Ebay clamps down on free listings for private sellers at last

[retail_media_station_group]

At last Ebay is clamping private sellers by reducing free listings to 300 from an original 1000.  Be interesting to see how this affects the platform..

Changes to private selling on eBay

We want to let you know about some upcoming changes to seller fees and to payment options when selling locally. These will be effective from 1 October 2024.

Free listing allowance change
Currently, private sellers can list up to 1,000 items a month for free on eBay. From 1 October, this will decrease to 300 listings per month. After you've used your monthly allocation of 300 free listings, you'll be charged 35p for each new listing created.

International fee change
If your registered address is in the UK, we charge an international fee when the delivery address for the item is outside the UK.

Until now this fee has varied by region. Starting from 1 October there will be a flat rate of 3% across all shipping regions. This will be calculated on the total amount of the sale which includes the item price, any handling charges, postage, and any applicable taxes.

Removing cash on pickup for local listings
Many sellers offer free collection in person, especially for large items which may be difficult to post. As we continue to make sure eBay is a safe and secure place to sell your items, we will be removing the option for buyers to pay with cash for items from 1 October. Instead, all payments for local items will go through the site - with a simple digital confirmation on collection - to ensure that you get paid securely and promptly by buyers.

[adders31]

I am trying to upgrade but can't find the option?

The option is not there when follow instructions..nada

To add to the pain eBay expect me to log in every page, safety issue there 😡 

Is there a link please it's driving me mad

Thanks

[plpmr]

Indeed, read a few threads from sellers complaining about the reduction and all were business sellers trading as private seller.

[analisw68]

If ebay had the traffic it used to have you wouldn't have to relist items numerous times before they sell 

People will just sell on market place for free instead or just use the 300 then remove everything until the following month they are greedy they take enough in fees as it is

[dash_1805]

I'm a relatively new seller and I don't quite understand the ramfications of this.

So my question is say in September 2024 you have 1,000 free listings and 400 sales items currently active, what happens exactly on October 1st 2024 when the 300 only free listings limit kicks in ? Do you get charged 35 pence for those excess 100 items that go over the 300 you already have on sale every following month or is the 35 pence fee only for and NEW sales lisings that you place which happen to be OVER the 300 limit ?

What I'm asking is, does ebay charge a retro charge for any items over the 300 limit ? (on a montly basis).

[the_book_seekers]

As I read the new regulations as of October 1st anything over the 300 limit will be charged at 35p a go. What ebay may do is charge the 35p as listings over 300 come up for renewal rather than charge the 35p on the 1st, but this is ebay and would need to be clarified. 

[sml192]

The 35p charge applies to each new listing created over the 300 allocation.  It does not apply to any listings that are automatically relisted. 

[futhcesktigma]

With 375 new items and 181 new sold items you might want to look into the changes that are being applied to online sales re HMRC etc

[dash_1805]

So what does 'coming up for renewal' on the listing actually mean ? at the end of EVERY SINGLE MONTH AFTER the 1st Oct 2024 anything that happens to be listed that goes over the 300 limit is charged 35 pence regardless of whether you listed it 'free' prior to the 1st Oct 2024 ?

So what I'm saying is that say a guy has 1,000 'free' listings in September 2024 and he decides to put on 1,000 items in that month for free and NONE sell the on October 1st 2024 when the 300 'free' listing limit kicks in, he will be charged 35 pence X 700  (700 over the 300) to have those 700 automatically re-listed ? and he will be charged again 35 pence X 700 to have those items that were originally free to list and he didn't sell on the next month i.e. November 1st 2024 ??!?

[sml192]

No, any items listed in September that don't sell and are automatically relisted at the start of October won't count towards the 300 new listing allocation and, therefore, won't be charged. 

[dash_1805]

Ah ok got it. That makes sense.

But ANYTHING on or after 1st October 2024 that is newly listed (i.e. you go online and create a new ebay ad with photos, description and Buy It Now price) as an sales item will be charged a 35 pence INSERTION fee IF you have gone over your 300 'free listing's quota for that month (I would have gone over as I have 375 sales items or so from September 2024 and those will be auto-carried onto the next month of October 2024).

I guess this is a meaure to stop business sellers using private seller accounts who say would list 600+ items worth of new stock every single month, all year round. It sort of makes sense if you look at it that way.

[dash_1805]

Actually  re-reading what I wrote I may have got something wrong. Say  I have 375 items in September 2024 listed with free insertion and none sell. On October 1st 2024 I will have 300 free listings for THAT month and if I go over the 300 insertion limit that month then I will be charged 35 pence for each additional item over the 300 limit for that month.  There are also montly sale  limits total value limits that are automatically enforced which is what you've sold + what you have on sale total value.     If anyone thinks that I'm misunderstanding any of this please inform me.   This is all about INSERTION FEES over monthly limits of 300 and this is more than ok for a private seller who is getting rid of their limited items, say video game collection, board games etc. which initially may seem large in quanity but is finite and limited in quantity and will diminish in size real fast with sales and it's not 'inventory that is replenished like a business.

[rainbowtrax]

@dash_1805  This change to 300 from 1,000 applies only to NEW listings. Any amount of listings already active will still renew for free every month. So private sellers still effectively have unlimited free listings - the cap is only on how many you can add each month - now going to be 300 newly created listings per month where it was 1,000. That's still allowing private sellers an average of 10 new listings a day, every day, with no cap on the total.

[game_raid]

That is incorrect sorry, relists count as a new listing so if a seller has 300 listings active on say the 1st of January and none sell over the month, then the seller will have 300 listings that would be relisting on 1 Feb which would use up the free listing allowance and any new listings would be charged.

If by what you are saying then a seller would never actually pay a listing fee if they were getting 300 free each month on top of what is already listed.

There would be no point even adding a 300 free listing cap. I can presume eBay have done this to make money so why bother change things if a seller was able to have unlimited free listings with no cap?

This is how it works now with 1000 free listings, a seller will be charged a listing fee as as soon as the 1000 have been used up, using the same example as above.

Also ending a listing and relisting it instantly will use 1 of the free listings allowance up.

All of the above applies the same as how a shop subscription included listings work.

[game_raid]

Just to add,

I know the listing is not new BUT it's entering a new listing cycle so the listing will use the 300 allowance and if none is available you get charged.

[kempseykate]

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@game_raid wrote:

Just to add,

I know the listing is not new BUT it's entering a new listing cycle so the listing will use the 300 allowance and if none is available you get charged.

---

That isn't how it works at the moment, which is why some 'private' sellers have thousands and thousands of listings.

Currently the first listing (up to 1,000 a month) is free - and they stay free when they automatically relist.
There is no reason to suppose that this will change now the monthly limit has been reduced to 300.

However, as ebay don't seem to have made a clear announcement on this yet, and only some people seem to have had the message, we won't know for sure until ebay announce it properly.

[papso22]

I think it's covered on the updated fees for private sellers page.  Relists of good till cancelled listings don't count.

[kempseykate]

Ebay still need a proper announcement or to message to everyone. Not everyone comes to the boards - or checks to see if the fee page has been updated every time they list.

Out of the 3 changes that seem to have been in the message which only some sellers received, only 1 (no more cash on collection) has had an announcement that is there for all to see.

[rainbowtrax]

---

@game_raid wrote:

That is incorrect sorry, relists count as a new listing so if a seller has 300 listings active on say the 1st of January and none sell over the month, then the seller will have 300 listings that would be relisting on 1 Feb which would use up the free listing allowance and any new listings would be charged.

If by what you are saying then a seller would never actually pay a listing fee if they were getting 300 free each month on top of what is already listed.

There would be no point even adding a 300 free listing cap. I can presume eBay have done this to make money so why bother change things if a seller was able to have unlimited free listings with no cap?

This is how it works now with 1000 free listings, a seller will be charged a listing fee as as soon as the 1000 have been used up, using the same example as above.

Also ending a listing and relisting it instantly will use 1 of the free listings allowance up.

All of the above applies the same as how a shop subscription included listings work.

---

Manually ending a listing and then relisting it does count towards your 1,000 (soon to be 300) monthly limit, that's correct. But the rest of your post is wrong. Private sellers are not charged any listing fees for BIN listings that automatically renew each month and they do not count towards the 1,000 monthly free listings allowance. Private sellers can, if they wish, have many thousands of listings renewing for free each month.

I see that, like me, you have a business account so you're not lucky enough to get this huge money saving perk. You pay for every listing (either as part of a shop subscription or on a per listing basis) at the time you list it then you pay the listing fee again and again for every month that the listing automatically renews. One of the huge disadvantages of trading legally. A private seller gets all those renewals for free so yes, as long as they don't exceed 1,000 NEW listings each month then they never pay a listing fee.

[*enterprise-ncc-1701*]

are you 100% sure ?
as i have 1000 items listed but only selling an average of around 20 per month
i definitely cant afford to be hit with a 700 x35p = £235 a month charge.
the charge would be higher than my entire monthly income some months.