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.

[jasonsdad]

Indeed we can,  and it seems superb,   well pointed out.   Seems M is doing a great job,  hopefully the protection money now applied to his listings won't dampen the enthusiasm here.

[dyingcult]

ebay uk must love all this ''private versus business''  what about ebay buyers- less choice now or you pay more..

thanks ebay

[uk-specials]

Yeah I do get that. There's obviously a fine line between being a genuine postcard collector and just someone that sells postcards as a side business. This guy is very very clearly on one side of the line. He's so far away from the line that the line is a dot to him.

Clearly no actual collector is going to have listings like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315823495372

5 copies of the same photograph, printed out on photo paper in 2024? What? Why would you have those? He's so obviously running a business here it's making my eyes water.

Most of his listings are these new reprints, and he scatters in a few genuine vintage postcards here and there to lend an air of legtimacy to the new repros. Oldest trick on eBay.

[gblcfc]

Incorrect again

Most of my listings are vintage or antique postcards - as I said - visit my shop

You seem increasingly confused

[jasonsdad]

andha-21  Well I know I tossed that one up but you literally smashed it out of the park.   BTW are there another 20 andha's  ?

[andha-21]

Haha and no clue. I always choose random usernames. 

[g1dgl]

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@uk-specials wrote:

And you don’t “pay” for a business seller account, dingus. It’s literally just a tickbox on eBay, that’s it. ...no monthly subscriptions, etc. just a different set of terms and conditions and a different fee structure, that’s literally it.

if you’re a good seller and get a lot of positive feedback etc, the fees actually end up being lower than if you were private. .... Just take the plunge, it’s honestly nothing like as bad or expensive as you think.

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Despite being a genuine private seller, I have had a look at whether a business account would be better for me.  I can see that there are now some advantages, particularly with the absence of the confusing BPF, but I think that it is still going to work out more expensive for me unless I have misunderstood the fee structure - which is entirely possible.

Do I understand that if I switched to a business account I can - simplifying - either pay £27 per month or 30p per listing?  Plus, a final value fee of 30p plus a percentage, which for my items in Business, Office & Industrial would currently be 11.9%?

The problem is that if I go for the £27 per month then that is £324 per year (plus VAT?) which is more than half of the total sales I made in 2024, plus I always listed using the 70% discount fees offer so paying the full 10.9% is going to add to that even more.

If I go with the 30p per listing option instead then I have a different problem.  Many of my items are very rare and unusual and practically no-one in the world wants them.  It is common for my to list something and wait more than a year before anyone buys it.  If I understand correctly, the 30p fee will be charged each and every month when the item re-lists.  For something costing less than £10 and possibly being listed for a year or more this is clearly going to be a big hit.

Overall, I suspect that I am best sticking to a private account - I am after all genuinely selling unwanted possessions - and possibly stop listing some of the lower value items as with BPF it won't be worth it any longer.

[papso22]

A genuine private seller should not be thinking about a business account, it would be inappropriate, and as you have worked out, costly for them in terms of fees.  It might also lead to difficult conversations with HMRC if they are provided with your sales data.

[ett1954]

@g1dgl  ; for your interest this particular photograph original referred to by @uk-specials  is held by the Imperial War Museum photo library archive.  If you have purchased it then it is a copy, not the original you hold.

There is no copyright on the photograph and it is in the public domain and can be freely downloaded, however, such downloads are not allowed to be used in any commercial enterprise.  I doubt the IWM would be impressed that their materials are being used in this way.

Interestingly the Spitfire IXc is of a Polish Fighter Team of 145 Squadron, RAF, at Goubrine airfield in Tunisia.  The aircraft is that of the squadron commander Stanisław Skalski who previously fought in the Battle of Britain and was the top Polish fighter ace of the war and became the first Allied fighter ace of the war.  Useful should you wish to expand the description of the photograph.

[goodibags]

Fascinating info, thank you.

These human-written item descriptions are SO much better than Ebay's glossy AI-generated verbiage. 😉

[ett1954]

"SO much better than Ebay's glossy AI-generated verbiage. " - couldn't agree more.  Reminiscent of a 1980s double glazing salesman; although that may be before your time, fortunately.

[jasonsdad]

Great word I like someone who talks clearly and simply

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[johnwash1]

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@g1dgl wrote:

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@uk-specials wrote:

And you don’t “pay” for a business seller account, dingus. It’s literally just a tickbox on eBay, that’s it. ...no monthly subscriptions, etc. just a different set of terms and conditions and a different fee structure, that’s literally it.

if you’re a good seller and get a lot of positive feedback etc, the fees actually end up being lower than if you were private. .... Just take the plunge, it’s honestly nothing like as bad or expensive as you think.

---

Despite being a genuine private seller, I have had a look at whether a business account would be better for me.  I can see that there are now some advantages, particularly with the absence of the confusing BPF, but I think that it is still going to work out more expensive for me unless I have misunderstood the fee structure - which is entirely possible.

Do I understand that if I switched to a business account I can - simplifying - either pay £27 per month or 30p per listing?  Plus, a final value fee of 30p plus a percentage, which for my items in Business, Office & Industrial would currently be 11.9%?

The problem is that if I go for the £27 per month then that is £324 per year (plus VAT?) which is more than half of the total sales I made in 2024, plus I always listed using the 70% discount fees offer so paying the full 10.9% is going to add to that even more.

If I go with the 30p per listing option instead then I have a different problem.  Many of my items are very rare and unusual and practically no-one in the world wants them.  It is common for my to list something and wait more than a year before anyone buys it.  If I understand correctly, the 30p fee will be charged each and every month when the item re-lists.  For something costing less than £10 and possibly being listed for a year or more this is clearly going to be a big hit.

Overall, I suspect that I am best sticking to a private account - I am after all genuinely selling unwanted possessions - and possibly stop listing some of the lower value items as with BPF it won't be worth it any longer.

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@g1dgl 

uk-specials wasn't targetting you, I think.  As you point out, it would be ridiculous for you to feel the need to downgrade to being a business seller.  Now I must go away and look up this word 'dingus', which I also don't think was directed at you.

[thesmi42]

Interesting, but I'm not sure it is of any relevance as far as g1dgl  is concerned, unless that it is another id for gblcfc ?

[kath3735_wxmjn]

What the business sellers are saying seems to be hitting the mark with the pseudo private sellers!  As a genuine private seller i am not offended or upset by their comments!     Why should they 'stay away', this is a sellers forum for both business and private sellers.   After all a lot of the changes have come about because of cheating 'private sellers'!

[g1dgl]

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@johnwash1 wrote:

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@g1dgl 

uk-specials wasn't targetting you, I think.  As you point out, it would be ridiculous for you to feel the need to downgrade to being a business seller.  Now I must go away and look up this word 'dingus', which I also don't think was directed at you.

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Please be assured that I didn't think for one moment that @uk-specials was directing his "dingus" comments at me.  I think that he was replying to @jasonsdad.  I responded purely because I wanted to make sure that I understood the issues around having a business account with the suggestion that it was simply a different species of account with some different fees and not as expensive as I might imagine.  Clearly, for me at least it is as expensive as I might imagine and not appropriate.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

it is amazing how like attracts like!  

[jasonsdad]

I was wondering when the good cop would attend.

[jasonsdad]

as private sellers are also allowed on the business forums......   And of course the business sellers have a right to discuss the protection fees and buyer charges as it affect them.... in what way ?

[kath3735_wxmjn]

this is not a private sellers forum though, it is Seller Central - for everyone!   As for whether they have a right to discuss these fees and charges, of course they do!   You do realise that most of these business sellers will have private seller accounts as well!  Not to mention that there is no reason why they should not make their comments, it is a free and open forum and people are entitled to air their views.