Ebay decided to introduce 'no seller fees' for private sellers nearly a month ago now. I am certainly not against this in principle as it should attract more sellers to ebay, and hopefully as they suggest, sellers will also be buyers. It is also good to have a varied mix of new and secondhand items for sale on the site.
However, there has been a major issue that has been highlighted in many many many posts here on the forum - business sellers trading (illegally - which ebay seems to accept as ok) as 'private' sellers. This has always been an issue as private sellers were able to list 1000s of items for free (1000 new items could be added each month! - now thankfully reduced to 300). Personally as a business seller (paying £92/month for a shop) I only get 1500 free a month - and that includes listings that didn't sell (unlike a 'private' seller) being auto-relisted. And with various special offers (not available to business sellers) getting reduced fees on sales. Plus private sellers don't have to accept returns, or provide their contact details. But none of that is new - just something that business sellers have been complaining about (without anything being done about it) for years.
What is new? 'Private' sellers getting no seller fees. I have no problem with genuine private sellers listing their 'stuff' that they no longer want and doing so completely free. My moan is all (and I am talking 1000s) of business sellers illegally trading as 'private'. How are we genuine legal business sellers supposed to compete now?
Example (ignoring £92/ month shop fee) - sold switch game for £31.99 My ebay fees £4.29. Business seller as 'private' seller fees £0.00
I could be moaning about the high ebay fees for myself. But I am not. I might not like them, but it is my choice to pay them for the worldwide marketplace that ebay provide. I am paying for that service. My moan is that ebay are giving these 'private' business sellers an even bigger advantage that ever. In the above example one of these sellers could sell that same game for £27.70 and make the same profit. Or even sell for £28.99 still making a bigger profit (if they paid the same as me for it) and almost definitely getting the sale instead of a genuine business seller like myself. Ebay say they are monitoring sellers and 'suggesting' that they change their account to a business account. But why didn't they do that years ago. Or at least before they introduced the free fees for private sellers. Only today I have noticed a 'private' seller with 4400+ items listed (99% brand new) with a feedback of 8600+ Come on ebay, there is no way on earth that is a 'private' seller!
This may have a terrible impact to the genuine business sellers at any time of the year, but especially now when we are approaching Christmas (the busiest time of the year for a lot of us) - a make or break time for a lot of sellers. Ebay you are hurting the genuine business sellers (I am sure there will be a number that are looking to reduce their sales on here, further reducing your revenue), and are losing money through giving these sellers free selling fees (again I have no problem with genuine private sellers).
Come on ebay, until you introduce any additional fees in the new year (that's another topic of conversation) business sellers are your main source of income - do the right thing and make it a fair playing field where all sellers conform to the law!
It would be interesting to hear what anyone from the 'ebay Community Team' have to say.
