Ebay buyer protection fee? Genius move or own goal?

[darktints]

I've got a lot to unpack about ebays recent performance so please scroll on if long stories bore you.

So I've seen a couple of threads on here about the new buyer protection fees but other than a couple of tiffs between the "die hards" and the "have nots", no one seems to be making much about ebay's strategy in all of this.

Although ebay has a good market share, increased competition from freebie platforms such at Facebook MP, Vinted and other apps clearly had them spooked and coupled by the drop in active users they have expeienced since their peak in 2018, has led to ebay making some radical changes.

So back in October 24, ebay removed selling fees for private sellers which personally I thought was a genius move. Take a short term hit in cash flow to rejuvinate the active user base thus bringing more people back to the platform. After all, the more active users you have, the more opportunity you have to sell them stuff, right?

Now they have just announced the new buyer protection fee system, which I do understand why its here. Afterall, supporting customers who used your service for free is a hard pill to swallow, especially for the finance department who care little about customer base and repeat sales and are more focussed on "did we cover our bills this month"?

Where I come stuck with this new direction is that if you are trying to attract more active users to your platform, adding a surcharge to any purchases they make not from a business account will surely keep these kinds of users on the freebie platforms, thus completely undoing all of ebays good work back in October.

Like it or not, the second hand goods market is highly price motivated and only works when costs are minimal. I believe in the long run, this "robbing Peter to pay Paul" approach will not lead to increased user activity and ebay will become bogged down in the same (albeit very slow) death loop of hemeraging active users.

This obviously has no effect on businesses who sell on ebay (well not in the short or medium term at least) which is where ebay no doubt makes the majority of its money. But buyers who are minded to haggle over a £1 difference on a £3 item will not want to be paying 75p + 4% on top of second hand goods.

With platforms like Amazon offering a more streamlined shopping experience for buyers of new goods, and Facebook and others offering essentially a free shopping platform for used goods, ebay seems to be working its way into an uncomfortable middle ground being the jack of all trades and master of none.

If you got this far, thanks for your time. This is not a rant or a leaving announcment, just my observations.

[carrotdrusus2]

Sorry but you are incorrect.

Please see the HMRC guidelines for stamps, which is my passion.

CG76883 Chattels: Stamps.

It say anything up to £6000 is tax free per sale.

You can sell as many as you like as long as an individual set doesnt exceed £6000.

This also applies to most 'collections'.

[lucy_farmer]

'Are you a collector?'

No, *I'm* not, but my husband is (I sell stuff on his behalf...) He collects coins, stamps, old audio tech, and loads of old stuff. Like you, he has thousands of bits and bobs that will have to be disposed of somehow, rather just leave it all to executors to deal with in some (hopefully many!) years time....

My problem was more with the sheer ammount of *time* it would take to list 2500 items per month.

That's a full time job level of work!

[vjbuystuff]

interesting, thanks for sharing.

however this conflicts with hmrcs own rules and guidelines on ANY profits from selling online, which it says its applies universally to all items sold by an individual online.

[moldosgifts]

---

@papso22 wrote:

 I do see how these changes are having a really big impact on genuine collectors who have become used to downsizing their collections on ebay.  Many of these are high volume, low value sellers, which isn't a feasible selling pattern on the 'new ebay' that is coming.

It will and that is unfortunate but how else are they going to sort the mess they made out

Mind you I am astonished just what some people purport to collect!

There is one i reported recently that collected led and capacitors an a private account selling his collection!

Perhaps there needs to be an ebay offshoot for collectors, with a different fee structure, but then ebay would have to have a way of identifying genuine collectors and they can't even weed out genuine private sellers from the fake ones

If it wasn't run by ebay then it might work. 

---

Not a task i relish but can only keep reporting them and these changes should wipe some of them unfortunately it will wipe out the genuine collectors which is a shame.

[paul6972008]

hi the area of buyer protection fee im not happy about is where they say as seller you dont get paid until item is delivered so we have to pay postage and for tracking only which costs more which we won`t get paid until delivery. so its going to cost the buyer more as they will have to  pay postage and packing. also not everyone we sell to are honest or reply when item has been delivered 

[robbtyke132010]

It is definitely a "wait-&-see" scenario but I cannot help thinking that the boffins at eBay are like dogs chasing their tails, going round & round in circles until eventually they give up & sleep the rest of their existence out in their baskets (or in the case of my dog - full stretched out on the bed hogging all the covers). 

[papso22]

---

@paul6972008 wrote:

hi the area of buyer protection fee im not happy about is where they say as seller you dont get paid until item is delivered so we have to pay postage and for tracking only which costs more which we won`t get paid until delivery. so its going to cost the buyer more as they will have to  pay postage and packing. also not everyone we sell to are honest or reply when item has been delivered 

---

You don't have to pay for tracking if you don't want to, you just have to wait 14 days for payment if you don't.

Buyers will not be expected to say when something has been delivered, there is no mechanism other than feedback to do that and ebay won't count feedback as a trigger for funds to be released.

[carrotdrusus2]

If you read that document and the 2 others leading off it. It basically states that as long as you are not buying to sell, and have had the goods for a decent length of time you are free to sell them tax free as they are your chattels.

I havnt purchased anything for my collection for about 20 years, and since the children and grandchildren have turned down the chance of owning it I have decided to get rid of them singly for 99p free postage to people who like me collect and will appreciate them and has subsequently become the hobby of mine. I dont make any profit, but now I have to turn my account into a business one to carry on with my hobby, or give it up because nobody will buy them at double the price. I have one or two things I might try for a month but we will wait and see.

[spence0175]

I’m in no way disputing any collector with large collections should be classed as a business if that is what I am claiming. But where do you draw the line…

When the day comes when I depart this earth, there is no way my son could ever think to sell off my collection on here. It would take him years. Mine would just go to auction. We are talking 1000s of items.

But I have been selling in the same category for years. I have watched numerous ebayers, buy lots, keep some, sell some. And have been doing this forever as a private seller. Very few have ever turned to business and this new turnaround will not stop them. I have seen a number set up new accounts.

I regularly car boot, throughout the summer. I’ve gotten to know many people. None of the dealers there are businesses or very few. One guy I knew had 6 accounts…this will not stop them.

Yet as a buyer and business seller, all I know is that I will be paying to buy and paying to sell..

I think all of us want the same thing for selling to be a level playing field for all. This new idea is not…

[the_laser_architect]

I have been using Ebay on and off for more than 12 years now. I am and always have been a private seller just shifting hobby stuff as i move onto a new one and buying stuff for my new hobby. My point is, with only around 1200 feedback over the years, i have allowances of 9999 listings and £99,999 in sales available to me

[moldosgifts]

I appreciate your input very valued opinion.

I picked up on this statement "buy lots, keep some, sell some." not you i know your referring to others.

This is a grey area on business and private discussion (heated at times) they buy to sell or do they?

As far as HMRC are concerned the things they sell are not chattels unless they sit around the house e before you sell the extra's you never intended on owning. 

Lets not forget car booters who appear week in week out are for all intense a purposes a business, so if they sell that stuff on eBay should be on the correct account certainly hmrc would see them as such.

[geosacha007]

---

@magpiecorner1 wrote:

99p auctions would sell well, and bring new buyers to the site, imho.  EBay will have the figures from the German site to support or contradict this opinion.

---

99p starts would be a disaster.  These days most auctions don't get any bids.  I'd rather never sell anything than sell for 99p. You'd end up making a loss on everything.

[moldosgifts]

The 99p is aimed the private seller that when the changes come in you can easily sell your cheaper items at 99p, lets face it the point of a private account is to move on your unwanted stuff, so profit is NOT a consideration, so with the buyer paying all the fees, (simple delivery and the buyer protection) the seller having no fees 99p is not a unreasonable start at auction.

You will never have to account for the postage in your price if you normally offer free postage.

So just list for what you want for it.

Businesses have a whole raft of cost that have to be accounted for inc the electric for using the computer!

I think it a good time to be a genuine private seller.

[carrotdrusus2]

I am a genuine private seller and in 3 weeks time it will not be good for collector sellers like me.

[a45heaven]

Do you have FB or other sites which Stamp Collectors visit and exchange thoughts and ideas ?

[lisamaykes]

Seriously?  The point of a private account is to try to accumulate some pounds for unused, unwanted items, not to offload stuff, one can take to charity shops if they just want to get rid of items and de-clutter.  What on earth is the point of selling anything at 99p?  You got to photograph it, list it, pack it and post it....all for a measely 99p?  You're having a laugh!  Private sellers also have electricity, travel and packaging costs don't you know!! I think it is a s hitty time to be a genuine private seller.  It's eBayers like yourself with no common sense or consideration for anyone but yourself, that have turned the site into a ridiculously *bleep* market place for private sellers.  We were the ones that built eBay to be the best place to buy and sell back in the day. Now it has turned into a complete farce, so totally opposite from it's original ethics and practices.  

[carrotdrusus2]

Delcampe is the only site that had any traffic, but they went down the road of buyer fees some months ago and it destroyed the site. Most of the buyers left.

Theres a few other sites that just talk about things, stampboards is the best.

[anne.craig]

Yes, I've been seeing a lot of posts the last couple of days saying essentially that if you're a private seller you should be grateful if you get anything at all for your items.  I don't know where these people are getting that idea - if I bought something expensive, I may not be able to recover what it cost me but I want to get as much as I can for it!  Can't imagine they'd feel that way if they were told to sell their house for 99p as they'd already paid for it and had the use of it for 10 years and are not in competition with Barratt's!  It's so snide.

[carrotdrusus2]

Well in a very short space of time those very same business sellers will be on here asking where all the buyers have gone.

[a45heaven]

well it may well be worth exploring as many avenues as possible - so that when ebay go belly up you have an option and a list of collectors you can contact - hope im wrong , but i have bad vibes on this one.