Like many I'm absolutely gobsmacked at eBay introducing this 'Buyer Protection Fee'.
eBay will claim the benefits to buyers - the delay in payments to sellers, the "24 hour customer service" etc.
I think if you polled the majority of buyers and asked them, "would you rather get a 4% discount on the sale price, or have these benefits?", most would take the lower price.
But regardless of the 'benefits', the price eBay is charging buyers for this is extortionate.
It's also a massive headache for sellers - confusion over what price buyers will see/pay, the difficulty in working out buyer prices for offers, and most obviously - sellers effectively forced to lower their asking prices due to having to take into consideration the BFP for buyers.
I was about to list an M4 Mac mini - I would have been able to sell it for £520(ish) last month, but at that price the BPF is over £17, so buyers are unlikely to pay £537 for it. Now I have to lose money myself because of it.
Just when I thought eBay was fantastic for removing the vast majority of seller fees, they introduce this, clearly as a not-so-subtle way to re-coup the revenue lost from removing seller fees.
It's just pure greed on eBay's part.
I've never complained to eBay about anything formally - is there an email address for complaints, a petition, a thread - anything I can contribute to etc to show my annoyance at this?
