"Your current monthly eBay shop subscription fee does not match the price which should be charged"

[lilac_dragonfly]

Can anyone shed some light on what an Ebay email just received by me means?  I have a basic shop as a business seller and to the best of my knowledge I have not overstepped any limits there, and if I have I am unable to see what they are.  The email directs me to a page where it simply gives information about shop types and monthly payments.  I'm going to assume that Ebay isn't taking pity on me for having low sales and reducing the monthly subscriptions so I'm worried what this all means.  Nowhere in the email does it say what the new shop tier will be or the price, or what triggered the email.  Moving me from around £16 per month to £77 will not allow me to cover my fees and this is what I fear they will be doing.

Now, because I've been almost making a loss in my shop I've tried to rejuvenate it by adding more items.  A basic shop has a monthly allowance of 250 items and thereafter you're charged 10p to list each additional item.  I HAVE gone over 250 items, I now have 301 items for sale but I haven't broken any price limits and I am allowed to keep listing at 10p per item.  Sales are so poor I'm not raking in any monies that would make Ebay sit up and take note.  I'm very very confused and worried.  So, here's the email with any identifiers removed...  

"eBay is continuously working to update our payment and billing processes and their technical systems. As part of these updates, we identified that your current monthly eBay shop subscription fee does not match the price which should be charged.

Therefore, we want to inform you about an upcoming change to your shop subscription fee, which will take effect on February 1st, 2024.

Starting from February 1st, 2024, your shop subscription fee will be assessed based on your registration status (business seller or private seller on eBay). Your current monthly subscription price will continue to be honored until January 31st, 2024.

We hope this transitional period allows you to adjust to the upcoming changes and make any necessary preparations to your monthly shop subscription pricing."

Thanks for reading this far.  If there is a resource somewhere that deals with this I'd be grateful for a link to it as I have searched but found nothing of relevance.  

[goingfishinguk]

Was it an email or an eBay message?  Lods of scam emails floating about.

[rainbowtrax]

Not come across that message before. Here's a link to ebay's Fair Use policy Fair use policy | eBay in case that gives you any clues. Without seeing your selling account it's difficult to guess what could have triggered it. What sort of items are you selling?

[lilac_dragonfly]

Both.  It's appeared in my Ebay messages on site as well as in an email to me. 

Thank you for replying.

[lilac_dragonfly]

I'm selling costume jewellery mostly and a few accessories such as themed socks and keyrings, most of which are low cost, a few handmade bracelets and necklaces.  https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/Arcane-and-Esoteric is the link to it if it helps at all.  Thank you for replying. 

Edited to add:  I have looked at the link and I'm sure that I have some items that have not sold for over a year, but I haven't had any communication from Ebay asking me to review them as per their fair use policy.  It is something I wasn't aware of though so thanks for that and I'll identify which ones they are and adjust or remove them.  

[the_book_seekers]

What do you pay per month? A basic shop is £32.40 with BINs over the 250 limit costing 12p an item

[lilac_dragonfly]

I'm even more confused now.  I thought I was paying around £25 per month plus final value fees and I've just checked the link again that Ebay sent me with the pricing tiers and it says the basic rate is £27.00 with items over the 250 limit costing 10p each.  However, I have looked at my recent listings and they have charged 12p per item as you said.  I'm just looking into my fees now to try and make sense of it.  This is the link they sent me which was supposed to explain everything https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/fees-business-sellers?id=4809 

Thanks for the reply and I'm sorry I can't reply as well as I'd like for the moment as I can't work out the differences in fees now but I'm looking into it.

[rainbowtrax]

They increased the fees a while back which is why you thought it was £25. The prices on the ebay page are before the VAT is added. The prices quoted by @the_book_seekers are once you add on the 20% VAT. So the shop fee that you pay becomes £32.40 and the fee per extra listing over 250 is actually 12p as 10p+20% VAT gives you 12p.

[rainbowtrax]

Thanks for the link to your shop. I've had a look and the message you got still doesn't make much sense.

Looking at your listings, I can see why you have each item listed individually as the colouring is slightly different on each item even if the design is the same. I do wonder though if ebay want you to combine them into multi-variation listings with the variation options for the different colours or star signs etc. That's the only thing I can see that they may want you to do - but that makes no sense in the context of the message you received as that would make you have less listings, not more.

[lilac_dragonfly]

Right, I think I have some kind of answer now although I'm still a bit confused.

The_Book_Seekers sent me off to look into my fees which I think is the solution to why the email was sent to me although I can't explain my current fees -  I am currently paying £16.66 plus VAT which makes it £19.99 per month.  I thought I was paying £25 which seems to be a correct memory for what I signed up for prior to the increase that Rainowtrax stated.

At the very least it is looking more likely that they're not going to force me to pay £77 + VAT which is something and if I keep the basic shop format I should be paying £32.40 

Thank you to everyone for your help with this, I really appreciate it x

[rainbowtrax]

That's bizarre. That's the price of a basic shop for private sellers so it looks like they've somehow been inadvertently undercharging you at the private seller price instead of the business seller price.

[lilac_dragonfly]

Yes, the multi variation listings never really sold well so I changed to listing them one by one.  I makes a small difference but not very much I'll admit!  

I've retired lots of items based on the fair use policy and will look at re-listing some of them and retiring some more permanently - I'll probably try to sell them as job lots or destash items.  

Thanks again for your time and help.

[arcaneandesoteric]

Wow - I guess I should think myself lucky then!  Especially as I've never been a private seller for this shop, I set up straight off as a business seller.  It must have been an Ebay glitch in my favour.  (sorry, I've changed to my selling account just to confuse the replies as I'm an idiot and didn't realise.  Today has not been my day!)

[ramilas]

Hi, I had the same blunt-edged message & email last night.

The wording 'As part of these updates, we identified that your current monthly eBay shop subscription fee does not match the price which should be charged' would appear to be a clear and direct inference that I am responsible for something wrong on my account.

However, the message does not give any clue as to what this wrong-doing is!

Perhaps, the author (maybe Al) got a bit carried away, and really meant may not match

Perhaps, we will all get individual messages explaining the details, and what action is necessary

Perhaps, somebody will see the error in wording, and will send a second clarification message

Perhaps,  omnivorous, even-toed, hoofed mammals will gain the ability to fly

[the_book_seekers · Accepted solution]

Why can't ebay just say there's been a backroom error, you've been under charged and you are being moved to the correct rate instead of this kind of message? As it's their error hopefully ebay won't expect payment for the under charges.

[rainbowtrax]

A straightforward admission of an error would be just that, too straightforward for ebay waffle. Why say it like it is when you can cause confusion?

Still, we should have this thread printed out and framed - an ebay error that's worked in the buyer's favour for a change! I wonder how many accounts are affected and how long it's gone on for. They must be kicking themselves. 😂

[the_book_seekers]

That'll be a chunk of the interest ebay has been taking on our payments (it's in the latest payment terms update, ebay earns interest from some aspects of managed payment)

[wyntersemporium]

The USA shops get more listings for the basic they get 10,000 listings. Rip off eBay uk again 

[aclfur2010]

No, I have been over chareg for selling a item