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 

[71camshaft]

Great

[71camshaft]

Correct

[71camshaft]

I would just stop selling then lol

[bilboles]

Well I know where I will be heading come February, I am not going to allow them to charge my buyers extra fees. Ebay used to be a brilliant site, but now it just too expensive with higher and higher fees, there are better alternatives these days. 

[jond1492]

Have you looked at Hermes/Evri's list of terms and conditions, in terms of what they do/don't insure?  There's literally nothing they will legally carry; nothing they will legally insure, and the user of their sh***y service will end up with a "Oh, sorry,mate.  We lost the item in the post" excuse, which is what they tend to do now, after one of their staff have awarded themselves a five-finger-discount to your goods.  Good luck in getting a penny out of those shysters, let alone enough money back to cover the cost of the item you've sold, the postage costs, and any other fees you've incurred!

[gjwood84]

No I haven't as I wouldn’t touch them but I take your point! It’s going to be a real mess! Scammers paradise!

[71camshaft]

😭😂

[tribalgiftsuk]

'Yes they are.  It is going to be 8% plus a basic 75p.   I work on a very small profit and will now lose out as I will have to put more on my prices to attract customers.'

Your a business seller then, I suggest you register as such.  If your selling for a profit you are a business seller.

[mark.g31]

IM AFRAID THEY ARE BRINGING IN OR HAVE BROUGHT IN BUYER FEES THAT ALREADY INCLUDED IN THE PRICE OR END PRICE MHEN YOU BUY THINGS. SO THE BUY IT NOW PRICE ALREADY HAS THE BUYING FEE INCLUDED 

[mark.g31]

Ebay are including buyers fees already included in the price you or at the end price when you come to pay im afraid. 

[tribalgiftsuk]

I dont really understand why you are all getting so worried about your prices going up by £1 - £ 3 or a bit higher if it is over £40. As a buyer on Ebay but also as an EX retail buyer for a nationwide chain store you are all getting too worried about this.

IF you are selling something that the customer can not find elsewhere which usually private sellers are then the customer is not going to be put off by the £1 - £3 extra that may be charged on your item.  You can also get around it by making bundle's rather than just selling single items. As a business seller i was clobbered last year by an extra 2% on Jewellery sales and the adminstrative fee of another 2% and i am paying VAT on all of that.

Everyone needs to think out of the box and find a work around for it instead of stressing so much. Sell two instead of 1, or take a cut on the sale and share that with Ebay. If your selling single items under £5 then think can i do 2 for a slightly higher price instead of 1.

At the end of the day private sellers 'should' be selling their own items and not be selling to make a profit as such. It should be their own items that they have or havent used. If they are not then they are not private sellers 😁

They also need to remember that they are not paying ANY other fee's to sell on Ebay therefore they should be able to be more flexible in their prices than a business seller. 

[johnwash1]

@tribalgiftsuk 

But that £5 item of mine is a fiver because I want to clear it out.  And in most cases I don't have two of them, so I can't create a bundle such as you suggest.  Though I do sometimes throw a whole lot of disparate items in a box and flog them as a job lot.

[chrbac.uye5b7]

I get where you’re coming from, but your suggestion to bundle items just doesn’t work for everything—especially when we’re talking about low-value, unique items. If something is only worth £1 or £2 on its own, you can’t just throw it into a bundle and hope it sells. The whole point of unique items is that they stand out by themselves, and bundling would defeat the purpose. Thinking outside the box is great, but not every idea works in every situation.

And about those £1 to £3 price increases—sure, they might seem small, but they add up fast. When fees are already eating into razor-thin margins, even tiny hikes can make a big difference. I mentioned once that a 40% markup was reasonable, and people jumped on me saying they need at least 100%! Honestly, if everyone’s insisting on doubling their money, it’s no wonder buyers think eBay is overpriced.

Also, your comment about private sellers not needing to make a profit feels a bit out of touch. Most aren’t just clearing out their garages for fun. Plenty of them are trying to make ends meet or earn a bit of extra cash, especially with the cost of living being what it is. They might not have the overhead of VAT, but they don’t have the perks that business sellers do, either. Expecting them to be more "flexible" with pricing just isn’t fair.

At the end of the day, eBay was already expensive. Adding more fees and higher markups is making it worse. Saying "find a workaround" doesn’t solve the real issue—it just ignores the bigger problem.

[tribalgiftsuk]

Why dont you just keep your prices as they are and see what happens from February onwards. Give it a month or two from then and see what happens. If you are not competing with any other sellers then all you need to do is wait for the right seller to come along.

If after 2 or 3 months items are still not selling then you can consider your options then. I have just had a quick look at your items and i dont expect you have many competitor sellers so your customers will probably be ok with paying £1 -2 more.

Then if things aren't moving go for the  job lot option. It is never easy dealing with changes like this but the first thing to do is stand your ground at first and see how that goes. Then if things are moving see what you can do next.

[tribalgiftsuk]

It would be great to see what you are actually selling @chrbac.uye5b7  so that i can help or make suggestions relevant to you.

As i just said to John above it is best to keep things as they are for now and see what happens after Feb 4th giving it a month or two. Then you can see if the extra fee's are making a difference to you or not. I am assuming you are a private seller at this point so that your concerns are with regards to the 75p and 4 %. You said your items are unique so therefore hold your prices for a bit and see what happens and if they are unique then your sellers wont be put off by having to pay an extra £1 on items under £5 if they cant find them anywhere else. It is just a matter of the right buyer finding your items eventually.

Us business sellers had to do the same when Free selling came in for private sellers and many of us were impacted by this idea from Ebay. But it is an awful situation be to in and it really is a wait and see what happens before deciding what to do next.

If you want to send a link of your actual items for sale i would be happy to help more or make suggestions that you might find useful.

[vintique*violet]

A " safe place" is between the actual recipient of the parcel and the Delivery service... 

Ebay or a Delivery service cannot make a " contract" for a "Safeplace" on the recipients behalf... it has to be instructed by the recipient of the parcel to the Postal Courier.  

[chrbac.uye5b7]

I understand your concerns about eBay's upcoming fee changes. Starting February 4, 2025, eBay will introduce a Buyer Protection fee of up to 4% of the item price plus 75p, which will be included in the item price for purchases from private sellers.

For low-priced, unique items like comics, this additional fee can significantly impact both the seller's profit margins and the buyer's willingness to purchase. Bundling such items isn't always a viable solution, as it can diminish their individual appeal.

While business sellers have had to adapt to various changes on eBay, private sellers of low-value items face distinct challenges. The increased fees may lead to higher prices, potentially deterring buyers and impacting sales.

It's important to recognize that private sellers often rely on these sales for supplementary income. Suggesting they absorb additional costs or wait to see how the market responds may not be practical or fair.

In light of these changes, it might be beneficial for eBay to consider alternative fee structures that account for the unique challenges faced by sellers of low-value items. This approach could help maintain a diverse and vibrant marketplace that supports both buyers and sellers.

[johnwash1]

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@tribalgiftsuk wrote:

Why dont you just keep your prices as they are and see what happens from February onwards. Give it a month or two from then and see what happens. If you are not competing with any other sellers then all you need to do is wait for the right seller to come along.

If after 2 or 3 months items are still not selling then you can consider your options then. I have just had a quick look at your items and i dont expect you have many competitor sellers so your customers will probably be ok with paying £1 -2 more.

Then if things aren't moving go for the  job lot option. It is never easy dealing with changes like this but the first thing to do is stand your ground at first and see how that goes. Then if things are moving see what you can do next.

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Your para 1 is what I expect to do.  I shouldn't even be posting in this thread, because I'm not greatly fussed about fees.  It's the NotAtAllSimple Delivery that will be a killer for me.  If I have to schlep around to remote parcel shops instead of paying for collection, that's a non-starter.  As it obviously is for others wiith mobility issues.  Yesterday I sold a book, the postie collected it from my enclosed porch this morning without even waking me up.  I sold another book today, it's now in the porch waiting for him tomorrow.  And this evening I accepted a derisory offer on an old keyboard that I first listed in March.  I'll be packing it tomorrow, it'll be collected on Wednesday.  That's MY idea of Simple Delivery, clearly very different from ebay's eggheads.

I already do job lots of my collections of old magazines.  Some do sell, but it does take months.

[dch2112011]

At the moment with simple delivery IF RM is selected you can add collection on the RM website after the label is issued to you - according to ebay - How you get the customer to select RM is another problem - I am sure some changes are in the offing but when and what - who knows ?

[jond1492]

Umm, you're talking total bollards!  Private sellers only have one item of something.  We don't have multiples of stuff, and if something gets damaged or broken during transit, we lose the item and the money.  So, it's a lose-lose for us.

Secondly, if I have a book that cost me £5, but is now worth £50-£75, and I choose to sell it at £35, then that's my prerogative, NOT yours!  You don't get to lecture me about how I'm not allowed to make profit on something.  You do!  You're a business!  Why should you be allowed to make a profit, but private sellers should not?!