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.

[jjambadger27]

Not quite - it all depends as to whether an existing auction has bids or not by Feb 4. Look at the last post at this link...

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Chat-with-the-eBay-Community/Weekly-Chat-with-the-eBay-Community-Tea...

[1956glyn]

Its all getting a bit too complicated for this natural blonde 😞

My listings have just all ended so now i am in the "wait and see for a while/few weeks" camp.

[gemini-project]

I don't see why this is an issue, why would a private seller need to compete with anyone, that suggest you are running a business and are not a genuine private seller.

If you are selling something for £3 and  its going to be £4 with the fees added its going to be same for everyone so the price is now £4 across the board, who exactly are you trying to compete with ? a legit business?

[hamsteruk23]

Good idea!

[kath3735_wxmjn]

well technically all private sellers are competing against each other because we all want to get rid of our stuff, although i know what you mean and i agree.  That is why i am not particularly bothered about that  change or the one about holding funds, i sell to get rid for my family not to maintain my lifestyle (thank goodness and a lifetime of paying into works pensions!!).   What will be the killer for me is SD.  I will not be dictated to as to how, when or where i post my parcels.

[infinibrix]

This is exactly what I've been trying to emphasise in previous posts....

The private seller market should be for selling used, discontinued, rare and unusual items. The only time a private seller should be selling new and current items is if they've acquired something by chance or its an unwanted gift, both of these situations usually result in the need to sell below retail price or if your very lucky inline with retail price after all it makes sense for consumers to buy their new items from a registered business over a private seller and eBay's changes only help encourage and emphasise that. If your a private seller and want to compete with business sellers then you need to start by registering as one!

[sportex-uk]

Apparently, business sellers started competing under newly created private accounts.

Overregulation is a domain of regimes. Free countries don't impose nonsense as you propose, only set minimum standards, then enforce taxes from its economy. As long as quality items are delivered, customers are happy, taxes are paid, where is your problem? In the fact that certain sellers did not pay 13% fees to ebay?

[*maetrix*]

Same here..all my listings are being "frozen" from the 3rd of Feb for a couple of weeks & then i'll see what's happening with everybody else (if they're still selling!)..my gut feeling is that this is going to be a disaster for ebay & they'll have to back down pretty sharpish.

[jjambadger27]

That won't happen - I can't think of a time when eBay has backed down. 

[infinibrix]

Well for registered businesses it’s their livelihood, they declare their income and pay their fair taxes. If you’re a private seller and not paying those same taxes you’re undercutting and hindering the success of the very same businesses that the government rely on in order to fund and support everything in society from schools to hospitals. I therefore hardly think its nonsense to allow private sellers to have free reign over disrupting business whilst at the same time seemingly not having to contribute towards paying any taxes themselves? Your ebay fees are not taxes!
There are private sellers here demanding a level playing yet registering as a business and operating under the same obligations/commitments would be your level playing field right there!

[sportex-uk]

All activity on online platforms is now automatically reportable to HMRC when annual turnover is in excess of £1800 (or 30 transactions). In order to stay within £1000 tax-free profit allowance, average turnover would have to reach 3-5 grand, unless your profit margin is relatively high. Therefore, HMRC knows very well who trades on ebay or vinted, as in order to withdraw your money, you need to provide your NIN, even on a private account. As a result, there is NO ESCAPE from taxes nowadays and we can assume that everone who makes any SENSIBLE profit is paying taxes, regardless of the type of ebay account they're on.

When business sellers cry here over private sellers, they in reality cry over ebay profits.

[ett1954]

"In order to stay within £1000 tax-free profit allowance, average turnover would have to reach 3-5 grand, unless your profit margin is relatively high." - There isn't a £1000 tax-free profit allowance.  It is specifically for those trading whereby a income (turnover) of £1000 is the point whereby a trader must register for self assessment.  Whether they are making a profit or not is irrelevant.

Working for yourself - GOV.UK

A private seller does not have to register for self assessment irrespective of how much they sell (unless they are lucky enough to fall outside the Capital Gains Tax thresholds).  They only have to satisfy themselves that they can show and/or convince HMRC that they are selling their personal possessions if contacted.

I would add that a trader even with a turnover of less than £1000 should by law register on eBay as a business to comply with the Consumer Rights Act - 2015; that is nothing to do with HMRC.

[infinibrix]

Your arguments within each of your two posts are nonsensical as within your first post you’re spouting about having an issue with overregulation and in your second post you’re stating that HMRC can see what everyone is doing regardless of the account type they own and in which case I’m not seeing the overall point of your argument? That said private sellers can still avoid detection by using multiple accounts under different names, banks etc…  and so its not as straightforward as that

Either way just because HMRC has the ability to check up on the activities of sellers here do you really think they have the resources to check up on every single ebay sellers tax obligations? They struggle to get the big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes and so private ebay sellers are small fry in comparison besides it takes money and time to investigate every seller in this way therefore perhaps it would be easier if certain private sellers who are actively and knowingly selling for profit, save HMRC the bother and do the right thing of declaring themselves as a business to begin with rather than a ton of government funded resources needing to be piled into chasing them down?

ebays changes are all about making it more difficult for private sellers to compete and operate in a business like way and for more sellers to register as a business and declare their income which is for the benefit of us all. The only people crying here are the certain private sellers who've suddenly had the realisation  that its going to be more difficult for them to continue conducting their business like activities under a private account?

[gblcfc]

Nonsense on every levelSent from my Galaxy

[infinibrix]

"Nonsense on every level"

and yet you provide no other counter argument other that this?

However why should I be surprised as you appear to be yet another business operating under a private account?

[jow1995]

Says a seller, clearly running a business on a private account with over 6k of sales, and a very professional shop front.

[gblcfc]

And how is that relevant?Sent from my Galaxy

[infinibrix]

Well even if you don't see the relevance now, you soon will after the 4th Feb so I'd get registering that business of yours....

[moomins65]

It's not just you. I realised when they first mentioned the Buyer Protection fees. As a private seller I'm selling off collections of first day covers, stamps and postcards. ( usually 99p auction start & £1 postage)  These new terms mean if I sell a cover for 99p ebay are going to add 75p + 4%!!!! It used to be 34p per item to list, greed has come into play. Not to mention if I want my money within two days items have to be tracked ( approx £2.50 letter rate instead of £1) I contacted them, the agent understood & agreed with me. Put forward my concerns as a Priority Complaint, said eBay would get back to me. Nothing heard at all. Think it means the end of eBay for me now. Everyone who reads this and feels the same, hit eBay with official complaints. 

[rsbrickshop]

Hi is this the part of the consumer rights act you are quoting.

The trader's identity

The consumer needs to know, or be able to find out, who they are dealing with. A trader's identity and address must be displayed at their place of business, on key business documents and on websites. This information must also be made available to consumers before a contract is made and whenever a consumer requests it. See 'Company and business names' for more information.

If a trader fails to disclose that they are a limited company and there is then a breach of contract, the consumer may be able to claim against the directors of the business as individuals. If a trader fails to disclose that they are acting as an agent for someone else, then the consumer may be able to make any claim directly against that trader.