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.

[infinibrix]

I think this is the whole point though as from eBay’s private seller (non business) point of view, you’d probably be expected to sell your entire collection of Stamps/Postcards as a complete one off lot or maybe broken down into several smaller lots. The moment you start selling a never ending supply of individual items you are then essentially capitalising on profits and operating a business model. It also doesn’t matter whether you were once a collector yourself  or inherited what your selling because its often the way you sell that determines the type of seller you are.

[gblcfc]

Says who?

Says you?

[infinibrix]

Says common sense!

and says ebay by the looks of things!

You think if I inherit a relatives business stock or extensive collection I can just shrug my shoulders and proceed with selling it in a business like manor without declaring or registering as a business?
By all means capitalise on getting the most from those items as a private seller but there needs to be some downtime not a continuous never ending stream of 24/7 sales 

[gblcfc]

Says who? - Says you?

If you are not happy about the way it works then complain to ebay. You did recently about 'Chinese Sellers' I note - how did that work out?

You clearly have no understanding of this issue - as you are a ' Business Seller' you can add no value to the discussion

[infinibrix]

Not sure what I need to complain to ebay about since measures are already in place to level the playing field between business and private sellers and the fact that I'm a registered business probably shows that I already have a greater understanding of my obligations as a seller in comparison to yourself?

Not sure what relevance an old post about Chinese sellers is here? but it was actually in relation to Chinese counterfeit Lego being sold on the platform and yes it worked out well thanks as those competitor sellers no longer exist here!

[ett1954]

It is what I was referring to, I wasn't quoting, so best read on the government website:

Online and distance selling : Distance selling - GOV.UK

I would draw attention to the following points:

"you must provide:

your business name, contact details and address" - not possible on an eBay private account

"If you do not follow the rules you could be made to provide the goods or services as agreed, pay compensation or be given an unlimited fine or a prison sentence."

"You must tell the customer they can cancel their order up to 14 days after their order is delivered. They do not need to give a reason for cancelling.  If you do not tell the customer about their right to cancel, they can cancel at any time in the next 12 months. If you tell them about the right to cancel during these 12 months, they have 14 days to cancel from when you told them." - Hence the reason why a correctly registered business seller cannot have a 'no returns' policy.

[papso22]

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@gblcfc wrote:
Says who? - Says you?

If you are not happy about the way it works then complain to ebay. You did recently about 'Chinese Sellers' I note - how did that work out?

You clearly have no understanding of this issue - as you are a ' Business Seller' you can add no value to the discussion

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I think they add considerably more value than you!

You wouldn't have an issue either if you registered as a business.

[rsbrickshop]

Hi thank you for your reply do you know why it said

• your business name, contact details and address

what if it is a sole trader that does not have a business name.

and do you know if this applies those under the £1000 yearly sales amount .

[papso22]

A sole trader's business name is their actual name, e.g John Smith.

A sole trader is a self employed individual operating a business. 

[ett1954]

If you are buying or restoring to sell, or selling a service, you are considered a trader and therefore need to be registered on eBay as a business seller even if you don't meet the £1000 turnover for registration for self assessment with HMRC.  It is consumer rights law rather than a requirement for HMRC.

Contact details are required so your customer knows who they are dealing with and where to contact you should they have an issue.  A sale between a business seller and a consumer is a contract which gives the consumer rights over and above those they have from a private seller.

With regard to how you meet the contact details requirement;  if you don't have a business name registered I would presume your name and address details would suffice.  Maybe someone can clarify this.  I am a sole trader but have my business registered as I have a large proportion of international sales which require registration for various schemes.  It was a long time ago that I registered my business, however, as I recall it was quite a simple thing to do at that time.

I am sure if you if you are wanting to go down that route someone with more recent experience will come along and guide you through the process.

[suelel1968]

So sick of this, read the title of the post, if you have nothing to add that relates to the title, move on. 

[christiesmusicstore]

well don’t read it…..Duh!

[*devils.advocate*]

IMHO, after nearly 22 complete pages, I don’t really think there’s much to add to the topic of the OP  -  considering the fee isn't in operation yet.

Maybe there’ll be something more definitive, non-speculative, (even interesting) over the next few weeks once there are actual experiences?

[infinibrix]

The original post was created almost a month ago and so isn’t it pretty inevitable that a topic with over 400 posts is going to branch off in many different directions during that time?
Either way I’m really not understanding why that’s such a problem to you?
If your so concerned with only reading about the original subject title maybe just stick to reading the first 50 or so posts rather than reading 400+ posts in?

That said the original post from day 1 included the line:-

“Is It just me or will ebay's new Buyers' protection fee from the 4th Feb make it near impossible to sell competitively”

Most of what has been discussed today directly relates to the appropriate steps a Private seller would need to take in order to trade competitively alongside other registered business sellers!

[rsbrickshop]

Okay thanks.

[rsbrickshop]

Okay thank you for the help.

[johnwash1]

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@snowylilliput-0 wrote:

That depends on what you are selling , You can hardly put a fragile item into a jiffy bag . Packing Peanuts are not always really available for free as many off the online firms like Amazon do not use them . 

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@snowylilliput-0 

a)  Occasionally I do get handed those peanuts.  I don't approve of them, since they're not recyclable.  But I then keep them for packing a fragile item or two, so they get at least one further use.

b) Why would I put a fragile item into just a Jiffy bag?  Do you lack any vestige of imagination?  I might put the item in a Jiffy bag and then put the bag in a larger cardboard box, surrounding the bag with bubble wrap, crumpled newspaper, Amazon brown paper, or more exotic dunnage.

Some of my items are certainly fragile, including glassware.  I get a lot of complimentary feedback about my packing, so can you explain your remarks?

[johnwash1]

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@gemini-project wrote:

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?

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Amongst other things, I'm taking a hard look at my bookshelves and realising I have many books that were related to work and I'll never open up again.  Time to list them.  So yes, I am indeed competing with legit businesses.  Unfortunately, often legit businesses that somehow source postage at rates I can only dream of even if I sell for 1p.

[efr9180]

illegal how?

[carrotdrusus2]

Its quite incredible how many people seem to think Ebay are some sort of legal entity isnt it?