Buyer Protection Fees UK 2025 + consumer rights

[tulipsorange12]

This appalling decision by eBay to charge buyers for sales from private sellers at a flat rate of 75p and 4% of the sale price means they are actually charging more than the fees that private sellers were paying -  a cynical greed driven motive.  They think people are stupid. Under UK consumer law is it legal to charge an insurance fee for buyer protection? And is it legal to charge that only for sales from private sellers. What do consumer watchdogs make of these plans. How do we complain to eBay? 

[angelasusan1951]

Yes legalised

[randybullcow]

If I end up accidentally over-charging postage for any DVD or Blu-Ray I sell (Sometimes it's hard to tell which side of the 100g limit a package will fall on), I will offer the buyer either a partial refund or a free DVD or Blu-Ray of their choice.

Unfortunately as a private seller who partially  relies on the money I make on eBay, I can't afford tracking for every single item I sell.

And the sooner eBay remove this idiotic new buyers fee and payment arrangements, the better for everybody concerned.

[angelasusan1951]

I only make baby items to give me something to do I am not a well person of 74 years but it keeps my hands and brain working sometimes I do not cover the cost of what I sell the item for , since this after delivery came in I cannot keep track of what I am receiving from eBay I sold I item to a global Custer it was delivered 3 days ago I have not had payment released yet
Sent from my iPhone

[randybullcow]

Really sorry to hear that, cute profile photo by the way.

I'm mainly a CD, DVD and Blu-Ray seller so my wares are a dime a dozen, so have compete hard on price, therefore I have to make offers to buyers on bulk purchases to get an edge over my competition.

Under the old percentage system, after the 18% levy on a 99p DVD AND the postage costs, I would get 23p back.

I personally think that buyers should be advised to give feedback as soon as they've received the item (If there are any faults, then that can be easily ironed out) and the money put into your account as soon as possible. After all, you've schlepped your tuckus off creating the listing etc., so in my opinion, you deserve the money as soon as the transaction is completed.

Best of luck with your listing by the way.

[specialk1937]

With all this corporate greed it;s beginning to make me think I would be
better off selling things at a Car Boot!

[randybullcow]

Have thought about this solution myself, but unfortunately car boots have their problems too.

Firstly you have to find one, the nearest one to me is about 15 miles away. Secondly you have to get up at stupid o'clock to set up etc because they start about 7am. And of course you're at the mercy of the Great British weather.

Thirdly I don't drive, and there are no buses running at that time in the morning, so would have to rely on a taxi. I'm sure the driver will love trying to cram in my case, around 300 Blu-Rays, CDs and DVDs plus a table into their car.

Fourthly the cost. Again in my case after paying for the taxi, plus entry fee, plus pitch fee, plus food costs etc, I'd have to make some serious money just to break even.

[specialk1937]

All points taken, and of course wherever a 'boot' is and however you get
there, you still won't equal the potential size of a world wide audience
that 'ebay' affords

[hrithkomol]

I strongly believe that collecting this mandatory fee in the name of Buyer Protection does violate the UK's Consumer Rights Act.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

or get the price you want, certainly at our car boot anyway!   Everyone wants a 'bargain' now which translates to generally never paying over a pound for the majority of items.   I was practically giving away stuff at the end of the last season.  Then again anything is better than nothing.  What irritates me most is you are asking a pound for something and they try to get it for 20p and will not take no for an answer.    Some people are also less than honest.   Of course the upside is that people do not get to return (although to be honest i would refund if there was a problem i had not spotted)  I get more for stuff on e bay which is why i am sticking with it until they bring in SD.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

then do something about it then, complain to the relevant authorities.  

[buffster1963]

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@hrithkomol wrote:

I strongly believe that collecting this mandatory fee in the name of Buyer Protection does violate the UK's Consumer Rights Act.

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That only applies to business sellers. 

[desmie101]

We won't sell on car boots anymore, the last two we did were many years ago, we had things stolen, we also had problems with the car being raided before we had properly parked up. Absolute nightmare rudeness as well. 

[specialk1937]

If you are right than this suggests that 'ebay' should acknowledge this as
being a fact and back down from the position they have taken!

[georgie-dad]

It's the buyer who is getting hit, with the extra Protection Fee, unless a seller reduces the original selling price to accommodate the fee, but if the item is of low value say £1.95  an extra 79p is now added onto the sale price for the buyer, and if the buyer decided to buy another 4 items of similar prices, a further 4 x 79p is added onto this.  What is effecting private sellers of low value sale items are reduced sales and looking at the comments of these sellers it is happening. For higher sale priced items it's a win for sellers not having to pay for fees, but buyers had ebay protection on sales anyway, so how is this an improvement, also ebay holding back payments will be another profit area for them too. 

[wintersdawn1]

It is clear where ebay's priorities are focused on:

• Buyer Protection Fee - total lie, just pocketing the money
• Holding private sellers money - earning interest/investing
• Simple Delivery - once mandatory ebay will make money on every postage label for every item sold
• Hiding listings - ebay are hiding sellers listings so they will pay to make them visible via promotion etc.
• Disabling the invoice facility - buyers are forced to pay BPF on each item, no combining orders now.
  
  

[georgie-dad]

Only today I have complained about these changes as they are affecting my sales now and I learned today that if multiple different sale items are purchased each sale will be charged the Protection Fee to the buyer, only if you purchase multiple amounts of the same sale item will have one charge, I made a complaint to ebay via a Phone Call you can request to discuss any problems you have and the operator asked me if I wanted it sent as a complaint, you need all private sellers to do this though. Should bombard ebay with complaints.  

[*devils.advocate*]

….. What is effecting private sellers of low value sale items …..

That’s why I said in the post that I’m relatively sure in my own mind that they want rid of the low cost listings (hence the 75p per item rather than the 30p per transaction before).

And how many private sellers reduced their prices when they had no fees to sell to reflect their savings of fees?

Does anyone dispute the calculations in that post?

[yorkscollectables]

yorkscollectables

Engager

(464 feedbacks) View listings

FACT

On an item costing £12, the eBay Buyer Protection Fee is £1.20

that's a 10% surcharge that Buyers are expected to pay !!

R.I.P eBay (UK)

[buffster1963]

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@specialk1937 wrote:
If you are right than this suggests that 'ebay' should acknowledge this as
being a fact and back down from the position they have taken!

---

They do acknowledge it as a fact which is why the buyer fee is only on private sales and not business ones.  

[randybullcow]

Tanx for your reply and your last point was an absolute corker I thought