eBay Is Dead
Summary: The discussion centers around concerns with eBay, with participants sharing experiences of scams and deceptive practices by sellers. oswaldcod mentions issues with false tracking information and removed feedback for scams. upda8077 describes purchasing a fake USB drive and encountering unresponsive sellers, with later posts detailing misleading item descriptions and incorrect location listings. Despite attempts to report these issues to eBay, participants feel the platform inadequately addresses them, leading to frustration. davespencer32 adds that even long-time sellers experience poor support from eBay staff.
I am thinking eBay as a selling platform is dead since the seller protection was added ? I wonder if eBay have notice the decline in sellers since new rules started . In my 20 years of selling on eBay Ive never seen it like this
I have 20 watchers on my account , most of them are still selling but their sales have fallen to almost to nothing over the last 2 months and a few sellers have gone from the platform , its like all the buyers have gone
I wonder if eBay have notice the fall in sales or do they really care anymore
Is eBay a sicking ship and now doomed ?
theelench
·1 week agoIs it really surprising when ebay seems determined to show itself and its sellers as unreliable or worse ?
Ebay's EDDs, supposedly 'dynamic' but now so out of touch with reality that whatever dates ebay gives buyers, all they often do is give the dates that an item will most likely NOT arrive on.
I've read several posts recently about buyers, having bought items backed by ebay's authenticity guarantee finding that on reselling them, the item is rejected as fake. Or in one case, simply being 'Held' without explanation (or have they lost it, or sent to the wrong address?)
The ongoing idiocy of listings being hidden because of the bladed items policy when they are spoons or a variety of obviously un-bladed items.
Today I'm reading about ebay's attempt to sabotage clothing sales by introducing it's own standardised sizing, when sizes are anything but standardised.
The madness is never ending, going back well beyond the OP which was posted a year ago and shows no sign of stopping.
Years ago a wag on here said that sales are made despite ebay, not because of any help from it.
It seems that buyers are are now getting even more fed-up than the sellers are and voting with their feet. And their wallets.
davespencer32
·1 week agoI agree, no seller central support, rude Ebay staff, just had the phone put down on me, EBay seller for 20 years 100% rating.
upda8077
·2 weeks agoAnd yet another one for you.
Sellers item for sale page title says they are : "Night Vision Goggles Infrared Binoculars 1080P HD 5x Digital Zoom Video Record" (the sellers exact words used).
They are not, they are just a normal binoculars, they do not have "1080P HD 5x Digital Zoom Video Record" (as they put it), they are just normal everyday 8x nothing special binoculars.
They are charging £15.99 for them. And I did find more companies selling the same binoculars with exactly the same title (but with slightly different prices), and one of those companies have sold 11 pairs or should I say ripped 11 people off (or scammed ?), and the chances are they are all the same company trading under different names as the title is exactly the same on all of them.
You can buy them new when marked as "8x Binoculars" (as thats what they are) for around £7 upwards on ebay (as they are nothing special).
Anyway, I reported two of the companies for "Description is not related to the item" using ebays drop down menu on the report content form, and of course you know the reply ebay sent me, "Not in violation of our policy" so again the scammers / deceivers (call them what you want) have ebays blessings to carry on selling and deceiving customers. So their was no point in informing ebay about the others I found.
I suppose ebay thinks "If a person does not know the difference between a normal pair of binoculars and a pair of nightvision infrared binoculars with 1080P HD resolution and a 5x Digital Zoom their is no issue"
(Remember you are not considered scammed or deceived if you are unaware of the scam, and I think ebay are taking advantage of this fact)
So again ebay refuse to protect buyers by removing the item or getting the seller to change the title description.
upda8077
·2 weeks ago · EditedAnd another one for you.
On the first image below it says on the image UK Stock, it also says its in Jamacia, it also says "Fast Delivery"
When you check on the sales page it says the item is location is London, Jamacia.
It says they will be using Royal Mail 2nd class parcel. When you check the delivery dates its going to take between 30 and 40 days to get to you, so its not in London then.
(thats about the time it takes to get a delivery from china by land, just saying).
I reported the item to ebay as you can report a "Item Location Incorrect", they have a drop down menu so you can select that.
Got a reply, it was the usual "Not in violation of our policy". In the past their used to be a link to appeal on the reply ebay sent, that has now been removed, no more appeals, not that it made a difference, the reply you got if you appealed just said the same.
Thats ebay for you nowadays, full of lies
jonatjonatjonat
·2 weeks agoI wouldn't be surprised if your post is archived. I had one earlier where the location said Exeter, China. Obviously - that location doesn't exist but I'm fairly certain the post was removed on the assumption I included personal information!
upda8077
·2 weeks agoI did scrub out the sellers name, so it should be ok, but like you I would not be surprised if they did, just maybe they will use any excuse to remove posts that dont see ebay in a good light (or maybe just remove a few of those posts, to keep the numbers down so to speak)
upda8077
·2 weeks agoAs oswaldcod said, ebay is a minefield nowadays, far too many scammers, reporting them does nothing, and even if you leave negative feedback the seller can get it removed quite easily.
I bought a USB SSD 2TB drive, it arrived ok, and when using it I started loosing data, so I checked the drive with a windows program called validrive, its fake, it does not have 2TB of storage space, it only has 102GB. Also they are not SSD drives, they have a unbranded cheap MicroSD card inside them.
I wanted to return it, the seller said " Returning the product incurs a fee, which isn't cost-effective for you. I'll refund 50% of the price".
I refused, the seller said nothing, I had to go through ebay in the end to get my money back.
I informed ebay it was a fake drive, sent them pictures, and eventually ebay refunded me after they said I should return the item to the seller.
I then reported the item as fake and included the images, the auto reply from ebay said "Not in violation of our policy" so the seller can continue selling the fake drives with ebays blessing.
I then left the seller negative feedback explaining how I know the drive is fake and with images, I explained it is only 102GB, not 2TB as advertised, and it is not a SSD drive as it just has a microSD card inside it.
The negative feedback was up for about a hour or two, then it was gone, I contacted ebay and asked why, I explained about ebay saying "Not in violation of our rules" when I reported it, I explained about it being fake and buyers will loose data when they go over the actual 102GB of storage space it has. I explained what the seller said to me about wanting to charge me to return it, and my feedback was to warn others so they dont get caught out by the seller and their fake drives for sale.
Ebay said my negative feedback was removed because I said it was fake, apparently you are not allowed to warn others, those bad sellers are laughing at ebay , and at us, and they get away with it.
Again as oswaldcod said, ebay know their site is full of fake items, and their way of solving it ? by not letting us warn others, and they will not remove the fake items as when they are sold they still get a commission, and in the case of the fake drives by the time the person realises it is fake (when they reach the 102GB limit) it will be too late to return it, I was lucky as I wanted to copy the contents of another drive to it, so I found out quickly it was fake.
oswaldcod
·3 weeks agoNot only has the selling apect suffered since the protection fee started , now I'm finding that buying on Ebay is a bit of a minefield.
Half of the purchases I have made in the last few months have been scams of some sort.
A popular one is giving false tracking info and the seller maintainig that is has been deliverd , when in reality it has gone to another address entirely.
Ebay do step in and refund but I am finding the whole thing too tiresome to bother with .
Also I gave negative feedback to the last scammer but when I checked back later I saw the feedback had been removed!
It seems ebay knows they are harbouring scammers but do nothing about it .
The seller protection fee seems to be just covering the scam refunds and only encourages more scammers to try their luck .
Shame about ebay but it really is is dying off
welshjester
·2 months agoEnd of the day eBay made some bad decisions which have made people move away from the platform, less buyers. The need to defend a platform so badly is baffling, but each to his own. I'll be giving items away as obviously good stuff won't sell for peanuts when some others have sold the same type of item for more. Utterly senseless. Something is definitely wrong on eBay's side, even if there's more than that to it.
Those that think otherwise are free to do so.
cee-dee
·2 months agoOK, there is something wrong, people have changed, they seem to want things for very little. A few years back, things that sold for £50 - £60 are now going for less than £20. Just watch some of the antique programmes on TV and see that it's exceptional items that make decent money. The also-rans end up just that, selling for little.
Take a look at some auction sales and see that quite a lot goes unsold and if you actually attend, you'll have suspicions that some "sold" items are actually "bought in" by the auctioneer because they miraculously reappear in another sale. See how some auctioneers offer "A box of mixed" or "A box of mixed china/plated/metalwork/brass/copper". Some time back those items would have sold either separately or as pairs/threes/fours/sixes. How much are copper kettles selling for now? £15 - £20? I remember when a large kettle in absolutely fabulous condition was £120. I could go on?
Now, on ebay I see sellers with loads of (not antiques) what is literally trash selling things for £4 to £10 but it seems that's what people want to buy?
Times have changed, people have changed and so has ebay. It's a lot more hassle than when I first started here.
storage.boutique
·2 months agoI think you are referring to a time when the 60-70 year olds, with serious disposable income, needed antiques or collectables. Nowadays they are 80-90 and in a different place. For example, people may have purchased an autograph of Doris Day 20 years ago, but now wouldn't know who she was.
The younger generation want different things. This is natural. Also, the competitive environment has changed dramatically with so many other websites offering similar things. As per TV channels, things need to change dramatically or they lose significant market share.
I thknk eBay are ripping cash out of a smaller seller base (proper businesses) by offering more services such as advertising. If you are a personal seller you are now competing against big budget companies just to get traffic across your page. This is not the place for small businesses or personal sellers - whether that is a good or bad thing.
theelench
·2 months agoI'd agree that 'people have changed' and one way that is evident on ebay is that there a lot less private buyers than a decade or so ago. Whatever the reason for their departure, it has drastically reduced the number of bidders on auction listings, so they often sell for one bid, or not at all.
Yet, when I used to list auctions I'd always get a few Watchers, who mostly never bid. Some checking sale prices, but others just waiting for me to send them an offer at a lower price.
It's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to see that many are Traders who, if they bid at all, only ever bid the start price. They are effectively controlling sale prices whenever they can.
I still collect vintage glass and regularly browse google shopping and etsy and in my niche it isn't difficult to spot numerous items that sold on ebay for one bid of (say) £10, only to appear on another site at a far higher price. So easy to spot when the sellers pinch the original sellers photos.
It's also true to say that what buyers buy has changed and copper kettles may well have seen price reductions. It's the same in my glass niche. I had to get into bidding wars to buy some of the weirder pieces of Stolzle. Today they sell for a fraction of the price I paid.
But it's just as true to say that at the time I picked-up some bargains, by todays standards, in Uranium glass that was regarded as a curiosity a decade ago, but today is fought over. Or Cloud Glass that few could be bothered to I.D, so sold as common UK Davidson, when in fact it was far rarer and made by European companies.
In some ways ebay has not "read the room" correctly and made mistakes by continuing with its boot-fair scrum attitude to collectables that was appropriate when ebay opened up the whole world as a market place. Giving collectors access to an unprecedented range of items that they could rarely find locally.
Those days are gone, collectors are no longer content to grab anything they can find, they're more sophisticated. They aren't content to try to winnow a few items out of 10,000 ads. in Home and Garden category, for modern Chinese "Art Deco style" tat, they know what they want and expect to be able to find it easily. Ebay has failed in that, indeed it's made finding rare items increasingly difficult.
Yes, it is a lot more hassle, both for buyers and sellers and whichever they happen to be, they're more likely to be disappointed. Which is why ebay has become a playground for resellers looking for cheap stock and lower prices that they can make a profit on elsewhere.
storage.boutique
·2 months agoI dont think it is dead at all. It is growing rapidly according to all the figures. It is growing faster than for many a long year. Share price is up, up, up. The reason it looks that way to a lot of small time guys who shout loudest is because eBay is cleaning up its act. Personal sellers that are actually really running a business are the most obvious ones that are getting funneled out. Business sellers are having to spend musch larger amounts on advertising which is big money in the pocket of eBay and the new growth in postage revenues across the board. Has it improved their brand strength? Im not sure. I think eBay is still identified with broken old tat, shoddy customer service and dodgy dealers. But strengthening the brand is not an overnighter. If the strategy is to change to a more sustainable site in the face if the fierce competition of other sites, then I think they are making a passable go of it - but the competitive environment with new entrants must make them very worried.
theelench
·2 months agoI think you are mistaken about the reasons behind several things.
"The share price is up, up, up."
Mainly because ebay spends billions of $ every year on share buy-backs reducing the number of shares and increasing their value, propping up the price.
It's more accurate to say that since before Covid and its lockdowns ebays revenue, active buyers and sellers and GMV have all been in decline. The lockdowns gave the numbers a temporary upward blip, nothing else.
It's also true to say that most years, if background price inflation and specific inflation to delivery charges are taken out of ebay's 'growth', it's virtually non-existent.
Effectively ebay's increasing share price is more to do with inflation and massive support by ebay , not due to any real growth.
"Personal sellers that are actually running a business are the most obvious ones that are getting funnelled out".
That should read, "Business sellers that are pretending to be private sellers.........etc." A business is a business whichever account type the person running it uses. By definition anyone running a business cannot be a private seller -- only a "private" seller. So this is a problem caused by criminally inclined business sellers and they that are being 'funnelled out' so slowly that, according to some registered business sellers, the problem is increasing not being successfully dealt with at all.
"..... change to a more sustainable site in the face of fierce competition of other sites, then I think they are making a passable go of it - but the competitive environment with new entrants must make them very worried."
& on another post " must change or lose significant market share."
Ebay has been losing market share since before Covid as measured by its GMV and active buyers and sellers. Mostly, I would argue, as private sellers decline in number. They may not be "ebay's bread and butter" any more, but losing millions of what should be regarded as its captive audience and natural buyer base to those new entrants should indeed make them 'very worried'.
Particularly if they are being replaced by a flood of new business sellers (both registered and 'private' business sellers) all fighting over a declining number of buyers. That's not, IMO, changing into a more sustainable site, it's cutting off one of its feet and one that it will desperately need in the race ahead.
By doing so it's giving away a competitive edge. One that has already been happily received by the "V" competitor and which provoked the (almost) panic reaction of "Free to Sell". Which in turn has exacerbated the problem of unregistered business sellers. Hardly a great success story if ebay is "cleaning up its act".
The last quarters Income Statement has shown some real growth but, to me, that falls into the category of "One Swallow does not a summer make" and only if during the rest of the year that growth is sustained can it be seen as ebay having a successful strategy to pull itself back towards its previous dominant position.
storage.boutique
·2 months agoAgree, who has time to read all the nonsense on this forum at times!
ridleydidleyracing
·2 months agoMy sales have also fallen off a cliff - 25 years doing it for a living ! I have 2 friends who had private accounts that were selling a few bits for me as well, but since the intro of seller protection their sales dropped by around 75% - MASSIVE. I have listed very few items in last few weeks as when I do - and each one cost 36p - I am getting ZERO views & ZERO watchers for the most part. I sold an item to usa, ebay took US Sales TAX from the customer TWICE & UK POST OFFICE CHARGED ME AGAIN ! Citing they had to ! The world really has gone mad
leri.forsale
·2 months agothey are so manipulative. Ebay dont send me offers anymore. I dont sell anymore. The world went crazy, you right.
welshjester
·2 months agoSome things you can list for peanuts and still won't sell even if they're worth double or more of that price. If it's not an in demand item like a computer part or some electronic device they can sit there being listed for weeks/months and get little to no views and no buyers. The odd item might go, but overall it's a PITA to sell now.
Must be a combination of people not having money, not using eBay, and item visibility being poor.. Better off saving the hassle and giving them away to a charity shop, or car boot sale, it's very annoying to list an item when you want to clear out and it just sits there getting almost no views or interest whatsoever.
therenewalworkshopltd
·2 months agoWhy on earth would something that is not in demand sell quickly?
That literally makes no sense.
If something isn't selling, then it's generally not wanted, or priced incorrectly.
Though it could be that it's also been listed for a very long time and has never been refreshed.
welshjester
·2 months agoBecause lesser demand items used to sell after a bit, these days you can have something there for weeks or months and it just does not budge even at bottom of the barrel pricing..
therenewalworkshopltd
·2 months agoThe statement you made still does not make sense.
If something is not in demand, then it won't sell quickly.
If it's not in demand, then it will sell eventually, but it needs that one person who actually wants it.
So if your selling something at a very low price and it's still not selling, then it's usually because nobody wants it. The way some of you talk, it's like Ebay hides your listings, which is utter rubbish.
They may get lost in the sheer volume of listings, but they are not hidden, unless you are below standard or there is an issue.
I have some of my clothing items listed here and on V somewhat cheaper, but they don't sell over there either. Is that because the listings are hidden or just because nobody wants them?
welshjester
·2 months agoWhatever the reason is, lots are complaining about lack of sales these days because something has changed. eBay viewers/interest is definitely down a lot compared to how it used to be regardless.
therenewalworkshopltd
·2 months agoActually no, it's not lots complaining.
What you are actually seeing is some people on a forum complaining about lack of sales.
This is a regular thing on here and most certainly does not reflect the majority.
As those who are selling don't post, because they are selling!
So what you are actually saying there, is that interest/views are down for you!
Anything else is just speculation based on a few comments.
storage.boutique
·2 months agoNah. It is only those who dont sell that complain. And usually the most loud. Its changed if you are a personal seller trying to somehow cheat the eBay system, but I am sure there are none of those here.
storage.boutique
·2 months agoLots of reasons why your items may not be selling on eBay or the other place. I would say that the most likely would be your description or title if you are using the same on both. To sell on these platforms "the title is vital". If it were on the other big website that offers Prime, it would be to do with your brand. Even if your title is rubbish, price is high and your description is naff, you can still sell if you have a million trillion visitors and a conversion rate of one million trillionth. Improve your title, graphics, keywords and description and you will improve your conversion. Advertise with all the costs that entails and you will only increase the number of visitors, not the conversion rate.
leri.forsale
·2 months agoits not this. Ebay dont send me offers anymore. Thats whta i am taking about.
*devils.advocate*
·6 months ago"eBay has a terrible reputation caused by terrible, dodgy private sellers."
Perhaps that should read, more correctly,
eBay has a terrible reputation caused by the terrible number of, and increasing proliferation of, dodgy pseudo-private sellers who take the p**s out of buyers?
eastern_standard_time
·6 months ago"eBay has a terrible reputation caused by the terrible number of, and increasing proliferation of, dodgy pseudo-private sellers who take the p**s out of buyers?"
Like the other chap, that's just your opinion, and you're entitled to it, but it doesn't constitute fact. If we're swapping anecdotes, I will add that some of the very worst dealings I've had on eBay have been with business sellers.
These days, the stuff I used to get from them on here I buy from Aliexpress; the exact same stuff, only cheaper.
nothing.anymore
·6 months agoStop relying on AI. Use your brain.
Ebay did get much worse in the last couple of years. I only buy now, but still check what people discuss on the sellers forum to be aware of any new nonsence ebay introduced because some of it affects me as a buyer too.
theelench
·6 months agoSame here but I still look in most days hoping that ebay will see some sense and back-track.
thetechshed
·6 months agoITS MASSIVELY DECLINED, AND DUE TO CONSTANT REGULATION, FEE GREED, SETTING US UP TO FAIL, ALLOWING SCAMMERS, TAKING REGULATIONS AS A PART OF AVOIDING THE HEAVY ISSUES, KILLING NORTHERN IRELAND AND EU,
VINTED, WHATNOT, AND OTHERS ALL CHIPPING AT EBAYS FINALITY, WHILE THE EBAY STAFF SIT ON THEIR BEAN BAGS IN LONDON ON THEIR IVORY TOWERS REFUSING TO HELP THE SELLERS, ITS BREAKING UP AND SINKING
1956glyn
·6 months agoOk i am posting about my recent experience.
I am currently finding that only quality jewellery is selling and at a good price. Inherited items so they have a sentimental value but i did not buy them.
Other quality items are not even getting a look in.
So...................all i am currently listing is inherited jewellery.
For the record i am having no issues in relation to withdrawing funds. I am however finding that potential buyers want to know every single detail about my items listed and appear to be very very fussy. For example i say exactly what the hallmarks say.......but still they want a close up picture of them. These are often hard to photograph. It can be frustrating because i think my account has enough credit in the bank for potential buyers to just take my word.
leri.forsale
·6 months agoyou right, but what about payouts, withdraw money? I have a problem to withdraw my own money. CS is not helping me. Its going for months now. Very frustrated.
best
brit-cards
·9 months agoeBay have shot themselves in the foot. My sales are below the £1760 annual threshold, but more than 30 mostly cheap items sold, so they want my N.I. number. Not happening, so I guess it's goodbye. I think a lot of sellers are now taking this route, as listing numbers appear to be reducing. Plus of course, the stupid percentage add on for buyers, which is probably scaring them off too. Happy days!
bluekobra1960
·9 months agoA sicking ship? Sounds interesting 🤔
alwayswearasmile
·10 months agoYes, I agree. Ebay sales have collapsed, especially high end items. It's becoming more like a boot sale. I've had such terrible experiences from ebay customer service, after 20 years I really think I need to leave.
seedbankers
·10 months agoBuyers want to know the exact amount they are dishing out to buy an item. When they slapped unrealistic prices, it scared punters away and some probably still think they have to have the high protection fee for items. Sellers didn’t know how to navigate to the old system, thinking that every item requires £2.7+ for postage as ebay deliberately misleads sellers that they have to choose larger price because it has been give prominence on that area. Some sellers didn’t know that under £20 you can still ask buyers to pay £1 because they have to click this and click that. After you’ve done it, they hide the postage box, like an imp pulling pranks, making seller work doubly hard. Ebay might have a death wish or is manned by millennials.
gooddeals4all-2009
·11 months agoYes it is awful now, eBay suits just offering poor service and visibility at inflated costs, they must think we are stupid with the buyer protection con(fee) , just everything possible to extort money from private sellers, I’ve been here 16years and it’s not really worth my time and effort now. Very Sad.
turokforever
·10 months agoI get views on the first day of listing then nothing as they hide my items unless i pay for it to be seen
seedbankers
·10 months agoSame here! In the name of visibility boost!
akemp1
·10 months agoI'd never pay ebay to promote my items. Giving one seller who pays prominence over another who doesn't is as wrong as theme parks selling queue jumping passes. They are selling someone else's queue position it's just not right. It's not even their position in the search results to sell. Still with ebay these days as long as they are making money it doesn't matter if they do wrong and irritate people.
yerton_dreamhouse
·10 months agoThats correct, its called advertising.
If you dont have a competitive product, especially if you are a business trying to pretend you are a private seller, you have entered a race to the bottom.
akemp1
·10 months agoIs so much worse than advertising. Advertising is something a business does to give its product prominence without actively pushing competition aside. Ebay are taking money from both the advantaged and disadvanted seller and that doesn't happen with advertising.
Even if a product is very competitive it can be buried in ebay search results.
storage.boutique
·10 months agoThats a new definition of advertising on me.
It would be fantastic if just for once folks stopped trying to blame eBay for their own problems and say something poisitive .... anything positive.... what a world that would be.
hampstead_oldie
·11 months agoYes, I agree that the platform is almost dead, they killed the goose that laid the golden egg with their greed and lack of foresight.
storage.boutique
·11 months agoWhere do you get that from? The stock has almost doubled in price this year. Clearly something is going well.
storage.boutique
·11 months agoIs there any evidence for a "decline in sellers"?
I sell as a business across many platforms and I find that different types of buyers are loyal to different platforms. On Amazon, price is not the issue but more how fast you can get the goods to the customer - and people search on Amazon rather than browse. Vinted is a very singular market on clothing and I am sure that will have had an effect on some sections of eBay. But I find in general that it is business as usual on eBay. eBay is a platform where it is largely price competition - a race to the bottom - and there is a constant flow of sellers collapsing when they can no longer compete at the bottom end.
I have no evidence, but I would guess that many private sellers who have been trying to run businesses without registering as a business have now discovered that they need to convert or face the coming storm. Margins built on the lower eBay fees for a private seller are by definition not sustainable when you register as a business. So some will drop off the bottom, no doubt, but as they do so eBay cleans its act up and becomes a better place for businesses to sell. The process will take time but I think this is the correct strategy for everyone.
gjalp
·11 months agoVinted sells more than clothes now and is opening up other categories
yerton_dreamhouse
·11 months agoOkay, I dont sell on Vinted, but I still think it is known for old clothes. I think it has a better reputation than eBay because eBay never cleaned up its act with all the disreputable private sellers. Now eBay has a huge legacy issue to deal with and I am not at all sure it will succeed.
gjalp
·11 months agoI know that one of my buyers is selling the stamps they bought from me on vinted (I have a vinted account but never sold on there). I feel there may be a bit of jostling incoming between ebay and vinted
five-in_five-out
·11 months agoYeah, it's all over Google
five-in_five-out
·11 months agoIt's not just the decline in sellers, ebay buyers are going elsewhere to buy. Amazon and Vinted are loving the decline of ebay, which is a real shame. I always thought ebay had a big business backbone but now it's been paralysed from the neck down, who broke it? Themselves with greed.
overbow
·1 year agoYes i agree, ebay always sides with the buyer too regardless
virgo666uk
·1 year agoWell I guess we all thought that zero seller fees were a great bonus instead of having to wait for their infrequent 2.8% seller fees deal. However, now that ebay have introduced a buyers tax, things are starting to look grim again.
Bet the zero seller fees was because they knew that they were about to introduce a buyers tax.
Ah the greed of american companies huh. I'm just grateful that I don't use apple!
honeymonster007
·1 year agoIs ebay dead, it will be with the money people are asking for old tree saws, don't they realise they need cleaning, sharpening and setting again, plus the handles need repairing and staining.
Just because something is old doesn't mean its worth top dollar.
6kitkat
·1 year agoFrom the perspective of a part time private seller.
I used to sell my kid's Playmobil, and the odd train set, nothing special - perhaps £1000 a year of our own family 'tat'. I bought around £1500 a year worth of stuff from Ebay.
Ebay introduced Seller Protection, and the 48hr hold on payment in February. I thought 'that's my lot, I'm not going to bother selling anymore'. More importantly, on 4th Feb 2025 I immediately stopped visiting the site and stopped buying items . (Bought 3 items in 5 months).
Ebay culled private sellers, but didn't think that those sellers are also buyers. Ebay is dead - to me at least.
cluckington-palace
·1 year agoworked from 14, never had a thing from the state
buzzurq
·1 year agoIt seems so to me too.
Barely any views, most items none.
Barely any sales.
Unreal.
crn303
·1 year agoBeing a past CEO, I confirm the two greatest assets to my and any ones else's successful company was my staff and my loyal customer base.
Without BOTH you are certain to fail.
edwardian-dreams
·1 year agoDefinitely dead
no views no watchers no sales
even with promotions
dead as a dodo until they find it in their hearts to let you have a sale or two and you get all excited and think yeah it’s back to normal lol
thepillenwerfer
·1 year agoSome sort of tie-up with Amazon really would be "The end of e-Bay" as, presumably, the prices of goods on e-Bay would rise to those on Amazon.
varl131
·1 year agoEven more important -this would create a near world monopoly on online selling.
vinylscot
·1 year agoWe have done this to death. It has now been done to death for over six months on these forums in multiple threads. You are the ONLY poster who is sticking to your totally untenable pronouncements.
There have been posts from eBay employees, HMRC employees, acknowledged experts, and 100% dependable eBay members, many quoting precise statements from relevant authorities (including screenshots), none of whom have advocated your ridiculous over-abundance of caution (to put it mildly).
Could it be that you are right, and everyone else is wrong???
No.
storage.boutique
·1 year agoAgreed - it has been done to death. I have read all those posts and seen the screenshots and cant find anything I would disagree with. Its really strange, I clicked on your link and it says you are a Limited company. So not sure why you would be so tetchy about the whole thing. Its only a good natured debate.
Unless you also have a personal seller account selling the same thing, even though you are a Director of a Limited company. That would be naughty. But there is lots of opportunity out there for HMRC if they choose to look. The AI will sort it out for us I guess (or not).
vinylscot
·1 year agoOf course I can have a personal account and a business account. There is nothing "naughty" about it.
I could even be selling the same type of product on both accounts, and that still wouldn't be naughty. One account would be selling items from my own personal collection, and the other would be selling items which had been bought by the limited company, with the intention of re-selling. However, I would never have the same actual item for sale on both accounts - that's where it starts to get dodgy.
It's a very common situation, with which HMRC are perfectly familiar. I have full documentation for all items owned by the limited company, and all my accounts and taxes are in order. HMRC has been made aware of the private selling account through my annual tax return, and my accountant is happy with my systems of keeping the two completely separate.
Please stop trying to manufacture problems which don't exist. All these scenarios were dealt with in great depth when the possible issues came to light. No offence meant, but you are highly unlikely to come across something new, six months later.
You're not scaring me, but you might be worrying some less well-informed people unnecessarily.
vinylscot
·1 year agoYou are trying to dig your way out of your own little hole, but you are still clearly wrong on most points.
Firstly, you have no idea what @lucy_farmer or any other individual is selling. You don't know if that is their only account, or their principal account, and you have no way of knowing how and why any seller came into possession of the items they are selling.
Secondly, there is no tax liability for selling off your own personally owned items, even of these were acquired by means of bequests. (There are one or two exceptions, but in general, this is the case, especially for the vast majority of genuine private sellers.)
Thirdly, very few collectors will have receipts for every item in their collection. Keeping receipts, if anything, would more likely be a feature of a business seller. Some of my thousands of records were purchased by me well over fifty years ago; many others were gifts. Of course there will be no receipts for these. That is the nature of collections, and is generally accepted, although it is a question which may well be asked.
The case of purchasing a large box of records, keeping some, and then selling the rest, would be trading, and may require to be reported, depending on the sums involved. Selling a genuine collection, however, would not. (Again, if it were a discrete collection, it may be treated as one item for CGT purposes, but this is rare.)
The majority of your post is simply defensive nonsense. You've been caught out baselessly scare-mongering, and instead of bowing out gracefully, you have decided to double down. This does not reflect well on you.
storage.boutique
·1 year agoThanks but I stand by the detailed posts I have already put up.
In terms of @lucy_farmer you are correct, but I was discussing the seller account that she was posting from. I also have multiple accounts but only one Limited company.
In terms of personally owned items I think we have beaten that to death. If you are selling a single item, we agree, but we talked about someone selling 37 bottles of sun tan lotion. The sun tan lotion may be a personal item and HMRC may agree that they are not a business, but if I was that seller I wouldnt be taking that risk.
What I said over and over again is that it is simpler to do a self assessment than to suffer an inspection. I said that if HMRC were to look at some personal selling accounts then they might reasonably assume they are businesses. If they assume that and send you an assessment, I said it is much harder to come up with the information after that than it is to do a self assessment in the first place.
The question on this thread was is eBay dead. I say no, but now that NI numbers are going in to HMRC I personally think that a lot of assessments will be going out. I never mentioned CGT but I think if your eBay account looks like a business to the public, then HMRC are reasonably entitled to believe it is.
If you dont have a purchase receipt because you got something 50 years ago, means the cost was around zero anyway for tax purposes - but you can argue that with them.
Not scaremongering, a little thought about what is coming next is all I suggest. If you are confident in your activities on eBay there is really nothing to worry about. As I said before, up to you.
storage.boutique
·1 year agoSmall numbers of sales, a low volume, a small income, thats a private seller.
Inherited items, thats much different. What you seem to be saying is that you have inherited a load of items that may be worth some money. Enough to be selling it on eBay and paying their fees. The schedule received from your lawyer of possessions and the value you declared to HMRC for the purposes of inheritance tax (a legal requirement) will indicate what level of tax, if any, you paid on the transfer of those goods.
If you then decide to sell them at a business rate then you must declare the income. But you can put the schedule cost as your cost of sales so that you dont double pay tax. If HMRC came chapping, you could produce the schedule as evidence.
Obviously if you then sell more than the schedule value, then you have an income to declare as you have made more money than you declared to HMRC.
Of course HMRC are not likely to be interested in someone that has a feedback of 48 items in 12 months with a total of 759. But the seller who has a positive feedback of 58885 and 2554 this year is very obviously a business for tax purposes and I would say is ripe for an early inspection. If they have declared a large value for inheritance tax then they will be fine. The cost of the storage unit can obviously be deducted from business income as can all eBay and postage costs. It may be in the end that no tax is due, but I would say with those kind of numbers the HMRC are going to be looking at the last 7 years in due course.
lucy_farmer
·1 year agoThere's a bit of a big difference between - 'Over 30 items a year is a business seller' and a private seller flogging off about 300 items in a year from a huge mixed list of *used* items....
I'm talking about (amongst 1001 other items)--
A collection of used optical instruments. (late cousin was an optician)
Loads of 45 year old analogue electronic bits (late cousin was into audio as a hobby)
A load of old books about battleships and memorabilia of such ( F.i.L was in the navy) and the contents of his over filled toolshed and garage.
A collection of used (NOT-designer) shoes (M.i.L was the Imelda Marcos of the W. Mids)
Late S.i.L.'s collection of ex-library reference books (S.i.L was a librarian)
And 3 houses' worth of assorted kitchen, living room and household stuff , all used, some definitely in good nick and useable to somebody else....
As far as 'inherintance tax' and 'lawyer of possessions' goes.....?
S.i.L and cousin didn't even possess enough to go to probate.
HMRC will not want to know.
storage.boutique
·1 year agoI think you are correct. There is a huge difference. If your relatives didn't own anything worth declaring to the lawyers, or the HMRC and no probate schedule, then you have no evidence of inheriting this stuff. Your cost of sales is zero - same as if you found something in a charity shop and they gave it to you for free and then you decided to sell it. You have then taken this stuff and decided to sell it. That is a business.
If the value is low - a few hundred items a year, then there may be no tax payable of course. But if say you were `also claiming benefits, or had a job, then tax may well be due. Not to mention NI. This would be what they are calling side hustles right now, and they are cracking down on.
Under normal circumstance, I would agree with you, HMRC will not want to know. However, looking into the not too distant future, I dont think it will take the AI long to run through the entire eBay website cross checking details and sending out intitial assessments. At that point, it is up to you to prove them wrong on paper.
To stay on topic, I dont think eBay is dead, but I do think there is a big clean up underway and I personally think there will be a lot of money raised this way for our common tax pot. People who previously had justified their own actions in their own heads, may well wake up to find an alternative reality. I would simply say get your self assessment in, then you will have no problem.
jonatjonatjonat
·1 year agoCan you at least clarify that the figures you quoted of £1,740 and or 30 sales are not, in anyway related to identifying private sellers vs business selles because that is spreading false information.
lucy_farmer
·1 year ago'You have then taken this stuff and decided to sell it. That is a business.'
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'Taken'?
Nope, we've been given stuff (2nd hand, used stuff) by people who are dead . If those dead people didn't want us to have it they'd have left instructions to do something else with it. These are now *our* items. (whether we wanted them or not...!)
This is not 'business'.
HMRC are very clear that *personal possessions* are untaxable when sold - unless you hit the £6000.00 inheritance tax threshhold. And none of this stuff (in our case) is a single item- or a collection- worth anywhere near 1% of that!
'This would be what they are calling side hustles right now, and they are cracking down on.'
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Now ,I thought that 'side hustles' (a horrid phrase 🤢 for doing part-time self-employment) were business activites?
Which are frequently described as 'buying, making or growing things for sale' or 'providing services for payment'.
Inheriting a load of old tosh is none of the above.
I'm with @vinylscot on this one ; I think you're purposefully using lots of cod-legalese to worry genuine private sellers that they're about to get stamped on by HMRC.
When they're not going to be.
Though I do agree with you that AI will (eventually) get good enough to pick out and clamp-down on psuedo-private sellers who sell loads and loads of *new* things, loads of *similar* things and loads of consumables (which are logically impossible to be 2nd hand) That ain't a problem to me and many others on here... but winding up genuine and worried private sellers is cruel.
akemp1
·1 year agoConsumables don't need to be in 2nd hand condition to qualify as a genuine private sale.
For example my dad's printer broke so he bought a newer model and I sold his incompatible unused ink cartridge in new condition. These things happen but doesn't make it a business.
Similarly it's possible to make a business out of trading used items.
lucy_farmer
·1 year ago'For example my dad's printer broke so he bought a newer model and I sold his incompatible unused ink cartridge in new condition. These things happen but doesn't make it a business.'
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Oh yes, certainly. A handful of un-used bits and pieces is fine (various unwanted Christmas presents spring to mind!)
But ... e.g. 43 x new tubes of suntan lotion or lipstick? Or 37 x packets of pet flea-treatment? (you get the general idea...😀)
That's the sort of thing that (in the future) a useful A.I. system may be able to spot. (I've always been slightly puzzled why ebay can't spot them already.....Seeing as how good they are at spotting private sellers and potential buyers exchanging contacts!)
storage.boutique
·1 year agoExactly, that is a private seller. Less than 30 items a year or £1740 income and nobody is bothered at all.
It is really not up to eBay to decide the tax status of an individual. That is for the Revenue. But of course, if there have been huge loopholes such as this for many years, then it is their brand and platform that will suffer.
As I said, I dont think eBay is dead, but there will be some big changes.
Maybe HMRC will fine eBay, I dont know.
If someone has a big feedback, it says they sold a lot of items over the last year, they look like a business, the Revenue computer can quickly cast through their current listings and average the value of a sale. They can see how many unit sales the person has made on the feedback listing and from that public data and the NI number, send an initial estimated assessment of tax due. Of course, a cross check on the NI nuber will look to see if self assessments have been completed, that benefits have not been paid, and that additional NI pension contributions have been paid on any profits. It is then up to the seller to prove them wrong.
storage.boutique
·1 year agoI think you may have misunderstood me. I am simply saying that a great many peole are not as secure as they thought.
Your NI number goes to HMRC and they rake the data on eBay and make an assessment of what they think is going on. Personally I think that is something that should have been done years ago, but they can go back 7 years. If they cant find your self assessment, and they decide your feedback / trading history looks like a business, I think it would be very natural to send out an initial assessment based on that data. No rocket science there. Then it comes down to you providing the evidence that they are wrong. That is the absolutely normal process. My own father in law lost his business as he was (correctly) assessed for a vast sum of back tax as he had been paying casual labourers cash.
The topic of this thread, is eBay is dead. I am simply pointing out what I think will be a very natural and easy evolution.
If people have been filing self assessments, or like you they are very secure in their paper trail. and they think that their eBay activities doi not look like a business, then they will be absolutely fine. But I personally think eBay is going to get a major shake up in the coming months and years. I dont think it is dead, but I think the UK site will need to go through some very dark nights of the soul.
I feel very sure that we will all agree that the Private Seller will bear the brunt on those dark nights and eBay, in order to keep its sizeable presence, will need to evolve towards offering something more for small and medium sized enterprises.
Personally, I think it should be heading over to Amazon HQ and asking how eBay can integrate into the fulfilment network better so that business sellers can fulfil eBay orders at the same cost as Amazon orders from their Amazon stock. At the same time I think they really need to sharpen their pencil in terms of the eBay labels experience in connection to the Royal Mail - for example, a simple tweek to allow sellers to put weights and dimensions against variations would mean they would get a lot of sellers back to posting through eBay.
I dont think eBay is dead, nor do I think the genuine private seller is, but if it looks like a business I suspect it is and I think HMRC might be reasonably expected to take the same initial stance. So I am simply advising people they may not be as secure as they think and now would be a good time to ensure that everything is declared and above board. The self assessment is not a difficult thing and a great many people wouldnt be paying tax anyway, but the idea of saying I inherited this stuff that I am now selling in vast tranches or honest this is my private collection when it very clearly is a business online, will not cut it I dont think.
Sorry if I scared you, but I do think it is time a lot of people had a reality check. My humble opinion is that as a country we are on our uppers and I am sure you know many people that don't seem to be paying the appropriate amount of tax. The net is closing in on them and people are only just beginning to squirm.
lucy_farmer
·1 year ago'.....or like you they are very secure in their paper trail.'
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There is no 'paper trail'. ( not being a business seller, the only 'paper' bits I'm familiar with are reciepts)
Lots of advice has been given over the last year, to 'keep all your receipts' when sellling on ebay, in case the HMRC want to have a look at you.
There's no receipts/paper trail for inherited tosh. Some of it is 70 years old.
There's no reciepts for my/hubby's personal stuff either. I don't suppose I'm unusual in throwing reciepts etc. away once the item is seen to fit, seen to work, has run out of warranty, or has been used for whatever purpose.
We'd all be up to our knees in scraps of paper otherwise.....
And anyway, what would a receipt prove? Keeping receipts only proves that you bought something. Not what you intended to do with it.....
storage.boutique
·1 year agoLooking at your feedback transactions, you dont really have much to worry about.
A paper trail for someone that is selling a large volume of items and then trying to say it is inherited will have a probate statement as to what it was valued at for tax purposes. If there is no probate it is deemed to have been valueless. If it is valueless there is no tax deduction available. So no paper trail and everything is taxable less costs.
If you are a collector, you will have purchased the item and that is where there is a receipt. This is in the instance of where someone sells a lot and it clearly looks like a business online. If you buy a big box of vinyls for example, as a job lot, and then sell off the ones you dont want you must allocate the cost of the purchase against the sales and declare. The Revebue may disagree with how you have allocated that cost but that is a after process after the initial assessment and all the paperwork available is produced.
Ignorance is no defence and either is not having paperwork.
Best to always do it properly, declare everything over the limits and there will be no problem. As I say, on your numbers of sales, I dont think you will have an issue.
jonatjonatjonat
·1 year agoPersonally, I think it should be heading over to Amazon HQ and asking how eBay can integrate into the fulfilment network better so that business sellers can fulfil eBay orders at the same cost as Amazon orders from their Amazon stock
The only way this would happen is if eBay gave Amazon a rocket ship load of cash.
I’ve said this on a couple of threads now. why would Amazon match fees for a MFN order with an FBA order? The whole point of them being higher is to make selling via Amazon the most appealing method!
gjalp
·1 year agoI could describe the inherited items as stuff or ‘tat’ 😂 only my paternal grandmother’s estate went through probate and my half brother and step mother got the house and half a million each. My grandmother hated me so I got the rubbish 🤣 which includes watches that don’t work! The only thing I really wanted was some of the photos of myself and my sister when we were young as my step mother threw my dad’s ones out!
vinylscot
·1 year agoI share your concern about bogus private sellers, but many of your assumption are plain wrong.
Many thousands of genuine private sellers will be selling off large private collections, often individually. I have a huge private record collection, totally separate from my business. It numbers in the thousands. Likewise, I have over a thousand old magazines, football programmes and books, and thousands of CDs, none of which were ever bought with the intention of re-selling them. By your flawed reasoning, I would automatically become a business seller if I decided to sell them, by using my allowance on an eBay private account. That is utter balderdash.
Private sellers can legitimately be running unlimited listings, and selling an unlimited number of items per year, without being businesses, provided, of course, they can show that they were private possessions. (I do agree that a large number of transactions hints at a business, but doesn't necessarily prove it.)
Your diatribe about inherited items is also utter bilge, fabricated to try to reinforce your absolutely tenuous point.
Genuine private sellers, even at large volumes, are NOT the problem here. No sensible business seller has any objection to them. Your anger/disgust, should be directed at the businesses masquerading as private sellers, and at eBay for allowing (and pretty much encouraging) such behaviour.
storage.boutique
·1 year agoThis is a classic case of missing the point and shooting the messanger.
I am not angry at all. I am simply pointing out some of the issues that will be cleaned up in due course by the AI. An (electronic) trail of paper and self assessments submitted clears everything up.
Selling off a private collection is a business activity and whoever suggested it is not has given you some duff advice. You buy the items and sell the items exactly the same as any other business and if a profit is made it will be in your self assessment tax return and everything is fine. A few items a year, or £1740 in income, which is easily found on eBay and nobody will assess you. Similarly, if you have a service business and only make £1k in profit, you dont need to declare that.
The topic is headed eBay is dead. I dont think it is dead. I just think there is going to be a lot of rationalisation very soon. I see the new rules on postage through an OBA and on eBay and other platforms and I think the old way of thinking is based on some wrong assumptions. Yes, I may be wrong, but I would think long and hard about where I acquired any private collections or inherited assets and what is the potential tax burden.
gjalp
·1 year agoYou are making assumptions. If you actually looked at my listings you would see I am a business, I have been a business for over 20 years and submit tax returns every year, right from the get go. I sell MY items on a private ID, not this ID.
honeymonster007
·1 year agoNo don't think its dead, its changed a bit but nothing on the net stays the same and the collectors are still out there. The people that sell generic items may struggle a little as their up against the likes of Amazon now and every shop seems to have a good online presence now.
Just did a basic search for books and it came up with 40 million listings in the UK and some of those are going to be bundles. Dresses come up with nearly 2 million ect
thepillenwerfer
·1 year agoI find stuff still sells but more often than not on the maiden bid of if there are more they aren't for much more; I can't recall the last time something took off and surprised me.
As for the BPF I don't think it makes much difference. In the past if I wanted £5 for something I'd start it at £7 or £8, depending on how much e-Bay's cut of the postage charge would be. Now I'll start it at £5 so, with the fee, the Buyer will pay around £6 thereby saving a pound or two on what they'd have had to pay in the past.
I do agree that the fee disproportionately effects low-value items but so did the fixed 30p part of the old FVF, though obviously not to the same degree.
As for bogus 'Private' Sellers e-Bay seem to actively encourage them. It's hard to see how somebody selling personal goods and chattels would require hundreds of free listings every month, especially for very similar items, or how somebody with a job could find time to draft that many listings and (hopefully) pack and post so many parcels. e-Bay should also stop Private Sellers listing things as New and replace it with something like Good As New, Like New or Un-Used.