Private sellers to have sales funds held

[wyattharrisx]

Changes from now for new private sellers and from next year for existing private sellers means their funds from a sale won't be available until after delivery but no change to business sellers availability next day.  Seperate to this eBay are also mandating UK Private Sellers will all have to use eBay Managed Shipping

I wonder if this will encourage more private sellers who should be a business to convert..

[moldosgifts]

I just think it is all part of the ebay drive to be vinted.

Vinted decide the postage charged to buyers.

No fees

Payments are not made to sellers until 4 days after item arrives with the customer.

All sounds very similar to the new ebay to me.

[fatbobfan]

More peace of mind for buyers hopefully,

Reputable sellers will be inconvenienced a little but it will stop those that dont send it in the first place, the proffessional scammers, that just take the money. Guessing we've all had that, I have more than once. 

I would 'hope' private sellers could choose their courier of choice, (the same as they do now) your courier is a reflection of the seller and sellers service. 

In theory 'tightening' the professionalism of service offered to customers which for the platform is a good thing. A few days wait for some will be an issue, yes, but if it goes as it should it will only be a few days and for those using 'Simple' delivery it will be faster 

Guessing

Someone looked at the revenue from the intergrated postal system,

Then looked at the numbers not using the intergrated postal system, and did some maths $$$$$$$

Then came up with the Simple Delivery to encourage sellers to use the intergrated postal system

Ebay squeezing out the middle man, EG couriers direct, RM, Evri, Post Office then attracting better buying contracts for Ebay with the improved numbers

Dont think its a private seller issue, more of a increase our revenue plan

I think thats how its works, could be wrong but thats how it appears to me

[papso22]

Ebay Inc have acknowledged that 'simple delivery' is a revenue generator.

[fatbobfan]

I rarely dip in and out of the announcements, do watch when they come up on the Business channels, if i catch them.

I see a post and wonder, whose pocket are they emptying now, its business its usually about the bucks

[valueaddedresource]

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@fatbobfan wrote:

Dont think its a private seller issue, more of a increase our revenue plan

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@fatbobfan yes it is ultimately about increasing revenue, but it is a private seller issue in so much as currently Simple Delivery Managed Shipping is only available to private sellers and sometime in Q1 2025 it will be mandatory for private sellers to use it for eligible items, according to CEO Jamie Iannone's comments in the Q3 2024 earnings call.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4731184-ebay-inc-ebay-q3-2024-earnings-call-transcript

With managed shipping, we are completely overhauling our shipping experience for C2C sellers in the UK in two phases. The first phase completed in early October, extended the simplified shipping experience we first rolled out in pre-owned apparel to all categories. Within the new native listing flow, UK C2C sellers now see a consolidated list of shipping options based on the estimated package size and weight. And since implementing this change, we have observed a significant reduction in time spent on shipping in a listing flow.

The second phase of managed shipping; radically simplifies the experience and creates a new revenue stream for eBay. Similar to managed payments and eBay international shipping, Managed shipping leverages our scale and expertise to create a better experience for customers while generating incremental revenue and operating income dollars. When listing eligible products sellers simply confirm the pre-selected package size and eBay handles the rest.

Buyers received competitive shipping rates and sellers are fully protected against loss or damage. Managed shipping is currently live for C2C pre-owned apparel listing in the UK. In Q4, we plan to expand managed shipping horizontally on an opt-out basis, before mandating the program for eligible items listed by C2C sellers during Q1 of 2025.

Investors had mixed reactions to the Q3 results, mostly due to the fact that eBay provided weaker guidance for Q4 revenue than they had previously given - and that expectation for lower revenue in Q4 was primarily driven by the consumer to consumer (C2C) initiatives in the UK (fee-free private selling) and the fact that they had not yet "remonetized" those sales with buyer fees and mandatory managed shipping.

You can see by this slide their "context" for lower revenue included "minimal contribution from UK Managed Shipping in Q4" - the unspoken other side of that coin when taken with Jamie's other comments is that the lower revenue will be temporary since they expect to drop the "minimal" part by starting to ramp up auto-opt in for some sellers in Q4 and then making it mandatory for "eligible" items from private sellers in Q1.

The Simple Delivery help and policy pages already list eligibility criteria, so I would expect once it becomes mandatory for private sellers, the same criteria will initially apply.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575

What listings are eligible for Simple Delivery?

Simple Delivery is currently available to private sellers in the UK selling:

• Clothing items that have a ‘Buy it Now’ price, auction starting price, or reserve price of £500 or less
• Items in all other eligible categories that have a 'Buy it Now' price, auction starting price, or reserve price of £750 or less   
• Items (once packaged) within the following dimensions and maximum weight:
  
  - For shop drop-off: where no side exceeds 120cm in length, the volume is no more than 245cm and the package is up to 20kg. To calculate the volume: add together the two shortest sides and multiply it by two, and then add the length.
  
  - For locker drop-off: 61cm x 46cm x 46cm and the package is up to 15kg.

Authenticity Guarantee and bulky listings are currently excluded from Simple Delivery.

The help pages also go on to give the usual exclusions for most shipping carriers of various prohibited/restricted/hazardous items.

So I would expect at least initially when this becomes mandatory for private sellers in Q1, that eligibility criteria will likely apply and they may make changes over time to try to figure out how to get more items included in the program if/when it makes sense from a revenue and risk/reward perspective.

But given that eBay has positioned this to investors as not just a break even deal, but something they expect to be a revenue generating profit center, I won't be surprised if they test and tweak the eligibility criteria in the future to try to get more items included in the program if and when it makes sense from a revenue and risk/reward perspective.

Business sellers so far do not appear to be included in eBay's Simple Delivery Managed Shipping plans, but if they find it to be a relatively low risk revenue opportunity, I also wouldn't be surprised to see it expanded at least on a voluntary basis to business sellers at some point or possibly even mandated for some shipments/some categories - like they currently do for sneakers in the Authenticity Guaranteed program.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

well i am not that bothered about the payment wait as i am not desperate for the money but no way will i ever get involved with going through e bay for anything to do with deciding who i despatch by or get labels from them.  If that did eventually become compulsory then that is a line in the sand for me.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

well if they really do tell me how i have to do my postage  and with which company it will save me any possible problems with the tax man because i will just stop selling on here.  Just stick to car booting which would mean no higher priced items but so be it.  I have no problems at all at the moment, i state who i will send by, i state the price for postage and i take it into the post office.  So far they have never let me down.  Cannot say the same for courier companies and packlink when things have been sent using them.  E Bay may realise eventually that they can only push the little people so far.

[vintique*violet]

I feel the same, have had no issues with Royal Mail ,  and have concern this will impact local post offices ( mine are lovely and so helpful)  income... I have also decided to not purchase anymore on eBay and whilst I dislike Amazon have bought 2 things from there as needed them quickly, and plan to go to a lovely village outlet next week, with cash 😉 

[vintagechinashop]

Totally agree what you say about couriers. I stopped using them in favour of Royal Mail the day a Hermes (as it was back then ) courier threw a parcel covered in fragile tape over a customers fence straight onto a greenhouse   Even though that wasn’t my fault you can imagine the emails I received from the buyer who was quite rightly angry 

since they introduced free collections I have used Royal Mail and breakages are a very rare occurrence. This suits me perfectly as I work in the office three days a week and my wonderful postman collects from my safe place when I’m not home. Hopefully eBay will not inflict any more madness of business sellers as honestly I think we have suffered enough   I’m paying them through the nose to allow me to sell on their site. So I feel entitled to be able to use whatever postal service that suits me. It’s really not too much to ask 

[kempseykate]

It will only apply to private sellers when it's rolled out. At the moment most of them seem to either not know about it, not care, or possibly are happy with it.
But I think if it is rolled out early 2025, along with the up to 14 days hold on payments, there will be many private sellers leaving the site - and as I keep saying, if they aren't selling here, they won't be buying here either, so not a very well though out move by ebay (as usual!).

[valueaddedresource]

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@kempseykate wrote:

It will only apply to private sellers when it's rolled out. At the moment most of them seem to either not know about it, not care, or possibly are happy with it.
But I think if it is rolled out early 2025, along with the up to 14 days hold on payments, there will be many private sellers leaving the site - and as I keep saying, if they aren't selling here, they won't be buying here either, so not a very well though out move by ebay (as usual!).

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@kempseykate I agree with you that when the full impact of both of these changes becomes realized by private sellers, a not insignificant amount of them may leave the site.

eBay is justifying these changes by saying since other consumer to consumer selling sites in the UK operate this way (they didn't say Vinted, but odds are they're mostly talking about Vinted 😂 ) that means UK buyers and sellers are more willing to accept it as just being "business as usual."

While there is no doubt some truth to that, the flip side is by using the "everyone's doing it" argument, eBay has/will effectively kill key points of differentiation they had compared to competitors - which means anyone who previously chose to use eBay over competitors specifically because of those differentiators will now have significantly less reasons to do so.

Those who are OK with accepting that this is just the way it is now will at the very least have less friction/disincentive to branch out or cross list on multiple platforms if the eBay experience doesn't offer something different than those other sites.

I'm not as familiar with alternative sites in the UK, but here in the US those who would find this way of doing things unacceptable would likely simply turn to Facebook Marketplace or online buy/sell/trade groups, Craigslist and other avenues for selling used items without the hassle of payment delays or a marketplace dictating shipping terms.

And as you say, if they aren't selling here, they're less likely to be buying here as well - which was supposedly eBay's whole point in dropping the fees to try to attract more C2C sellers here in the first place.

[purrfectcatpurr]

I think at the moment most private sellers have not yet picked up on the planned changes.

I discovered the new "wait for payout" recently only because I read the Discussion boards. I did not like it but could live with it

I have now found out about the seemly compulsory infliction of "Simple Delivery " ( to my mind and circumstances a complete misnomer)  on  private sellers just this afternoon.  Again by reading a snippet mention in a post and chasing it up.

I have a 24 year association with ebay. First with an private account with my late husband and then once he passed I had a traders account  (notified as such to both ebay and HMRC) and then once I retired I started this account to sell my personal items , my late husbands items and more inherited stuff from relatives  than  I care to think about.

Now into my seventies I cannot be bothered with any more nonsense., and my personal opinion is that compulsory "Simple Delivery" is one bit of nonsense too far for me.

[sunflowers4me59]

I don't have a printer, and only want to post at post office, by royal mail so after 13 years I will have to give up!!

[vintagefunk01]

Yup its a terrible decision ... what are disabled people supposed to do? At least on Vinted you can pick Royal Mail who offer free collections

[battlezone]

Errm, but eBay will also provide you with a QR code allowing them to print off the label at the Post Office/drop off point according to what they've said.

[abrahamtoast]

I wonder if eBay will allow sellers to add a note to their listings along the lines of:

"Please select a Royal Mail delivery option. Other options require traveling to drop-off points some distance away, and this may result in a delay in dispatch." (Not that buyers ever read the listing...)

[vintique*violet]

I have never used a QR code in my life - Do  these  require the use of an up to date mobile phone? 

If so,  then are eBay going to provide those to everyone who does not possess one? 

eBay need to rethink what they are doing , otherwise they are going to lose a lot of customers who have been loyal for decades! 

[vintique*violet]

Add it to your description...

[sunflowers4me59]

I too have never used a QR code! I have the most basic mobile which only takes calls and texts, and have an old tablet. Would I be able to screenshot the QR code and take my tablet to post office?

[sml192]

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@sunflowers4me59 wrote:

Would I be able to screenshot the QR code and take my tablet to post office?

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Yes, as long as the Post Office can read the code then it doesn't matter what device you use.