Tech support says :messages to upgrade from a private to business account have been sent by mistake

[notstopbuying]

I had a message yesterday on my private selling account and an email, to say that I needed to upgrade from a private seller to a business account, I called eBay this morning to ask about various things with regards to upgrading to a business account and the tech support person said....No need to, the emails have all been sent out by mistake.

I asked will I receive an email to confirm it was a mistake, they said no, but they are currently working on the issue.

The tech support person did say, if I received a 2nd email to say I needed to upgrade to a business account, then it would be best to call back and confirm if I do need to upgrade, but the 1st email as been sent out to many, many private sellers and they have no need to upgrade to a business account.

[sheba-knows-best]

Thanks for the update. There have been a few message threads with sellers querying private/business account issues/questions.

I guess you have just confirmed that ebay is 'working on' the private/business seller problem at last. As usual tech hasn't gone to plan... but when one that anything new....

[notstopbuying]

Yeah, when I called, it was almost a straight to the point...emails sent out by mistake, lots of eBay members calling in to discuss it, but he was very helpful on the phone, I thought it best to post the message, as no doubt others will be heading to the forum to seek guidance.

[papso22]

Unfortunately many 'private sellers' do need to upgrade and should be getting these emails.  We know from other posts that some are reaching their proper targets.

The problem is that Ebay's parameters for identifying businesses trading on private accounts don't work properly. 

[kempseykate]

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@papso22 wrote:

Unfortunately many 'private sellers' do need to upgrade and should be getting these emails.  We know from other posts that some are reaching their proper targets.

The problem is that Ebay's parameters for identifying businesses trading on private accounts don't work properly. 

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It's not that 'it doesn't work correctly', it's just that ebay do not care unless the seller is near to VAT registration threshold.

[dch2112011]

If this was a universal mistake why would ebay not simply retract the email rather than get overloaded with phone calls ? 

It is rather ominous that ebay refer to 'if you get a second email' refer to CS for advice - a second email must be in the offing.

It seems that this is now a priority for ebay - wait for the avalanche on the boards !

[bojangled]

@dch2112011 indeed they should, but I do wonder if all the posts we are seeing are emails sent in error.

I'm guessing some sellers will just shut up shop without investigating the email any further. 
That said CS do tell you what you maybe want to hear ..

[notstopbuying]

They where quick off the mark today, I was told to me almost instantly, it's an tech issue...... But as part of the deal to upgrade to a business account, they are offerring zero seller fees until December 31st 2024, free featured shop for 6 months. 

It will actually be a tempting offer for many. 

[technthread]

Is it zero selling fees in all categories?

[notstopbuying]

Yes zero fees all categories, no insertion fees either. 

[technthread]

Thanks for confirming this. 

The featured shop freebie is worth £554.40 alone. Can't see this going down well with people who are already paying it as they are effectively funding all this. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@papso22 wrote:

The problem is that Ebay's parameters for identifying businesses trading on private accounts don't work properly. 

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The number one parameter has always been if the seller is approaching the VAT threshold; likely because HMRC hold eBay jointly and severally liable for the VAT obligations of it's sellers. This is because eBay generally only polices something when they are forced to; Trading Standards are too underfunded to be interested in traders masquerading as private sellers on eBay.

I actually believe this sudden interest in a seller's account type is due to the EU's GPSRs which will be enforced from December. All business sellers will be forced to comply but private sales are beyond the scope of these new regulations. As eBay can be held liable for any non-compliant products that enter the EEA/EU/NI and trading under a private account would be an easy way for a business to bypass the new rules I'm guessing eBay realised they had to do something if their hand wasn't already forced.  

[dch2112011]

It makes you wonder if you have a second private account whether it is worth upgrading and then transferring listings across or at least some of them - unfortunately they haven't sent me an email telling me to upgrade - maybe because I am not selling on the private account !

[4_bathrooms]

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@notstopbuying wrote:

But as part of the deal to upgrade to a business account, they are offerring zero seller fees until December 31st 2024, free featured shop for 6 months. 

It will actually be a tempting offer for many. 

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Until they realise the "upgrade" is a one-way street with absolutely no possibility of "downgrading" back to a private account once the incentive is finished. I predict these boards will be quite busy come the new year. 

[dch2112011]

Look forward to that then !

[technthread]

I have a private account too it's only had 30 sales or something in total and just 1 sale in the past year. Hearing about this, I'm gutted they haven't sent me the email on that private account, I'd shut this one down and switch over in a heartbeat. 

It is a strange way of rewarding fee avoidance. They will have to hope that the leg up they give to those sellers won't hurt their existing business sellers too much. If the business sellers who have been trying to do things the right way have to pack eBay in and the new business sellers only intend to rinse it for 6 months and then leave, it won't be pretty. 

[bojangled]

@technthread yep that's a juicy discount, I'm fuming already. 

Not much I can do about it though. 

Jo

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Yes, this is a kick in the teeth for those who have done things the right way, what rewards are those sellers getting ?

Almost feels like the final nail in the coffin.

[dave@ebay]

Hi All,

I’m just confirming this is not a tech issue.

These emails are sent based on the accounts selling activity, anyone who received the email appears to be operating as a business seller. In order to comply with government consumer protection legislation outlined in our Business seller policy, we’ve asked that they upgrade their eBay account to a business account.

When an account or linked accounts have higher trading history than normal private accounts, or indicators that they are operating as a business, we must request that they register as a business.

Thanks,

Dave

[papso22]

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@notstopbuying wrote:

They where quick off the mark today, I was told to me almost instantly, it's an tech issue...... But as part of the deal to upgrade to a business account, they are offerring zero seller fees until December 31st 2024, free featured shop for 6 months. 

It will actually be a tempting offer for many. 

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I find this reprehensible!

Ebay are either incentivising previous law breakers to abide by the law (and kicking law abiding sellers in the teeth yet again), or they are incentivising genuine private sellers into incorrectly declaring themselves as a business, and possibly leading to all sorts of issues with HMRC, with no way back to a private account.

Who on earth thought this was a good idea!