Buyer Protection is coming soon

[nutrafituk]

Just announced - finally some sort of good news for business accounts basically saying ONLY PRIVATE SELLERS will have this fee added (£0.75 fixed + various %). Hopefully that will make a difference for genuine business sellers and make those dodgy ones re-think their position:

We’re excited to announce that from 4 Feb, buyers will benefit from a brand new protection every time they shop on eBay. What’s even better is that this comes at no extra cost to you or your buyers. To give your buyers more confidence and security when shopping, Buyer Protection will be included on every purchase on ebay.co.uk. We’ve kept things simple for you, so there’s nothing you need to do to access this protection. These are all part of our efforts to make eBay the best marketplace for our community. Here’s how the recent changes will benefit you.

Why Buyer Protection is good for your business As a business seller, Buyer Protection is included for free for you and your buyers. They’ll get the protection, without the cost. With Buyer Protection, all buyers and sellers will now get 24/7 customer support where you can connect with a real person by phone whenever you need, or start a chat to get quick answers. We’ve also still got you covered with secure transactions, thanks to payments that are encrypted end-to-end and handled by our trusted payment partners.

We’re always looking for more ways to help drive sales to your business, so from 20 Jan, Coupons, Multi-buy and other discount tools will only be available to business sellers. You can look forward to more exclusive benefits in the future. Learn more about Buyer Protection What’s changing for private sellers

• We recently made changes to our fee structure so it’s free for private sellers to sell on eBay (excl. Vehicles). As part of this, from 4 Feb, a Buyer Protection fee will be added to listings from UK-based private sellers so we can make investments into these protections. This fee will be included in the item price and be paid for by the buyer. As a reminder, this is free of charge for business sellers.

• To give buyers more protection and encourage timely shipment, private sellers will be paid once the item is delivered. There’s no change for business sellers and you’ll still receive your payouts as quickly as you do today.

• We know it’s important to have a fair and equitable marketplace for all business sellers. That’s why we’re monitoring trading activities on eBay to help business sellers using a private account transition over to a business account, or restricting selling activity as necessary.

[exponential_developments]

As i haven't been following this as i'm rather bored with all the changes, in a nutshell, this is a buyer fee hidden from the buyer as they will only see the final total, ebay think this won't effect prices on the site as "Private sellers" will absorb ebay's new fee's.

Just a Y or N would do, cheers....

[dion5feb2016]

Absolutely yes

[exponential_developments]

Thank you, regards Shane.

[papso22]

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@exponential_developments wrote:

As i haven't been following this as i'm rather bored with all the changes, in a nutshell, this is a buyer fee hidden from the buyer as they will only see the final total, ebay think this won't effect prices on the site as "Private sellers" will absorb ebay's new fee's.

Just a Y or N would do, cheers....

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NO, because the buyer will see the fee at checkout, it cannot be hidden as it is a fee charged to them by ebay (however some members would like to describe it).

As a properly registered business seller the changes won't affect you.

[exponential_developments]

But it's still a buyer fee.......good way to destroy your own site.

[papso22]

Yes it is a buyer fee, what impact it will have on ebay's bottom line is yet to be seen and probably won't be made available to us mere mortals as a separate report.

[exponential_developments]

There already is buyer protection, on ebay and in UK law, so what's the benefit of this if any or is it nonsense?

[discre]

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@sml192 wrote:

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There is no annual £1,000 tax allowance for private sellers. 

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Yes, there is!

ALL UK taxpayers can earn up to £1000 from trading or property income over and above their normal income without either having to declare it or pay tax on it. If you have income from both then it's £2000!

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income

[dion5feb2016]

Total nonsense. Stopped fees for private sellers, lightbulb moment, oh no, losing that money, have to recoup somehow! Yet another 'amendment', I have had enough of them!

[exponential_developments]

I agree, the management have made a complete mess of the site and can't see it.

[crazyknitter22]

But it's a kick in the teeth for genuine private sellers who just sell their collections (running out of space), unwanted stuff, second hand clothing and other second hand stuff. Not only do they slap those 75p onto low value items but we also are now forced to send everything recorded, which is another 85p on top for Large Letters because we're not getting paid right away if it's not recorded as delivered. Atm I have 16 orders (2nd class) not showing as delivered just for December, but I know they were. I have feedback.

And their new postal service again doesn't come with pick up, which is another kick in the teeth for disabled eBayers.  

So instead of £3.10 for second hand vintage patterns they will have to pay now £4.70. But I am not making more money, actually I am making less because now I pay for packaging out of my own pocket, just to soften the blow. Because if I didn't the price for one vintage pattern would shoot up to £5. 

Do you still think it's fair?

I have already got in touch with eBay to rethink their actions because they punish genuine private sellers, who often are disabled and just want to make a bit of extra money from stuff they don't need anymore or sell collections they have had for years, to maybe pay for heating or food.

Making the 75p optional for low value items would be a start.

[papso22]

"second hand clothing and other second hand stuff".

Just in case anyone gets confused, unless these are the members old unwanted personal possessions, they are not 'private sales' just because they are second hand items.  Second hand items are sold by lots of businesses.  Second hand is no different to 'unwanted' when looking at private vs business sales.

[jow1995]

Best be is upgrade to a business account, 6.8k of sales and 1.7k listings then the new rules with not apply

[wezmoto]

It is a good thing I think, however, wouldn't it just be easier for ebay to take action against the blatant business sellers taking advantage of them. I know of sellers who have been reported to ebay who are still trading as private sellers despite having a company website with trade accounts available.

[sml192]

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@discre wrote:

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@sml192 wrote:

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There is no annual £1,000 tax allowance for private sellers. 

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Yes, there is!

ALL UK taxpayers can earn up to £1000 from trading or property income over and above their normal income without either having to declare it or pay tax on it. If you have income from both then it's £2000!

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income

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It's a trading allowance for small businesses not for private sellers selling unwanted personal possessions.  There is no upper limit for genuine private sellers, although any single item/collection sold for £6,000 or more may be subject to Capital Gains Tax.

The allowance for property income is separate to the trading allowance.  You can't combine them. 

[insidethe93]

Or management refuses to see it. Look at the fantastical EDDs and the messy new messaging system - they plough on regardless and ignore feedback.

I for one sense eBay execs are more concerned with saving face. They won't admit they got it wrong and rather than backtrack prefer to impose a new scheme.

[bravergrace]

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@crazyknitter22 wrote:

But it's a kick in the teeth for genuine private sellers who just sell their collections (running out of space), unwanted stuff, second hand clothing and other second hand stuff. Not only do they slap those 75p onto low value items but we also are now forced to send everything recorded, which is another 85p on top for Large Letters because we're not getting paid right away if it's not recorded as delivered. Atm I have 16 orders (2nd class) not showing as delivered just for December, but I know they were. I have feedback.

And their new postal service again doesn't come with pick up, which is another kick in the teeth for disabled eBayers.  

...

Do you still think it's fair?

I have already got in touch with eBay to rethink their actions because they punish genuine private sellers, who often are disabled and just want to make a bit of extra money from stuff they don't need anymore or sell collections they have had for years, to maybe pay for heating or food.

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The trouble is, a lot of people who think of themselves as "genuine private sellers", are actually what eBay - and the Tax Office - and Trading Standards - think of as "business sellers".

For instance, people who make a bit of extra money by:

- making birthday cards to sell

- growing plants to sell

- making cakes to sell

- buying a few things from their local wholesaler/boot sale/charity shop to sell

- painting pictures to sell

- knitting baby clothes to sell

- buying Lego bricks to sell

Most people who do this sort of small-scale business, think of themselves as "hobby sellers", who are just making a few extra pounds to supplement their benefits/salary/pension/carer's allowance.

And they mayn't be making enough for the tax man to be interested (which I think is selling £1000 a year or more) or for the Benefits Agency to be interested (I don't know what their cut-off point is).  They may not even be making a profit at all!

But they are still technically business sellers.  And if they get away with not paying fees, and not accepting returns, and not declaring their income to the tax man or the Benefits Agency - well, you can see it's a bit unfair on the sellers who do things properly, can't you?

[the-layer-laboratory]

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@insidethe93 wrote:

Or management refuses to see it. Look at the fantastical EDDs and the messy new messaging system - they plough on regardless and ignore feedback.

I for one sense eBay execs are more concerned with saving face. They won't admit they got it wrong and rather than backtrack prefer to impose a new scheme.

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Ebay had decided on this course of action many months before the announcement of 'free to sell' at the beginning of Q4 2024.

For better or worse, this is not an on-a-whim, to-and-fro policy change. It is long-term strategy, that has been a long time in planning.

[sml192]

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@exponential_developments wrote:

There already is buyer protection, on ebay and in UK law, so what's the benefit of this if any or is it nonsense?

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Yes, buyers are already protected when buying from private sellers by eBay's Money Back Guarantee and the new Buyer Protection appears to give them virtually nothing in addition. 

As for UK law, there is very little protection when buying from a genuine private seller other than a general expectation that the goods should be as described and not misrepresented.  There is no statutory right to a return/refund. 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

The £1000 is the maximum turnover that you can go to, before having to register as self employed with HMRC.

So many people seem to get this one confused and think for some reason, that they can make in profit £1000 before having to register.  Which is of course vastly different.

I do agree with you though, there are so many "hobby sellers" on here who don't think of themselves as a business.  And they do make unfair for those of us doing it properly.

However, if it was just them, it really wouldn't bother me that much at all.

It's the out and out business sellers, who are gaming the system by using a private account, that are the ones who are killing the rest of us.