Why doesn't eBay apply 'Buyer Protection' at the invoice stage?

[tillysmusic]

Wouldn't it be more obvious to apply the so-called 'Buyer Protection' at the invoice stage once the item has actually sold? Am I being overly cynical by thinking that eBay doesn't want to appear as the bad guys by charging extra fees, so they're stitching-up the sellers instead, making their items appear more expensive despite sellers not receiving any of this money?

[tressygirl]

We are told that the breakdown of item price and Buyer Protection Fee is shown at eBay checkout, though like yourself others too are reporting not seeing this breakdown.

Other aspects are facing teething problems, it looks like a ' bedding in time' is needed for this new Fee to be applied to all categories,  correctly.

@tillysmusic 

[jckl1957]

Buyers need to see the price they will be charged.

Ebay can't add an extra fee on when the buyer goes to pay - a lot of people would simply walk away from the item if that happened.

Can you imagine doing a shop at Tesco using scan and shop and then having VAT added on at the end?

I don't think buyers will feel 'stitched up'.

They see the item, they see the price and they decide if they want to buy that thing at that price.  Same as it has always been.

[tillysmusic]

I'm not sure conflating tax and private selling fees is necessarily helpful to this particular issue. We all accept that eBay is a commercial concern that needs to raise revenue accordingly, but my original post was more about perception - what potential buyers first see when they view a listing on the site. At the moment, it appears that sellers have significantly raised their prices, when in reality sellers will see absolutely none of that extra money, and may actually lose potential sales due to eBay front-loading its fees onto the starting price. As previously mentioned, this feels more like a smoke-screen being used by the company to enhance its own corporate vision at the expense of its members. If there are as many issues with this subject as has been suggested, perhaps this points to a failure of communication by eBay, and a possible rethink of strategy.

[red_magpie]

this feels more like a smoke-screen

eBay always spins changes to appear to be for the benefit of members and not themselves.

Just look at the first words of eBay's explanation: "When you shop on eBay.co.uk, your purchase now always includes Buyer Protection".

What do they mean "now" includes buyer protection?? They already did, and it was always free. eBay hasn't even got around to changing their own claim "Free automatic coverage - Shop hassle-free with eBay Money Back Guarantee. There's no extra fee".

Well, there is now. All that's changed is that when buying from private sellers buyers are now charged for it.