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.

[snowylilliput-0]

You would have a message from Ebay which will explain everything 

[sportex-uk]

Not much is going to change apart from average end prices that buyers pay going up slightly. It works on Vinted (where prices are generally lower), so it will either work here as well, or smaller 'private business sellers' turn away to Vinted.

I've only opened Vinted account to get rid of some used unwanted things that are hanging on my private ebay account. Some sell, some don't.

used hiking boots (same final price ca £40, same photos)

ebay (promoted listing) 10 views/2 days

vinted 70 views/5 hours

I do have an impression that Vinted users are overall different (younger) generation or fresher mentality and ebay just copied their successful business model.

[seedbankers]

@rsbrickshopI know already that I won't be able to shift anything on this platform. By the time the increase appears on my items, all potential buyers will flock to trade merchants as they sell as low as £1.50 for 12 seeds. It's like increasing NI which wreck business, removing heating allowance to kill any feel good factor to go out to spend. All wrong.

[kempseykate]

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@1956glyn wrote:

and Evri strike again

Just watched our Evri driver leave a large packet outside the neighbours house (directly across the road from us) propped up against their front brick wall in full sight from the road !!

Guess i better go get it !!

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I was sorting some books in the library box room yesterday afternoon, looked out and saw exactly the same thing happened - but it was RM and it was Tracked. But it was left well in sight of anyone passing, so I went over to get it (we do that regularly for their RM & DPD parcels).

[paulg8630]

Selling stamps from my collection for 99p made 49p before free listing came in, so to soak in a 75p plus charge for buyers will be impossible.

[carrotdrusus2]

Yes I am afraid that will be the case. So any collector that used the money they recouped to use on new additions to their collection as we all did at some point will now stop buying the smaller items on here, which will have a massive impact for the businesses that sell collectables also.

[dorset_sports]

There is nothing illegal about businesses selling on private accounts. ebay rules are another matter and are up to ebay to enforce

[dorset_sports]

"It's not regulars jumping on newbies, it's those who know the law pointing out that some people are breaking it."

Another one who thinks this is a legal matter. Why??!  It has nothing to do with the law; this is simply about  ebay's rules.

If you are thinking about taxation, that is solely the concern of individual sellers, business or private, and HMRC - NOT anyone else.

[mr_aitch]

"There is nothing illegal about businesses selling on private accounts. ebay rules are another matter and are up to ebay to enforce"

if you are trading as a business and making a profit it would be illegal not to declare the profit on your self assessment tax return regardless of what type of ebay account you have. and if you are making a profit it is a requirement that you notify HMRC and request a self assessment tax form.

[dorset_sports]

"if you are trading as a business and making a profit it would be illegal not to declare the profit on your self assessment tax return regardless of what type of ebay account you have. and if you are making a profit it is a requirement that you notify HMRC and request a self assessment tax form.

This is a statement of the obvious. My 2 replies above were in reponse to posters that seem to think that being a business seller with a private ebay account is against the law when it is nothing of the sort

[mr_aitch]

"think that being a business seller with a private ebay account is against the law when it is nothing of the sort"

if you are running a business then you have to comply with consumer protection laws, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, using a private seller account while engaging in business activities might be seen as an attempt to misrepresent yourself and avoid these obligations. furthermore, ebay's own terms and conditions require sellers to use a business account if they are selling with the intent to profit regularly. the "business seller policy" also states "Business sellers can't represent themselves as private individuals".

[dorset_sports]

I'm sorry, I thought your point was about taxation??

As I said, as it stands it is not illegal. The word 'might' implies that this has not been tested in a court of law. The rest of your post regurgitates ebay rules, which I've already mentioned, so it looks like we are in agreement!

[the-layer-laboratory]

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires traders to display their address in several places, including: At their place of business, on key business documents, and on their website. 

Traders must also provide this information to consumers before a contract (sale) is made, and whenever a consumer requests it.

Since this is only possible to comply with on ebay with a business account, those trading on a private account cannot satisfy the legal requirements of the CRA 2015. 

[potstove]

The way it will work means that the new buyers fees are just the reintroduced sellers fees at a much higher cost. Sellerw will have to reduce the selling amount by these fees to remain competitive.

[paulg8630]

You are correct there. I am just selling my late father's stamp collection bit by bit. As a private seller selling a lot of items at 99p I cannot absorb the 75p for the buyers. So I might as well look elsewhere.

[papso22]

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@the-layer-laboratory wrote:

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires traders to display their address in several places, including: At their place of business, on key business documents, and on their website. 

Traders must also provide this information to consumers before a contract (sale) is made, and whenever a consumer requests it.

Since this is only possible to comply with on ebay with a business account, those trading on a private account cannot satisfy the legal requirements of the CRA 2015. 

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Hence 'trading illegally'.

So many businesses seem to think this is all about tax, it isn't.  We cannot know from looking at a pseudo ebay private account whether that person pays tax or not, but we know they have not complied with the CRA 2015, because they can't.

[vapey_vapey]

You are correct there. I am just selling my late father's stamp collection bit by bit. As a private seller selling a lot of items at 99p I cannot absorb the 75p for the buyers. So I might as well look elsewhere.

Trouble is for a lot of cheap  items that arent clothes theres nowhere else to go to is there?

[tsc269]

As I probably suggested way back in this thread, disposing of a stamp collection, even a reasonably good one, can be challenging as so much of the same stuff is available and there are very few dealers left, though I was lucky enough to locate one eight miles away who took some good GB and Commonwealth for £1600.  Another confirmed there was no market for anything less than thirty  years old.  At least I'd stopped collecting GB and BC forty years ago. I gave some parts of the collection to charities who assured me they had experienced philatelists as advisers on how to sell, rather than those that merely collected modern stamps removed from mail. (What do they do with them?)  I  looked at the OXFAM on-line shop and was aghast at  the very high prices that were being asked.  (Collecting postal history, where so many items - not commercial FDCs - still seems to be vibrant.)

[sammylou40]

You’re only covered when buying a tracked label through the eBay system. And if an item is lost or damaged in transit.  EBay will refund the buyer for the purchase in this case. 
If the  buyer wants to return the item and you accept returns, you refund yourself. They pay for the return postage 

unless the item is not as described in which case you pay for the original label, the return label and refund the item.  

[sammylou40]

I don’t know if you still can, but you used to be able to upgrade your account to a business one at the click of a button.Well , almost . It wasn’t too time consuming. May be worth a quick look