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 

[amazonharvey]

I am not against paying what’s due. as a small private seller I have paid
fee’s that would shock some of the big boys .eBay takes and gives you
what’s left. Plus they started to charge vat and charges if you sell
outside the uk. What I do not know is how it will effect business sellers
.they will not have to add on 4% to every item and charge buyers 4% on
purchases so thats 8% the buyer is stung for. I sell and buy so I will be
hit for both .yes they might be an extra percent more that they pay but
they get perks otherwise they would not hang around ..this is all about
private sellers and the buyers who purchase there items .eBay is pushing
are buyers towards businesses as stated this has got nothing to do them
.but let’s not forget eBay is pushing the buyers so the big boys get more
custom .In a nut shell if a business sells some thing for £2 and the
private sellers do the same who will the buyers buy from

[dch2112011]

I do not see that the majority of business sellers are competing with private sellers - maybe a few but the vast majority are selling totally different types of items .

Genuine private sellers are an asset to business sellers - they will draw additional buyers to ebay and quite often members selling unwanted personal items also buy on ebay not only second hand unwanted items but new repeat lines from businesses.

It is terrible that personal sellers feel that customers looking for used or unwanted goods from private accounts are being driven to buy only from business sellers - they are going to be sorely dissapointed if they are  because it will be a miracle if they can find the curios, second hand or unwanted items from a business .

Customers of  private sellers with a variety of items sparks buyers to browse the items for sale and maybe buy because it sparks an interest or it just tickles their imagination  or of course they come across just the item they need that is no longer sold new, or is no longer  manufactured by a business.

These same buyers have everyday needs as well where they are going to need new items traditionally purchased in the high street.

Business customers tend to buy and go -  ie they  log on - search - buy then leave - they may do this often but  do they then browse personal sellers items ? - maybe but I feel the traffic is more from private sellers to business than the other way round.

[amazonharvey]

Thank you for your message yes you are right I am a magpie doll collector
and I love going back in time and no matter what you search for it’s on
eBay. When I joined eBay it was great fun every body new your name and in
the circles you knew every bodies as well. But eBay has changed they have
lost there way now. Where as listing was easy now it’s awful the listing
drafts the catts .us small private sellers have paid there dues but now it
feels like we have been let go .when eBay said we would not be charged a
fvf I knew some thing was not right .but I did not expect the new rules ref
to buyers. I have looked after my buyers who come back many times and I
have gone that extra mile .now eBay is putting fee’s on my listings of 4%
nothing I can do .and the buyers are now going to be charged 4% of total
purchase price. How is that looking after the buyers .when I buy now or not
because that’s what I have got to pay every time I buy of a private seller
.then the new rules buyers send me a label the couriers that will be
mandatory and one is the worst they could get .I have no choice .I sell
things of great value and dolls and use the courier door to door service
but that’s gone after feb 4th .the only thing in this sad case it puts
millions into eBay coffers .maybe eBay should take care of us but they only
see us as money its a sad time and coming

[dch2112011]

You have been a member for may years and have seen changes come and go, these latest changes seem on the surface to be quite alien to small genuine sellers operating on private selling accounts.

Much is being made about simple delivery and buyer fees and the consensus is that everybody will leave ebay but I heard the same comments with managed payments - nearly all are still selling on ebay and it didn't turn out all bad in the end !

What do we know - ebay removed seller fees for a couple of months but most sellers maintained their prices to benefit from the windfall.

With your unique dolls which fetch relatively high prices you have the option to look at what fees you were paying within the advertised sale price and the new buyer fees  going to be added to your price.

You can then decide whether you give none, some or all of the seller fees that you had already built into the prices  back to the buyer  by reducing your price to mitigate the new buyer fees.

With simple delivery this is not compulsory - there is an opt out and I feel that it could be some time before it is made compusory and that there will be many changes before and after it rolls out. What we are seeing at the moment is unlikely to be the finished product. 

The sellers who may have the biggest problems are low value sellers but time will tell when more is revealed by ebay !

[amazonharvey]

Thank you for your message .first I would like to say I am a small private
seller who has collected dolls and collectables for many years and over the
years there value has gone down not up. I have lost hundreds of pounds but
what do you do .if you want to sell you have no choice but to list in
todays climate. I have looked after my buyers and feel that I have given
them a beautiful doll of great value any doll collector or of collectables
knows this .what you have collected is far short of expectations value
wise. You are right in the years of being a member many changes good and
bad I have seen. But if like me you take great pride in what you sell the
buyers will always come back . You say about dropping my prices to suit the
new system this I have done all ready .because of eBay and the choice and
so many of the same the prices have gone down at great speed . So to sell
you have to lower the price a doll worth £500 a few years ago is worth less
than half as every item has done the same. I am not going to leave eBay but
eBay has to be fare with sellers and buyers .but to add 4-% to my item and
then charge the buyers on there winning price or purchase is wrong on top
.a fixed amount is better not on the winning amount . I use eBay as my high
street and being disabled it has worked well but as a buyer it’s a
different story . As for simple delivery this will not work as the buyers
have no way in knowing what’s best for my box .leave us sellers to continue
with are postage and make sure if not there are couriers who will safely
take my boxes door to door not tell me Hermes etc god help us for fragile
items .give me the right courier and let me choose .and I must have
collections being rural ..as long as eBay is fare there will be no one
leaving but eBay is not being fare on this .the interest they will make
just holding on to are money should be enough and leave the rest to us
.many of us moan many of us do not like it but if you wish to sell you have
no choice .eBay has been taking part of our postage all ready and we have
to put in the short fall .just leave the postage as is because I am the
only one who should be making the choice ref to my boxes

[johnwash1]

@dch2112011 

Managed Payments was a bit of a pain, but opening a new bank account wasn't too big a deal even for people with mobility issues or 20 miles from a drop off point.  In contrast, Simple Delivery without an option to collect from the seller is a killer for some of us.

And if you think Simple Delivery won't be mandatory before the end of March, you haven't been paying attention.  Go read some of valueaddresource's posts, pointing at the transcript of the CEO's presentation Q3 to investors.  It's all in there, no ifs/buts.

[davelinajolie]

To me I can live with fees, but as it's the buyer seeing the increased cost, will they? If I'm selling CDs from my collection at £7 (for less collectable CDs) including postage, those prices going up 75p+4% for the buyer are likely to be a deterrent.

Following the removal of FVF I reduced the prices on most of my items to bring interest in, and saw a big uptick in sales to the point I was motivated to start getting more listings done. I try to get my prices to reasonable amounts by coordinating sale information from a couple of different places, which in some instances leads me to significantly undercut overpriced items on eBay (usually from more business oriented accounts trying to take advantage of having the only listing of an item). I don't always succeed, but I try to be more reasonable. But there does come a point where it's just not worth selling something because of the costs involved, and the time and effort for a couple of quid when there isn't the regular volume of sales to make that worthwhile.

Personally Simple Postage is the deal breaker for me. If I'm going to list a Vinyl worth a couple of hundred pounds, that has great sentimental value to me, I don't want that to get stolen/trashed by Evri's incompetence. I want it in the hands of the person buying it because I care that these things get to a good home. I've exchanged messages with people about items I've sold them and been really happy to hear they are in good hands and arrived safely. I won't be forced into using a substandard delivery service when I have something right now that works perfectly well and I trust.

[amazonharvey]

To be honest I do not know what to think about these new changes eBay is
bringing in as a small seller of my lovely collectables .my lovely buyers
who are not aware of these new rules will ask me why I have added 4% to my
prices not knowing eBay has taken over my listings and not me taking
advantage .my treasured items purchase price has long been lost and
devalued from the prices paid .where a doll was say £500 its value now is
half of that .and I am furious that eBay has made Evri a mandatory courier
.I do not trust them with a teddy bear. Royal Mail is sizes and weights now
who can I use .who can I trust what can I do .I pack well choose my courier
and if it’s more I pay because I care about my buyers and want them to
smile when they open there boxes .no one wants Hermes Evri .if the sellers
do I change it .the only ones who will be smiling is the bank of eBay
whether I sell for a penny or a pound .but they need to give me my right of
who I choose to send my boxes by because at the end of the day they are
mine .this is every small private sellers right not being taken told what
to do by others who just see us all as money

[johnwash1]

@davelinajolie 

"To me I can live with fees, but as it's the buyer seeing the increased cost, will they? If I'm selling CDs from my collection at £7 (for less collectable CDs) including postage, those prices going up 75p+4% for the buyer are likely to be a deterrent."

How do you sell a CD at £7 when MusicMagpie and the like are banging them out for less than the cost of normal postage even?

@amazonharvey 

Please, give us a break.  No wall of text, just put in a blank line every few sentences.  Otherwise, for some of us it's unreadable.

[amazonharvey]

Point taken !!!

[davelinajolie]

The CDs I sell tend to be more niche and therefore more collectable/valuable to fans (as an example some are original pressings/out of print by cult bands) and less likely to be sold by the MMs/WoBs of the world. Even standard pressings of some bands can easily be sold at £8-10. Not always, mind, the ones that are ten a penny I 

sold to Music Magpie or the like myself because like you say, you can't compete with them.

But Music Magpie are one of the businesses I alluded in my post, I've seen sellers like them having the only listing for a CD (not even particularly rare) and sticking them up for £40-50 when a cursory look at Discogs can easily show you it's not sold for even a quarter of that. It just looks rare because there's no other listing for it so they try to gouge away.

It's also my suspicion that some people are more willing to go with someone who is providing a more detailed description/pictures of an item because bulk sellers give very little clear information about what they are selling, and for collectors they want details. I know if I was still buying CDs I'd probably think twice about orderinging from MM and probably look more to other actual collectors.

[amazonharvey]

Thank you for your message and the idea that private sellers are harming
businesses .they are not going to be effected by the 4% added to private
sellers items. Or the buyer paying 4% of there total winning price .if
anything they will have a advantage over buyers why pay more money for
my items when one who sells the same .I know if I sell a doll and many of
them do the same .it will be down to the 4% that buyers have to pay extra
with mine.. I am lucky my buyers know the quality of my dolls but it still
will be down to what one can afford .
Business sellers buy in bulk certain fee’s they can claim back perks all
matter over price. But the truth is they did not like the idea private
sellers paying no FVF .when they had to. So some thing had to be done to
keep them sweet . But why punish the buyers because this is what’s
happening. . I am a buyer too .Why this simple delivery taking away the
right that I choose my own couriers .and replace it with one of the worse
couriers going And then to wait for a label from my buyer who does not
understand posting fragile items means. They also say you will be covered
for all items against loss or breakages there is no courier who will cover
antiques or fragile items only loss I Then eBay holding monies until
after delivery .and that’s only on delivery .eBay should have left well
alone but this has come from a higher source .so the outcome is how can us
small sellers effect others because if is that bad why stay

[dch2112011]

My doubt as to the timing for simple delivery comes from the statement ebay made when it was announced in the press that it would be rolled out with an option to opt out and that it was planned to become mandatory at some time in the future - a bit wishy washy but the hint was that they were going to roll out in stages during 25 and then make it mandatory in the future - of course they could mean Feb 25 as no dates were alluded to.

For sure it looks like it will be mandatory but  just unsure when given the information supplied publicly by ebay

[chrbac.uye5b7]

Looks to have been rolled out earlier than they stated looking at eBay prices. Have they rolled it out now? Everything ends in an odd pence price so it looks like it has happened now. Am I missing something?

[4_bathrooms]

---

@dch2112011 wrote:

My doubt as to the timing for simple delivery comes from the statement ebay made when it was announced in the press that it would be rolled out with an option to opt out and that it was planned to become mandatory at some time in the future - a bit wishy washy but the hint was that they were going to roll out in stages during 25 and then make it mandatory in the future - of course they could mean Feb 25 as no dates were alluded to.

---

"Managed shipping is currently live for C2C pre-owned apparel listing in the UK. In Q4, we plan to expand managed shipping horizontally on an opt-out basis, before mandating the program for eligible items listed by C2C sellers during Q1 of 2025."

So that's on or before March 31st.

[amazonharvey]

My email mentioned as from Feb 4th the buyer protection will change and the
fee’s etc will start on Feb 4th .the buyer will raise the label with 3
choices .One being express .and from march this simple delivery will be
mandatory .the buyers protection fee’s which will add 4% to my listings so
buyers do not have a shock at checkout .they are not daft sellers like me
will get the blame .my item of say £200 will then be a extra 4% on total
winning price . What scares me the most is eBay’s chosen couriers . No good
for my boxes and if the buyers buy a cheap label donkey post then what .
I am a excellent packer but being thrown over a wall disrespected even
the safest box will take a fall. and then what buyers say items broken
when will we be paid there is no way I am sending my beloved items this
way .I must have a choice if I decide free post then that’s my choice and
my choice of courier .even paid post I have a right to choose .many buyers
have never sold so do not have a idea of value so they will say I pay this
will do .noway Loads of questions need to be answered why take away
collection from home because Evri charge for pick ups but having lost that
option they will not . Royal Mail do but are governed by size and weight
.we will wait and see who is on eBay postage options after Feb 4th onwards

[amazonharvey]

No not yet checked my listing the 4% has not been added yet .ment to be Feb
4th .we can moan all we like but at the end of the day it will roll out
and we will have to live with it .the future for us small private sellers
looks very bumpy and gloomy .no say on listings no say on buyers who supply
are labels no choice of couriers and eBay not paying are monies due until
48hrs after confirmed deliveries

[dch2112011]

Something doesn't add up - the user agreement has been updated to include simple delivery but does not come into force until 3rd June 2025  which throws doubt on the March 31st date for it becoming compulsory  across the board for  fee free private sellers UK based   shipping to UK based buyers.

Will it be just the clothing section  rolled out that will become compulsory  March 31st with others to follow  or will they have to delay until June before it can be made compulsory ?

[johnwash1]

---

@dch2112011 wrote:

Something doesn't add up - the user agreement has been updated to include simple delivery but does not come into force until 3rd June 2025  which throws doubt on the March 31st date for it becoming compulsory  across the board for  fee free private sellers UK based   shipping to UK based buyers.

Will it be just the clothing section  rolled out that will become compulsory  March 31st with others to follow  or will they have to delay until June before it can be made compulsory ?

---

Doesn't really matter, does it.  Whenever it happens, that's when I bulk edit all my listings to local collection only and start trying out other platforms.  I'm guessing there'll be others doing the same.

If it doesn't happen by the end of Q1 the CEO is going to look like a Wally to the investors.  I'll try not to feel sorry for him.

[valueaddedresource]

---

@dch2112011 wrote:

Something doesn't add up - the user agreement has been updated to include simple delivery but does not come into force until 3rd June 2025  which throws doubt on the March 31st date for it becoming compulsory  across the board for  fee free private sellers UK based   shipping to UK based buyers.

Will it be just the clothing section  rolled out that will become compulsory  March 31st with others to follow  or will they have to delay until June before it can be made compulsory ?

---

@dch2112011 you might want to go back and read that again - it shows the previous User Agreement went into effect  3 June 2024 (last year) and the new terms go into effect immediately for new accounts or from 4 February 2025 for existing users.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement?id=4259