Simple ebay rip off!!! - Is this even legal?

[iconic-pictures]

The other day I received an order and requested a postage label as I had been doing since 'Simple delivery' came in.

However, after purchase I happened to notice that the postage cost was significantly more than I expected. After checking Royal mail prices on their website it seems I have been massively overcharged by ebay and this seems to have been snuck in without warning.

Previously, when simple delivery first came in I was charged £1.80 for a 150g 2nd class LL, however now it appears I'm being charged £2.94. I can't even figure out where ebay have got this figure from because even 48hrs fully tracked is only £2.75.

What has really annoyed me is that it appears this increase happened some time ago, and it seems I've already been overcharged on a number of previous orders. I also had no idea this has been happening as ebay don't tell you the price BEFORE you purchase the label and I just assumed it was still £1.80. How is this legal? Surely they have to tell you before purchase, especially if the price goes up.

I don't sell much any more and I'm basically just getting rid of some old stock that is slight seconds. I'm virtually making no money but thought someone might as well benefit rather than throwing the stuff in land fill. However, the rip off postage means I've been losing money.

I'm now buying postage direct from Royal mail, but how can ebay get away with this and why do they seem hell bent on destroying their own site?

Do they really think shenanigans like this are going to make people want to stay?

[jonatjonatjonat]

Did you buy those drawstring bags with the specific intention to sell them on out of interest?

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I'm just getting rid of some old stock that was left over from a previous business. There's only a hand full left and as I said, I thought people might as well get some use out of them instead of throwing them away.

After all the fees, postage, etc have been covered, I'm practically giving them away...

Or in the case of ebay's rip off postal fees, I've been paying to give them away.

[wildwaveslisa]

Its quite clear from a lot of your replies to posts that you do not like private sellers.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Couldn't be further from the truth. I like actual Private Sellers. Private Sellers should be what makes ebay tick.

Just someone selling 500 new drawstring bags wouldn't necessarily be a Private Seller.

And there are an awful lot of Private Sellers who should actually be businesses hanging around. Many of whom don't realise it!

[xyz307xyz]

"Previously, when simple delivery first came in I was charged £1.80 for a 150g 2nd class LL"

You might have bought a 2nd class label from ebay before; but 2nd class has never been on Simple Delivery. 

[iconic-pictures]

It must have been because some of my earlier orders on Simple delivery were 2nd class and were charged as a LL at £1.80, and I have proof...

It's only in the last few months they've hiked the price up...

WITHOUT advanced warning and WITHOUT telling you at the point of purchase that the price has been hiked up.

That is illegal!

[pegr-834437]

Have you really sold 633 of the bags as eBay suggest? Surely the AI should be noticing things like this and think hmm maybe this really isnt a private seller and is clearly a business trading illegally and defrauding our users on the site.

[xyz307xyz]

As per the screenshot - postage was RM 2nd Class. That wasn't/isn't Simple Delivery.

The item is now on Simple Delivery - possibly changed over on 8 Aug or 1 Sep, postage revisions are listed on those dates.

If you don't agree, that's fine.

[iconic-pictures]

Have you even bothered to read this thread?

I've already stated that these were left over from a previous business. That business was registered with HMRC and that is why I have sold so many of these.

The ones that are now left are just a handful of seconds that I was going to throw away, but I thought someone might as well get some use from. The amount of money I am likely to earn from these is well below the £1000 traders allowance, and after ebay's rip off charges it could even end up costing me to sell them.

So before you jump to conclusions and accuse me of trading illegally and defrauding people, please read the thread.

[pegr-834437]

I have read the thread, and you are still trading illegally and defrauding people. Have you even read eBays policies or the law on misrepresentation? Please read those before you accuse anyone of doing anything illegal.

It doesnt matter if its old business stock or new business stock, you are a business as you have clearly bought to sell and trading on a private account, thats illegal and by doing so you are making them pay a BPF which they wouldn't if you were correctly registered as a business.

[iconic-pictures]

I'm not making them pay a BPF, ebay is doing that.

The BFP came in AFTER I'd started selling these few remaining bags, and since I don't sell many, I didn't even know there was a BPF until very recently.

As for registering as a business, you don't need to if your profits are below the £1000 limit.

The few bags that are left have already been accounted for when I was registered as a business, but the business was wound up and these are just a few that were left cluttering up the house.

I ended up throwing a lot of them away as many of them weren't even fit to sell as seconds, so in reality, this particular product has actually cost me money to sell. There is no profit.

[pegr-834437]

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@iconic-pictures wrote:

I'm not making them pay a BPF, ebay is doing that.

Incorrect, you are as you are registered as a private seller and not a business as you should be.

The BFP came in AFTER I'd started selling these few remaining bags, and since I don't sell many, I didn't even know there was a BPF until very recently.

You should have been on a business account before then, you were still trading illegally before BPF

As for registering as a business, you don't need to if your profits are below the £1000 limit.

Profits dont mean you are a business or not.

The few bags that are left have already been accounted for when I was registered as a business, but the business was wound up and these are just a few that were left cluttering up the house.
As you are still selling the goods you are still acting as a business, just illegally.
I ended up throwing a lot of them away as many of them weren't even fit to sell as seconds, so in reality, this particular product has actually cost me money to sell. There is no profit.

Profit doesnt matter, Apple and Amazon dont make a profit in some countries but they are still a business.

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Hopefully you either change to a business account to trade legally or stop selling but more so I hope eBay change their AI to catch accounts like yours.

[wildwaveslisa]

E Bay police or what?

[pegr-834437]

Nope, just don't think business should be able to defraud people and not give them their consumer rights.

If you find it acceptable then thats your own views, but sadly I'm not an eBay police otherwise the site would be ran to its own policies and UK consumer law. 

[iconic-pictures]

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@wildwaveslisa wrote:

E Bay police or what?

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😂

Yes it certainly looks that way doesn't it.

I've had many dealings with HMRC over the years to make sure I'm not doing anything I shouldn't be, and unlike the ebay police, they've been extremely reasonable and often use common sense. They know who are really trying to scam the system and who aren't.

[jonatjonatjonat]

its nowt to do with HMRC - there are various other laws that stipulate if you should be trading as a business seller on ebay but I'll leave the topic there as it'll just end in he said she said.

Going back to the original query, its correct above that Royal Mail 2nd Class has never been a Simple Delivery option - so the example you posted is showing you having purchased a Custom Delivery label in the past. They aren't therefore doing anything illegal, as ebay have been upfront that they were switching listings to Simple Delivery and thye've been upfront with what the pricing of simple delivery is.

[pillarboxred]

What makes eBay tick is sellers buying listing services, private or business. Whether the listings sell or earn any money for the sellers is academic as there is always another seller coming along. EBay is squeezing cash out of us every which way.

[pillarboxred]

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@wildwaveslisa wrote:

Its quite clear from a lot of your replies to posts that you do not like private sellers.

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Business sellers get smugly ticked off by him too.

[iconic-pictures]

Ok, so I've looked through my ebay emails and yes now I see there is information about the new 'Simple delivery' arrangements. I'll be honest, as a casual seller I don't have time to keep up with every policy change, so I missed it... I hold my hands up, my bad.

However, there are still some serious issues with this...

1)  Many casual sellers will not keep up to date with all policy changes and I feel that at the very least, ebay SHOULD make it clear how much the postage is going to cost at the time of purchase. Sadly, there is NO information on this at all.

2) The email from ebay says, "Save 20% off postage costs*: Get competitive rates to offer standard and express delivery with Royal Mail and Evri." And at the bottom, the reference to the asterisk says, " *Comparing the average Simple Delivery and non-Simple Delivery buyer postage label cost savings data on eBay from Oct 2024 to March 2025."

So the headline takeaway is that postage is going to cost LESS not more! This is very misleading.

3) The policy says that for items under £20 Simple delivery is optional. So why was my listing automatically switched to Simple delivery? Surely for low value items it should be opt in, not opt out. And why is there no 'Simple' way to opt out?

The dictionary definition of "Simple" is...

simple

ˈsɪmp(ə)l  adjective  easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.

There is no way that this new postage arrangement can be described as 'Simple' for the average casual ebay seller of low cost items if they do not wish to get ripped off.