Ebay rip off charges

SweepDog

Trying to sell my boat and put it on Ebay. I need to get a certain amount for it, but thought that sounded a lot, so put a lower auction price in with a reserve price. An alert came up with a £77 charge but I thought if I sell it for that amount the charge was just about bearable!!

The boat never sold and then I get an invoice from Ebay for £77! Total rip off!

If you list a boat on Boats and Boards or ApolloDuck you are very clearly being charged for a listing/advert and for 1 months that usually is around £30. Ebay charged me £77 for 9 days!!!!

I have rung up to complain and I am not getting anywhere and have stated that its not made clear that you get charged even if the item doesn't sell. They say it does say that at the very very bottom of the alert, but on my iPhone i swear it didn't.

Ebay need to decide what they are! A buy and sell auction style portal or an advertising website with clear pricing structure displayed before you even start to list you item!:mad:

dlusman

SweepDog wrote: »

If you list a boat on Boats and Boards or ApolloDuck you are very clearly being charged for a listing/advert and for 1 months that usually is around £30. Ebay charged me £77 for 9 days!!!!

Totally irrelevant what others are charging. Ebay fees are clearly stated in the fees pages - Up to you wether you read them prior to listing or not
https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4364


I agree £77 is a lot to pay - but again that is irrelevant

bigisi

So you don't read the charges and when/if they will apply and somehow it's eBay's fault?

If the other places are cheaper why not try there instead of eBay in the first place?

soolin

SweepDog wrote: »

Trying to sell my boat and put it on Ebay. I need to get a certain amount for it, but thought that sounded a lot, so put a lower auction price in with a reserve price. An alert came up with a £77 charge but I thought if I sell it for that amount the charge was just about bearable!!

The boat never sold and then I get an invoice from Ebay for £77! Total rip off!

If you list a boat on Boats and Boards or ApolloDuck you are very clearly being charged for a listing/advert and for 1 months that usually is around £30. Ebay charged me £77 for 9 days!!!!

I have rung up to complain and I am not getting anywhere and have stated that its not made clear that you get charged even if the item doesn't sell. They say it does say that at the very very bottom of the alert, but on my iPhone i swear it didn't.

Ebay need to decide what they are! A buy and sell auction style portal or an advertising website with clear pricing structure displayed before you even start to list you item!:mad:

Actually a classified AD on ebay would beat the prices you quote for the other places - I thought boats were allowed in the classified ad section - but I'm not entirely sure. The good thing about a classified ad is that you only pay for the listing, not any selling fees.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/selling-classified-ads?id=4167&st=3&pos=1&query=Selling%20with%20Classified%20Ads&intent=cassified%20ad%20charge&lucenceai=lucenceai

Also, it is very clear that adding a reserve is wildly expensive and is payable regardless of whether item sells or not.

I can sympathise with the shock of a large bill, but perhaps it is rather naive to just list something without doing even the most basic of checks as to cost.

the fees are all here and all clear, if you couldn't find them then asking on this board we would have supplied a link - also note that private sellers get free listings as well!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/fees-private-sellers?id=4364&st=3&pos=2&query=Fees%20for%20private%20sellers&intent=upgrade%20fees&lucenceai=lucenceai

AS for your final point, it is clear that ebay is a buy and sell auction style portal, if that's the option you choose, and charge for the use and advertising on their site - except, as mentioned above, for private sellers who can list for free and only pay if item sells.

JustAnotherSaver

Doesn’t it say at the bottom (before you go ahead with confirming the listing) what the charge is, if any (minus any FVF of course)??

Ok I’ve never sold a boat so maybe it’s different when you do which would make what I say irrelevant but whenever I’ve listed anything it tells me at the bottom what listing it is going to cost. I can then accept or tweak/cancel it.

I’m with you on the mobile vs PC version though. I hate the mobile version. PC is so much easier with things much clearer too. I use the mobile version in an emergency only and never ever for selling.

soolin

SweepDog wrote: »

To answers some of your very understanding and useful comments.

dlusman: I had a good look at the Ebay website yesterday and it took me 5 minutes to find the list of charges and I eventually found the link right at the bottom of their home page!

bigisi: I have used others sources to sell the boat including the two I mentioned and the free Facebook! A boat isn't an easy thing to sell!

soolin: Board guide for Ebay! You speak as if people are idiots for not knowing about Classified adds on Ebay and that putting a reserve price is the more expensive! We don't all spend hours trawling through the internet and please remember Silver Surfers for instance need a bit more help and understanding!

JustAnotherSaver: maybe you didn't quite read my post. Yes it did flag up that there was a charge for adding a reserve price, but what I am saying it didn't say you have to pay even if it doesn't sell.

I don't see what being a silver surfer has to do with using a service without checking the costs (I am not a spring chicken myself) my point was you saw the £77 charge, and without making any effort to research that, or work out what you were paying for you confirmed your agreement to the charge and went ahead on the assumption that you wouldn't pay if it didn't sell? When you saw the £77 alert why did you think it was free? As a silver surfer like myself we are the generation who never got anything for free, put a card in a newsagents window (yep I've done that) and you were charged, you didn't get it back if your item didn't sell. I've paid for ads in my local paper before - again there was never an assumption they would refund me if item didn't sell.

Yes I think the reserve charge is excessively high in relation to what you get, that's why I don't use it and almost certainly never will at the current price.

We do offer help on here, many of the regulars take a lot of effort in getting information for newbies if they ask. Also, perhaps regulars including myself might suggest alternative places to sell, many of us have diversified - I'm doing particularly well on Facebook marketplace and Shpock at the moment - although I have never sold a boat. Perhaps a dedicated Facebook group around boating might have been an option - a lot of those specialist groups allow sales . Again though before using anything , if you are not sure then please ask, although Facebook is currently free to use for sales there are a lot of scammers and a seller can lose everything if they don't understand how it all works.

RFW

SweepDog wrote: »

Trying to sell my boat and put it on Ebay. I need to get a certain amount for it, but thought that sounded a lot, so put a lower auction price in with a reserve price. An alert came up with a £77 charge but I thought if I sell it for that amount the charge was just about bearable!!

The boat never sold and then I get an invoice from Ebay for £77! Total rip off!

If you list a boat on Boats and Boards or ApolloDuck you are very clearly being charged for a listing/advert and for 1 months that usually is around £30. Ebay charged me £77 for 9 days!!!!

I have rung up to complain and I am not getting anywhere and have stated that its not made clear that you get charged even if the item doesn't sell. They say it does say that at the very very bottom of the alert, but on my iPhone i swear it didn't.

Ebay need to decide what they are! A buy and sell auction style portal or an advertising website with clear pricing structure displayed before you even start to list you item!:mad:

I think their fees were clearly laid out for you. However you have nothing to lose in complaining to Ebay and asking for a refund. There's actually a good chance that you'll get it if you ask nicely and say you hadn't realised there would be a fee even if there was no sale.

TripleH

It has caught me out a couple of times (forgetting to untick buy-it-now when changing to auction) and I have had to pay fees, albeit a lot smaller amount.

For future use, and for new members, when you list an item on eBay, at the bottom of the page, always check to see what it says for the cost of listing the advert (for me it's usually free). You will end up having to pay this amount regardless of whether you sell the item or not.

In the newer days of eBay, unless it was a list for free weekend, it always cost you fees to advertise something for more than £0.99 and you had to pay these fees regardless of whether you sold the item or not.

Sorry, have never listed an item in the manner the Op has, so nothing more I can add.