eBay "Buyer Protection Fees" (New charges for buyers from private sellers) - Details just recieved

soolin

Olinda99 said:

does that mean if after 4 Feb I create a BIN listing, put £20 as the price, hit the 'list' button then it will show the price as £20 +.75+.80 and not £20?

How will auctions work where the bid price keeps increasing as people make bids ?

All covered previously in thread, but yes, buyer will see the price inclusive of fees. For auctions it will also show the price when you make a bid to take into account the fees. 

Spoonie_Turtle

soolin said:

Olinda99 said:

does that mean if after 4 Feb I create a BIN listing, put £20 as the price, hit the 'list' button then it will show the price as £20 +.75+.80 and not £20?

How will auctions work where the bid price keeps increasing as people make bids ?

All covered previously in thread, but yes, buyer will see the price inclusive of fees. For auctions it will also show the price when you make a bid to take into account the fees. 

So basically we'll be bidding based on what we want to pay, just like now.  And sellers will get a little bit less than what we bid/pay … just like (almost) always.  The only practical difference is the seller setting the starting price will be what they actually get if it sells on that first bid, rather than setting a starting price to account for fees.

soolin

Spoonie_Turtle said:

soolin said:

Olinda99 said:

does that mean if after 4 Feb I create a BIN listing, put £20 as the price, hit the 'list' button then it will show the price as £20 +.75+.80 and not £20?

How will auctions work where the bid price keeps increasing as people make bids ?

All covered previously in thread, but yes, buyer will see the price inclusive of fees. For auctions it will also show the price when you make a bid to take into account the fees. 

So basically we'll be bidding based on what we want to pay, just like now.  And sellers will get a little bit less than what we bid/pay … just like (almost) always.  The only practical difference is the seller setting the starting price will be what they actually get if it sells on that first bid, rather than setting a starting price to account for fees.

I can’t explain it as well as the previous post on the thread but yes as a buyer you will see the final price. So if a seller starts an auction at £5 you as the buyer will see first bid as the £5 plus the appropriate fee, with each increment clearly showing the buyer the end price. 

prowla

I wonder who'll get the partial pennies for the incremental bids which don't divide precisely?

001uk

“BUYERS’ PROTECTION” is a complete and utter RUSE! It’s a “BUYER’S PREMIUM”! (Coincidentally the same initials)!!

It’s a form of gaining extra revenue.

This SURCHARGE was introduced by auction houses in 1975. Seller’s fees were reduced to encourage more material onto the market. It was soon realised it didn’t make much difference so seller commissions & buyer premiums crept up and copied by other greedy auction houses. The average now anything from 10%-30% on each charge - not to mention (possible) Insurance fee, Lotting fee, Photographing fee and Unsold charge.

eBay’s BP is a wakeup call for “Private Sellers”!

For many and “one off” items it won’t make much of a difference. Buyers at auction just grin & bear it: there’s little or no choice.

Alas eBay pretty much have a monopoly. For auction material other sites don’t get the footfall = lower realizations. eBay’s mistake was offering free listings to Private Sellers: instead perhaps 300 free per month?

There’s still a lot of absolute rubbish listed clogging up the system ultimately incurring costs. Some listings could even be described as “aiding and abetting” and a lot of private sellers evading tax.

eBay would be better addressing issues of concern rather than tinkering with the system (which appears to justify certain staff salaries).

eBay know they’ve got us all over a barrel

soolin

001uk said:

“BUYERS’ PROTECTION” is a complete and utter RUSE! It’s a “BUYER’S PREMIUM”! (Coincidentally the same initials)!!

It’s a form of gaining extra revenue.

This SURCHARGE was introduced by auction houses in 1975. Seller’s fees were reduced to encourage more material onto the market. It was soon realised it didn’t make much difference so seller commissions & buyer premiums crept up and copied by other greedy auction houses. The average now anything from 10%-30% on each charge - not to mention (possible) Insurance fee, Lotting fee, Photographing fee and Unsold charge.

eBay’s BP is a wakeup call for “Private Sellers”!

For many and “one off” items it won’t make much of a difference. Buyers at auction just grin & bear it: there’s little or no choice.

Alas eBay pretty much have a monopoly. For auction material other sites don’t get the footfall = lower realizations. eBay’s mistake was offering free listings to Private Sellers: instead perhaps 300 free per month?

There’s still a lot of absolute rubbish listed clogging up the system ultimately incurring costs. Some listings could even be described as “aiding and abetting” and a lot of private sellers evading tax.

eBay would be better addressing issues of concern rather than tinkering with the system (which appears to justify certain staff salaries).

eBay know they’ve got us all over a barrel

I understand what you are saying entirely and whilst there is a lot of arm waving and threats of boycotts and the demise of ebay I can't see it making a great deal of difference in the end. After all up until October 2024 sellers were used to paying fees, so will just have to factor in these buyer charges when setting their prices. Private sellers managed with fees for years , so we will just get used to this new system.

The auction house scenario is a good one although Auction houses charge everyone , this charge though only applies to private sellers and they form a very small part of the ebay profits. Buyers at proper auctions are already used to this, as are buyers who use places like Costco where the label price doesn't include VAT or Vinted which is becoming very popular. 

I suspect that buyers will do just as we all do at a proper B and M auction site (or even places like easylive auction) and factor in charges. I know I do when I'm bidding, I know exactly what my £40 bid will end up costing me - and in fact ebay won't even just add the charge on after agreeing to buy, it will at least be shown upfront when you actually go to purchase. It's even easier if you are looking for something that is easy to buy, if for instance I'm looking for a book, I'll check Amazon, then ebay using the 'cheapest first' and just buy the cheapest in the condition that I'm happy with. 

I can't pretend I didn't enjoy the 3 months of completely free listings, I really did, but I don't think anyone expected it to go on for ever. 

daddyelf

Why dress it up as a buyer protection fee? This is typical of ebay if they called it what it is - which is a buyers fee/ premium people wouldn't get so annoyed with their poor communication.

24/7 customer support: Buyers can connect with a real person by phone at any time of day, or start a chat to get quick answers. Wrong - read the small print opening times for customer services remain the same, after that you talk to a BOT, you can do this now anyway use these or the ebay boards and geet the correct answer rather than a quick one! Seller paid after delivery: When buying from private sellers, funds will only be sent once their item has been delivered. What benefit is that to a buyer? None nor is it a benefit to the seller We've also still got buyers covered with other great free services like eBay Money Back Guarantee and Authenticity Guarantee So these still remain available and the same, so no change there either, absolutely no new benefit to buyers or sellers We’ve also still got you covered with secure transactions, thanks to payments that are encrypted end-to-end and handled by our trusted payment partners. I should sincerely hope thats whats been happening for the past few years, so no change and no benefit!

RedImp_2

soolin said:

RedImp_2 said:

Over the years have recycled as it were a lot of 2nd hand stuff especially clothes that sometimes only sold for £1-2. Adding 80p effectively nearly doubles the cost to the buyer.  I suppose at the end of the day when selling the downside is if lower price items don’t sell at all but time will tell.

So did you not sell at all before they removed the FVFs ? 

I sold on the weeks with offers on fees.
But my point is buyers paying double and will they (although of course with postage total cost to them is not double )

danny69

At the cheaper end of the spectrum (items £5 or less) this will have a huge impact on private sellers. However, these are private sellers and NOT businesses ( apparently 😂) and these sales will not matter too much to eBay. Anyone just having a clear out can sell joblots etc to lower their fees overall. 

Businesses will now have a better chance of being able to compete at the lower end of the market. Unfortunately for me, as a business I sell items mainly around the £40-£80 range. These new fees for private sellers are a drop in the ocean compared to what I pay, and will still not be sufficient to level the playing field for all users. Hopefully eBay go further to balance out the still significant edge that private sellers have, especially those individuals who still use private accounts for business sales. 

Sellins

The real way forward for EBay would be to devise some fees (they do have to make money) that equalise private and business sellers. Before they got rid of fees for private sellers, the biggest difference was the relisting fees and the private seller offers.
The reason most "private business" sellers do what they do is because they are simply selling such low price items that 3 or 4 monthly relisting fees removes any profit in selling. The shop fees are also unaffordable for low value, low volume hobby sellers.
I tried it, i know it is relentless amount of work, for little return. The only way i would try again as a business seller would be on the same terms as a private seller with no shop fees and no relisting fees.
When i stopped selling, Ebay, the Royal Mail, the Tax man, the charity shops and other Ebay sellers  all lost revenue. The issues of business / private are only highlighted with the new structure, not resolved. Ebay and everyone else will know immediately when EBay get it right, because every forum about Ebay will not decend into a vitriolic "business" V "private" seller slanging match.