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

k8marieuk

MonkeyHammer said:

Selling fees are back after two months off and they're not going to pay you for 2 weeks on untracked items, I don't think I'll be selling on eBay anymore 

Same here, just got this email, it’s an absolute joke. 

dinosaur66

is the 75p transcation fee accross the board plus i would guess 15P vat on top so 90p or is it only for private sellers ?

noitsnotme

dinosaur66 said:

is the 75p transcation fee accross the board plus i would guess 15P vat on top so 90p or is it only for private sellers ?

Private sellers only.  And its looks like its either no VAT or VAT is included.  The 4% +75p is the total that will added to the selling price for the buyer to pay.

soolin

dinosaur66 said:

is the 75p transcation fee accross the board plus i would guess 15P vat on top so 90p or is it only for private sellers ?

All of these changes announced so far have been private sellers only. Nothing announced recently impacts a business seller at all. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Debbie9009 said:

I’ve just got that email too, that’s me done with eBay, I refuse to pay a fee just to buy something, I wouldn’t do that in a shop, so why should I do it for eBay !!

Be interesting to see if this backfires on them.

You've always paid fees when you buy something, sellers set their prices to account for it in the price, if all sellers got free fees then competition in the market would see prices reduce to account for it. 

The 4% is on par with the 70% offers they used to run, the 75p fee fixed is a bit hefty for low priced items, business sellers of items around the £2 to £3 will now be on par (excluding up front listing or shop fees).

I'm not sure what the extra buyer protection actually is, other than waffle? (I thought there was already 24/7 support although if it was off out of reasonable hours I doubt many people are going to need it at 3am)

Don't know why eBay has to make life so complicated, they could have just reduced seller fees for private sellers to 5% plus 36p which would have been widely accepted without upsetting the apple cart so much.... 

eBay holding on to the funds is a non-issue, you can either have some stuff you don't want any more or some money for it a couple of days after delivery, only issue with it is it has nothing to do with making the marketplace safer as the Moneyback Guarantee covers INR, basically the change means less risk for eBay funding INR claims, and to a small degree funding SNAD claims . 

reefer37

so the seller gets charge as buyer protect even on a collection only sale. how is this fair. 
buyer collects walks off with item and seller only gets paid 2 days later.
amount of buyers that turn up without scan code is a joke so this will be a joke.

Lorian

how long till the 80% off fees weekends are back.

froudeg

As a private seller, If you don't like the fee - then here are your options:

-List on amazon and pay over double the fee, and deal with far more returns

-List on etsy or vinted or other platforms and just stare at the zero sales counter.

-Stop pretending you're not a business when you're selling the same items month after month and open a business account and pay the fees business sellers have been paying - which are a lot more.

Unfortunately eBay is a monopoly and the competition is pathetic in comparison. If you want sales then you have no where else to go and will just have to lump the fees. You can say 'I won't sell on eBay anymore' but saying it and doing it are 2 different things - not to sell on eBay means not to sell hardly at all. Your own webstore is an option but you'll spend a fortune on advertising and setup costs getting it going - in the long run it may save you money on running costs vs ebay fees but for many it does not unless you are big.

Too many small businesses have been using the private free listing promotions for too long, undercutting business sellers who pay a small fortune in fees. If you sell the odd private, personal item now and then on ebay the change in fee structure will make no difference, again it's not like there is much competition and buyers will move elsewhere. The fees are (for the moment) a lot less than they were before completely 'free listing' under the majority of categories.

As for the (multiple) private seller accounts that have been milking it on no fee listings, no income tax declaration, no vat etc - then the game is up i'm afraid as this is just the first move in getting you all on to business accounts, which the inland revenue keep an eye on...as you will find out.

soolin

froudeg said:

As a private seller, If you don't like the fee - then here are your options:

-List on amazon and pay over double the fee, and deal with far more returns

-List on etsy or vinted or other platforms and just stare at the zero sales counter.

Etsy has quite expensive fees for all sellers, private or business, they also hold your payment for a few days. Vinted have no fees, but stuff sells cheaply as buyers pay a premium, and of course funds aren't released until 48 hours after buyer confirms receipt and has said all is OK.

-Stop pretending you're not a business when you're selling the same items month after month and open a business account and pay the fees business sellers have been paying - which are a lot more.

I think a lot of business sellers would echo that.

Unfortunately eBay is a monopoly and the competition is pathetic in comparison. If you want sales then you have no where else to go and will just have to lump the fees. You can say 'I won't sell on eBay anymore' but saying it and doing it are 2 different things - not to sell on eBay means not to sell hardly at all. Your own webstore is an option but you'll spend a fortune on advertising and setup costs getting it going - in the long run it may save you money on running costs vs ebay fees but for many it does not unless you are big.

I disagree that ebay has a monopoly, it does not fit the criteria of a monopoly as well and you have pointed out that there are other sites. 

Too many small businesses have been using the private free listing promotions for too long, undercutting business sellers who pay a small fortune in fees. If you sell the odd private, personal item now and then on ebay the change in fee structure will make no difference, again it's not like there is much competition and buyers will move elsewhere. The fees are (for the moment) a lot less than they were before completely 'free listing' under the majority of categories.

As for the (multiple) private seller accounts that have been milking it on no fee listings, no income tax declaration, no vat etc - then the game is up i'm afraid as this is just the first move in getting you all on to business accounts, which the inland revenue keep an eye on...as you will find out.

again a sentiment echoed by many business sellers. 

I have replied to a couple of points above as you make some good points.

I would add though that whenever there is a change, 'any' change at all there is a huge panic with lots of arm waving and running about yelling 'we are doomed' . As you say In reality a lot of people who claim to be closing their accounts or never using ebay again soon realise that some money for unwanted items is better than no money at all- and having to drag the whole lot to a charity shop. 

Yes these changes will ultimately impact on the money that private sellers will receive going forward, but if they are just selling their own unwanted items it is still better than nothing. Obviously there are truly free places to sell like FB marketplace, Gumtree etc, but they can be soul destroying with time wasters, scammers and generallack of any interest at all.

EDIT as usual looking across other boards and forums people have seen the headlines and not bothered to read the small print, this is obvious as there are a number of business sellers claiming they are closing their shops today as their profit margins are already tight and buyers having to pay a buyers premium will mean nothing sells. 

subjecttocontract

I just sell my own items from time to time and only returned to selling on Ebay after they dropped all the fees and it became free. I don't need EBay when I've had plenty of sales on other platforms. I think I'll probably just stop selling on Ebay for now until they change the process again in another few months.