Buyer's Protection Fee technical questions

[prom22]

So, I would like to know the following:

1. How often will ebay check the feedback and how soon after finding a new feedback will ebay then move the Pending money to the Seller's balance?

2. How often does ebay check Tracking numbers (either input by seller or from buying a label) against the couriers' website? Or is it the website that sends over data on a daily basis?

3. Is 14 days actually 14 days or 2 weeks (working days), what about weekends?

4. Sellers are saying (on these Boards) that tracking data is not always received (?) by ebay - is ebay looking into this on an active basis? I am assuming this is an ebay problem as sellers say the tracking is available on the couriers' website - is this actually the problem?

I hope someone from ebay can answer these questions as I do not think opinions are a fruitful way to go!

[jckl1957]

1.  Remember, Ebay are only paying out based on feedback for items priced at under £10.  Payment is then made 24 hours later.  I already have one payment made on this basis.  There won't be a person checking - it will all be automated.  The buyer paid on 16th Feb.  I posted promptly with just a stamp on so no tracking. it arrived quickly and the buyer left positive FB.  Money in my bank account this morning.

2. Tracking seems to update randomly rather than, for example, once a day across the site.  There won't be a straightforward answer to this because of the multitude of carriers used by sellers.

3. It is 14 days - so, looking at my sales, I was paid for an item yesterday, 22 Feb.  In orders it states  'Funds pending – in eBay balance 9 Mar.'  Not counting 22nd Feb, that is 14 days.

4. I can't answer that one.  I will say that all of the items I have sent tracked this year (RM Tracked 48) have been delivered and Ebay has updated the tracking on the site.

I am not from Ebay - however, the above answers are based on experience, not opinion.  If you want responses from the Ebay Community Team, they have a live Q&A session every Wednesday.

[prom22]

So, does items under £10 mean the total order (e.g. a buyer buys 3 items from the same listing at £2 each)?

and just out of interest, is the BPF charged once on the whole order or is it per item (the 75p part)?

I would hope that ebay will be more professional in their carrier tracking monitoring than you assume, certainly Vinted seems to have a better handle on it, not sure if the introduction of Simple Delivery will improve things or not.

Is the Q&A just that - or do they pick up queries from the Boards etc.?

[sandyt2123]

My question about this new system is trying too understand by what criteria eBay are applying the buyer protection fee. As I have a couple of used items haven't got a buyer protection fee, while most of my others at the moment do. Does the fee only apply to "new" items with labels for example (as I read somewhere else on the forum which someone suggested) or does it apply 100% to all items I list as a private seller? 

I am just a little confused. 

In some respects I don't object to paying a fee, but I don't like the  way that eBay first of all eliminated fees, and now are reinstating them almost surreptitiously and calling them "buyer protection" which makes me feel as though I am bad seller! 

All the stuff I sell is surplus household stuff which I have accumulated over many years and no longer need. 

I am happy to continue to use eBay, but I would just like a better explanation of when these fees are applied. 

Can anyone advise? 

Thanks 

[andha-21]

Damn, I'd so love to see an eBay legal account answer this.

1, We will generally check as often as possible 

2. The AI system normally does checks every 30 minutes

3. 14 days is typically 14 days unless someone/an entity uses a different calendar system

4. The tracking system usually works as designed but when it doesn't we suggest you blame everyone else first.

[lucy_farmer]

😂

'generally.. normally.. typically ..usually ...'

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Sombody in the legal dept. got a Thesaurus for Christmas...... they all come under the heading of "covering our own a**e.'

[lucy_farmer]

'As I have a couple of used items haven't got a buyer protection fee, while most of my others at the moment do'

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The BPF has been rolled in a bit of a 'lumpy' fashion. So not quite every category has got it yet. (it's got nothing to do with whether or not the item is used or new- just depends what category it's in...)

It will eventually apply to all the listings of private sellers.

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'.....reinstating them almost surreptitiously and calling them "buyer protection" which makes me feel as though I am bad seller!'

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You're not alone there!

We all feel rather insulted that ebay want to make buyers think they need 'protection' from us  ..

'

[jckl1957]

This is what Ebay have said about items under £10:

We’ve also heard your feedback and understand that shipping costs are particularly top of mind for low price items. When you’re selling a single item for £10 or less, and it’s sent untracked, funds will now be available 24 hours after you receive positive buyer feedback. This will be live by the end of February.

I believe sellers have said that the BPF is per item not per transaction.  So each low cost item will have 75p + 4% added.

The Q&A only responds to questions from buyers posed to the team during that session.

'Chat with the eBay Community Team

Come by and ask your questions during the Weekly Chat. Open every Wednesday from 2pm to 3pm!'

Details from the top of this page, click 'Help from the community'.

[jckl1957]

You need to read the email Ebay sent to all sellers on 3rd January.

All the details are there.

Updates are available on the announcements page.

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements

[sandyt2123]

Thanks, 

I think I either missed the email, or didn’t read it properly as it was just after New Year! 

I just think the explanation isn’t as clear as it should be.

And I still think the changes do tend to somehow be negative to me as a private seller. 

[jckl1957]

The fees will make your items more expensive.

I think if you look at your items by clicking on them individually, you will see that the fee has been applied - for example, the QE Coronation mug is priced at £11.11 which is probably not the price you set.

However, people will either buy or not.

Private sellers are unloading unwanted items and don't have stock to buy or staff to pay,

Remember, up until October we were paying over 13% + 30p per transaction in fees so you may feel able to reduce your prices a little.