Fees increase

[blinkin-bonkers]

It is absolutely disgusting that eBay are putting their fees up yet again so they can get their grubby little hands on what tiny profit is left these days for business sellers. They have made it increasingly difficult in recent years for business sellers and we have been asking for quite some time for help by way of a reduction in selling fees but do they listen? Do they hell! It's like they have nothing but contempt for us. It made my blood boil when they offered free selling for private sellers and now they have decided to shaft us even more. Personally I cannot wait to join the 7 million active sellers that they have lost in the last 10 years (Google it). I used to love selling on eBay but now I absolutely hate it and that is purely down to how badly it is run. They don't listen to us, they don't care about us, they don't help us, they are absolutely abhorrent!!

[sheba-knows-best]

Do you sell on other platforms? You're obviously a high volume seller. I'm curious as to how ebay compares with other selling sites.

By ebay's own records - I made £4,309 more in sales in 2025 vs 2024, but after ebay fees, took home £646 less.  To put it another way, ebay ate up all my hard work with ebay fees rising from 18% in 2024 to 23.5% in 2025 (as a % of sales). (However, I was able to offset the £646 shortfall as I bought stock more cheaply - my asset costs as a % of sales fell by 1%)

We are in austerity/recession (with buyers having less cash to spend) I don't like it, but we can expect big corps to try and maintain their own fee income. 

Whilst I'm not happy with ebay, on reflection - and I have been reflecting a lot over Xmas/NY - the fact I ended a tough retail year with flat profitability (I expected worse) it's maybe a sign that ebay is holding its own in my sector (preloved).

Happy to hear other views... I'm working on my strategy into 2026... 

[pillarboxred]

They are trying to be Amazon. EBay.com accounts for only 3.5% of the US online retail market which is dominated by Amazon and Walmart, vast sellers of new, packaged, mass market goods. I'm hanging on for three months while trying a new strategy, but trade friends are all jumping to other social+selling platforms. EBay is still growing but it seems to me that the revenue must come from Business listing fees and the extras we have to buy to get seen, not from the cut from successful, profitable sales.

[pillarboxred]

What do you pay yourself for your time here? The national minimum wage is around £12 an hour. I don't make that in twenty hours of photographing, researching, describing, packing and posting. The data eBay sends me about "earnings" is tripe as I have costs unconnected to eBay that have to be paid too.

You know, when I started using eBay, you could find my  eBay listings on Google for free although you had to purchase through eBay. Then eBay booted Google out and started tightening the thumbscrews on sellers. Now they have hobbled their own Search Engine and only serve your listings if you pay enough.

[the_book_seekers]

Of  the friends I had selling on ebay I am the last one, and that's because I don't depend on ebay.  The others have also moved on to other sites, although a couple have cheekily talked about opening private accounts - they know it will get me ticking. 

[freddieforeverrico]

hi i tried this morning promting every option to generate sales.  paid £95  in advertising fees in one day to generate sales of £100.    end of march im done,,    currently winding down after 15 years.

i was promoting all at 2% and my roads was good, after today its in the big minus, so ive reverted back to 2%     paying more for advertising is a waste of the little profit i get,     i wouldn't mind if it boosted sales but it doesn't it just erodes a tiny bit im left after postage and fees and packaging and cost of goods, and the threat of making tax digital in April   (more costs and admin)   

time to do something different.   working for nothing is lo longer viable.

[infinibrix]

If you were already struggling for sales and needing to be competitive you might have an argument but based on the volumes of orders your already taking it doesn't seem like your short of business therefore if you were to raise all your relevant listings by 10p to cover the new fees can you honestly say people will stop buying from you over a 10p increase?

Besides if you rely of ebay for such a large volume of sales then surely its in your best interest that ebay also prospers and survives given they are facing more marketplace competition than ever before....

[sheba-knows-best]

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@pillarboxred wrote:

What do you pay yourself for your time here? The national minimum wage is around £12 an hour

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Ebay provides me with a good income at a good hourly rate (with massive flexibility) which is why I am taking the time to reconsider my next steps despite the galling fee increase I saw last year.  

[sheba-knows-best]

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@pillarboxred wrote:

 EBay is still growing but it seems to me that the revenue must come from Business listing fees and the extras we have to buy to get seen, not from the cut from successful, profitable sales.

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I'm not sure I completely agree. I'm swaying to thinking that eBay is increasingly funded by the extras vs the fvfs precisely because extras are charged to buyers and both types of sellers. (Which is why I think they should reduce FVFs - to make everything less fraught. But I expected this last year and it never happened)

[darth_baggins]

Great. eBay hand yet another advantage to businesses masquerading as 'private' sellers.

Also why is this dressed up as 'trust and protection'?

Why not just call it what it is? A fee increase.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Whilst I feel for you struggling, I think you might have gone about promoting in maybe not the best way.
The thing is, if you use the priority advertising and are using the smart targeting, then it takes a while to zone in to the correct keywords etc.  Though your far better off using the manual targeting if your able.

One day, will give you a pile fees, but over a couple of weeks, that will come down a fair bit.

Ideally, you should be down to ACOS of about 4:1.  But this does vary quite a bit depending on your market and profitability etc.

You shouldn't however be using both standard and priority at the same time, unless you want to pay through the nose.

[blinkin-bonkers]

Yes I can honestly say that people will stop buying from me or at least my sales will be significantly less. It is a cut throat business and if someone can get the same item off another seller for 10p less then of course they are going to do so.

[blinkin-bonkers]

eBay is like any other badly run business. In order to maintain their profit margins they increase selling fees, they couldn't care less about sellers. The can't seem to grasp the fact that if they dropped their fees and actually tried to help business sellers (help is an alien word to eBay) we would sell more instead of finding other avenues to sell our goods. It's basic business acumen but try explaining that to eBay! They are absolutely clueless.

[magpiecorner1]

The increase is UK only.  No changes at the moment to US eBay fees.

[freddieforeverrico]

they are slowly loosing me to vintd ive only just started and already stuff is selling faster than i can list it, whereas ebay i have to pay to promote and then offer inducements and offers off to get a sale,   and by the time you get paid youve spent that much on postage sending items out.    

[simplyessential_uk]

I think you only have to look at the Ebay share price over the last 5yrs to know they are running it exactly as they intend - They are a corporate company, who only care about their share prices & profit, so as as much as you may hate it, we either have to go along with it or go elsewhere.  I personally do not pay ads, but Im not in a competative sector so no ads = page 1 still for me.  Im making a fraction of what I used to make here but if you pop over to Amazon forums its basically the same complaints but about Temu & TikTok - Unfortunaltey many of these platforms are selling ads space over products.

[the_book_seekers]

If you spend billions on share buy backs then the price of the stock will rise.

[red_apple_av]

eBay is awful compared to Amazon which is still generating healthy sales, I'm now down to £7800 over 30 days, 2 years ago I was averaging £25k over 30 days.

eBay days are numbered and to increase fees is an idiotic thing to do. ebay just seem to want to rinse as much money out of us anyway possible. I'm not prepared to spend a single penny more than I have too, as eBay just does not care about long standing business sellers.

I'll continue to work on Amazon and my own site (which is getting good orders) and about to launch another one.

eBay if you are reading this, you seriously need to listen to us the ones who have been loyal for a long time otherwise you will lose us

[simplyessential_uk]

Strange Im the opposite - I do have my own website and was doing very well until the new major Google algorithm changes in Dec so now Ive gotta work on that - The joys of Google updates.

But Amazon I absolutely HATE with a passion and seen it go so down hill in 15yrs Ive been there .  The forum is no different and everyone complaining about Temu & Tiktok

I was selling £5-£6k a month on there but they smack you your violations left right and centre and you might as well talk to the wall as their support it SO poor its laughable - but youll soon experience that if you are growing your business. - People said the same to me at the start but I didnt believe them.

Ive had over the years:

Suspected cannibis in my Incense sticks (3 times this has happened) so prove that it doesnt with SDS sheets = Violation. 

Banned substance in your cream, but its not on the ingredients, but they dont care as they want the SDS sheet = Violation

Another sellers changes brand on a listing to claim as their own and report you for copyright  = Violation

Buyer claims and item is fake but your invoice doesnt say perfectly the matching brand /  descripton= violation

Buyers who read descriptions wrong and want a free return - Dont deny or contact them = Violation

Seller who creates a listing has the power to change it (and only them) so any mistakes and you list on it = your fault. Also same seller can change the description to another item and you dont know til it sells.

Returns to FBA = Comes out of your pocket

Item not delivered - Doesnt matter if you have tracking shown as delivered = AZ Claim and mettrics hit so refund quickly.

Bar codes taken for the wrong item = Opps you cant sell that item now

Send stock into Warehouse and they then ask for SDS sheets - Cost me hundred of lost stock as they say its Hazmat and you cant have it back. 

I wish you luck - but Ive had to remove 75% of my listings from Amazon after so many ridiculous "violations" that I could lose my account after 15yrs squeeky clean metrics and health - Their catalogue is a mess - nothings correct on it from brandings to descriptions. If a listing isnt 100% correct then any of the above are your fault and its a risk you take.  

[nutrafituk]

Very similar story here - we have closed our seller's amazon account for good late. Pretty much same reasons, not planning to ever go back there again. Also keeping our spend there to minimum, we'd rather support any independent business instead.