buyer protection fee

[meanmimunky]

is this buyer potection fee even legal ???

consumer rights are there for everyone to shop with confidence. theres even distance selling rules in place.

getting money back is a right you already have

WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR IT

[papso22]

You obviously haven't read what ebay says it's for.

[meanmimunky]

enlighten me then.

im already entitled to my money back so i dont need it, and

its not helping sellers as they still get the money taken from them even though a "protection fee" has been added to their items

[jckl1957]

All the details are here:

https://pages.ebay.co.uk/buyerprotection/

The BPF is not designed to protect sellers 

If you want to avoid it, only buy from correctly registered business sellers who don't have the BPF added to their prices.

Griping about it is pointless.  You don't have to shop on Ebay but, if you choose to, and you buy from private sellers, then you pay this small additional fee.

[meanmimunky]

its called...  Buyers Protection. buyers already have it. sellers dont gain anything from it being added without choice.

the fee is charging money for something that is already written in law.

the post is asking if it is legal to charge for something  without a choice that we are entitled to by law.

 but your right, griping about things does seem pointless with experienced mentors such as yourself repling with negative, pro ebay retorts.

[papso22]

So you still haven't read the guidance!

It has nothing whatsoever to do with consumer protection. 

[tobiasd4]

DSR only apply to business sellers, not private ones.

There have been lots of moans about BPF,

but ebay's attitude is if you don't like it, don't buy on ebay or stick to business sellers. 

[plpmr]

"is this buyer potection fee even legal ???"

Ready eBay's T&C.

[red_magpie]

WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR IT

You only pay the buyer protection fee when buying from private sellers.

When eBay removed fees for private sellers, they almost simulaneously introduced the buyer protection fee. Basically, eBay lost one source of income and created another.

The main difference is that eBay, under its new (compulsory) simple delivery system, is now responsible for the cost of refunding buyers for items sold by private sellers that don't arrive. The seller remains responsible for the cost of refunding items that are not as described.

Basically, buyers have the same protection as before. The difference is that, when buying from private sellers, eBay now charges them a fee for this.

Buyers are not and never were protected by statutory consumer protection when buying from private sellers.

Buying from business sellers is unaffected by the above changes.

[meanmimunky]

agreed, rights when buying from private are less but still exist. goods have to be as described. 

ebay as a selling platform put in place a resolution centre for disputes to be resolved should they occur between any type of seller.

 having used ebay for many years, and purchases, ive always been able to resolve a problem via this opyion.

 if you say this fee is to cover items lost in post then, unless ebay have started an actual delivery network, the company responsible for delivery of items sent via ebays new involvment in making money from posting everyones items have a "duty of care" and lost/misplaced items will be, just as they were before the new fee, open for compensation claims by the sender.

 so basicaly your saying...

ebay are charging a protection fee for items already covered under the rights given by delivery companys. because anything that goes missing in transit is already covered by them.

AGAIN... id like to ask, is it legal to charge money for something

[meanmimunky]

ok so its not for sellers and its not for buyers. its for stuff that gets lost in the post.

every parcel distribution company have a claims section the sender can use for items lost/misplaced inline with consumer law

so why do ebay think its ok to impose a fee for something thats covered by law.

heres what google says;

Generally, it is not legal to charge money for something you are legally entitled to for free. If a good or service is offered for free, or if you are legally entitled to it without charge, then attempting to extract payment for it would be considered illegal and could be subject to legal action. 

[papso22]

You still don't understand. 

Clearly ebay needed to replace private seller fees with a source of revenue, and they chose the BPF, which has nothing to do with the money back guarantee or seller protection under Simple Delivery. 

It is Simple Delivery that makes ebay responsible for items lost or damaged in the post but they will have a contract with the courier company that covers that.   In other words it will be the courier company that is ultimately responsible and ebay will not use the BPF to cover those refunds.

The BPF is a poorly worded and badly explained fee but it is not illegal. 

[meanmimunky]

if ebay are acting as an intermediate then basicly they are becoming the sender. any rights you already had when sending a parcel still legally exist.

from what these community mentors are saying it seems the fee is being taken from  the wrong person under false pretence.

sellers choosing to use ebays mailing service should pay, not the buyer, as they are handing ebay their responsibility.

the question still stands.

personally i think it not legal,

and i havnt read anything on ebay inc the TnCs to convince me otherwise.

[tobiasd4]

TBH.

It doesn't matter whether you or any of us think BPF  is legal or not, ebay have made it compulsory when buying from private buyers, as I said DSR only applies to business sellers.

I have no doubt ebay's lawyers have deemed it legal.

[papso22]

I dont think you have read any of the T&Cs at all as you are still conflating two entirely different things and not understanding either.

[john1297576]

Because of the confusion over something supposed to be Simple, if item gets lost and seller in good faith refunds, as always was the case, I do not see ebay jumping in to say we should have refunded. Let us give you the seller your money back.

[meanmimunky]

i have read the TCs. it doesnt state anything clearly as to why, other than ALL private sellers have no choice.

the fee doesnt come with anything better or even different than before. all you mentors are trying to make out its for the greater good when really its just an ebay money making exercise.

As for the leagality and ebays lawers not doing something thats leagally wrong,

think of all these claim companies in buisness getting money back from companies that mis sold whatever

lawers are willing to allow charging a fee knowing when it comes to light they would only pay back a proportion of the money gained.

thats even if it does, somewhere down the line this fee will be replaced with something else and hey presto... millions made

the more i question it the more i really do think its illeagal