Where is Martin Lewis getting this info from?

CarrieMJ

The new eBay Buyer Protection fee - the guidance just released on this site states that 'A buyer protection fee isn't applied to items priced below 99p.' eBay have no knowledge of this exclusion, can somebody from MSE please provide a link to the source they're getting this from?

MSE_James

Hi @CarrieMJ  - I've checked with the team that look after that page, and that line in our guide is based on information specifically provided to MSE by eBay themselves.

soolin

MSE_James said:

Hi @CarrieMJ  - I've checked with the team that look after that page, and that line in our guide is based on information specifically provided to MSE by eBay themselves.

Might it please be worth asking if eBay state whether it’s the whole amount, incl postage that needs to be below 99p or just the item. If it’s just the item then we are heading back to the old days of things like 99p BIN listings with £20 postage even on small things.

Although if private sellers are eventually going to be moved onto simple postage that would close that loophole as eBay would charge and take postage, and seller would get just the 99p. At the moment though there’s no clarity around simple postage. 

Also It used to be that you couldn’t list an item for less than 99p if listing on eBay. Uk , it isn’t clear from a quick skim read whether that is still the case. 

CarrieMJ

MSE_James said:

Hi @CarrieMJ  - I've checked with the team that look after that page, and that line in our guide is based on information specifically provided to MSE by eBay themselves.

So bizarre that it hasn't been added to the guidance page that covers the new buyer protection given that it's a bit of a game changer. eBay CS are also unaware of this. It would be great if this is the case, and very sensible, but it really does need to be confirmed by eBay in an update.

CarrieMJ

soolin said:

MSE_James said:

Hi @CarrieMJ  - I've checked with the team that look after that page, and that line in our guide is based on information specifically provided to MSE by eBay themselves.

Might it please be worth asking if eBay state whether it’s the whole amount, incl postage that needs to be below 99p or just the item. If it’s just the item then we are heading back to the old days of things like 99p BIN listings with £20 postage even on small things.

Although if private sellers are eventually going to be moved onto simple postage that would close that loophole as eBay would charge and take postage, and seller would get just the 99p. At the moment though there’s no clarity around simple postage. 

Also It used to be that you couldn’t list an item for less than 99p if listing on eBay. Uk , it isn’t clear from a quick skim read whether that is still the case. 

You can list items with a 99p start price or set up a fixed price Buy It Now listing starting at 99p, it's been that way for years:

Tip
To sell an item at a fixed price, your feedback score must be 0 or higher, and the item you're listing must be priced at $0.99 or higher (I've no idea why they've used a dollar sign instead of a pound, this is an eBay UK guidance page, must be an error).

I'm not allowed to post a link yet, but that's taken from eBay UK's 'Selling with Buy It Now' guidance page.

soolin

CarrieMJ said:

soolin said:

MSE_James said:

Hi @CarrieMJ  - I've checked with the team that look after that page, and that line in our guide is based on information specifically provided to MSE by eBay themselves.

Might it please be worth asking if eBay state whether it’s the whole amount, incl postage that needs to be below 99p or just the item. If it’s just the item then we are heading back to the old days of things like 99p BIN listings with £20 postage even on small things.

Although if private sellers are eventually going to be moved onto simple postage that would close that loophole as eBay would charge and take postage, and seller would get just the 99p. At the moment though there’s no clarity around simple postage. 

Also It used to be that you couldn’t list an item for less than 99p if listing on eBay. Uk , it isn’t clear from a quick skim read whether that is still the case. 

You can list items with a 99p start price or set up a fixed price Buy It Now listing starting at 99p, it's been that way for years:

Tip
To sell an item at a fixed price, your feedback score must be 0 or higher, and the item you're listing must be priced at $0.99 or higher (I've no idea why they've used a dollar sign instead of a pound, this is an eBay UK guidance page, must be an error).

I'm not allowed to post a link yet, but that's taken from eBay UK's 'Selling with Buy It Now' guidance page.

That's what I thought, so in that case the fee free comment is meaningless as if you can't list an item below 99p then all listings will be charged the fee anyway. 

If 99p is the least you can start an item at, then there will be no listings that fit the criteria of 'A buyer protection fee isn't applied to items priced below 99p'. 

CarrieMJ

Auctions can be listed with a lower than 99p start price, but that would be pointless, imo, and if the price goes up then the buyer fee will kick in. 

CarrieMJ

I asked eBay about this, and it's definitely incorrect info, and they said they were going to request that it be removed, which I can see it has been. 

hermante

CarrieMJ said:

Auctions can be listed with a lower than 99p start price, but that would be pointless, imo, and if the price goes up then the buyer fee will kick in. 

Why would that be pointless?

I have listed many items at 1p, and some of them only received one bid so were sold at 1p (plus postage), everyone was happy.

When I had free stamps I even sold some at 1p with free postage although the buyers were a bit odd

soolin

hermante said:

CarrieMJ said:

Auctions can be listed with a lower than 99p start price, but that would be pointless, imo, and if the price goes up then the buyer fee will kick in. 

Why would that be pointless?

I have listed many items at 1p, and some of them only received one bid so were sold at 1p (plus postage), everyone was happy.

When I had free stamps I even sold some at 1p with free postage although the buyers were a bit odd

I think The point was that there was no guarantee that the auction would finish at 99p and therefore trying to avoid the buyer premium wouldn’t have worked. 

However, as per previous post this information appeared to be incorrect and has been changed by MSE. 

caprikid1

How can people make money on a .99p item ? What is achievable with Bulk RM postage in terms of price ?