topic Time for a Level Playing Field... in Business Seller Board

Time for a Level Playing Field...

collectablecats — Mon, 25 May 2026 09:15:25 GMT

Let's call a spade a spade. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of 'private' sellers on ebay who are trading. And the number of their listings is ballooning as they get rolled over for free every month.

I often check other listings before deciding whether to list a card I have, and its not unusual to discover 'private' sellers with many thousands, even tens of thousands of sales, and hundreds or thousands of free listings that roll over for free every month, meaning their 'shops' get bigger and bigger, slowly making business listings harder to find. Just yesterday I discovered a 'private' seller in my category with 26,000 sales and 2000+ listings - all sitting there free of change and paying no commission when they sell.

There is no way to address this effectively without LEVELLING THE PLAYING FIELD and giving all sellers the same deal when listing and paying commission. This is what happens in the USA an in Australia, where you also get a huge number of 'free' listings when you pay for a shop compared to here in the UK.

Sure, give private sellers 20 or 30 free listings a month - who, listing things they want to get rid of, would honestly need more - but include the monthly roll-overs in that total so they have to decide whether to keep those items running, just like businesses do. And charge them commission on sales.

Ebsy likes to call itslef a 'community' - but when the community leaders make businesses pay through the nose to allow their competitors to have everything free, it doesn't feel like a community for many legitimate businesses on here. Especially when they are then invited to pay even more to 'promote' items, so they have a better chance of being seen among the vast sea of 'private' listings they have been subsidising.

One hopes eBay will one day place 'community' values at the heart of their 'community' and treat businesses fairly by reintroducing a level playing field.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

billtev — Mon, 25 May 2026 09:24:04 GMT

Fully agree with you I have not even made my fees due next Tuesday for this month - 2 sales since last payment was downloaded on 5th May absolutely diabolical to say the least

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

ett1954 — Mon, 25 May 2026 09:48:48 GMT

After 20 years selling on eBay, with the last 4 years showing a year-on-year decline, sales are now at a record low and fee take at a record high. Featured shop allowances are just about maxed out. Fortunately other avenues are showing promise to the point where I am seriously considering downgrading to a basic shop and putting eBay on the back-burner.

The time and effort required is not sustainable for a business; especially when constantly trying to find workarounds for the almost daily glitches on the platform. I don't mind paying fees if the sales are there but not to subsidise private and 'private' business sellers rather than employ competent tech employees.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

technthread — Mon, 25 May 2026 10:14:54 GMT

eBay Australia have revised their shop tiers recently.

https://pages.ebay.com.au/about-pro-subscription/

We get a raw deal here when you look at their listing limits across the different tiers. 250,000 there on a basic and 250 here pfft.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

ett1954 — Mon, 25 May 2026 10:42:58 GMT

"250,000 there on a basic" - also at half the shop prices when compared to the UK. It appears that UK business sellers are being taken for mugs.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

collectablecats — Mon, 25 May 2026 11:38:35 GMT

Certainly taken for granted!

it would be a salutary lesson to them if every business on eBay could afford to close it shop for a month and resolved to buy nothing from a private seller.

And, while it’s true that there will be businesses who are less affected by private sellers than others, it would show great ‘community’ spirit if they joined in to support the businesses that are being badly affected.

Just one month in which eBay had to rely on their income from the buyers protection fee and any money they make on postage would make it very clear where their true loyalty ought to lie.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

therenewalworkshopltd — Mon, 25 May 2026 11:37:18 GMT

Would be nice to get the 250k free listings on the pro plans. But I'm not entirely sure how that is working.
I think, though it doesn't seem to actually specify that the higher limits are tiered, depending on your actual sales.
However, the flip side of that, is that anyone can sell with up to about £13k per year with entirely free fees.
That will be an awful lot of micro business sellers.
But how do they get around the actual laws in this regard?

Ebay UK do need to do something about this. Maybe something similar, but there are issues with Consumer law that still need to be worked in. So it would still need both business and private accounts, but along with that, they still need to push those sellers using private, into business accounts.
Frankly, if they actually addressed the various accounts trading illegally, it would go a long way to solving this issue.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

the_brick_lodge — Mon, 25 May 2026 13:43:24 GMT

eBay has a problem, they've gone out of their way to match the place that dare not speak it's name on here, eBay has offered low FVF fees, low fixed fee, no fees on postage, free listings, managed shipping and they do all of this very well with a fantastic interface for listing and processing orders (with the exception of some really annoying aspects that are pretty minor but do waste time).

If they do that for businesses too where are they making their money? Can't argue the playing field isn't level, can't argue they should be figuring some of this out and taking action (they have never enforced their rules for anything unless the Daily Mail has a sad face story over something pretty bad, which results in a bit of enforcement for a while) but 1 seller with 2000 listings moved over doesn't matter if there are another 10 with 200 listings but their volume isn't enough to pick up on.

Part of the problem, as noted in the opening post, is the listings stack up, no risk to leave stuff there for months on end even if it isn't selling. I thought private sellers couldn't access MVL but still see them, having the item quantity as a maximum of 1 with the out of stock option removed would probably put a big dent in it as well.

Beyond that as much as I would very much welcome paying the same fees I don't see eBay doing it and they aren't going to reverse the current fees without upsetting a lot of people, it does feel that they've really painted themselves into a corner.

The other place is a total nightmare for listing and posting, I don't see how you can efficiently process volume there, 1 or 2 parcels fine, 50 on a Monday morning after a busy weekend (although those are few and far between these days) messing about with QR codes or sellotaping labels, no thanks.

It's a shame people aren't willing to pay more to sell on the better platform (eBay) but I guess most selling odds and ends are happy going off to the post office or locker during their lunch with a smartphone in hand and eBay needs to match the fees to keep some of those sellers.

I don't know if it's just my browsing history but I don't see any ads for eBay or the other place about buying, they are all adverts to sellers, presumably both are hoping the money from such sales is kept as a balance and spent again on the platform, going round and round with a small cut taken each time.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

collectablecats — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:04:14 GMT

Yes, I agree. They have painted themselves into a corner.

I think they made a mistake in their response to ‘the other place’. Ebay could have simply copied them entirely and made it free to list for everyone, businesses included, and introduced the buyers protection fee - for that category only

That way, they would have maintained a level playing field on the site across the categories and had a good chance of keeping a lot of the sellers they were fearful of losing.

In most categories, I don’t think eBay really had anything to fear from other platforms who were offering free listings (look at the failure of e Bid, for example) and could have maintained a separate level playing field in all those categories. Both businesses and private sellers know that eBay is where you list if you want to sell.

As it is, they now have introduced a two-tier system that is forcing businesses to subsidise their competitors in a system that is obviously very easy to abuse.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

therenewalworkshopltd — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:54:17 GMT

(look at the failure of e Bid, for example)

Not that I sell on there, though I have a lifetime account, it is not failing.

It just isn't doing anywhere near the likes of Ebay etc.

The fact of the matter is, that over the last few years there has been a lot of competition. No need to name all of the various sites, but this in turn has hit Ebay quite hard.

However, the site itself and the way it does things needs bringing into the current century.

Free listings is fine for private sellers. After all, at the end of the day, they will be buyers as well.
There is however no need for the ridiculous roll over listings that they are allowed. Currently those 300 listings each month can roll over (I believe, but not certain), to 3600 per year. Which is an insane quantity for a private seller, who is selling off their own personal posessions. Why ebay think that is ok for a private seller to have that many listings for free, when a business seller at minimum, will be paying £70 + for a shop every month, I will never understand.
I actually quite like the way that the australians have gone, though I think that the limits need to be a little lower. As there can't be that many private sellers who will sell over a £1000 per month.

But assuming things are put in place, so that consumers are protected far better than they are currently, I think it could work very well.
They also need to change the sheer clunkiness of listing. On V, it takes about a minute maximum to list something. Even knowing exactly how to do things, it can take considerably longer for the same listing on Ebay.
Upgrading support so that it actually means something when you talk to them. And that you TRUST what they tell you. How on earth Ebay can call it support, when you have agents telling people to use a private account, instead of a business? And that is far from the worst nonsense that I have heard.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

british-ceramics-and-paintings — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:58:16 GMT

The issues highlighted have been ongoing for a long time now and in the categories we sell in they are only getting worse.

What can we do about it ? Very little in terms of this platform however we can go elsewhere.

Seems a strange approach from Ebay, alienate many long term business sellers who have often paid thousands and thousands of pounds a year in fees, not sure it will work out well in the medium term but the short term is all that matters, it seems.

Nobody should mind fair competition in business however this platform has become totally unfair for legitimate business sellers.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

jlovie — Mon, 25 May 2026 16:33:17 GMT

On top of private sellers getting near unlimited free listings (I'm seeing many with 10,000+) I can't even compete on price, as when results are sorted by lowest inc. postage they don't include the BPF.

This means I could have the cheapest listing for a CD but be halfway down the page, or even on page 2 by the time eBay has still stuck some sort of super prompted listings at the top of the page which are nowhere near cheapest.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

therenewalworkshopltd — Mon, 25 May 2026 16:38:01 GMT

Again, private sellers do NOT get unlimited free listings. It is capped at 3600.
So if you are seeing them with that many, then they are paying for them.
And frankly, if they have 10k listings, then they can only really be doing that it with a shop and must have accounts for a considerable time, to actually be able to list that many.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

collectablecats — Mon, 25 May 2026 18:24:42 GMT

As you say, nothing we can do to change the way eBay decide to run the site. It’s their prerogative.

For some of us, it’s either leave, downgrade the shop, or find a way of making it work best in the circumstances.

The way I do it now is to create listings for items most likely to sell, and schedule them to start a long time in the future, and keep rescheduling them until I have 100 auctions and about 200 fixed price listings ready. Then I open a Basic shop at the start of a month and start all listings. After the auctions have finished, I relist the unsold ones at fixed price for the rest of the month. Then close the shop just before the end of the month. Last time I did this though, I still got charged for the following month. They did refund me when I contacted them, but I’m still not sure when you have close the Shop to stop getting charged for the next month automatically.

If eBay offered me a lot more listings for a Basic Shop, I’d keep it open and add to it regularly, making more money for them and generating more income for me, which would go some way towards offsetting the frustration of seeing so many private sellers with more listings live each month than I can afford, and paying no commission when they sell.

It would certainly make me feel eBay valued my business more and the money they get from me in fees.

In the meantime, notwithstanding how many times this issue has already been raised on this forum, it still feels good to point out to ebay how unhappy some of us are at being taken for granted and having our business undermined because of decisions they have taken.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

british-ceramics-and-paintings — Mon, 25 May 2026 18:54:07 GMT

I agree with much of what you say however I have been muttering about this since 2024 and things only seem to get worse, I've finally realised it isn't worth the hassle, to be fair I knew this a long time ago however I carried on hoping things would improve, they haven't.

I've got about 130 unsold listings that I will relist over the next month or so as I don't want to lose them, in total that will give me circa 500 listings however I won't be listing a lot of fresh stock on here from now on, I will list that on my own site and other platforms. I've been on here full time for around 20 years however this site no longer works for me, from being a great place to sell art it has turned into a very poor option, the visibility is absolutely abysmal now.

I find it very sad really as it's been nearly half my life and I still think this place has massive potential however it just isn't working.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

nutrafituk — Mon, 25 May 2026 19:08:56 GMT

I think it’s important to be clear that this isn’t just about eBay’s internal policies being ignored — many of these “private” sellers are also breaching UK law, and still nothing is being done even when they’re reported.

If someone is trading regularly, buying stock to resell, holding large quantities, or operating at scale with thousands of listings, they are legally a business, regardless of what they choose to call themselves on eBay. That means they must comply with:

Consumer Contracts Regulations (right to return, cancellation rights, full pre‑contract information)
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (misleading omissions, pretending to be a private seller)
Companies Act / Business Names rules (if they use a company name)
Food safety and labelling laws if they sell consumables
HMRC requirements for declaring trading income

None of these obligations disappear just because someone ticks “private seller” on eBay.

Yet even when sellers are clearly trading — thousands of sales, constant restocking, multi‑quantity listings, branded packaging, even using LTD names — eBay still leaves them untouched. Reports go nowhere, listings stay up, and the same sellers continue operating with zero compliance and zero fees, while legitimate businesses are paying shop subscriptions, FVFs, promoted listings and carrying all the legal responsibilities.

It’s the combination of policy breaches + regulatory breaches + total lack of enforcement that makes the situation so frustrating. eBay knows exactly what’s happening, but chooses not to act, and the result is an increasingly uneven playing field where compliant businesses are subsidising non‑compliant traders.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

4_bathrooms — Tue, 26 May 2026 00:31:12 GMT

@nutrafituk wrote:

If someone is trading regularly, buying stock to resell, holding large quantities, or operating at scale with thousands of listings, they are legally a business, regardless of what they choose to call themselves on eBay. That means they must comply with:
Consumer Contracts Regulations (right to return, cancellation rights, full pre‑contract information)
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (misleading omissions, pretending to be a private seller)
Companies Act / Business Names rules (if they use a company name)
Food safety and labelling laws if they sell consumables
HMRC requirements for declaring trading income
None of these obligations disappear just because someone ticks “private seller” on eBay.

Just to clear up the legal implications:

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations were revoked and replaced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. Just like the CPUTRs the DMCCA makes it a specific criminal offence for a trader to misrepresent themself as a consumer. If a trader uses a private eBay account to buy or sell items (an unfair commercial practice) they are committing a criminal offence; no ifs, no buts.

Such a trader would also be committing offences under the Consumer Contracts Regulations and the Consumer Rights Act when it comes to identifying themself as a trader and accepting remorse returns but offences committed under the CCRs and the CRA can be treated as criminal or civil offences. If such a trader was prosecuted they would almost certainly be prosecuted for the most serious offence committed which would be the criminal offence of masquerading as a consumer as per the DMCCA (the other offences would likely be "taken into consideration").

When it comes to food I have absolutely no idea why eBay allows private sellers to sell food items at all. The GOV.UK website makes it clear that anyone who sells food needs to register with their local authority as a food business, again with no ifs or buts.

When it comes to HMRC's requirements there's little to worry about - HMRC have some big teeth and do actively pursue those who should have been declaring their eBay income but failed to do so. However, HMRC's remit is limited to taxation and whether a given entity should have been declaring and/or paying tax on their eBay sales - HMRC do not police consumer law.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

bazinga-games — Tue, 26 May 2026 07:07:22 GMT

The phrase 'Rip-off Britain' comes to mind....

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

jlovie — Tue, 26 May 2026 15:46:53 GMT

Is this 3600 cap documented anywhere?

The whole idea of a private seller having a shop seems wrong.

It's even worse when a private shop's listing renewals don't count towards the monthly allocation, but a business shop's do.

Re: Time for a Level Playing Field...

therenewalworkshopltd — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:14:09 GMT

It is documented somewhere, but where exactly, I can't remember now.

But it was one of things when last changed that was memorable, because it reduced amount of listings private sellers could have for free.