Ebay via YOULEND - anyone got any pros and cons

[eddy130_1]

Hi All,

I hope sales are good!

Today we received a generous offer from eBay Capital that would be enough to rent a unit for a year. I believe that you pay a daily percentage of sales. The previous similar type of loans via P-pay were very straightforward and handy for a few thousand pounds now and then.

I’ve heard both good and bad things about You Lend. Does anyone have any stories or information before we consider contacting them?"

[cookienabber]

Assumptions make an ass...

Yes I have a degree, well done,  have been trading on eBay for 22 years, which I'm, reminded of every time I speak to customer services. On top of having investing experience to the point of having my own eBay channel, I switched to running my own business online so I no longer have to work. I used my private eBay account for community posts so as not to make my business a target or expose my specific business tactics. So maybe try listening and instead of trying to find pathetic excuses to patronise/discredit someone who has taken the time to help others, and clearly has more business knowledge and experience than you given your simplistic approach to pricing economics.

[andha-21]

Just in case anyone is receiving offers from YouLend via eBay right now. Read through any documents they send you carefully and then do it again to make sure you didn't miss anything.

Most of the initial negotiations occurred by phone, but when I asked for details/specifics we switched to email and after I had got confirmation from the "account manager" I asked for them to send over the official documents to sign.

On mine there were a few dodgy clauses. The worst of which was 3.3

"That immediately after the relevant Purchased Receipt is sold and assigned to us, you have no right, title or interest in it".

I refused to sign mainly on that basis and they replied via email;

"In terms of your agreement, as we are taking sales from eBay, Clause 3.3 is not relevant to you. We cannot tailor contracts individually to every partner we work with

Clause 3.3 refers to payments we receive from card sales. As you have connected to Open Banking, we are able to see a steady inflow into your bank account that show the eBay sales for us to take 15% accordingly. 

I hope this clears any misunderstanding"

Tread very carefully with this lot, especially if you plan to use card sales.

[parsley2003]

I would never borrow off money lenders if you really need money go to a bank. I've just paid a small bank loan off early (not for business) and that would have gone on for years with them adding interest and dropping the monthly payments all the time

[parsley2003]

Agree i'm the same but so many people will be tempted by this and get locked into a nightmare

[cookienabber]

This clause is likely left over from the contracts they have directly with independent businesses, who might hide income to avoid paying back the loan. With eBay acting as intermediary and calculating fees as a portion of payouts, there isn't any wiggle room for eBay sellers to deceive them this way. Still, YouLend doesn't have any means of checking what you spend your loan on, so if you are using the loan to buy stock that you sell outside of eBay, cash in hand, YouLend wouldn't know. I don't condone this, but if you're going to portray these terms as dodgy, bear in mind that it is a safeguard that still doesn't prevent sellers from abusing their contract in other ways.

[andha-21]

Did you actually read that clause and understand it?

It means they can do whatever they like with the signees money including taking all of it. Forget about the percentage rate you are signing up to, you sign a document with that in it it's an open invite to be rear ended.

I appreciate that you are probably just playing "devil's advocate", trying to look sensible but perhaps you should take a few more moments before posting.

@cookienabber 

[cookienabber]

Perhaps you should take a few moments to understand the argument before patronising your critics.

[andha-21]

If you read their trust pilot feedback you will see you were trying to defend the indefensible, so no, I see no reason to pause.

They actually use that clause or similar to shaft their clients. There are multiple reports to that.

[eyewear247]

If you read their trust pilot feedback you will see you were trying to defend the indefensible, so no, I see no reason to pause.

They actually use that clause or similar to shaft their clients. There are multiple reports to that.

I have never used YouLend but have been following this post with interest.

I did as you suggested and checked the reviews on Trustpilot and see they have a 4.8 score with 94% of reviews giving 5 stars

However, if I wanted to inject some cash into my business I could use a personal credit card and use a recent money transfer offer I received. 

Up to £xK  with a one off fee of 5% and then interest free for 18 months and I think I would find that more preferable and cost effective than YouLend

[andha-21]

If you read the actual reviews you will see what I mean. Their numbers are high, but the reviews end up saying very similar things. Basically that they take whatever they want and don't stick to the terms agreed, probably because of clauses similar to what they sent me. 

I was just giving a heads up because I have it in black and white. Luckily I spotted it and said no.

[andha-21]

& in case you don't know, they are eBay's lend partner of choice. The one that appears in the listing area and the one they send emails out for. It's an in-house honey trap for anyone desperate enough to take it.

[cookienabber]

Capital on Tap for me XD

[cookienabber]

If you have any recent dealings with eBay's customer service, you're realise that they are turning into ignorant admin monkeys with no selling/business experience on eBay who have fallen behind the company's over-reliance on automated systems that leave them unable to resolve, or even understand, the complex issues that sellers are facing. If you happen to speak to one of their senior/experienced staff, they pretty much agree with me on this, as they have their hands tied back by system blocks that prevent them from resolving problems in a logical way using common sense. I'm talking about problems that have damaged my business and even if their service representative can see the error, they don't have the access/knowledge to resolve it. So the idea that they would recommend a service that could be harmful to their sellers, demonstrates a lack of understand from such admin monkeys who are too focused on the numbers their end to understand the nuances of operating a business from a day-to-day or financial angle. Their recommendation consists of a referral poster and their staff clearly lack any training on the service or how to promote it, otherwise they might have dealt with the issues we have all raised.

[dwbeautystore]

Thank you for the link to the UK ebay fee calculator - that's so much simpler than the way ebay show their fees.

I've had several letters and emails offering me these loans and thankfully I've never been tempted, even when my sales have slowed right down.

I don't know how others sales are doing, but I've found that mine have picked up again this month when I was on the verge of closing my business last month.

There are a huge number of 'private' sellers competing with me in my field and offering lower prices as they're not paying fees so it's been a struggle shifting stock that used to fly off the shelves.

Borrowing more money at such a ridiculous rate is never going to grow my business but adding just a few different items each week seems to draw in more customers and increase turnover so I'm going to continue growing it slowly and accept it'll never make me rich!

[simitra]

I ended up repaying my loan early because of the way these people were hounding me. I took a break over Christmas and got a snitty message that I was "behind" on payments. So I paid in a lump sum. A few weeks later I got another message from their "collections" department so I paid off the loan entirely. You get the feeling that if you dare to take a few weeks off or are away from the business for some reason they will begin to hound you. Sales on Ebay are pretty up and down at present without more hassle. The Paypal capital advances were wonderful as you knew exactly where you were and how much you had to pay back in a 3 monthly period.

[tommystrezures]

The other question that needs to be asked who would borrow money from a lender that cannot spell?!  Never seen partner spelt that way!!!

 

[collect4cards]

Currently have one with them. Avoid them like the plague. The minimum monthly payment is ridiculous as sales fluctuate. The moment you take slightly less, they are constantly on your case demanding payments and threatening defaults on your account. This despite the fact that we've still got over two months until the loan is due to be finished. 

[chrismcc1953]

If you've taken out a loan when you only have a handful of listings then more the fool you, how did you ever expect to keep up with repayments? I've had 3 loans with them and never had an issue. I've fallen behind they're forecasted repayments a couple of times and never once been hassled by them. If you use the loan for the purpose it's intended then you really shouldn't have issues. Too many people using it for holidays, getting their hair done then moan when they can't keep up to date with repayments. It's intended for stock. You could argue its free money. The loans I've had I've bought stock and made more than the loan repayment from it, it's stock I wouldn't have had without the loan, so free money.

[cavalierpostcards]

chrismcc1953

I agree with you. I've had 9 loans now and same as you, i have fallen
behind slightly and never heard anything from them. The loans have enabled
me to buy stock, and business equipment which has enabled me to grow
substantially. No complaints from me for Youlend.

[goingfishinguk]

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@chrismcc1953 wrote:

You could argue its free money.

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Ah damn, I did not know... where I can I sign up? 

Dear me, seriously if even just 1% of you thinks a YouLend loan is to be considered FREE money then I suggest you need to reassess your business model dramatically.  My dear old mother would say 'they take away your eye *bleep* and come back for the sockets...'