MSE News: eBay sellers beware - its fees now eat into postage costs

Rotti

I was listing something yesterday (as a buy it now) that needs to go by courier and considered listing it higher with the charge included. Not possible as the amount included only covers part of the UK and not others. If the item sold to someone in the Isle of Man or even the Isle of Wight there is sometimes an excess to pay for getting across the water or up into the Highlands of Scotland. So if you include a courier cost how can you then adjust it for the higher rate for these areas? Including postage is a little easier but at the end of the day it doesn't really fool anyone.

burnleymik

interesting on the community ebay boards:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/legislation/handbook_vol_1.pdf

Article 101 (ex Article 81 TEC)
1. The following shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market: all agreements
between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which
may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention,
restriction or distortion of competition within the common market, and in particular those
which:
(a) directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;
(b) limit or control production, markets, technical development, or investment;
(c) share markets or sources of supply;
(d) apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby
placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
(e) make 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.

They are in breach of the EU competition laws.

Wonder if anyone is actually going to challenge this?

Le73Uq86Uv

Surely if ebay charge you 10% on postage then the total postage costs are the actual Post Office charge pluss 10%.

So where is the problem? Add 10%.

You may need to add a little more, so make it 11%.

soolin

burnleymik wrote: »

interesting on the community ebay boards:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/legislation/handbook_vol_1.pdf



They are in breach of the EU competition laws.

Wonder if anyone is actually going to challenge this?

There is always a bar room lawyer who think that they know better, I wouldn't hold your breath. It also ignores the fact that Amazon have been charging fees on postage for years.

In fact, there is a semi regular on this board who assured us that her lawyers were dealing with this and the FVFs charged on p and P would not be going ahead...I wonder what happened with that?

RFW

burnleymik wrote: »

They are in breach of the EU competition laws.

I don't really understand how. It's a lower charge than Amazon. It also isn't the only place to sell, so makes no difference what/how they charge. At a certain level of charge they would just lose all their customers, there's nothing anti competitive about that.
It's the sellers who need to stop fannying around, either get on with selling within the marketplace or find another one. All the energy they waste on petitions and thinking up conspiracy theories has got to be bad for business.

Percy1983

This is what I don't understand, you either play by ebays rules or you go elsewhere... simple!

If this really was the big deal the vocal minority was making it out to be then ebay would be loosing sellers left right and center to the likes of amazon, play, ebid etc...

burnleymik

I actually don't think there is any harm in the "vocal minority" trying to fight this, especially as eBay's reasons for the increase were so poor, i.e. the guys who charge all the cost to postage.

Talk about cracking a walnut with a sledge hammer.

Just because Amazon do it, doesn't make something right and charging a fee for a service they, nor you provide is taking the mickey somewhat..

It's no wonder these companies do whatever they want when so many just roll over and come forward with comments "if you don't like it sell elsewhere". What a fantastic place for the big businesses to be, a world without resistance to change.

The fact is ebay have you by the short and curlies, the buyers are so well looked after that they are happy with ebay and as sellers you have to be where the buyers are, so you are stuck with ebay pretty much as a viable auction site.

So why not try and fight something you see as unfair seeing as though there are so few real alternatives?

RFW

burnleymik wrote: »

So why not try and fight something you see as unfair seeing as though there are so few real alternatives?

because you're banging your head against a brick wall. It's a pointless exercise, especially trying to find laws they may be breaking. There are also some sellers gained by the fee changes so they also won't be wanting a reversal. The other problem is, you're too late now, changes are in and Ebay hasn't shut down. The only way they would change fee charges now is if their sales figures drop.
If you insist Ebay is the only place to sell (and I really don't see that) then you must still be selling there and your protests are even more pointless. Ebay will just see you as an irritating noise that will go away after a couple of months.

Percy1983

I still can't see how the changes are unfair.

cj2011

RFW wrote: »

If you're selling something you aren't actually a consumer, quite the opposite. Also, Amazon charge marketplace sellers a fee on postage and always have done, they haven't yet been prosecuted.

You can be both a seller and a consumer at the same time. You're purchasing advertising space to sell your items, surely that is a kind of consumer contract between you and eBay.