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

soolin

BONDIT wrote: »

THESE BAY FEES FOR POSTAGE IS ILLEGAL? PLEASE TELL ME I AM WRONG HOW CAN A COMPANY UNDER ANY POLICY/TERMS THEY SEE FIT CHARGE YOU A FEE ON A VALUE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID ANOTHER COMPANY THE FULL AMOUNT ie YOU PAY THE POST OFFICE TO POST AN ITEM How can another COMPANY do this? is this EXTORTION and on the grounds they say to MAKE SELLERS PAY for overcharging HOW CAN THEY DISTINGUISH

The 'illegal' suggestion rather died last year as of course Amazon have been charging fees on the lot including postage for years.

We even had a user on here claim that their solicitors had assured them that this could not go ahead ....obviously that thread was quietly dropped once it went ahead regardless.

ballisticbrian

Bottom line, it's not "postage", it's postage and packing. People that can't see this are the same people who never got it when people added packing expenses onto postage.

RFW

BONDIT wrote: »

THESE BAY FEES FOR POSTAGE IS ILLEGAL? PLEASE TELL ME I AM WRONG HOW CAN A COMPANY UNDER ANY POLICY/TERMS THEY SEE FIT CHARGE YOU A FEE ON A VALUE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID ANOTHER COMPANY THE FULL AMOUNT ie YOU PAY THE POST OFFICE TO POST AN ITEM How can another COMPANY do this? is this EXTORTION and on the grounds they say to MAKE SELLERS PAY for overcharging HOW CAN THEY DISTINGUISH

It's not just Amazon that charge a fee on postage, there's Her Majesty's Customs & Excise too. I'm sure a few others do to, call the police quick.

whitegoods_engineer

Ebay has long since ceased to be a good way to sell. Charges are now extortionate and there are so many buyers scamming sellers, knowing they'll get their money back through Paypal.

Overly expensive to use! Local papers and shop window cards are now a better option in my opinion.

soolin

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

Ebay has long since ceased to be a good way to sell. Charges are now extortionate and there are so many buyers scamming sellers, knowing they'll get their money back through Paypal.

Overly expensive to use! Local papers and shop window cards are now a better option in my opinion.

I could not run my business via cards in a newsagents window at £5 a pop, how will be numerous overseas buyers find me?

sequence

The 10% postage charge has been a good thing for many business sellers. For years sellers who charged separate postage were subsidised by those with the free postage, giving them unfair advantage, despite ebay making freepost "the way to go".

lovinituk

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

Overly expensive to use! Local papers and shop window cards are now a better option in my opinion.

Tell me about a shop window or local paper that has several million potential customers viewing it on a daily basis and I might take your suggestion seriously!

Percy1983

I do like how this pops up now and then, always the same baseless rant.

In short if you list on ebay you are agreeing to the terms and conditions... guess what the terms and conditions say....

DeeMoney

Hi,
I've only read the first page of the posts but until the main point of the change has been lost in EBay's justification.
The change, introduced as it stands, with a blanket charge of 10% now over item & postage charges, has been introduced to whack up EBay annual income. Time will tell how much it jumps by, but I imagine it will be at least 10%.
I charge only what the postoffice now charges (ie including their 400% in the last few years for posting the same item - fee & size changes)
So for an item I sell for £3, with £2.80 postage [87p postage 4 years ago], previously I would pay 30p charges on the sale, now I will pay 58p. Ebay's income in this scenario has increased around 90%. The same would apply to any vendor of low value items who specify the correct postage charge. I would think most of EBay's sales income comes from small items, so there will be lorry loads of champagne arriving at the boardroom next year.
The justification for the increase is to stop the abuse of postage charges by some vendors. But I, like most ebayers, was not an 'abuser'. In other words, the vast majority of ebayers will have their costs ramped up, because of a minority of 'abusers'.
Had a charge against postage been introduced alongside a drop in the rate of fees (say from 10% to 9 or 8%), EBay's official justification would have been valid. As it stands, the official justification is just a good way of covering up a change which will result in EBay's income rising at least 10% next year... And I imagine more like 20%. Can I get good odds at the bookies for 30%?

RFW

DeeMoney wrote: »

As it stands, the official justification is just a good way of covering up a change which will result in EBay's income rising at least 10% next year... And I imagine more like 20%. Can I get good odds at the bookies for 30%?

You won't get any odds on that bet, you're already a year behind! You might as well ask if you can pick last week's lottery numbers.