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

TailsMcGinley

This feels like commercial suicide by Ebay tbh. Buyers aren’t going to want to pay an inflated price for an item under the guise of ‘seller protection’, which just sounds like eBay pushing selling fees onto buyers. Sellers aren’t going to want to have to send their item without having the money for it, having to also have to pay postage out their own pocket, and having to then wait days after delivery to see the money. This also under the guise of ‘buyer protection’ but feels more like Ebay getting more commission/money from sale proceeds being sat in their bank rather than the sellers. Is this just not a Lose/Lose situation all round?

vacheron

Stupots said:

I've never understood why eBay don't implement a process where leaving positive feedback automatically confirms an item as delivered. It would certainly help with this new policy and the random nature of even tracked items never being marked as delivered.

Nice idea, but based on my recent experience I'd be lucky if 20% of sellers leave feedback these days!  

noitsnotme

They tried the buyer fees on eBay US a while ago but had to can it after a few weeks apparently because they very quickly lost customers.  I can’t find the article I read before, but some ‘clever’ bod at eBay thinks Europeans will be more accepting of the buyer fees 🤷‍♂️

soolin

HonestJohn said:

So they have moved selling fees onto buyers in the disguise of protection

Only for private sellers, buying from a business seller appears unchanged. 

DesG

I read it that if you are selling an item for £20, that is what the buyer pays, but the seller receives £20 less 4% less 75p

On the plus side, that is less than the old selling fees

soolin

TailsMcGinley said:

This feels like commercial suicide by Ebay tbh. Buyers aren’t going to want to pay an inflated price for an item under the guise of ‘seller protection’, which just sounds like eBay pushing selling fees onto buyers. Sellers aren’t going to want to have to send their item without having the money for it, having to also have to pay postage out their own pocket, and having to then wait days after delivery to see the money. This also under the guise of ‘buyer protection’ but feels more like Ebay getting more commission/money from sale proceeds being sat in their bank rather than the sellers. Is this just not a Lose/Lose situation all round?

Buyers on Vinted are already used to paying a fee for buying, eBay are merely using a similar system. Don’t forget as well this is only on purchases from private sellers.it’s the same for not being paid until buyer receives their item. 

If sellers opt for simple selling then they won’t be paying the postage anyway as buyer pays eBay and eBay send seller a pre paid label, again , strangely, exactly as per Vinted. 

martindow

I think there is some misunderstanding on this thread.  The fee is not added on to the sale price, but is included.  This is from Ebay's message

How the Buyer Protection fee works

• •	The fee will be included in the item price from private sellers, so there are no surprises at checkout.

• •	Buyers will pay up to 4% of the item price, plus £0.75.** For example, when they see an item for £20, the fee of £1.49 will already be part of the price.

The buyer in their example sees a price of £20 and that is what they pay.  It is a bit disingenuous to say that the buyer pays the protection fee as in effect the seller has it removed from their sale price, so they receive £18.51 in this example.

TailsMcGinley

soolin said:

TailsMcGinley said:

This feels like commercial suicide by Ebay tbh. Buyers aren’t going to want to pay an inflated price for an item under the guise of ‘seller protection’, which just sounds like eBay pushing selling fees onto buyers. Sellers aren’t going to want to have to send their item without having the money for it, having to also have to pay postage out their own pocket, and having to then wait days after delivery to see the money. This also under the guise of ‘buyer protection’ but feels more like Ebay getting more commission/money from sale proceeds being sat in their bank rather than the sellers. Is this just not a Lose/Lose situation all round?

Buyers on Vinted are already used to paying a fee for buying, eBay are merely using a similar system. Don’t forget as well this is only on purchases from private sellers.it’s the same for not being paid until buyer receives their item. 

If sellers opt for simple selling then they won’t be paying the postage anyway as buyer pays eBay and eBay send seller a pre paid label, again , strangely, exactly as per Vinted. 

Thank you soolin, interesting thoughts

Netherspark

This is very confusing. Ebay are talking about this fee but at the same time they're still saying saying it's "free to sell".

dinosaur66

its just a money grab by ebay pure and simple

forced to cut private seller fees they have just invented a fake scheme and dressed it up in order to profiteer

 i have not seen it might be in small print  but is the 4% fee on postage as well