Ebay gone to far with new policy change from 4th Feb 2025!

soolin

keensmith1 said:

I've been selling off my large private CD collection for the past couple of years. I had no problem with the previous seller fees, and the last 3 months have been a bonus. However, now I can't advertise my prices to compete with the business sellers out there as I have over 50% added to some of my cheaper items, so I am basically a dead duck in the water! Of course, I am in the minority and the business sellers will be all rubbing their hands together. No room for the private guys any more. Anyone fancy setting up a new eBay, along the lines of the original one?!

I'm not sure there would be many willing to set up a site with any decent footfall as a charitable act.

There's nowhere I can think of that would be fee free, places like FB marketplace are a suggestion, but then to avoid looking like a scammer you would have to take paypal on posted items and that involves fees. 

How about places like Music Magpie etc?

RFW

keensmith1 said:

Anyone fancy setting up a new eBay, along the lines of the original one?!

It was never that user friendly and there were plenty of other problems.
Someone was saying they were getting good results on Amazon. It's hit and miss with CDs but fairly straightforward and free to list. Private seller fees can be a bit steep but worth a look and it's the biggest marketplace online, so can be quite fast moving.

keensmith1

Music Magpie offer extremely low prices & they also then they sell on eBay & Amazon at low prices. As a business they can then seriously undercut the private fella on eBay, as they have to sell on what they buy in. They are the biggest seller of CDs on eBay, I believe, & it was hard enough to compete before these new costs were introduced. Now it's impossible. I've used Amazon before, so may try them again. Thanks for your comments.

soolin

keensmith1 said:

Music Magpie offer extremely low prices & they also then they sell on eBay & Amazon at low prices. As a business they can then seriously undercut the private fella on eBay, as they have to sell on what they buy in. They are the biggest seller of CDs on eBay, I believe, & it was hard enough to compete before these new costs were introduced. Now it's impossible. I've used Amazon before, so may try them again. Thanks for your comments.

On the odd occasions I buy second hand CDs or books then I do tend to buy from Amazon as I find the prices cheaper. If you decide to sell on there definitely check out the costs, which are often considerably higher than ebay, and be aware they hold your money as well. 

2dareis2do

Is it legal that this fee only seems to apply to UK customers?

soolin

2dareis2do said:

Is it legal that this fee only seems to apply to UK customers?

I see nothing to suggest that a non UK buyer from a private seller wouldn’t also,pay the fee, where did you see this please?

All I can see is https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/selling/pricing-items/buyer-protection-information-sellers?id=5595

Starting from 4 Feb, purchases on eBay.co.uk will come with Buyer Protection

There is nothing to suggest that non Uk buyers are exempt. 

In fact it says 

Other terms and conditions

• The Buyer Protection fees displayed on this page are inclusive of UK VAT at 20%
• Depending on the tax legislation of the country where the buyer is located or where the order will be delivered, local Value Added Tax (VAT), Goods and Services Tax (GST) or similar consumption tax might apply on the Buyer Protection fee instead of UK VAT. We will collect tax when we have an obligation to do so. Any tax collected will be included in the buyer's order total at checkout

RFW

2dareis2do said:

Is it legal that this fee only seems to apply to UK customers?

I don't know that it does only apply to UK customers but even if it did it wouldn't be illegal. I can already charge different amounts to different countries with postage. It's possible that if a seller is using the Global Shipping Programme that the fee is included in that, so again nothing illegal about it. I'm not sure that's happening though.

2dareis2do

I see nothing to suggest that a non UK buyer from a private seller wouldn’t also,pay the fee, where did you see this please?

My bad. I was probably confusing buyers with sellers. 

I think you are probably right in that all buyers pay for buyer protection on all products from UK listed private sellers.

Am I right in thinking that buyer protection fees do not apply to ebay business accounts?

2dareis2do

II don't know that it does only apply to UK customers but even if it did it wouldn't be illegal. I can already charge different amounts to different countries with postage. It's possible that if a seller is using the Global Shipping Programme that the fee is included in that, so again nothing illegal about it. I'm not sure that's happening though.

Is there an equivalent programme for non uk sellers, e.g. in France, Germany or the States, or is this specific to the UK. Certainly sounds like it is UK only.

2dareis2do

In a statement eBay clarified this issue: "To confirm, for items from business sellers and non-UK private sellers, buyers get the Buyer Protection benefits at no extra cost. This means that listings by business sellers will not have the Buyer Protection fee added."

https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/24923032.ebays-new-fees-double-price-private-listings/

Looking at the German site it states:

Gebühren für private Verkäufer

Sie können jeden Monat 320 Angebote erstellen, ohne dass dafür eine Angebotsgebühr anfällt. Für alle Angebote, die nach dem Ausschöpfen dieses Monatskontingents erstellt werden, wird eine Gebühr von EUR 0,50 berechnet.

which translates as

Fees for private sellers
You can create 320 listings each month with no listing fee. A fee of EUR 0.50 will be charged for all offers created after this monthly quota has been exhausted.

So why is it that for non-UK private sellers, buyers get the Buyer Protection benefits at no extra cost? Is this due to UK legislation, simply that ebay does not like UK private sellers or some other reason?