Be Aware! Offer prices INCLUDE the Buyer Protection Fee

[meditative-moods]

I made a sale on my personal account this morning for a set of headphones that I had listed at £59.95 with it set to auto accept offers over £50.00.

A buyer made an offer 10% below asking price, so £54.00 and as I have it set to auto-accept above £50.00 this was accepted, however, when the email for the order came through, I only receive £51.23 as the Buyer Protection Fee of £2.77 is INCLUDED in the offer price.

In my opinion, if the buyer has offer £54.00, I should receive the £54.00 and the BPF should be added to that.

Just be aware if you have offers, particularly on lower value items, as this change will make most low value offers pointless to sellers.

eBay seem to be on a path to self destruction, not giving a thought as to how their imbecilic changes affect real people 🤷‍♂️

[papso22]

The buyer should have offered £80 plus the BPF. 

[pickup2313]

That’s not how ebay manages it though.  The while way ebay adds the BPF on offers or counter offers is plain confusing if you ask me….

[mawels_87]

I've complain directly to eBay about this matter as the offer button for seller and buyer is very confusing. Vinted offer button isn't confusing in anyway. If a buyer on Vinted makes an £80.00 offer that is what the seller will get. The eBay buyer protection isn't the issue, but it's the way eBay have set-up the offer button. 

This is what the buyer sees when making an offer of £80.00.

[papso22]

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@mawels_87 wrote:

I've complain directly to eBay about this matter as the offer button for seller and buyer is very confusing. Vinted offer button isn't confusing in anyway. If a buyer on Vinted makes an £80.00 offer that is what the seller will get. The eBay buyer protection isn't the issue, but it's the way eBay have set-up the offer button. 

This is what the buyer sees when making an offer of £80.00.

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How is that not clear?  If you and your buyer agreed they would give you £80, then that screen shows them you would not get £80 if that is what they offered.

[49bag]

EBay now put a banner on my home page saying ‘It’s free to sell’ . I assumed they’d sorted this issue and like Vinted, who they are copying, the BPF is always added to the sellers price whether it was a buy it now or offer. This post makes me think that isn’t the case. You have essentially paid the fee OUT OF the offer price. It wasn’t added on top.

[beeappy20]

It may look clear on the above screenshot  but it’s 100% unfair.
Other  eBay users have mentioned that on other selling sites that the offer you receive is the money you get with no deductions. That seems fair and totally straightforward. 

Also unable to  find any reference to this situation on eBay site at all in their terms and conditions making it crystal clear. 

[mawels_87]

If I agree on Vinted £80.00 I would get £80.00, not £76.23. It's  for reasons like this that i buy from Vinted over eBay.

[chilterns60]

I agree. As ebay advertise that there's no longer a seller fee, the offer should be what the seller gets. I think their claim is questionable anyway, as the buyer never actually sees the seller's price - very headline figure includes the so-called "Buyer Protection Fee".

[anpas_4429]

So i am selling an item for £20 i get an offer of £13.73

The idea is that the offer i get is what the buyer is willing to pay (for the item)  

Im not convinced all buyers are making an offer based on it including the BPF so technically this is a charge to me from eBay because its obvious i was offered £15 (for the item)

i politely countered her offer of £15 with an offer of £15, its so silly i put in a message (i hope you understand)

i  have had this happen multiple times now most of the time i accept im being charged a buyer fee from eBay but in this instance i thought i would try and counter with the same amount the buyer was willing to pay…..(for the item)

[chilterns60]

I always counter-act an offer by adding the so-called Buyer Protection Fee. The current "offer" policy of Ebay contradicts their claim that there are no sellers' fees. 

[cheapluxuries]

Yes it' an absolute disgrace!

[millymolly399]

Listings  now don’t show the buyer fee at all. The price in my summary page shows the amount without the buyer fee. My listing page shows a single price which includes the buyer fee. 

They need to rename it seller fee. We all knew it was a fee to us,  but now they’ve done away with telling the buyer there’s an additional fee altogether. They really do need to stop telling us it’s ’free To sell’.

We used to pay fees, then we had the lovely few months where there were no fees. Now we are back to paying fees. Personally I prefer knowing what the fee is upfront, it’s just the way they’ve gone about it.
My sales have slowed right down, I think because prices look higher now, but apparently eBay are introducing an easy way for sellers to price their items to include the buyer fee, so we can sell for a rounded up figure. ( Still spinning it as a buyer fee though lol) 

On a side note, parcel weights still jump from 2kg to 10kg. This doesn’t help sales when buyers are being overcharged for postage either. 

[sml192]

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@millymolly399 wrote:

On a side note, parcel weights still jump from 2kg to 10kg. This doesn’t help sales when buyers are being overcharged for postage either. 

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All of Royal Mail's services are 'Up to 2Kg' and then 'Up to 10Kg' so it isn't something specific to eBay.  Even does have an 'Up to 5Kg' weight band but it is the same price as their 'Up to 10Kg' one.

[chilterns60]

Yes. I've just sold an item on ebay with their compulsory "Simple Delivery" option (there wasn't an option to opt out of this). The customer has been charged £5.21 with Evri whereas I could have posted the item (under 5kg) for £3.99 with InPost.

[hangingtom]

Hi. Does the counter offer being accepted then means that the buyer pays the fee as opposed to the seller?

[knit-in-styles]

I am not sure if this is related but last night I sold an item on my private account that I had listed at £4.99. I have NOT sent any offers on this item. I double checked the offers part on the listing and nope, nothing sent. I do have offers accepted on the listing but I have NOT got a minimum amount.

When I check the sale it sold for £4.13 and that (plus postage) is what I received. The sale page shows it under "sold by seller initiated offer" which as I say I have not done. If I do send offers on something as low value as that I would only send at 5% but this has sold with 17% off. I do not have automatically send offers on my listings neither.

Can anyone explain please.

[papso22]

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@hangingtom wrote:

Hi. Does the counter offer being accepted then means that the buyer pays the fee as opposed to the seller?

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The buyer always pays the fee, contractually, legally, and practically.  

The idea that the seller pays is simply one of perception.