Lost sale

[decanus3482]

Just lost a sale due to e-bays 'buyer protection' fees ... (what they should be called is back door fees to make up for not charging sale fees anymore) ..  buyers don't need buyer protection fees as they have always had protection, the ability to go to e-bay to settle a dispute.  Have an item listed at a fair price, even reduced it but due to e-bay machinations I was unable to make to sell due to these fees... I asked the buyer to make the bid for my lowest price, £240 ,one we had agreed on, he did that but when  I received the notification, it was listed by e-bay at around £230  proof attached, he assures me he offered £240 as agreed,  in other words If I accepted  essentially I would then be paying the fee and getting £230 instead of £240. ??

Overall, in reality at my lowest price the buyer would be paying nearly £20 more for the item with the fee and postage, he declined because of that so I have lost a sale and e-bay have lost their commission on that sale .. is it any wonder people try to sell off site ??

Before any of e-bays defenders come here with their rubbish excuses, I dont know which is the more insulting, the fact that e-bay does this and you defend it or the fact you think we are so dumb we dont realise what a con artist institution e-bay has become.. been a member for a long time, and it has gone way downhill since its early days and totally lost its way. I rarely sell anymore, and although I still buy but I wont sometimes because of these excess back door fees.

[red_magpie]

he assures me he offered £240 as agreed

Correct. When an offer is made, eBay deducts the buyer protection fee from the amount offered.

When a buyer bids and wins, the bpf is added to the winning bid.

I have never made an offer under this system myself. Is it made clear to the buyer that the offer is inclusive of the bpf, and does it state the net amount the seller will actually be offered?

[papso22]

If you wanted to receive £240 then you needed to work out what the buyer needs to offer by adding the buyer protection fee to the £240 you want to receive.

Ebay explains what the fee is for on the help pages.  

[decanus3482]

So, in other words then in a backwards way of working, when the seller makes an offer and the buyer accepts  it is the seller that ends up paying the 'buyer protection' and not the buyer ..  as for the rest of your answer, you tell me, your the e-bay acolyte  and 'expert' .. 

[decanus3482]

E-bay explains nothing at all in reality that doesn't suit its own ends .. just leaves it to the 'defenders' like you to B S people with answers 

[decanus3482]

As an overall comment, I am coming to the conclusion that all of their 'mentors/'experts' whatever who answer problems  are either people paid by e-bay to read from prepared scripts or e-bay employees using false profiles .. worse still it could be A I too ... which given a lot of non answers that are given is the more likely answer to that .. as most of answers posted to people questions are absolute waffle .. !!

[jckl1957]

Mentors are real people, other buyers and sellers like yourself.

We are not employed by Ebay.

In this part of the forum, only mentors can respond to questions and we offer advice on Ebay policy. You did not have to post here:

Member To Member Support

The place for eBay buyers and sellers to ask Community Mentors questions about buying and selling on eBay.

 

If you wanted an open discussion and an exchange of opinions, then there are parts of the forum that are clearly marked 'Discussion'.

[red_magpie]

it is the seller that ends up paying the 'buyer protection' and not the buyer ..

That is certainly how it will appear to sellers when they receive less than the buyer offered. And entirely contrary to eBay's guidance to sellers that the buyer will pay the buyer protection fee.

The important point is whether buyers understand that they need to add the cost of the buyer protection fee to the amount they wish to offer the seller. There' is no mention of this in eBay's guidance on making an offer.

Whether something pops up to inform the buyer when actually making an offer I don't know. It ought to set out the cost of the bpf  and the net value of the offer after this is deducted. If it doesn't, this will be misleading to buyers and unfair on sellers. Not having made an offer since the bpf was introduced I have no experience of this. I was hoping that someone else here may know?