Lots of upset about this so here is my summary of the key points and why I am considering ending 24 years of selling on Ebay:
1) Ebay is losing customers to Vinted and other market place sellers and seems to be copying Vinted policies such as Free Listing and Buyer Protection Fees in a desperate hope that this will reverse the trend. I don't think it will work as it has not been thought through very well
2) Ebay says, "We've made it free to sell for private sellers. To support this change, we charge a buyer fee to cover Buyer Protection services and help ensure a trusted experience when purchasing items from private sellers. For listings by business sellers, Buyer Protection is added at no extra cost." So this is a basically an admission that the BPF is purely to replace Seller Fees in order promote "Selling is free on Ebay" and is really nothing to do with providing significant extra buyer protection.
3) Most private sellers would prefer a listing fee because they now have to reduce the selling price to make the sale. It has the same impact as a fee except that is is much worse for low value items (up to 25% extra)
4) In the case of any price negotiations prior to purchase, having different purchase and listing prices is confusing to say the least. I already lost sales because of the confusion about what the price actually was.
5) Sellers now have to wait much longer for payouts and have to pay extra for tracking or face waiting an extra 14 days if the buyer does not confirm delivery. This feels very punitive to all sellers.
6) Buyers don't understand why there is a fee added to an identical item just because the seller happens to be private not a business. To a buyer this just seems very arbitrary
7 Buyers are already protected by the law and their credit card company anyway, so most see it a a rip-off and a rather arrogant and insulting pretence that some valuable serviced is being provided.
