EBay plan to add fees for buyers - hurts businesses even further

[vintagefunk01]

From the sky news article here which is obviously a press release https://news.sky.com/story/ebay-selling-fees-are-scrapped-to-boost-to-reselling-13225638

It seems clear ebay is following in the footsteps of other selling marketplaces by adding fees for buyers in the early new year,  but since fees remain in place for business sellers adding another fee on top of this is another hit to our bottom line.

We will now be expected to absorb the buyers fee and our own business selling fee (and shop fees etc).

This seems crazy to me - although eBay say it'll be 'small' , if it's 8% like elsewhere that's a massive hit for us to take.  Yes it's for the buyers but we all know prices will drop because of it - for example a 350 item will now cost 379 to the buyer with an 8% fee that is currently used by another platform, so ofc sellers will drop the initial price so that the item actually sells and to offset this.

Fine for private sellers who have no fees to compensate, but insane for business sellers with hefty fvf and shop fees already 

[lucy_farmer]

'I apologise for being rude .

S'alight mate, there's a lot of stressed out people on here today!

[mayorsincome]

I got that crazy sounding email and came here to check it was crazy.

It's crazy. Easier to shop? Better protection? No surprises at checkout? Sounds like Amazon.co.uk.

Why the **** would there be surprises at checkout? Who the **** wrote that email? Sounds like a bank scam.

Almost 24 years I've been buying (nearly 5000 items) and if I want a £10.00 Blu-ray it'll have to be £10.00. I don't care who pays the rest or how the costs are hid but it has to be £10.00.

If eBay don't have it for £10.00 I'll shop elsewhere. Or wait.

Putting this to one side is this legal in the UK? If it's BIN then it has to show the actual price. If that is the case then I will pay £10.00 if I want to pay £10.00 but I assume the Seller will make less as I've already figured in my total cost.

I think the problem is eBay think they own an auction site but really it's mostly overpriced tat that you can't  even search for correctly.

eBay is not an essential shop in fact it's moving further away from my first stop more and more.

[themartian82]

oh mate lol...I promised myself this will be my last reply to this post 😉 

So your £10 bluray if being sold by a Private Seller, if they want a tenner for it, ebay will advertise it as £11.15. You won't see £10 +4% +75pence, you will just see £11.15. If the private seller wants to advertise it for £10 to a buyer, then its their choice to reduce the price they will get in their pocket (£8.90 essentially).

Business Sellers are not affected by this fee it seems. MusicMagpie will continue to sell at what they sell. 

But apparently, Cash on Collection is being removed. And payment has to be made for collection address to be revealed. And a buyer can then raise a case after collecting and ebay may refund the item and it will be for the private seller to stress how to get their item back...Cash on collection safeguarded from this happening. To look into and understand the risks...

[mayorsincome]

OK, I understand it may now say £11.15 but who in their right mind would pay £11.15 for a £10.00 Blu-ray 😁

Seriously, a [private] Seller's life already seems a bit of a nightmare on eBay in general and this just adds more burden.

I suppose one positive thing (although I don't know the figures) is the fake private sellers listing stuff when they are very obviously not private sellers.

Making a here today gone tomorrow marketplace more complicated and expensive will make for bad business.

Private sellers are the main reason I visit eBay for most of the things I shop for so I'd say they're a pretty important part of the system.

[buffster1963]

Cash on collection has already been removed. 

[ren_ns]

I want to know how Sky knew about it? I feel as if all of this has been planned well in advance in connection with the government who were also introducing the digital sales tax and the EU who want all business sellers to follow their regulations regardless of whether you actually sell to them... all of it seems to be geared up to forcing people to become business sellers or vanish.

[valueaddedresource]

---

@ren_ns wrote:

I want to know how Sky knew about it? I feel as if all of this has been planned well in advance in connection with the government who were also introducing the digital sales tax and the EU who want all business sellers to follow their regulations regardless of whether you actually sell to them... all of it seems to be geared up to forcing people to become business sellers or vanish.

---

@ren_ns it is extremely common in the media world for companies, government spokespeople etc. to provide advanced information to journalists "under embargo" -  which means the journalist gets access to info needed to be able to write their article in exchange for agreeing to hold publication until an agreed upon date/time.

Typically it's a "gentleman's agreement" kind of deal - there's no law or contract which states the journalist can't publish before that date, but it's generally understood and respected that those who agree to embargoes to gain access to info and then don't hold up their end of the bargain will quickly find themselves no longer receiving offers of advance info under embargo in the future.

This is true across all topics covered by most news outlets and I know from personal experience that eBay uses it frequently. 😉

[themartian82]

Yikes I wasn't keeping up. So I've just checked one of my old 'for collection' listings and I can't enable 'immediate payment'...so how does it work? Can a buyer still buy and not pay? And I can message the buyer my address and they can come and collect with Cash and a collection code?

Thanks!

[4_bathrooms]

There will obviously be little point in private sellers offering "free" delivery once this kicks in. The Buyer Protection fee applies to the sale price of the item but it is not applied to any postage/shipping that is charged separately. So, if a private seller includes the postage/shipping cost in the item price - i.e. they offer "free" shipping - the BPF will apply to the postage cost as well.

It will be interesting to see how eBay plans to prevent the sort of fee evasion that was so rampant before FVFs were levied against the total sale price including postage/shipping. That is, unless "Simple Delivery" is that plan.

I also couldn't help noticing Buyer Protection is capitalised suggesting it will be some new eBay programme. From the blurb:

"Buyer Protection is a new programme that applies to all purchases on eBay.co.uk, and includes 24/7 customer support. Additionally, when you buy from a UK-based private seller, seller funds are sent after an item is considered delivered, and a mandatory Buyer Protection fee is included in the item price.

eBay Money Back Guarantee is an additional layer of protection on your purchase. If an item doesn't arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn't match the listing description, you can request a refund within 30 days of the delivery date. This service is free and applies to most items on our site."

All I can find about what protections this new Buyer Protection programme affords is this:

"When applicable, the Buyer Protection fee will always be included in the item price. At checkout, you'll see it underneath the item name.

At checkout, click on Buyer Protection to see what protection is included and a detailed breakdown of the price."

I still can't work out how this is going to work with auctions:

"When you enter a starting bid, we add the Buyer Protection fee so you can see what the buyer's minimum bid amount will be."

That part I get; i.e. whatever starting bid the seller enters will have the applicable BPF applied to it. However:

"As the Buyer Protection fee is variable, the fee amount that the buyer actually pays is calculated as part of the final auction selling price.

By including the fee in the buyer's bid price, we're making it simple and transparent so buyers always know what they'll pay and sellers know how much they'll receive."

Huh? Is the BPF added to every bid, included in every bid or is it calculated at the end of the auction? I really don't understand how this works for bidders. If a bidder places a bid for £30 are they told their bid will actually be (a) £31.95 before they confirm it, or (b) if they bid £30 are they really bidding £28.13 with the BPF added or (c) should their £30.00 bid win are they told they need to pay £31.95? 

If the answer is (b) there's really no arguing it is a fee levied against the seller and not the buyer.

[valueaddedresource]

---

@4_bathrooms wrote:

There will obviously be little point in private sellers offering "free" delivery once this kicks in.

---

@4_bathrooms  private sellers will not have the option to offer free shipping once mandatory use of Simple Delivery kicks in, so this will mostly be a moot point.

CEO Jamie Iannone has said it will be mandatory for private sellers of eligible items to use Simple Delivery sometime in Q1 2025.

Once that happens, eBay will control everything about which shipping methods are shown to buyers and for what costs. Free shipping may still be occasionally offered to buyers, but it will be eBay's decision to do so, not the seller's.

[showpiece-antiques]

Not hurting businesses, hurting private sellers. 

[hobbit66]

It will hurt businesses too when there are no buyers on the platform !

[showpiece-antiques]

No buyers? I don't think that will happen

[cobwebcottage]

On collection only items, the buyer has to pay first and then you can send them your collection details . No cash. You need to enter the numerical code on collection or scan the QR code to  show it has been collected and for your protection.

If they decide not to go ahead with the sale after inspecting the item,  you can cancel the sale.

[hobbit66]

Less buyers 🙂  People want bargains on ebay....not to buy from business sellers at retail prices !

[showpiece-antiques]

Some do 😉

[themartian82]

Thanks I got that part. BUT, will there be anything preventing me from messaging my address to the buyer? And when they collect they happily pay cash as per my preference. I don't have any seller fees due, and it seems the only option then is for the transaction to be cancelled so that the buyer is released from electronic payment demand by ebay...

Cash is still a legal tender in the UK so how can ebay force 'non-cash' only payment?

Where is Mickey Haller when we need his legal advise on all of this ...

[cobwebcottage]

You cannot message your buyer with your address UNTIL they have paid through Ebay.

You cannot accept cash and you cannot ask for cash.

If you cancel sales and accept cash on collection, you will risk a permanent ban.

Ebays platform Ebays rules.

[4_bathrooms]

---

@themartian82 wrote:

BUT, will there be anything preventing me from messaging my address to the buyer?

---

If you try to send any contact details outside of a transaction you will likely find a warning pop up about eBay's member to member contact policy with the message failing to actually send. This actually happened to me once when I was sending a model number to a potential buyer - it seemed eBay thought I was trying to send them a contact number.

---

@themartian82 wrote:

And when they collect they happily pay cash as per my preference. I don't have any seller fees due, and it seems the only option then is for the transaction to be cancelled so that the buyer is released from electronic payment demand by ebay...

---

If eBay detected off-eBay sales - which is against another of their myriad policies - you would likely eventually receive a message telling you that you are "a risk to the eBay community" and find your selling privileges permanently suspended.  

---

@themartian82 wrote:

Cash is still a legal tender in the UK so how can ebay force 'non-cash' only payment?

---

It's eBay's website so it's their rules, otherwise known as the (never read) User Agreement. The UA is legally binding despite what some would want you to believe.

[themartian82]

Thanks for the clarity all. I had 3 high value (to me compared to my other items) electronics items (LED TV, Vintage S-VHS Camcorder, Sony DAB MP3 Hifi) which I was selling as Cash on Collection, and have just ended these listings. 

Its not worth the hassle of a dishonest buyer, and cash on collection safeguarded sellers of that. I'll look into Facebook MarketPlace or Gumtree. These items were not selling on ebay anyway so no loss there.