Ebay's new buyer protection scam

[wayne15071965]

So I have been a seller on and off her since June 2001, Over the years I have sent items recorded delivery that either never turn up , or arrive with no notification of delivery.  Now someone wants to charge a buyer a fee for safe delivery, when they would have been charged that in the P&P cost.  Frankly it sounds more like a scam than customer service and Ebay are also trying to force us to use their shipping option, So much for free enterprise, sound like trying to get the monopoly on delivery as well.  As for hanging on the sellers cash til 2 days after delivery, really so post office goes on strike and you don't get paid, Think I may start looking to leave. So much for eBay's loyalty to us .

[61stephenuk]

Its not a 75p flat fee, the fee is up to 75p,currently it seems eBay have decided on 72p but this could be reduced with buyer promotions

• A flat fee of up to £0.75 per item, and
• 4% of the item price up to £300, and
• 2% of any portion of the item price from £300 to £4,000

[newsgood2]

What is this about this morning?

[ett1954]

You have attempted to access a removed post via an e-mail link.

[newsgood2]

My own feeling on this is that eBay said Private Sellers no fees. Then BPF suddenly arose. Ebay took the position that by providing Private accounts as free of fees that this would attract more sales across eBay by bringing more people onto the website, and the person/people that came up with that need permanent gardening leave.

I do not agree that there should be selling fees on private accounts. BPF is badly thought through and eBay need to wake up and try integrity and honesty. We deserve to be treated in an honest and clear way and buyers need this too.

[superchallenge]

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@newsgood2 wrote:

My own feeling on this is that eBay said Private Sellers no fees. Then BPF suddenly arose. Ebay took the position that by providing Private accounts as free of fees that this would attract more sales across eBay by bringing more people onto the website, and the person/people that came up with that need permanent gardening leave.

I do not agree that there should be selling fees on private accounts. BPF is badly thought through and eBay need to wake up and try integrity and honesty. We deserve to be treated in an honest and clear way and buyers need this too.

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Ok, so if there shouldn't be selling fees on private accounts and BPF is badly thought through...what's the solution?

[jonatjonatjonat]

Bankruptcy I assume.

[newsgood2]

To not charge private sellers fees, and not charge their buyers and see if it brings more buyers to the website. That is what they promised and have not done. The BPF should not be exist as appears too be a total scam.

[*devils.advocate*]

Bottom line - someone has to pay fees - whatever they're called.

Having read a huge number of posts by sellers who want a return to sellers’ fees, rather than the current BPF, do these sellers believe that any future seller fee, which eBay would set, will equate to be less than the equivalent of 4%+75p?

IMHO, it would certainly not work out to be less - but be slightly higher.

A higher new seller fee would result in either prices having to increase (for sellers to receive the amount they want at the end of the day) or sellers keep their prices the same and receive less than they would actually want.

If things aren’t selling at the moment …………….

I still say that if private sellers had reduced their prices when “free to sell” came about, the BPF wouldn’t be too much of an issue - and, personally, I didn’t see any real difference or change in prices (before and after private seller fees were ended) in the areas I’m interested in.

Simple Delivery, however, is a completely separate matter and I’ve already posted a number of times that eBay would make a complete pig’s ear of things - which is par for the course for them.

[ett1954]

"To not charge private sellers fees, and not charge their buyers .... " - In other words the cost of running the site will be primarily burdened by registered business sellers whilst they are constantly undercut by businesses masquerading as private sellers.  And when the business sellers go bust or leave for other platforms who pays the costs of running the platform then?

I note that you are a business seller who no longer sells on the site so it was a very easy comment for you to make.

[superchallenge]

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@newsgood2 wrote:

To not charge private sellers fees, and not charge their buyers and see if it brings more buyers to the website. That is what they promised and have not done. The BPF should not be exist as appears too be a total scam.

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Why stop there?

Why not do away with the seller fees, do away with the BPF, then give the sellers twice as much money as they listed the item for when it sells? Then run a promo where buyers get anything under £100 for absolutely nothing?

See if it brings more buyers into the website.

[newsgood2]

In response to ett1954 (as eBay did not put it in my reply)

How eBay mess up their business is not my responsibility, it is theirs.

I have a private sellers account now as, eBay said that they were not going to charge sellers fees on these. I have kept my original eBay business seller's account in order to be able to demonstrate my 1446 100% record from when I first opened my account in February of 2003 to any buyer on my new private sellers account. The selling history on eBay is updated every year, which artificially levels the playing field, yet another piece of eBay mischief and my 100% record goes right back to opening my business account.

I was selling used items that I owned, rather than new items bought to sell so, I willingly took up eBays new no fees private sellers account as, I have given eBay a lot of money over the years. All in all it takes far more time and effort to use eBay now, and with all their advertising on the website they accumulate a lot of money. It is a very successful business model unfortunately run by people who have little common sense. Businesses run on algorithms have no heart, which is why they are difficult to engage with.

So, I am actively selling on my own second hand items on my new account.

The lack of clarity is an ongoing eBay problem which is up to them to resolve. Support forums basically use members as free labour to help each other, rather than eBay dealing with issues themselves. Apple and every large company do the same as, they all create havoc and use members as free labour.

Apple do not answer anything on their support forums, only strike out posts or ban users from the forum if they do not comply with dictatorial rules. Ebay also has rules that monitor the situation.

So all in all I expect eBay to sort out the mess that they have created. I cannot answer to eBay's own lack of integrity and honesty as, it is a product of their very own lack of awareness.

This topic has run for 61 pages now, which should alert eBay that there is "trouble at mill" as it were!

[bogush75]

Believe me - they know exactly what they are doing.

100%!

Making big money and waiting for the outcome to adjust a bit to make even more, more and more money.

[ripface]

One more thing to bear in mind with the new "Simple Delivery".  None of the options show how much insurance is carried by each of the price points.  How are we to know if an expensive item is covered by the carriers insurance?  I've been selling guitars on the platform for some years, I'm not a business but I have been trading up my collection of guitars and sell on those that are now redundant.  Simple Delivery does not work for sending a bulky, heavy item that is worth hundreds of pounds.  If it gets damaged in the post what am I supposed to do if the insurance does not adequately cover the cost of the item .......

[jckl1957]

You need to read the details from Ebay.

You get cover for up to £750 when you use SD;  items valued at more than that are not eligible.

You are not liable for loss or damage, once you have your confirmation of posting with your chosen carrier, if you use SD.

So many people complaining about the new system (I don't like it either) have not even bothered to find out what it involves and how it works.

[lucy_farmer]

'you are not liable for loss or damage, once you have your confirmation of posting with your chosen carrier, if you use SD...'

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I'm still not sure exactly how the insurance question works in the case of a *lot* of types of item ? (everything on the 'excluded from compensation' list of carriers)

Ebay say the seller is covered under the S.D. system as long as the sale conforms to the terms of S.D. *and* the 'carrier's terms'........... do those carrier's terms include the 'exclusion list' or not ? Do we know ?

[newsgood2]

This is one of the many problems of dealing with eBay as, they are as clear as mud. There is far too much to read through in their terms and non-stop tinkering. Ebay get paid for all their messing about and we do not.

[ripface]

Thanks, you would think that would be a BIG selling point for Simple Delivery so it would be nice if they made it a little bit clearer by stating the insurance limits on the Simple Delivery page!

[livinginthepast69]

I've just listed a few items to test the waters after a long break and found that I have been charged seller's fees on top of the buyer protection fee for each item. Ebay's claim that listings are now free for private sellers is thus a complete lie. 

[martinwh1]

Did you agree to pay a fee for "promoting" your listings?

[sml192]

There should only be seller fees if you choose to promote the listing, use any listing upgrades, or sell internationally.