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.

[ds301199]

I don’t have the volume to justify the monthly fee . There isn’t huge interest in stamps - all I’m doing is putting a few items on that might help the odd collector fill a gap or two. Just looking at the number of views is a good indication I’d be wasting money.

[dch2112011]

As a private seller, why would the BPF make you uncompetitive ?  All private sellers will have the BPF added thus creating an equal playing field.

Given the nature of unwanted personal items you are not competing with other sellers - the items have no costs, the price you sell at is whatever someone will pay to save it from landfill.

If you are using a private account to run a small business or to sell collections, it is no longer geared up to allow this to be viable, so the only alternative is moving to a business account where you can continue to sell without the BPF being added

[jonat_broad]

response was to the person above selling self designed greeting cards.

[buffster1963]

You are not a private seller, although you do not seem to realise that. If you register as a business you can go back to paying a fee and not have these new changes. 

[finbar_saunders]

What a farcical policy this is - I've just found an item I want to purchase and have received an offer from the seller - unfortunately, this wizzy new idea adds £1.44 to an £18 item. The seller lives a few roads away from me so I would be paying cash on collection.

What incentive is there for me to checkout via ebay when I can knock on his door and pay the amount he's offered it for rather than the inflated amount ebay want (so that I have buyer protection which I don't need for a collect in person item)?

After 22 years, my days on ebay are numbered if they insist on this sort of stupidity (even more so when you also take account of the search manipulation that ebay insist on (why would I need to click another button to see all of the results of my carefully crafted search? - why when I click on an item from a search do I then have to ask to see the full details of the item rather than a butchered minimalist version that ebay think is better)). I'm really at the end of my tether with this platform....

[buffster1963]

Cash on collection is no longer allowed on Ebay. Does the seller offer collection on this item? If not, he may have a problem getting paid as there would be no collection code given to you. 

[dch2112011]

Well you would not have found the item if it was not for ebay - so why do you feel entitled that a company who advertises the item, gives you protection, ie if you collected and it was not what you expected - the seller couldn't slam the door in your face - ebay would force the refund - even to the point that the seller if he wanted it back would have to facilitate the return and you would be guaranteed a refund via ebay !

You really do not think this is worth £1.44 and you are willing to con ebay out of this huge sum of money - hope you never have dealings with someone with the same selfish attitude as yourself otherwise the £1.44 will pale into insignificance compared to the losses that may be inflicted upon you.

[finbar_saunders]

You think I'm conning ebay? Wow you need to get a sense of perspective......I'm be more than happy to pay via ebay and them get their usual slice of the pie, but the buyer protection (for an item local to me) is of absolutely no value and is therefore simply a sales tax to increase their (already huge) profits. 

By the way, they're not 'giving me' protection, they're forcing me to pay for protection that I don't want or need. If you think otherwise, you're naive in the extreme - perhaps in future it would be good if you kept your semi-libelous comments to yourself.....

[cobwebcottage]

I hope you are very, very rich as you are walking a thin line by using lyrics of songs which are protected by Copyright.

You could also get a custodial sentence under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

You are playing a very dangerous and silly game and as others have said, on a private account!

@mrgees 

[dch2112011]

They say the truth hurts -  

Like any insurance it is never needed until things go wrong ! 

And yes you are dishonestly abusing ebay by suggesting you would complete a sale outside of ebay because you feel that you can save £1.44 on the basis that the seller lives a few streets away !

Strange that you did not complain about the 35p listing fee and the 10% sellers fee that you as a buyer paid hidden within the advertised price even when you collected ! 

These fees were removed and replaced by the buyers fees - which you pay less for making the overall price cheaper  !  

How do you think buyer protection works or any insurance policy, guarantee or warranty come to that  ?

It is an insurance for when it is needed - paid collectively on all purchases to fund the purchases that go wrong - it's not and never has been a free service !

[dubstaruk]

Who the f are you in my private email?

[jonat_broad]

I’d imagine they are f in there because you signed up to email notifications of forum threads you posted a reply on.

they didn’t even reply to your comment, though I know the emails don’t make that clear

[buffster1963]

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@dubstaruk wrote:
Who the f are you in my private email?

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All the replies on this thread will get sent to your email if you do not turn off notifications. Nobody is sending you emails. 

[papso22]

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@buffster1963 wrote:

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@dubstaruk wrote:
Who the f are you in my private email?

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All the replies on this thread will get sent to your email if you do not turn off notifications. Nobody is sending you emails. 

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Well nobody other than eBay.

[buffster1963]

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@papso22 wrote:

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@buffster1963 wrote:

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@dubstaruk wrote:
Who the f are you in my private email?

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All the replies on this thread will get sent to your email if you do not turn off notifications. Nobody is sending you emails. 

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Well nobody other than eBay.

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Well yes, apart from them 😂

[nitrohopup]

The majority of threads currently around BPF have actually made me understand the disdain towards business sellers operating under a private account. 

I read some of this and just shake my head at how ignorant some people are in terms of what they are doing (which is wrong under the T&C’s you agreed to creating an account) and justifying the behaviour.

Mindblown. 

[nitrohopup]

Sorry @buffster1963 I didnt mean to reply to your post was meant to be a reply to the thread! 

[cassidy_r_private]

I've traded on ebay since 2001. Ebay is very much alive.

I wish I had a £1 for everyone who posted on the boards that they are leaving for somewhere better (and another £1 for the ones who said they were but didn't).

[lucy_farmer]

'I read some of this and just shake my head at how ignorant some people are in terms of what they are doing (which is wrong under the T&C’s you agreed to creating an account) and justifying the behaviour.'

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Yep, the ones who 'double down' so hard to justify what they're doing are pretty irritating.😤

But the very fact that they come here and openly and 'innocently' tell everybody what they're doing, makes it obvious that some have no idea what they're doing puts them in the wrong.

Ebay have never given adequate advice/instructions on this matter.

And encouraged trading on private accounts by offering, 'shops', 'out of stock', multi-buys' and (until very recently) 1000s of listings.

(Today (or late yesterday) somebody popped up saying they'd looked into all this and discovered that they needed a business account.

Up until now they'd assumed that having a 'shop' on their private account was enough, and that ebay, when asked, had told them they *didn't* need a business account! - you could argue that everybody should read every word of T's and C's when signing up for anything. And you'd be technically correct. But all that stuff is not written to be easily absorbed and understood by the vast majority of human beings 🙁...... except papso !....)

[kath3735_wxmjn]

think you mean 'trying to justify the behaviour'.