eBay deliberately driving away private sellers?

Spoonie_Turtle

Sarahspangles said:

eBay is trying to be Vinted. As a buyer, I find Vinted a much better experience.

The very few times I've used Vinted it's been fine, but what scares me is if an item is not as described, or even the wrong item altogether, the buyer has to return it at their own expense despite it being the seller's fault.  Which has happened several times to a family member who uses Vinted more often than I do.  And when the postage to send it back is about the same as the item cost in the first place, it's not worth the hassle. 

And even if it's a more expensive item, you're still out of pocket (from returning it) for the pleasure(!) of having had sight of the item.

Sarahspangles

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Sarahspangles said:

eBay is trying to be Vinted. As a buyer, I find Vinted a much better experience.

The very few times I've used Vinted it's been fine, but what scares me is if an item is not as described, or even the wrong item altogether, the buyer has to return it at their own expense despite it being the seller's fault.  Which has happened several times to a family member who uses Vinted more often than I do.  And when the postage to send it back is about the same as the item cost in the first place, it's not worth the hassle. 

And even if it's a more expensive item, you're still out of pocket (from returning it) for the pleasure(!) of having had sight of the item.

I check photos and Vinted feedback carefully. I’ve given up trusting feedback on eBay altogether. I rarely buy anything expensive, if one in six purchases isn’t great and goes straight to the charity shop, it’s still less expensive than buying new.

Pollycat

Sarahspangles said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Sarahspangles said:

eBay is trying to be Vinted. As a buyer, I find Vinted a much better experience.

The very few times I've used Vinted it's been fine, but what scares me is if an item is not as described, or even the wrong item altogether, the buyer has to return it at their own expense despite it being the seller's fault.  Which has happened several times to a family member who uses Vinted more often than I do.  And when the postage to send it back is about the same as the item cost in the first place, it's not worth the hassle. 

And even if it's a more expensive item, you're still out of pocket (from returning it) for the pleasure(!) of having had sight of the item.

I check photos and Vinted feedback carefully. I’ve given up trusting feedback on eBay altogether. I rarely buy anything expensive, if one in six purchases isn’t great and goes straight to the charity shop, it’s still less expensive than buying new.

I agree with this.
I buy a lot from Vinted to refresh my wardrobe and sell the unwanted stuff on eBay.
I've just splurged £70 on a pair of brand new in box boots that retail at £189.
I know the brand as I've a few pairs so I have every confidence that they'll be fine when they arrive.
I'll sell a pair of the same brand that I originally bought from Vinted.
I've only ever had one item from Vinted that was disappointing and not as described.
As it was cheap, I didn't bother to send it back. 

I really dislike the AI descriptions that tell me nothing about the condition whilst waxing lyrical about how this item will enhance my style.
If I'm over the moon with the item, I'll leave positive feedback but have also started mentioning how the description was lacking in information because AI option was used.

soolin

Sarahspangles said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Sarahspangles said:

eBay is trying to be Vinted. As a buyer, I find Vinted a much better experience.

The very few times I've used Vinted it's been fine, but what scares me is if an item is not as described, or even the wrong item altogether, the buyer has to return it at their own expense despite it being the seller's fault.  Which has happened several times to a family member who uses Vinted more often than I do.  And when the postage to send it back is about the same as the item cost in the first place, it's not worth the hassle. 

And even if it's a more expensive item, you're still out of pocket (from returning it) for the pleasure(!) of having had sight of the item.

I check photos and Vinted feedback carefully. I’ve given up trusting feedback on eBay altogether. I rarely buy anything expensive, if one in six purchases isn’t great and goes straight to the charity shop, it’s still less expensive than buying new.

I trust ebay feedback but not Vinted entirely. On Vinterd if an item is returned as not as described, buyer has to pay for the return and the sale is cancelled, so no feedback can be left for seller. 

Sarahspangles

soolin said:

Sarahspangles said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Sarahspangles said:

eBay is trying to be Vinted. As a buyer, I find Vinted a much better experience.

The very few times I've used Vinted it's been fine, but what scares me is if an item is not as described, or even the wrong item altogether, the buyer has to return it at their own expense despite it being the seller's fault.  Which has happened several times to a family member who uses Vinted more often than I do.  And when the postage to send it back is about the same as the item cost in the first place, it's not worth the hassle. 

And even if it's a more expensive item, you're still out of pocket (from returning it) for the pleasure(!) of having had sight of the item.

I check photos and Vinted feedback carefully. I’ve given up trusting feedback on eBay altogether. I rarely buy anything expensive, if one in six purchases isn’t great and goes straight to the charity shop, it’s still less expensive than buying new.

I trust ebay feedback but not Vinted entirely. On Vinterd if an item is returned as not as described, buyer has to pay for the return and the sale is cancelled, so no feedback can be left for seller. 

I don’t think any of the platforms have a perfect model. The advantage with Vinted is that it’s not currently flooded with foreign goods and drop shippers like eBay and Amazon. There’s no AI gibberish. There are far far fewer steps and options at every step for seller and buyer. You order, goods arrive by whichever courier they use, payment is released to sender. So far the only issue I've noticed is some ads for counterfeit perfumes on Vinted, I’m interested to see how they resolve that.

I was surprised that eBay was trying to move towards the Vinted model, but it doesn’t fix the core issues. They would have to strip back too much development and narrow their market for it to make a difference now.

soolin

Incidentally I do like Vinted, I use it a lot, but only real issue with it is the limited things I can sell. On ebay I can sell basically anything I have laying around, or can retrive from the family storage, on Vinted I have to stick to rather narrow categories, and as I don't sell clothes, it is rather limited for me.

I also think it a shame they don't have a business seller scheme either, the pro seller is NOT a business scheme, but hopefully things will change in the future. 

blcnfr24

Here is my perspective as a buyer and seller.
I used eBay as a buyer since 2005 and started selling in 2006.
I ran an eBay business until 2012 but have used it personally as a buyer and seller of stuff I no longer want ever since.

There were solid sales throughout 2006-2019, with a huge peak during Covid (2020 and 2021 lockdowns).  

Since 2022, there's been a decline that gets worse every year.  
2024 was terrible and 2025 is looking even worse (as a private seller with items that once sold quickly at fair prices).

As a seller, what do I think happened? I think it's a combination.

• First, Facebook Marketplace (flash in the pan). 
• Then, Temu and physical shops stepping up decent deals for items that typically did well (B&M, Home Bargains, supermarkets etc)
• Every big shop like B&Q and The Range opening "marketplaces" online
• Amazon enticing more people with Prime Video bundles?
• Younger generations shopping on TikTok and social media
• General UK decline, high energy bills, uncertain futures, high cost of living
• Change in buying patterns (people more careful with money)
• Premium items being bought on new, specialist platforms like Vinterior and Reverb 
• eBay losing the used clothing market entirely to Vinted 
• "Resellers"/"Flippers"/"Retail Arbitrage" running the platform with overpriced nonsense
• Infuriating multi-price listings clogging search results
• Chinese sellers clogging the platform with trash (maybe not so bad now?)
• Vinted giving buyers unrealistically low price ideas and all this 'make offer'/lowballing 
• Stupid decisions by eBay with sponsored searches destroying the platform and now these idiotic fees.

They should've been like vinted and made the buyer protection fee visible on the buyer's checkout page and set it as something simple to understand like £1.50 per transaction (for all sellers).  What they've done is a total muddle.

As a buyer, I barely use eBay.  Why?

• I got scammed many times over the years (UK sellers sending fake, broken or different items from the listing)
• In the early years I lost money buying things because you had no comeback.  It was full of unscrupulous sellers
• In the 2000s, auctions meant you could get some really rare things and bargains but that hasn't been for years
• "Resellers"/"Flippers"/"Retail Arbitrage" running the platform with overpriced nonsense
• PayPal protection improved things because you knew you were covered
• But... then the problems with sellers came back.  Chinese sellers and their junk, constantly having to open returns and then they'd try all kinds to get out of taking item back (wrong postage weight label made me insane many times).  Sellers (including business ones) spinning out returns/refunds (I had valid reasons, like item arrived damaged in transit) out of spite, having to escalate to eBay and wait for all that...
• The above returns hassle happened one time too many and I just stopped shopping there because I want to enjoy my life and not battle with some incompetent seller.  On Amazon, you'd have this resolved instantly.  I maybe buy 5 things a year on eBay now if there's a good voucher offer on but most sellers are expensive
• I took most of my custom to Amazon (almost never Marketplace), the supermarkets and the high street
• The removal of Nectar points was a bad move.  I used to get good deals.

So I can't see it changing any time soon.  It's possible it has just had its day.  Looking back on all the hassle it caused over the years (as a seller and buyer), I can't say I feel like I'll miss it!

Pollycat

blcnfr24 said

They should've been like vinted and made the buyer protection fee visible on the buyer's checkout page and set it as something simple to understand like £1.50 per transaction (for all sellers).  What they've done is a total muddle.

+1 to this.
The way the buyer protection fee is shown is stupid.

TripleH

My gripe with the new ebay system when selling is that there isn't an option when drafting a listing to show the total price including fees a buyer pays.

Pollycat

TripleH said:

My gripe with the new ebay system when selling is that there isn't an option when drafting a listing to show the total price including fees a buyer pays.

It's definitely been designed by a teenager in their bedroom.