Ebay holding private sellers funds until proof of delivery from 4th Feb, 2025

Tracy39

soolin said:

zackary71 said:

Accessibility may be a key factor in determining if Simple Delivery becomes mandatory or not. Whether it be due to disability or location, dropping an item off isn't an option for some. RM collection works well for me, and dropping off would be more of an inconvenience than a deal breaker. 

I'm more concerned on how Simple Delivery would work on the cost front. 
eg. A £50 small lightweight item sent RM48. Additional costs over the £3.39 would be say 50p for a box, 10p bubble wrap and 10p fuel to drive to local drop-off location. If prices on Express Delivery are preset say at £3.39, surely the Seller is 70p out of pocket ?

The disability angle has not stopped Vinted implementing it across all sellers with no collection options available at all.

However, so far ebay is using language that suggests simple postage won’t be mandatory , we can only wait and see. Any on costs for dropping items off , will need to be covered by the seller as it always has, but instead of inflating the postage charge to do this in future the item cost will need to be increased. 

Hi, yes i've had that and i've made a point of it in sending them angry complaints via e-mail on their website nad their facbook page. This is one of many points I have raised with them and they arn't answering us directly. I have started a petition at change.org. I have some very expensive items on sale and very large/heavy items that cost a fortune to post. if ebay hold my funds where does I get money form the pay courier, this is one major point many of us have asked. my response was "use the ebay postage systme so you won't be out fo pocket". well um call me stupid but either way using the ebays postage system to pay a courier or your one courier through their website, you still have to have money available to pay the courier, where am I going to find that money if ebay hold my funds. please read my points and sing /share my petition. www.change.org/p/ebay-gone-to-far-with-new-policy-change-from-4th-feb-2025

jeffuk

Tracy39 said:

 i have been with ebay nearly 17 years and money is always transferred to your bank first as a seller, 

If you were paid with Paypal the money sat in your Paypal account till you transferred it to your bank account similar to what happens now. Managed payments was quite recent thing.

jeffuk

I've been with ebay over 20 years, in the old days buyers could sent you a cheque, depending on your bank it could be over a week before you sent their item. Paypal to bank could take 5-10 days. Postal orders meant a trip to the post office to get your cash, that'd be after you'd waited for the postman to bring it. 

Debbie9009

I’m not eBay’s biggest fan, but I can understand why they want to hold payments to make sure buyers get their items, hopefully it will cut down on fraudulent sellers who have no intention of sending anything.

I understand the concern over having the money for postage costs, sellers will just have to make sure they have the money for the postage, I suspect not many private sellers send really high value/heavy items, or have a lot of items to send all at one time, so hopefully it won’t affect too many people.

In fairness to business sellers, while they may have postage costs built into their business, they have to pay a lot more fees than private sellers, who currently don’t pay any fees at all, so I wouldn’t say this really gives them an advantage.

I can understand making your feelings known to eBay, but going to your MP really is going too far, I would hope MP’s have more important things to do with their time, looking at issues such as knife crime, interest rates, overcrowding in prisons to name but a few, I certainly wouldn’t want my MP getting involved with eBay.  

I also don’t think there is much point in a petition, eBay are a business and like all businesses will make decisions that work for them, we already have a way of showing eBay we are not happy, and that is by voting with our feet, if we don’t like how eBay works we don’t have to use them.  I’m not happy with the buyers premium that they are bringing in for purchases from private sellers, so will not be using them when that comes in, which won’t make any difference to eBay unless a very large number of people do the same, but that will be my way of showing my dissatisfaction, and everyone has that option open to them.

soolin

To work out what is best for yourself as a seller it pays to read and understand the changes and I think there is quite a lot of misunderstanding about the new rules. 

Firstly an item is deemed delivered 14 days after despatch unless buyer reports an issue.

Secondly petition against what? holding funds is done industry wide, eBay are slow to follow the lead of others with this and since it only applies to private sellers who by their very nature aren’t likely to have a career selling on eBay , it hardly matters to eBay. Others apply it across the board regardless of business/private status. 

The simple postage is a different matter entirely and I suspect a way to mollify those who don’t have the funds to pay for postage out of their own pocket. This simple postage doesn’t yet have a confirmed start date across the board , in fact it’s difficult to find anyone on the trial at the moment.  There is a difference between the current system of buying eBay postage, which can be taken from existing funds and which eBay suggest will continue despite the hold, and the simple postage system which will mean eBay supply the label themselves .

Yes these are huge changes and there is a lot of panic, but I suspect a few private sellers will leave in the first instance and donate everything to a charity shop, but most will remain and even some of those who leave will decide that getting ‘something’ for an unwanted item is better than throwing it away. In the past apparently everyone was going to leave when they reduced free listings for private sellers to 300 a month, yet looking at other boards where you can see the account, most didn’t leave. Sellers threatened to leave in droves both when sellers were stopped from leaving negative feedback and also when managed payments came in, and again most came back or never actually left. 

Going forward keep an eye on the changes, perhaps decide that cheaper items really do need to go to a charity shop, or consider selling items in larger lots. If you really can’t face changes then perhaps stop entirely or even try and find a different site . Most importantly though, make sure you understand the changes as only then can a seller decide on a course of action that suits them. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Tracy39 said:

 I list below the following reasons why I feel this hasn't been thought out well and is slightly dangerous to implement,

eBay are doing this so when a buyer opens an INR the seller will (in 99.9% of instances) still have funds meaning eBay won't have to fork out for the refund.

That is it, that is all they care about.  

The interest they may earn on balances is up to them, you can still withdraw if you want.

If eBay are not paying out refunds to buyers from their own pocket and earning interest on balances they'll have less reason to put up the fees.

Why Starbucks Operates Like a Bank | WSJ The Economics Of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-OJX1rwnl8

noitsnotme

Tracy39 said:

People are very upset about this I have started a petition at change.org. please sign & share these are my points!

Before that i feel that they maybe doing this because the money is no longer paid into your bank straight away as of a few months ago. i have been with ebay nearly 17 years and money is always transferred to your bank first as a seller, so you've got the funds as well to pay couriers to post your items some very expensive postage costs as explained in my petition below. your money now goes to what they call "EBAY BALANCE". basically it's ebays bank who ever they bank with, your money sits in their till you transfer it. now it will sit in their bank till delivery in which tracking is not 100% accurate, and also for 2 days afterwards in which anything could happen to your item in that time!

In the meantime I think they maybe gaining interest in their bank form your money sitting there. that's my concern about what;s really going on here, they must of thought some of us were born yesterday! I and my parents did think something was up with free listings coming in last year & no seller fees in uk, it sounded to good to be true. i'm going to write tp my mp as I feel something fishy is going on here and laws should be in place that a company like this cannot hold your funds. but most important point below is where do i get postage costs form to post my items if ebay hold my funds? ebay wont answer us properley!

Ebay uk are wanting to implement what I feel is a dangerous and disgracefully policy from 4th February 2025 so I'm petitioning to stop it!They have now said that sellers will no longer receive their funds straight away and only receive upon item showing it has been delivered. I list below the following reasons why I feel this hasn't been thought out well and is slightly dangerous to implement, my points as follows:-

Firstly I must stress any company putting 100% faith into a system or in this instance a tracking system to work 365 days a year without problems or glitches on couriers website is dangerous! Technology should NEVER  be trusted 100%.

Sometimes I have noticed items I've sent have shown only as posted or in transit for many weeks, and show not delivered on the main couriers website, yet some have left feedback saying they got their item. Now everyone lets you know they got their item. So what then? How do sellers get their funds released if ebays or the couriers system shows item still in transit due to a glitch that's never fixed? Yet the buyer hasn't complained they didn't receive their item. If the system of releasing sellers fund is solely based on tracking showing as delivered and there are serious tracking glitches, this is dangerous for ebay to trust & put faith into technology working 100% at any time!

Secondly in relation to paragraph above, it means nobody can now offer to send very cheap items under £20 untracked. Royal mail cover item of £20 in value even if sent with no tracking if they get lost, yet there will be no tracking to show It's been delivered, so therefore again as there is nothing to show It's even delivered, means funds won't be released to the seller. So therefore everyone will have to only send via tracked services which cost more to post.

Thirdly and VERY IMPORTANT! Some items sellers are selling are large/heavy and very high value items! Anybody who ever sent anything like this with values over £100 and then into the thousands will know not only how expensive it is for uk postage but internationally as well.

As an example on such item I'm selling is going to cost £295 to post to Australia fully tracked as this was the only service that would cover over £1000 in value!  If ebay hold ALL my funds till delivery, where am I going to get £295 from to pay the courier to post my item to Australia?

I feel a business seller who possibly makes a good profit may have this amount as back up funds in the bank to pay out whilst they wait for their funds. But where is the average private household seller who isn't a business, likely to find that amount to pay a courier to post the item, who is only selling personal possessions?!

So therefore if ebay hold my funds I will certainly not have nay funds to that amount in savings to pay a courier to post internationally let alone uk on most of my items. therefore this is most certainly restricting me from selling abroad the most.

So this means I will certainly NOT be able to offer international postage as international costs even on smaller lower value items are costly and you will have to find the money to post it, so therefore my sales will be restricted even more so, yet my biggest audience is international people outside the UK!

Ebay mention nothing about what happens if item is returned and you receive it in bad condition? How do I prove it wasn't me who did the damage, say a costume I sold was sent clean and came back with un -removable stain. What then as couriers only let the SENDER make a claim, NOT the recipient!

 

In ebays recent nice little message to members about this policy change they want to implement, they don't go into any nitty gritty like this, no does it seem to have been thought through very well at all. If your not happy with this please sign my petition today and stop ebay implementing this new change that many of us are not happy about! Also e-mail or message ebay through their website here or their facebook page messenger service to show your disgust!

www DOT change DOT org/p/ebay-gone-to-far-with-new-policy-change-from-4th-feb-2025

This is a massive overreaction.  Dangerous?!  Come on now, let’s be realistic.  The number of private sellers paying hundreds of pounds to ship expensive items worldwide will be minimal.  Perhaps eBay just won’t be suitable for them anymore.  I won’t be signing the petition, it’s a waste of time.  It’s a business decision that should have nothing to do with your MP.  If you don’t like it, vote with your feet.

Rantband

It's going well, 73 signatures so far.

GadgetGuru

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Tracy39 said:

 I list below the following reasons why I feel this hasn't been thought out well and is slightly dangerous to implement,

eBay are doing this so when a buyer opens an INR the seller will (in 99.9% of instances) still have funds meaning eBay won't have to fork out for the refund.

That is it, that is all they care about.  

The interest they may earn on balances is up to them, you can still withdraw if you want.

If eBay are not paying out refunds to buyers from their own pocket and earning interest on balances they'll have less reason to put up the fees.

Nail hit on head right there. 

RFW

jeffuk said:

I've been with ebay over 20 years, in the old days buyers could sent you a cheque, depending on your bank it could be over a week before you sent their item. Paypal to bank could take 5-10 days. Postal orders meant a trip to the post office to get your cash, that'd be after you'd waited for the postman to bring it. 

True, Paypal was anything but instant back in the day. I don't get many Paypal payments these days but always get a surprise when I do and the money is transferred, automatically, next day. I can remember an occasional transfer taking 3 weeks to get into my bank account.
On certain parts of Amazon it can still take that long.
Oh and why did you remind me about Postal Orders? I'm all triggered now! I used to dread getting them, they were invariably for low amounts and take ages to get them cashed. It wouldn't surprise me if I still had a couple lying around that I couldn't be bothered to cash!