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

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  • bittyboy101
    bittyboy101 Posts: 70 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    soolin said:
    bittyboy101 said:
    Tracy39 said:

    So ebay are upsetting a lot of people including myself viewing endless comment on ebayuks facebook page/facebook ebay groups and this forum alone, with the new disgusting policy they want to introduce from 3rd February 2025!

    Firstly I wonder if this I legal because I searched to see if a company can not only legally hold your fund as a seller before posting your item, but if a company can use those funds it's holding like ebay propose to as in hold funds from sellers till 2 days after delivery,  and do with those funds what they like in the meantime eg:- put those funds of yours into a bank account earning daily interest in the meantime. When I searched for answers, It said

    "no It's NOT illegal  for a company to hold funds in bank account to earn interest. But they must account for that interest. Now I was sure a company can do what ever it likes with money you pay them. Though this is slightly different as the buyer pays ebay who don’t own your item, and they hold your funds now till 2 days after delivery. I don't feel this holding sellers funds till delivery is legal? Though I'm not sure as I can't get answers and a solicitor will charge a lot for this information.

    But I would of thought:- As a seller of a product I'm sure you should have the rights to get the money in your bank before posting anything, surely ebay can't hold my funds from the very start of sale, as the item is not their property from the very point it is sold?

    Holding funds because it claims It's giving buyers better protection can surely not be a valid reason. Which basically is what ebay are doing It's going to be held in ebays bank account whoever they might bank with, but I and thousands of other people have experienced and feel or have said that buyers have to much protection anyway and shared their horrific stories/experiences online.

    IF anybody in the know who has accurate information regarding rights to your money straight away on items you own and sold please comment where we stand as members of the public as i only have thoughts not actual info, yet i've searched and searched for answers. Maybe i'm not typing the rihgt thing in.

     Back to my main point of this post is about the new policy! I think It's dangerous and outrageous. I've started a petition at change.org and will put the link at the bottom to sign and share ASAP! Please. These are my points on the petition, I've also asked ebay customer service and just getting sent in circles, others have asked about where they get the money from to pay the courier ad ebay just spout the new policy that we are complaining about, back to them word for word which doesn't help. My such reply from ebay was that to use the ebays postage system  so I'm not out of pocket, which I will never do, I always buy via  genuine courier website. But even so I replied back tot hem that either way I still have to pay a courier to post the item, where am I getting fund from to pay the courier? I got the same response back!

    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:-

    IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT FUNDS HLED TILL TRACKGIN SHOWS DELIVERED!

    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%.

    (See screen shot included in this spot underlined in Red).  Funds are only released and based on tracking showing delivered! I explained to them this is dangerous to trust technology to that degree! technology cannot be trusted to be 100% accurate 365 days a year. They should of learnt that from the post office scandal. But anyway many others are saying the same about tracking not working properly sometimes on couriers websites. yet item has been delivered, yet ebay just say to me, sorry if tracking doesn't show delivered then funds not released. that statement is word for word in their reply.

    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!

    PLEASE SIGN HERE:_ where i've put the word dot please input a . symbol as change won't let me input a web address! 

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




    I totally agree with the Original Poster 110%.

    Lots of sellers are clearly unhappy with such a drastic change, yet the attitude of eBay is TOUGH LUCK, WE AREN'T LISTENING OR CHANGING ANYTHING BACK FOR ANYONE.  really appalling attitude from eBay and the people who go out of their way to run down the OP and defend this are equally just as bad.

    This whole new setup stinks, and leaves sellers very vulnerable to all sorts of scams whilst eBay simply just look after buyers and also THEMSELVES !...

    I know from when they dropped PayPal and started eBay managed payments that things are going to get bad... I just didn't think it was going to come to this !

    I've been on eBay since 2004 and have seen all sorts of rapid changes they have made in recent years but this new change of withholding payments until 48 hours after confirmed delivery and soon to be managed delivery (eBay simple delivery) where sellers won't even have the choice or liberty to use whichever courier they feel happy/comfortable using is now over the top and I will NEVER agree to this !

    So long eBay ! Good Bye.

           
    Firstly, be careful the OP has misread the announcement as they seem to think this applies to all sellers, business and private, and have also overlooked the fact that tracking is not a standard requirement.

    If you sold as far back as 2004 then you will recall paypal not releasing funds immediately, and also (and I'm not sure of the exact date it changed) actually charging for withdrawals under £50.

    Also unless you've seen something that I have missed, which is entirely possible, there has been no real announcements about how simple postage will work for everyone, it already appears to have been delayed. If they follow the Vinted method (which is actually being tweaked to the detriment of sellers at the moment) then sellers can opt out of certain postage options and just leave the ones enabled that they want. 

    There is always panic when ebay make their changes the sky is always about to fall in. Yes no doubt some private sellers will leave but they form such a tiny part of the ebay turnover that no one will really notice. I always think it best to read announcements carefully and not jump to conclusions before making any major decisions. Obviously some private sellers will be happy to just take everything to a charity shop going forward, it's certainly a lot less stressful than ebay!  However for those who have things to sell but welcome a little extra money in their pocket they may have to stay on ebay and be prepared to wait for their money. 

    I think a lot of people are wisely waiting to see what this all actually looks like when implemented and I think the lack of interest in the petition (which make incorrect statements) shows there isn't so far a mass panic. It maybe that there will be more changes that will even upset the more hardened private sellers, but best to wait to see how it pans out before declaring doom and gloom. 
    Do you work for eBay ?
  • bittyboy101
    bittyboy101 Posts: 70 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Sorry but I've seen lots of people are very quick to rundown the OP and go out of their way to defend eBay like they own it ! on what is actually the most important and worst change they are making in all the almost 30 years of eBay being online...

    This is not just some small change that we will just learn to accept and put up with it... this is a very  controlling change by eBay that really puts a seller at almost 100% risk of being scammed out of their item and their money,,, eBay are now on a neutral ground where they will just side with a buyer for any reason and pass them back their money for whatever stories a dishonest buyer comes up with to keep the item and the money shafting an honest hardworking seller 100%... so whichever way a transaction goes eBay are all right jack...

    I sell on eBay because I need to raise money ASAP !, All these silly delays and waiting around for payments is no good to me when I need quick money to plug a hole in my bank balance !

    Also the thought of not having control of which courier I use to get my items delivered safely to my buyers is a red flag and totally unacceptable. As quite rightly other people have said that Evri (HERMES) are not very reliable and they just throw parcels over gates, leave on doorsteps WITHOUT RINGING THE DOOR BELL !! or put them in wheelie bins which are ALREADY OUT FOR BIN COLLECTION DAY !!!!! - This is not good and they have lost many of my parcels due to their employees NEGLECT AND SHARE CARELESSNESS.

    Also Royal Mail Special Delivery is not offered in eBay's new managed shipping ?, only Royal Mail Tracked 48 is being offered which is just not good enough as this has no full tracking on insurance and is not always logged as "Delivered" when it has been thus, putting sellers in trouble with eBay not releasing their money until 14 days if a buyer is happy but remains silent.

    Also it is very unfair on eBay's part to roll out all these drastic changes regarding payment holds and managed delivery to just private sellers whilst allowing the big business sellers to carry on as normal with all the privileges that we private sellers once had.  WHY ?

    Oh, I see... this is to force private sellers to LIE and move to eBay business accounts - becoming "business sellers" so that they can pay tax on their OWN belongings when they sell them... how crafty... !

    So in a nutshell;-

    Private sellers now have complete hardship when they sell on eBay.

    Registered Business Sellers now have a clear path to sell as normal.            
  • RFW
    RFW Posts: 10,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    bittyboy101 said:
    Sorry but I've seen lots of people are very quick to rundown the OP and go out of their way to defend eBay like they own it ! on what is actually the most important and worst change they are making in all the almost 30 years of eBay being online...


    Oh, I see... this is to force private sellers to LIE and move to eBay business accounts - becoming "business sellers" so that they can pay tax on their OWN belongings when they sell them... how crafty... !

             
    I've had enough gripes about Ebay in the last few years and I barely use it, either as a buyer or a seller, from days gone by of being a high volume seller on there. This is nothing like the worst thing they've done in 30 years, as Soolin points out it leaves many private sellers in a much better situation than they would have been 20+ years ago. It could often take over ten days to get payment to a bank account from Paypal and there were holds and chargebacks even then. It's not that hard to find sellers moaning about them in the archives on here. It largely puts Ebay on a par with most other marketplaces. If anything they'll still be one of the speedier payers.

    On the second bit I've quoted you don't have to lie to be a business seller on Ebay, even if you are a private seller, you don't have to pay tax on personal sales either. Ebay can't change HMRC rules. That's just the name of the account, on Amazon they call it a "Professional seller".

    As far as anyone on here working for Ebay, I doubt they have any employees that care that much to bother. Like most big companies Ebay is a machine. They're interested in making money, that's about it.

    .
  • bittyboy101
    bittyboy101 Posts: 70 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    RFW said:
    bittyboy101 said:
    Sorry but I've seen lots of people are very quick to rundown the OP and go out of their way to defend eBay like they own it ! on what is actually the most important and worst change they are making in all the almost 30 years of eBay being online...


    Oh, I see... this is to force private sellers to LIE and move to eBay business accounts - becoming "business sellers" so that they can pay tax on their OWN belongings when they sell them... how crafty... !

             
    I've had enough gripes about Ebay in the last few years and I barely use it, either as a buyer or a seller, from days gone by of being a high volume seller on there. This is nothing like the worst thing they've done in 30 years, as Soolin points out it leaves many private sellers in a much better situation than they would have been 20+ years ago. It could often take over ten days to get payment to a bank account from Paypal and there were holds and chargebacks even then. It's not that hard to find sellers moaning about them in the archives on here. It largely puts Ebay on a par with most other marketplaces. If anything they'll still be one of the speedier payers.

    On the second bit I've quoted you don't have to lie to be a business seller on Ebay, even if you are a private seller, you don't have to pay tax on personal sales either. Ebay can't change HMRC rules. That's just the name of the account, on Amazon they call it a "Professional seller".

    As far as anyone on here working for Ebay, I doubt they have any employees that care that much to bother. Like most big companies Ebay is a machine. They're interested in making money, that's about it.

    ". It could often take over ten days to get payment to a bank account from Paypal and there were holds and chargebacks even then. It's not that hard to find sellers moaning about them in the archives on here. It largely puts Ebay on a par with most other marketplaces. If anything they'll still be one of the speedier payers."

    In later years 2013 - 2022 Paypal also offered INSTANT PAYMENTS for eBay sellers, meaning once a buyer has paid the seller had the security and piece of mind that the money from their buyer was in their PayPal account.

    As for taking 10 days to transfer from PayPal to your bank... I always used the instant bank transfer and the money from PayPal was in my bank account within 1 - 2 minutes.

    If using the "Transfer funds using a debit card route in PayPal takes 3 - 5 working days and this incurres fees from PayPal for this service so I never use that ! - Slow and expensive.
        
    "As far as anyone on here working for Ebay, I doubt they have any employees that care that much to bother. Like most big companies Ebay is a machine. They're interested in making money, that's about it."

    No comment !
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,150 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    RFW said:
    bittyboy101 said:
    Sorry but I've seen lots of people are very quick to rundown the OP and go out of their way to defend eBay like they own it ! on what is actually the most important and worst change they are making in all the almost 30 years of eBay being online...


    Oh, I see... this is to force private sellers to LIE and move to eBay business accounts - becoming "business sellers" so that they can pay tax on their OWN belongings when they sell them... how crafty... !

             
    I've had enough gripes about Ebay in the last few years and I barely use it, either as a buyer or a seller, from days gone by of being a high volume seller on there. This is nothing like the worst thing they've done in 30 years, as Soolin points out it leaves many private sellers in a much better situation than they would have been 20+ years ago. It could often take over ten days to get payment to a bank account from Paypal and there were holds and chargebacks even then. It's not that hard to find sellers moaning about them in the archives on here. It largely puts Ebay on a par with most other marketplaces. If anything they'll still be one of the speedier payers.

    On the second bit I've quoted you don't have to lie to be a business seller on Ebay, even if you are a private seller, you don't have to pay tax on personal sales either. Ebay can't change HMRC rules. That's just the name of the account, on Amazon they call it a "Professional seller".

    As far as anyone on here working for Ebay, I doubt they have any employees that care that much to bother. Like most big companies Ebay is a machine. They're interested in making money, that's about it.

    There is nothing to stop you being a business seller on eBay if you wish and if contacted by HNRC explain your reasons for doing so.

    I really don’t see why you would want to be a business and pay lots more fees, pay to list every single item (no free listings of course) be forced to take change of mind returns *and* still be subject to all the buyer protections that app,y to private sellers. 

    Surely if you are short on money and having to sell your own items the last thing you want is to pay to list and then pay high FVFs and VAT on top? Where exactly is the advantage? 
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • bittyboy101
    bittyboy101 Posts: 70 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    soolin said:
    RFW said:
    bittyboy101 said:
    Sorry but I've seen lots of people are very quick to rundown the OP and go out of their way to defend eBay like they own it ! on what is actually the most important and worst change they are making in all the almost 30 years of eBay being online...


    Oh, I see... this is to force private sellers to LIE and move to eBay business accounts - becoming "business sellers" so that they can pay tax on their OWN belongings when they sell them... how crafty... !

             
    I've had enough gripes about Ebay in the last few years and I barely use it, either as a buyer or a seller, from days gone by of being a high volume seller on there. This is nothing like the worst thing they've done in 30 years, as Soolin points out it leaves many private sellers in a much better situation than they would have been 20+ years ago. It could often take over ten days to get payment to a bank account from Paypal and there were holds and chargebacks even then. It's not that hard to find sellers moaning about them in the archives on here. It largely puts Ebay on a par with most other marketplaces. If anything they'll still be one of the speedier payers.

    On the second bit I've quoted you don't have to lie to be a business seller on Ebay, even if you are a private seller, you don't have to pay tax on personal sales either. Ebay can't change HMRC rules. That's just the name of the account, on Amazon they call it a "Professional seller".

    As far as anyone on here working for Ebay, I doubt they have any employees that care that much to bother. Like most big companies Ebay is a machine. They're interested in making money, that's about it.

    There is nothing to stop you being a business seller on eBay if you wish and if contacted by HNRC explain your reasons for doing so.

    I really don’t see why you would want to be a business and pay lots more fees, pay to list every single item (no free listings of course) be forced to take change of mind returns *and* still be subject to all the buyer protections that app,y to private sellers. 

    Surely if you are short on money and having to sell your own items the last thing you want is to pay to list and then pay high FVFs and VAT on top? Where exactly is the advantage? 
    I never said that I wanted to be a business seller and have any dealings with HMRC like most traders do.

    I would just like to carry on selling my stuff on eBay privately like I have always done without any problems...

    ...but this new managed delivery and payment delay changes has now caused me a degree of uncomfort and inconvenience now having to wait so long to get paid and having eBay dictate which couriers I am allowed to use.

    At this moment in time before 04 February 2025 - eBay's simple delivery (managed shipping) is now only optional for private sellers and I have seen that eBay only offer Packlink (which is basically Evri via eBay's own postage broker) and Royal Mail Tracked 48 which is second class tracked post.

    There is no option for NEXT DAY Royal Mail Special Delivery, No ParcelForce / UPS / DPD / APC / DHL or Yodel.

    eBay's simple delivery is just that, It is SIMPLE AND PRIMITIVE with no refinement whatsoever.

    ...And if I were to use any of eBay's chosen couriers and something goes wrong... eBay will be the first to hand the buyer their money back and side step the show leaving me the seller completely OUT OF POCKET with NO MONEY and NO ITEM !

    If eBay are going to make private sellers vulnerable to all sorts of scams with no fail safe protection then No Thanks. It's time I and eBay part company... 
      
     
  • bittyboy101
    bittyboy101 Posts: 70 Forumite
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    Forgive me Soolin

    I thought that your reply was meant for me !

    I just got the wrong end of the stick lol  :#  
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,150 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    bittyboy101 said:
    Forgive me Soolin

    I thought that your reply was meant for me !

    I just got the wrong end of the stick lol  :#  
    Apologies, Actually is was, for some reason I’ve found the post I’m quoting jumps to another post so my reply doesn’t make sense. I will try and move it but may mess up the thread, so even more apologies. My point was that business sellers pay a lot of money , they certainly don’t have an easy ride at all and if you read threads on the community boards and other forums you will see business sellers don’t think any of this goes far enough as they are still at a disadvantage.

    @RFW apologies my reply was not meant for you. 


    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • bittyboy101
    bittyboy101 Posts: 70 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Apology accepted !  B)

    That's so ironic !... as I sensed that your previous post was meant for me !... but when I re-read it again it showed as directed at another forum user ! so I thought I replied when I shouldn't have ! :#

    This thread should be called "The Love & Hate of eBay"  lol

    I really did love eBay... but now... it leaves a lot to be desired with all these new and serious changes ! 
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