Ebay UK management

[cartermk]

I wonder what is going on in the Ebay UK management meetings.

Presumably Ebay were losing market share to other platforms and had the idea of making it free to sell for private sellers.

So back in September they removed final value  fees for private sellers (used to be 11.02% + 25p, for my listings at least).

Presumably business sellers recognized a good thing and switched to selling some of their inventory as a private seller - so not only did they lose revenue from private sellers but business sellers as well. Possibly also allowing people to sell cheaper things and dragging the reputation of the platform down.

So we have the rather ill-thought out sticking plaster of Buyer Protection Fee of 75p+4% for private sellers from Feb 2025 (though they tried to decorate the BPF with buyer pays this and gets something for it).

Irritating to many private sellers and making it uneconomic to sell cheaper items - though the latter is possibly just what they intended - repositioning ebay upmarket of some other platforms.

Time will tell whether their stategy worked as intended but if they are trying to get back market share I can't help thinking that things might be going belly up. Spare a kind thought for the management team.

[andha-21]

"Spare a kind thought for the management team."

Umm, nope. Just can't do it.

[carrotdrusus2]

I suspect the 75p and 4% was part of the original plan when they stopped private seller fees.

I have checked two of the best stamp business sellers on Ebay and both of their sales are way down this week.

I think the reaction to these measures has been a huge shock to the management team. The collectable private seller has always historically driven many sales when they recycle money for their collections, indeed its what Ebay was originally built on. That has mostly disappeared in the last week.Having done my own calculations on 75p,s paid compared to fees that I paid on sales, Ebay have lost 90% of their revenue from me.

My instinct tells me that the 75p element of these changes will be rescinded within the next 3-6 months.

It has been a huge act of corporate self harm in the UK, and someone will be answerable to the share owners for this massive misjudgement.

[jma2815]

In the long term I think you might be right but I think that atm they’ll be pleased that it is going as planned - 3 new income streams = short term profits for the shareholders = success. 

Ebay was ruined for me back in October. I collect a certain brand of vintage clothing and used ebay to buy and sell as prices were reasonable and quality generally good and as described. 

Almost as soon as ‘free to sell’ came in I noticed prices went up and there was a sudden large influx of garments in extremely poor condition listed as ‘new without tags’ or described as used but ‘very good’ that the seller usually admitted, on receiving a return case, to having bought on vin ted to ‘flip’ on ebay as the resale prices were much higher. Condition is apparently not a consideration on V. 

After five years of hassle free buying I suddenly had to open case after case with belligerent sellers to return this rubbish. As of two weeks ago I no longer use ebay and have decided for now just to enjoy my current collection. Instead of moving to just selling on ebay I will now be looking at the possibility of selling it as a whole at a b&m auction house when the time comes for disposal. 

[cartermk]

That's interesting - would be great to have an insight into what the sales data for ebay really are and what is driving the decisions that are being made - I'm not sure though that you right about the latest change being planned - it looks more like a knee jerk response to an unintended consequence to me -- perhaps your 'race-to-the-bottom' with other platforms

[wintersdawn1]

I seem to remember seeing a post on here somewhere quoting ebay from last year saying about the BPF and Simple Delivery so maybe in the plan all along.

It may have been their idea to make selling free for private sellers for a while to increase the numbers of sellers listing and then hit them with the BPF to get more money.

Another theory is that ebay don't want private sellers anymore due to the new rules all being bad for private sellers.  I wonder what percentage of listings are private sellers vs business sellers.  Surely ebay couldn't survive just on business seller listings?

[zebra_park]

On a side note, i very rarely ask for returns for 'not as described' items. Most seem quite obvious to spot...

Sometimes I buy without knowing & don't ask, snapping up newly listed items, badly photographed etc but  consider that on me. I had a recent sale with another dealer who really should have known better & even said as much, but didn't ask any questions to confirm it was that 1 in 1000 & went for a quick buy, then coldly just sends it back as if they've no duty to any kind of responsibly themselves. A very American idea, buyer is always right. No, it's a two way thing. 

In a regular bricks & mortar shop the way some* buyers act is really totally unacceptable to me. & just as with that buyer he's centrally not welcome back. We're all humans & should strive to treat others as such imo. Not assuming this to you but just giving another side. 

[zebra_park]

A lot of people are struggling in the uk atm, it's a shame the few do feel they need to lie just to get a few extra quid on some clothes. It is more common with clothes I notice, but meh, ... Bit like police, if one tries a bit there is little/less need for them, I don't use the eBay hammer if possible & think it can change people to become not very nice...

[jma2815]

I don’t think its possible that the BPF and SD is a knee jerk reaction. The whole thing will have been planned well in advance, I believe a five year plan for changes such as this is the way it goes in big business. 

Smaller changes within the five year plan, such as releasing funds for items under £10 a day after delivery, could be more reactionary. 

It isn’t a race to the bottom with the clothes, not on price anyway. They went up on ebay. 

[suelel1968]

Asking Google gives the following "According to available data, while an exact percentage is not publicly disclosed by eBay, it is estimated that around 20-30% of sellers on eBay UK are classified as business sellers"

I don't think eBay want rid of private sellers. I could imagine they would like to cut the number of listings that sink without trace and remain sat on the server never getting seen - do they ever declutter the website ?

I wish as a buyer they would allow the search default for buyers to be UK. It's a nuisance being presented with hundreds of low value listings from Hong Kong China, although the postage is at least free. Recently I keep getting presented with loads of US products with massive postage charges. I'm never going to buy either regardless of any fees. 

[vinylscot]

I don't think anything will happen quickly with regard to reversing the recent changes.

Even if 10% of private sellers actually do stop selling, and I reckon that's a very high figure, eBay is now receiving 75p plus 4% of every sale from the remaining 90%. Even if the remaining private sellers' sales drop, eBay will still be receiving far more revenue than before.

A small proportion will move onto business accounts, so, even if eBay don't receive any of the new charges from them, they will receive FVFs etc.

There may be a slight drop-off in advertising/promotion revenue, although those few who do leave were probably not promoting their listings, so the effect may be minimal. Promoted listings are pretty obviously over-subscribed anyway, so eBay will continue to rake in fees from them.

There will also be savings for eBay on server and energy costs, if millions of low value listings suddenly disappear. These are the listings most likely to be removed, as the charges affect them disproportionately..

There may be a slight (temporary) reduction in buyers, but new buyers always appear, replacing those who leave. Those new buyers didn't know eBay without the BPF, so will more likely to accept it.

And pretty soon, many of the few private sellers who do leave will begin to return, when they realise that the grass isn't any greener elsewhere.

I don't think eBay will admit they were wrong to bring in these changes, but I do think that, in the longer term, they may amend them to try to win back support. So, instead of saying "we're dropping the fee because we realise it was the wrong thing to do", they're more likely to say "the BPF has proved so successful that we are now in a position to reduce the fixed portion of the fee" or something similar.

[jma2815]

It sounds very much like you’re assuming I’m a badly behaved buyer. 

I disagree about ‘not as described’ usually being on the buyer to ascertain from listings that deliberately hide the facts of garments that would be very desirable if they were as they appear on the photos and description. 

When I’ve paid £350 for a NWOT coat with cut out (to prevent resale) and replaced designer labels (and covered in make up that wasn’t there on the photo) I’m sending it back. I’m also not going to engage in a back and forth with a seller who thinks they can refuse a NAD return because their experience of Vin ted is that they can sell any old rag and they can refuse a return in every case. 

[deadwaxsecrets]

Removing Seller Fees was a poisoned chalice, that initial joy has now dissipated. Now, I get to sell for free but, buyers pay extra for protection & eBay retain sales funds in an ESCROW style manner until delivery is confirmed ensuring sellers send everything tracked & preferably via eBay's delivery partners. Everything worked fine but they have to keep tweaking it & usually to ultimately profit them.

[cartermk]

Interesting numbers - seems even more of a bizarre decision to cut off income from private sellers in september. I am not against the % costs per se - it's still cheaper than the 11.2% I paid to ebay previously - just the mechanism of adding odd amounts to the final price and affecting low value items disproportionately

[*devils.advocate*]

Private Seller fees were 13.22% + 30p before "free to sell".

The 30p disproportionately affected low priced items even then.

The 75p now very obviously so.

Do eBay want low value items cluttering up their site?

I have always doubted it.

[mydeafdog]

The ONLY reason Ebay offered free fees to private sellers was to destroy Vinted.

NOW, they are starting to sneak in new charges as they have lost business.

[jjambadger27]

But it was always clear to me that the removal of Seller Fees was a short term reprieve. How the hell would they make money if that continued? 

[deadwaxsecrets]

Exactly, they give with one hand & take with the other.  Spent the last 20 years jumping through their hoops every time someone in the boardroom has a brainwave idea.

[john1297576]

Where else do buyers go to buy, only to be told “oh by the way there is a 75p + 4% extra to p”.

Out of curiosity I tried out the promotions. I like the 40% more bids it produces, bids have dried up since this wonderful new scheme was announced, so I discovered that 40% of 0 is still 0.

I have reverted to mainly postcards for a time starting at £1 or £2 depending on condition. Ebay suggests starting at 99p with free postage, at that price IF there was a bid, I would end up with a whole 14p, and ebay would end up with around 79p. Doesn’t even cover petrol to post office.

[cartermk]

'Where else do buyers go to buy, only to be told “oh by the way there is a 75p + 4% extra to p”.'

There are a lot of similar statements on other threads ATm. I cannot believe that this is right - my understanding is that the buyers see the right price i.e the price they will pay. There are some older listings which do not include the BPF and the buyer will not pay the BPF. Newer listings include the BPF in the price the buyer sees.

Anything else would be madness?