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 .

[dls-online]

Yes, the easiest way to understand it is:

The Buyer always sees the gross amount (i.e. how much money they will be paying)

The Seller always sees the net amount (i.e. how much money they will receive for it).

That way ebay are able to claim the seller is not forking out for any selling fees. Although, in the grand scheme of a transaction, the reality is different as there are fees to pay for a transaction on ebay, however they choose to badge it.

[goodibags]

Undeniably, Ebay have created a big mess with their dual pricing system and are bringing unnecessary chaos into the whole 'offer' process.

The obvious 'solution' for Ebay is to show BOTH sides, price to buyer and price to seller, on the same page  and to both parties.

Either that or completely disable the 'Best Offer' button? 

[dls-online]

Agreed, I received an offer from a Buyer for £63.74 which I thought was an odd amount for a 'Best Offer'. Then I realised it was just ebay showing me the net amount of the Best Offer. What the Buyer actually offered was £67 which I saw once the transaction was completed (as shown below)...

[madeat136]

Can you paste that link here  please ???Sent from my Galaxy

[deadwaxsecrets]

I just sold a pair of trainers, listed at £65 & buyer made a £60 offer so eBay sends it to me as an offer of £57, I accepted & buyer pays £60 with eBay keeping the fee. Cool with that, just wish the funds were available immediately

[madeat136]

Thank you .....The beers are on you then 🤣🤣😉Sent from my Galaxy

[thesmi42]

Yes, as others have confirmed, sadly it's a bubble bursting truth. Would I lie to you?

It was confirmed too in the Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team on 12.02.25 -  see final message of that session from dave@ebay .

[leighbayuk]

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@dls-online wrote:

The Seller always sees the net amount (i.e. how much money they will receive for it).

That is not entirely true. In the app it flashes up as the full offer the buyer originally made. So you think great, that was what I was hoping for. Then when you review the offer the fee is deducted and the disappointing truth is revealed.

[dls-online]

Apologies, just seen the statement you were referring to. My bad! Oh the irony! LOLs.

[strontiumdogma]

A lot of business sellers are like pigs in filth over this, because they're all convinced private sellers are businesses masquerading as amateurs. Received nonsense about levelling the playing field, as if they don't have enough advantages already, what with being able to pay wholesale prices, economies of scale etc.

All I will say is be careful what you wish for, because you're going to find out that most of us are casual sellers who probably buy more than we sell, and if we stop selling, we'll probably stop buying too. Including from you.

[dogrobinsnest]

Very well said let’s see what happens over the next few months. See if they are still happy with their sales. I think not in most cases.

[thesmi42]

Although in their defence, it has to be said that pigs are highly intelligent creatures.

[wintersdawn1]

I haven't noticed that much criticism by business sellers towards private sellers, I have noticed quite a lot of thread high-jacking by members that accuse private sellers of being incorrectly registered and sometimes their right and sometimes not.

I think that the changes affecting private sellers is only the beginning and perhaps a test run after which business sellers will be in ebay's sights next for bad new developments.  Their greed does not discriminate so anyone is a target if they can make more money from them. 

[hardware-save92]

It may look that way but the private seller will have to reduce the price or their sales will plummet. 
Nobody is going to pay 10% more than they did previously! 

[wheelshot]

Yes but in order to stay competitive sellers (like myself) will and already are, winding up reducing the listed price to ensure the overall price paid by the customer is low enough, so all In all it’s the seller that winds up paying the fees still…

[wheelshot]

My favourite bit is that they are now charging the customer a “protection fee” yet the entirety of the protection is actually paid for by the seller In that you now wait until goods are delivered and 100% confirmed before you get payment. So what exactly is eBay charging the customer for ? I’d get it if there was a risk to eBay but there isn’t. The seller bares all risk and Infact technically offers insurance in not receiving funds until goods recieved. It’s an insurance premium if you will for nothing? Sounds like fraud to me…

[andyf117]

I had some week-long auction listings end earlier this evening with items unsold, and an hour or so later received a message asking to relist one as a 'Buy it Now' at the original start price, which I was happy to do...

....however, upon re-listing, the item has become subject to the 'Buyer protection' racket, which it hadn't been last week - clearly, the scheme's currently being rolled out to more categories, because other items that I drafted earlier today have also now started showing it...

....anyway, the potential buyer is now declining to buy the re-listed item, because it's £1.00 more than before - and basically telling me to reduce my sale price to cover the fee, or forget it...

....meanwhile, I have another potential 'situation', in that I have duplicates of a couple of sold items, which I can do 'Second chance' offers on - however, I suspect that with today's fee introduction, when I try to do so, the original 'losing'  bidders amounts will end up being higher than the 'winning' ones...

[silveroboe]

Couldn't agree more.

Just typical ebay - grab everything they can and where they can and to hell with users or good relations with and between,  sellers and buyers.

Has ebay outlived its usefulness? I think so.

[silveroboe]

If they think ebay is doing anything to help them, they can obviously take to the skies as well!

[goodibags]

Add to that those cases where a buyer is collecting the item themselves and still has to pay the Buyer Fee.