Ebay's new Buyers' protection fee from the 4th Feb

[rsbrickshop]

I'm a private seller. Items I sell are between £2.90 - £10. Is It just me or will ebay's new Buyers' protection fee from the 4th Feb make it near impossible to sell competitively. A few months ago Ebay got rid of Sellers' fees for private sellers, which was a welcome move. But this new change and getting rid of multi-buy discount for private sellers will make it worse than it was with the original fees.

[papso22]

Ebay cannot take consumer rights away from consumers, but they can give them extra rights if they choose.

Sellers are not consumers as far as the consumer legislation that applies here goes.  If they use ebay they give up some of their rights as a business in order for ebay to give buyers more rights.

It's perfectly legal for a seller to agree to do that, I.e give up some of their rights in order to give the consumer more.

You can't use ebay without taking the full consequences of what you agreed to when using it.

[doumind_7]

Load of tosh.

[papso22]

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@doumind_7 wrote:

Load of tosh.

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Actually it's part of my contractual terms.

[velobitz]

It's probably not. Many pharmaceutical companies for example have strict rules about what employees can and can't tell people on social platforms. Both for their own protection and as an absolute line in the sand to avoid any confusion due to the laws around promoting medicines to the public. Just one example that I am familiar with as I used to work in the industry.

[goodibags]

I appreciate all that you do on these forums. But in the posts above you say "there is very little seller protection" and then also say "It's perfectly legal for a seller to agree to do that, I.e give up some of their rights in order to give the consumer more."

Are you suggesting that the introduction of BPF will erode Ebay's private sellers' rights further?

And if so, in what way?

[papso22]

No, I have frequently said that I see no reason why the BPF will make any difference at all to the rather minimal seller protection that existed before and still exists now.

And no-one has been able to explain why they say it makes sellers more liable to scamming.

Waiting 14 days to be paid makes no difference in a money back guarantee that lasts for 30 days.

[andha-21]

My apologies for the gender faux pas. 

[papso22]

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@andha-21 wrote:

My apologies for the gender faux pas. 

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No problem.

[xxxxxvalkyriexxxxx]

First off to all those 'Business' Sellers out there who think that this is what Private Sellers deserve, please re-think after I explain the situation to all.

I am a Private Seller, I make hand crafted Fairy bottles that generally sell for under £2.00. Occasionally I sell earrings or keyrings I make too.

Over the 15 years I have been a member on here I have NEVER hit the £1000 a year figure that the DWP state that it means that I must declare myself as a business. I do not make enough money in sales to afford a £25.00 business front on here either, most months I average £5.00 - £25.00 in sales unless Christmas is due. This is a hobby for me and I have built up a 100 % Feedback rating over the years. 

I probably could sell more on here but only if I promote my listings, I have also noticed that gradually as E bay has lost popularity with the public that the 'views' on my items are less and less and I strongly believe this is because E bay manipulate who actually sees our listings, and that business sellers as always get priority on where our listings appear. Most Popular is not based on sales of an item it is based on whomever pays the most to promote their items.

Nevertheless, I have no wish to send out items in good faith and just wait to see if a Customer leaves feedback in order for me to get the money due for my items. This is just setting us up to fail as not every buyer is honest. Post costs atm £1.55 for a Second Class large letter from Royal Mail because unless an item fits into a standard unpadded envelope it is considered a large item. This will mean that with Simple Delivery it will now cost buyers £3.70 postage plus the additional 70p protection fee costing £4.30 p& p for a £1.95 item ... so £6.25 ... this is just not going to happen is it? No one will pay that no matter how good an item is.

An Agent assured me that there will be an option for the Buyer to choose either a tracked delivery or a standard one and that the 70p added protection means that I will still get a tracking number irrespective of which means of posting the  Buyer selects and that is via a QR Code or printed label e bay will send us. I am presuming that this 'tracking number' is similar to the ones that e bay currently put on our sales anyway. Incidently I have a 'potato' phone as my Daughter calls it and QR Codes are out of the question for me.

I have put my account on holiday as I have no intention of being caught out in the mess that inevitably going to happen. More than likely I will just have to stop selling on here as I have no intention of 'ripping off' Customers with such a huge posting fee.

If anyone knows of a light at the end of the tunnel please let me know.

For those happy Business sellers who think we are scamming the system and good riddance you do know that without us Private Sellers on E Bay you will lose sales due to buyers no longer browsing, there will be less impulse sales plus more competition with those fabulous Chinese Companies on here who duplicate your items at a 10th of the price... 😘

[papso22]

Oh dear, you lost all your credibility in the second paragraph. 

It's consumer law (and ebay policies) that dictate the type of account you should have.

[goodibags]

Hmm, wasn't I accused of 'scaremongering' a while back? While it may look like current Ebay policy to upgrade each and every private seller to a 'business account', some guidance around what exactly is the issue here would probably be appreciated? Bearing in mind every seller has a UK personal allowance of £1000 for 'trading' online, which includes making your own products to sell, clearly it must be something else?

[doumind_7]

So why do it? Which is what I keep saying. The new stealth tax has nothing to do with more buyer protection But everything to do with the great con trick going on by Ebay. And they invariably side with the buyer in most disputes. Scammers? Certainly, and that includes eBay I'm afraid.

[doumind_7]

No it blooming well isn't. You pick the account. Its got nothing to do with eBay whether you want to be a private seller or a business or differentiation post your items for that matter. What on earth has his/her,second paragraph got to do with anything?  Valkyrie above has probably written the best post on here today. Your second paragraph on the other hand is frankly absolute rubbish. Its not a  job interview!

[andha-21]

I can't see any light. In all honesty what I see in front is deliberately murky and that doesn't bode well.

[doumind_7]

Great stuff. 5 Stars. If you have a You Tube account you should post this.

Power to the little people!

[goodibags]

The one light I can see is that Buyer Fees have been slow to roll out so far and are being added on a category by category basis. Ebay is still mopping up its various spillages elsewhere. In which case you might just get a week or 2 of sales before the new fees reach your listings?

Admittedly that's not long but hopefully it will give you some extra thinking time?

[papso22]

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@doumind_7 wrote:

No it blooming well isn't. You pick the account. Its got nothing to do with eBay whether you want to be a private seller or a business or differentiation post your items for that matter. What on earth has his/her,second paragraph got to do with anything?  Valkyrie above has probably written the best post on here today. Your second paragraph on the other hand is frankly absolute rubbish. Its not a  job interview!

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Some people on here are just too ignorant to help.  I will no longer be replying to any of your posts even when you publicly bait me.

And unlike you, I keep my promises.

[andha-21]

So if I can ask, in a contextual sense regarding eBay policies and consumer law. Don't want to upset anyone.

You mentioned their second paragraph. I'm assuming it's the make to sell part and therefore consumer law should apply to those items. So that takes precedent over earning amounts and means they should have a business account regardless so their customers benefit from their rights?

Just trying to see if I'm understanding where you are coming from.

& again, I'm asking in a contextual sense. Trying to learn.

[privatebaldrick]

At least it's easy to see the private listings now... they all have whacky prices! 🙄

Until of course private sellers start pricing items with pre-added-whackiness to make them look normal after BPF is added. 😉

[jasonsdad]

So if an auction you list at 99p will then show as 1.78 to the buyer and for each and every additional £1 the auction increases the seller will be shown/paid an increment of 96p. This is some amazing software, software that can be split between business and private sellers, Buy it Now and auctions and also be applied to specific categories as, when and until all categories are included.

There are clearly talented people out there, obviously the App failure was a minor setback but am sure will get it sorted out quickly.