"Buyer protection fee"? I don't think so. What a scam!

[soulhunter123777]

Was just about to purchase an item when I noticed a ~£3 "buyer protection fee".

What an absolute scam. As a buyer, I absolutely refuse to pay eBay for the privilege of bare minimum customer service. Foisting hidden fees and extra charges onto buyers is NOT remotely acceptable.

In this website's footer there's a link called "Selling Fees". When will eBay add an equivalent link for "Buying Fees"?

What a ridiculous situation.

[sml192]

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@surplus.mtp5 wrote:

So your OK with winning a bid then the adding extra on top

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All bids are inclusive of the BPF so there is nothing extra added on top. 

[spyabargain]

Thing is the buyer wasn't meant to see the fee breakdown. I was watching an item and the seller made me an offer that looked good, ebay's message even said £161 + £9.99 postage. I thought great, I goes to see it and there's an additional £7 added on top of that which makes it not seem as good a deal. 

[tressygirl]

Yep,  that is correct.

If you the buyer ,  send an offer the BPF is taken off,   so the seller here receives less than that which was offered,   but,  if you send the seller an offer,  you the buyer will pay that Buyer Protection Fee on top of the offer !

All a learning curve for all of us !  🤔

@spyabargain 

[papso22]

The buyer's offer to the seller will be inclusive of the BPF, which is then taken off to get to what the seller receives. 

The seller's offer to the buyer is exclusive of the BPF, which is then added to the offer to get to what the buyer pays.

Both  members are offering from the perspective of what they expect to pay or receive.

[insidethe93]

The price with BPF may not be the whole issue, but the up-ending of the normal way buying's done in this country (or in most of the world). Coming upon it for the first time can be a shock.

It's a head versus heart thing as logically eBay is collecting a fee, just not from the seller but from the buyer, but it feels perverse. It also doesn't feel fair e.g. the flat rate per item even when buying from the same seller who'll put multiple items in the same parcel or eBay's long payment holds.

A buyer can always shop outside eBay, and if shocked or annoyed enough they will, either straightaway or gradually. They'll react to how eBay's makes them feel, not just whether in cold logical isolation a price is manageable.

[insidethe93]

And some of the businesses have their own websites and/or presence on "A"nother platform. I haven't found them to be more expensive, but often a bit cheaper. Please read on if you want the details.

There's a favourite small business seller who also sells on "A" so I compare their price on "A" and on eBay and buy from them where it's cheapest, sometimes across several items within the same shopping session, and they ship them to me all in the same parcel. I suppose I should thank eBay for saving me money (small sums here and there but they add up) because I used to shop on "A" rarely, preferring eBay. Recently I found three more of my regular eBay small business sellers also on "A". I'm also exploring "A" more generally and found quite often they automatically give a 5% discount if you buy 4 or more of the same item (no eBay charge of 75p per item for multiple same-items).

Also, "A" offers three shipping speed options:

(1) Premium, usually next day (or two)

(2) "A" day where buyer pre-selects a regular day of the week but can change the selected day at any time [I use this the most to reduce courier trips though "A" has a routine daily round in my area]

(3) not seen for a while: a day chosen by "A" often up to 2 weeks in exchange for a small discount on your whole order.

I personally haven't found the small businesses who've set up their own websites since Feb (and a few already existing websites) to be more expensive than eBay. A few items have been cheaper, and they automatically have an order minimum to qualify for free p&p (typically £30, not hard to reach). They give you discounts for multiple items, no eBay 75p charge per item. The courier used is stated, or there's a choice offered for speed. Plus an introductory 10% off automatically applied on my first purchase. In other words, all that you expect in normal online shopping which, for me, makes it feel it's now a chore to shop on eBay.

[insidethe93]

Think of it benefitting the seller more if you like, but there's no reason why bidding history shouldn't be as much for the buyer's benefit as the seller's e.g. from the IDs I (buyer) can see who's really interested if they bid several times. When their maximum bid is reaches I can see if they bid an odd amount of pence which to me indicates a more experienced bidder. Just seeing how many bids there've been overall feels like a help. Also, if there are a lot Watching the item feels informative. Might not actually be of practical help, but it feels like it and the feeling is a factor for bidders.

[aproe-19]

£1.20 on a £10 offer received. What the. Me and the seller already agreed the price and the seller sends me the offer, ebay now are taxing me a protection fee for collecting the building materials from a merchant just because i bought on ebay, yeah right. This is it, screw this platform 

[spyabargain]

I think this is how a lot of people will feel. I sell some stuff too, but
to be competitive I have to drop the price by this 'buyer fee', not that
the buyer knows that. So the outcome, I lose out, the buyer gets a fee,
ebay wins.

[prescott9376]

"The buyer fee only appies to Private sellers or as you have called them " unreg business seller"

legitimate business sellers don't have the 'Buyer Fee' added to their prices"

YET. Once the private sellers have gone the business sellers will have to make up the shortfall.

[spyabargain]

What I'm saying is, the buyer should never see what the seller is willing to sell at, as you don't pay that price, so seeing that lower figure excl of BPF is a kick in the teeth. EBay need to fix that. 

[insidethe93]

Spot on!

I thought it was just me seeing more than one price and being reminded BPF existed against the normal way buying's done in this country. But now I realise it's also just as you say, probably more so, and it's not a nice feeling as I suspect "what the seller is willing to sell at" is, putting it plainer still, "what the seller reluctantly feels forced to sell at", now that I've read on the discussion boards about seller's margins being squeezed by advertising and other charges levied by eBay.

Especially if I have sellers where there is, or has to be, some contact making it not a wholly impersonal transaction: I'm sure I'm not the only buyer who doesn't like to feel my seller's being done over, as I can't do anything about it other than do what I'm doing by buying...oh and:

1. not raising the issue of postal courier - I'd prefer Royal Mail (I've had a few probs with Evri) - but I don't want to make life more complicated for the seller, but it does mean I gravitate towards sellers whom I can see use RM.

2. leave positive seller feedback; since approx late Feb I state "received today [date]" to help give a good chance of receiving my payment from eBay asap.

I'd prefer the seller to receive ALL of what I pay, then for the seller and eBay to sort it out between themselves i.e. please bring back Final Value Fees and restore the way of shopping (no buyer fees) that's normal in this country.

Buyers don't need to see, don't want to see, the inner mercenary workings of eBay. It's like going to a cafe for a nice cuppa or staying in a hotel for a relaxing holiday, but after repeat visits the owner gets to feel they know you well enough to moan to you about the rates/deliveries or about the black list local hotel owners have about bad customers/suspected thieves (spoken from experience).

[bearrub2]

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@soulhunter123777 wrote:

Was just about to purchase an item when I noticed a ~£3 "buyer protection fee".

What an absolute scam. As a buyer, I absolutely refuse to pay eBay for the privilege of bare minimum customer service. Foisting hidden fees and extra charges onto buyers is NOT remotely acceptable.

In this website's footer there's a link called "Selling Fees". When will eBay add an equivalent link for "Buying Fees"?

What a ridiculous situation.

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Totally agree !!. When we have UK Distant Selling Regulations that protect you against online purchases within the UK , also paying by PayPal offers protection - why are buyers forced to pay for 'protection' ,again, when buying from a private seller ?. 'Customer Protection' standards are debateable unless you try and get hold of Dublin in the morning ....... 

[dch2112011]

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@bearrub2 wrote:

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@soulhunter123777 wrote: Totally agree !!. When we have UK Distant Selling Regulations that protect you against online purchases within the UK , also paying by PayPal offers protection - why are buyers forced to pay for 'protection' ,again, when buying from a private seller ?. 'Customer Protection' standards are debateable unless you try and get hold of Dublin in the morning ....... 

ebay's buyer protection has many benefits over and above any legislation or  insurance  and is offered as well as any legal protection.

Buying from a private seller has much less legal protection than buying from a business.

Private sellers in the majority are people selling one off unwanted items, they are not versed or trained in consumer law, let alone good business practice, so disputes become personal and often ill informed from both sides and can end up in indignant slanging matches - 

On ebay if an item is damaged in transit or lost by the carrier under SD you as the buyer are refunded at no cost to the buyer or seller  without fuss - very simple process  - try and recover your buyer loss through legal channels or  jumping through hoops to get a private seller to claim carrier insurance  and see how time consuming, risky and costly an excercise that is !  75p will seem a drop in the ocean in comparison 

 A buyer receiving  an empty box or the wrong item - ebay will force a refund - quickly, no argument at no cost to the buyer, no drawn out expensive time consuming  legal process  - included in the 75p 

A seller not sending the order  has their money withheld until delivered - ebay will refund the buyer - no risk, no argument, no hassle,no drawn out expensive time consuming  legal process - included in the 75p 

24 hr support for buyers from ebay included in the 75p

I'm waiting for the outcry that some of this is covered under the mbg which is free !

To those making this claim - the mbg was paid for by seller fees - now seller fees are no longer charged - the mbg has to be paid from buyer fees  for buyers from private seller - business sellers pay for the mbg from fees - although ultimately business sellers pass the cost onto buyers in the item price  - it is that simple !

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[papso22]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/buyer-protection-fee?id=5594&st=3&pos=2&query=Buyer%...

Ebay says that the MBG is separate to the buyer protection and says the benefits received in return for the fee are:

"With Buyer Protection, you benefit from:

• 24/7 customer service: Get support around the clock if you need help.
• Private sellers paid after delivery: When you purchase from a private seller, payment is sent after the order has been successfully delivered.
• Secure transactions: All payments are encrypted end-to-end and handled by our trusted payments partners."

Whether anyone believes that or not is up to them, but personally, I think the primary reason was that ebay was processing all these buyer payments for free and that was not a business model they liked, or could sustain.  The rest is just window dressing.

It would be better described as a Buyer Payment Fee, it's the use of the word 'protection' that seems to be causing all the issues.

[wgwillia]

it's called rip of eBay 

[dch2112011]

Yes that's what ebay claim - maybe the 4% covers the mbg - but I think that the mbg has to paid for from fees - whether it is from seller fees, buyer fees, listing fees, but it is certainly from fees - it definately isn't free !  In the same way that delivery isn't free - How they word it or structure it - the money for  paying for it comes from fees somewhere along the line and it is extremely unlikely that  it comes anywhere but from the buyers  and without hidden sellers fees where would you suggest it is funded from ?

[lucy_farmer]

'.....extremely unlikely that  it comes anywhere but from the buyers  and without hidden sellers fees where would you suggest it is funded from ?'

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Yes, it has to be funded from somewhere; these protections are all needed.

But the bullsh** business-double-speak of what it's been called  is an enormous part of the problem.

It just leaves users feeling lied to and insulted that they're supposed to believe the spin......

[dch2112011]

Indeed ebay have a habit of calling things by names that upset the UK market - remember when all returns were called disputes and cases !  Not that long ago  phrases such as dispute resolution  were used  it caused more hackles to go up than anything -

I suspect this is just another Americanism spilled into the UK - give it about 10 years and ebay will soften the language used and come up with the right descriptive and explanation - nothing new there then !

[redhotmelter]

I purchase postacards, which are low value items, these are already insured up to £20 by the Royal Mail so why do I have to pay eBay a protection fee, when they won't be the one paying out if the item goes missing?