conditions.
I understand if they had done it the same all over the world or Europe, however fact is that they only did this for UK and Ireland!
Another year like this, and my business will be finish, that's the way it is heading, and the main reason is that the British government has not been able to make sure that all business in Europe are kept on an equal level, British consumers have to pay 9% to buy a product from British companies in the UK, than if they purchased the same product from any country within EU or the rest of the world!
Under the article 101, all agreements between undertakings, decisions by association of undertaking and concerted practices are considered as anti competitive practices.
Under the article 102, any abuse of a dominant position in the internal market is considered as anti-competitive practice. Please note that it is the abuse which is sanctioned and not the sole dominant position.
“Such abuse may, in particular, consist in:
(a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions;
(b) limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers;
(c) applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
(d) making the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.”
Thanks for the rant, however this is also to help you save money, as I feel there is a deep injustice, when UK business and British consumers, get targeted to pay more than the rest of Europe, where I was lead to believe the whole point was creating en equal and level playing field, evidently us in the UK are being taken for a ride by the giants of eBay!
If you follow my advice, the savings will at least be of 10%, I would encourage people to stop using eBay.co.uk, until eBay decides to put UK and Ireland back in line with the rest of their divisions within the EU, end of the day, the sellers have to increase their prices to facilitate such fee increases!
The main point is when buying on eBay, searching and shopping, to get the best price for UK based products, YOU MUST MAKE ADVANCED SEARCH, AND SEARCH FOR ITEMS LOCATED IN THE UK OR SEARCH ON EBAY.COM AND NOT EBAY.CO.UK, BECAUSE BUYING FROM BRITISH SELLERS ON EBAY.CO.UK WILL COST YOU MORE MONEY, BECAUSE OF EBAY.CO.UK SELLER FEES ARE NEARLY 10% HIGHER THEN THE REST OF THE WORLD!
But unless you do this Advanced eBay search or use eBay.com, eBay.co.uk will block you from being able to see these products located and sold in the UK.
Last May 2011, eBay.co.uk and ebay Irleand decided to put up the final value fee (sales fee) on eBay for business sellers.
The reason for this was according to eBay was:
Simpler, flat final value fees (hereafter FVF) will make it easier to predict and calculate your eBay fees when you successfully sell an item.
Benefits of the simpler final value fee structure include:
Flat final value fees
Simpler price structuring
More transparent fees
Easier to manage your business
With few exceptions the FVF was increased from an average of around 3 -4% on products at certain values to 10 - 12% on most products with few exceptions. This meant on an item valued at £500, the increase would be from £15 to £60
(in addition comes Paypal fees if you used Paypal to pay)
If the item you purchased cost £1500, the fee increase would be £45 to £180, last example to illustrate this, item purchased at £3000 would go from £90 to £360 in fees. We are looking at fee increases of 300 - 400% in these cases, in addition add approx. 3% for Paypal fees, which means every sale on eBay from a British or Irish business seller will have their prices increased with at least 15% compared to the normal market value, to be able to cover these NEW increased fees!
However you might say that the trader should adapt, source cheaper products etc., end of the day, only solution is to increase the prices on the products.
Now this would be ok if ALL eBay sellers would get the same fee structure, at least within Europe, as part of the EU is supposed to be that we are competing on level terms. However here eBay have made an exception, eBay UK and eBay Ireland have set these extremely high prices exclusively for eBay.co.uk business sellers.
USA, have an approx. fee structure on average of around 3% (scaled depending on value of products sold)
All European countries, except UK and Ireland have the same, this means sellers in Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain etc. only pay fees on average of approx. 3 % on higher priced products.
eBay have an option where sellers can list on the eBay USA platform, called eBay.com, if I advertise on this part of their platform, my product will be visible in the USA and parts of Europe, with exception of the United Kingdom. Because eBay UK wants that if product is located in the UK, that it is advertised/listed on eBay.co.uk, this way you will be charged the higher fixed flat fee of 10 or 12% when product is sold.
So eBay BLOCKS UK business sellers from advertising on their eBay.com (USA) site, for selling in the UK (if sold from eBay.com site, we would only need to pay 3% in fees) , but not good as UK potential buyers will not find our products on eBay in the UK when searching, due to eBay's blockage of this.
This means we are forced to list on eBay.co.uk, if we are going to be able to attract UK customers, and they are going to be able to find our products when searching on eBay platform.
Now ANYBODY from Europe, does NOT have this restriction when listing on eBay.com, or in the case they list on their own national eBay site in Europe, they can select international sales, and the advert will show up in the UK amongst all the UK sellers who is advertising on eBay.co.UK.
However the major issue is that these sellers, from outside the UK, or only paying on average 3% in sales fees, while we have to pay 12%! This clearly makes it an uneven playing field for us British business vs European business.
I seriously believe there must be a breach of European Law with eBay, as they are putting ALL British based business in a serious disadvantage! We are NOT competing on a level playing field with our EU neighbours, why are sellers from outside UK getting special treatment? It clearly seems eBay has an agenda against UK business, and are misusing their power.
They would never dare to do this Europe, because eBay's position there is not as strong as in the UK, this for me seems to be entrapment, they make business adapt and create a business model that works, and with 3 months notice they change their fee structure, which example for me, would mean 300 - 500% increase in Final Sales Fees to the eBay.
Now the British government must actively work to assist to help protect British business, and they have not with regards to eBay, eBay have been allowed to bully thousands of British business, brought us to our knees, sent plenty out of business, with these unfair and uneven conditions.
I understand if they had done it the same all over the world or Europe, however fact is that they only did this for UK and Ireland!
Another year like this, and my business will be finish, that's the way it is heading, and the main reason is that the British government has not been able to make sure that all business in Europe are kept on an equal level, British consumers have to pay 9% to buy a product from British companies in the UK, than if they purchased the same product from any country within EU or the rest of the world!
Under the article 101, all agreements between undertakings, decisions by association of undertaking and concerted practices are considered as anti competitive practices.
Under the article 102, any abuse of a dominant position in the internal market is considered as anti-competitive practice. Please note that it is the abuse which is sanctioned and not the sole dominant position.
“Such abuse may, in particular, consist in:
(a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions;
(b) limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers;
(c) applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
(d) making the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.”
Thanks for the rant, however this is also to help you save money, as I feel there is a deep injustice, when UK business and British consumers, get targeted to pay more than the rest of Europe, where I was lead to believe the whole point was creating en equal and level playing field, evidently us in the UK are being taken for a ride by the giants of eBay!
If you follow my advice, the savings will at least be of 10%, I would encourage people to stop using eBay.co.uk, until eBay decides to put UK and Ireland back in line with the rest of their divisions within the EU, end of the day, the sellers have to increase their prices to facilitate such fee increases!
0
Comments
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Apart from the facts not being right, ie fee structures differ in different countries, some higher, some lower. I believe some countries still charge gallery fees, etc..
This is however a wonderful idea, seller strikes always do very well, I'm happy to encourage sellers to go on strike, I'm not sure how it will improve your business though, there could be a fatal flaw in that logic..0 -
Long post is longhelpful tips
it's spelt d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y
there - 'in or at that place'
their - 'owned by them'
they're - 'they are'
it's bought not brought (i just bought my chicken a suit from that new shop for £6.34)0 -
I got half way through that, got bored of the incorrect information and gave up.S.P.C member 1662 - target £3000
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The information is not wrong!
These fees are applied for business sellers. If you can point out what information is wrong I would be shocked!
Simpler, flat final value fees will make it easier to predict and calculate your eBay fees when you successfully sell an item.
Benefits of the simpler final value fee structure include:
Flat final value fees
Simpler price structuring
More transparent fees
Easier to manage your business
A few categories did get better, however these are now being increased this year as far as I have read from eBay seller updates;
Full list can be seen on the link I provided. As far as I can see, the only category who became better was Tech, which I believe now is being increased to 5%, need to check those stats. However everything else is between 8 - 12% (most items ending in the 10 - 12% bracket)
Do not mix up private sellers and business sellers on eBay. There is a big difference in this.
Everything written in the post is correct, and it is the UK customers who are being ripped of by these large fees, as these high fees apply only for UK sellers in the UK.
I would have posted the links to eBay that can prove all I have said, but so far I am not allowed to post these links. But if you do search on : ebay seller news May 2011, you will see the list of the whole structure.
Also another one eBay Fees for eBay markets, gives you links to ALL the different countries eBay operates in and their different price structure.
Yes fees in other countries are scaled. But I used an average of the FVF of the items cost in certain categories.
FINAL VALUE FEES, are the fees when ITEM IS SOLD, not the listing fees! eBay charges fees based on FVF, and with Paypal this adds up to 13 - 15% in most categories, depending on what one you choose.
However the main issue here is, that in the rest of Europe, the fees will be considerably lower, and it has created an unequal level for sellers! FACT!
I know because I used to be a big eBay seller, and this information is so YOU, the consumer can SAVE money!
Anybody saying anything else, I suspect could be working for eBay!0 -
I have not encouraged seller strike, RFW seems you have some difficulty to see and understand the facts, do some research before you come with misleading information.
I have told people to use eBay.com when they search, used ADVANCED eBay search, so you get items located INSIDE UK, not just do a normal eBay search, as there is greater value items for you if you do some leg work, ask sellers some questions, give them a call, and arrange for the listing specially for values over £1000 to be performed via eBay.com instead of eBay.co.uk unless of course you don't mind paying 10% more than you need to pay, that's up to you of course!
I prefer to save the 10% and use it on something else, eBay UK is screwing their sellers and buyers!
I will use Germany as an example:
EUR 500,01 und höher :
EUR 20,50 zzgl. 2% des Verkaufspreises über EUR 500,00
This means for values above 500.01 Euro, they want 20 Euro + 2% of the sales price above 500 Euro! Now compare that to the UK flat rate of 10 or 12%, and you having a laugh! If that is not different conditions I don't know what is.
All Europe have similar fee structure, a fixed price + 2% of the final sales price!
EDUCATE YOURSELF and stop spreading misinformation!0 -
Don't like it?
Don't use it.0 -
Don't like it?
Don't use it.
I am really impressed by such genuinely well thought out responses, hope you can feel the irony!
It's simple, eBay increases their fees, seller increases their prices to compensate, the shopper pays more!
It would not be a problem if it was the same for all of EU! But it is not the same, these are the facts! So I am not really interested in such rhetoric of somebody who thinks they've invented the wheel!0 -
eBayRipOff wrote: »I am really impressed by such genuinely well thought out responses, hope you can feel the irony!
It's simple, eBay increases their fees, seller increases their prices to compensate, the shopper pays more!
It would not be a problem if it was the same for all of EU! But it is not the same, these are the facts! So I am not really interested in such rhetoric of somebody who thinks they've invented the wheel!
Do we have equalised pricing in the EU?
must have missed that memo0 -
We are talking about business practices, for a company that covers ONE market place, but splits it up and divides it as it sees fit. Due to a stronghold on UK business, eBay are doing what they want with their eBay UK department.
Local conditions will vary on other products, because there will be various differences in logistical costs etc., however with eBay, they are an online provider, there is no justification for such a difference in fees across the EU, it is clearly setting British business at a disadvantage!
Below are actual quotes from the legislation, which sets up the criteria that should be judged, not what we might think in our own personal opinion!
Problem is that eBay is very big, and very unresponsive!
Under the article 101, all agreements between undertakings, decisions by association of undertaking and concerted practices are considered as anti competitive practices.
Under the article 102, any abuse of a dominant position in the internal market is considered as anti-competitive practice. Please note that it is the abuse which is sanctioned and not the sole dominant position.
“Such abuse may, in particular, consist in:
(a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions;
(c) applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
Article 20
Non-discrimination
1. Member States shall ensure that the recipient is not made subject to discriminatory requirements based on his nationality or place of residence.
2. Member States shall ensure that the general conditions of access to a service, which are made available to the public at large by the provider, do not contain discriminatory provisions relating to the nationality or place of residence of the recipient, but without precluding the possibility of providing for differences in the conditions of access where those differences are directly justified by objective criteria.0 -
1. Member States shall ensure that the recipient is not made subject to discriminatory requirements based on his nationality or place of residence
But what eBay is doing by charging different rates of seller fees depending on where your account is registered is not discriminatory in the way that the articles you quoted mean.
If it was then surely the UK Government is also guilty of the same offence as they charge us more tax on things like tobacco, alcohol and fuel than many other EU countries.
An airline flight from the UK to France is usually more expensive than one from France to the UK. Is this also illegal?
Amazon.co.uk also charge different prices to Amazon.de. (some cheaper, some more expensive), and they are also a totally online business, just like ebay.
This is how just about every business around the world operates with different prices, fees and conditions depending on the country concerned.0
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