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 .

[leighbayuk]

I noticed that when you first list an item it is listed without a BPF. You can even see that that this is the case if you view it in a separate private browser session. Then after a couple of minutes the price is modified to include the BPF. What a kludge!

[jph_068]

That's a good idea

[bogush75]

Yes, I noticed it few days ago,  but I think when its being modified the lisitng is not visible on ebay website for the buyers.

[ripface]

I presume then that the buyer will have a number of options which courier to use.  That will be a real pain in the a55 as we are rural and don't have a great choice of parcelshops to go to.  I usually use ParcelForce as our post office is closes to us and the next nearest drop shop is a 50 mile round trip.

If (like Vinted) the buyer can chose which courier to use this will cause many sellers a lot of grief if they don't have relatively local parcel drop off points!!

[f3speech]

It will be an issue for buyers who want to take advantage of packing together to get a discount because you wont be able to give new dimensions I assume, and it often changes who it can be posted with when the size or weight changes 

[knightinarmour]

On Vinted the seller also can select or restrict some postage methods to account for lack of drop off points. For example I restricted some Royal Mail methods as this this was not a selectable option for the Vinted buyer. I didn’t have any problems with that. 

Of course this is eBay……

[countrywill]

"Buyer protection". eBay are adding this Buyer Protection charge onto the seller's selling price, unnecessarily increasing the cost of the item for the buyer to pay,  but eBay already have the "eBay Money Back Guarantee" which is meant to protect buyers.

If there is a problem with any transaction then eBay will only step in if a settlement cannot be agreed between buyer and seller, then eBay will resolve the matter themselves and usually in the buyers favour then look to the seller for any reimbursement due. So where is the logic behind this so called "Buyer Protection" charge?

 If anything the seller should get paid this "Buyer Protection Fee" because after all it is the seller who has to send a replacement item at his/her expense or issue a refund  therefore the only party that suffers any loss at all is the seller NOT the buyer nor eBay

[kenwill9896]

Couldn't agree more it stinks, there is a lot of resentment going on, maybe
e Bay will take notice.

[f3speech]

I assume that in the not too distant future they will phase out the money back guarantee, to be replaced by BPF and buyers paying direct for postage 

[countrywill]

I doubt if eBay even care

[ripface]

So in the last two weeks I've now had to contact eBay on four separate occasions to complain about funds not being released due to postal tracking not being updated.  I'm getting more and more frustrated with the call advisers because although they are happy to help by investigating and releasing the funds where appropriate they seem totally uninterested in the grief this is causing the customer.  This last call I almost lost the rag with the adviser when they said, don't worry .... if the tracking doesn't get updated you'll still get your money in two weeks!!!!

To tie the payment funds release to such an unreliable tracking update process is just ridiculous!!!

[bogush75]

Where are all that "ebay" money kept (must be millions) between payment and seller's receivment ?

[papso22]

Ebay invests it and gets interest on the investments. 

[countrywill]

I  sell on eBay and I buy my stock from a trade supplier. My prices on eBay were fair, but now as eBay have added this Buyer protection on top of my listing price I have had no option but to reduce my selling price to less than half the price I buy them for. I am now selling at a complete loss just trying to get back some of the money I have laid out for my stock.

This is anything but fair eBay get the buyer protection fee not the seller but it is the seller who has to suffer the loss of goods or money by sending out a replacement or making a refund. eBay lose NOTHING at all

[countrywill]

So this is accepible is it?

[andha-21]

@papso22 

In case you can help them 

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/Option-to-send-invoices-disappeared/td-p/7783548/page...

I was speaking with a user called aquitania earlier, off memory it's post 176 going on.

I don't know what they are describing, never seen or heard of it before. You have any idea?

[kenwill9896]

They must make thousands of pounds in interest alone, before we are paid
out on the monies kept until items arrive and they pay out later.

[buffster1963]

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@countrywill wrote:

I  sell on eBay and I buy my stock from a trade supplier. My prices on eBay were fair, but now as eBay have added this Buyer protection on top of my listing price I have had no option but to reduce my selling price to less than half the price I buy them for. I am now selling at a complete loss just trying to get back some of the money I have laid out for my stock.

This is anything but fair eBay get the buyer protection fee not the seller but it is the seller who has to suffer the loss of goods or money by sending out a replacement or making a refund. eBay lose NOTHING at all

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You come here moaning about Ebay not being fair but freely admit you are buying stock and trading on a private account. If you were properly registered these changes would not affect you. 

[lucy_farmer]

'I sell on eBay and I buy my stock from a trade supplier......'

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Oh dear.

I'm not going to say it. I'm starting to sound like a broken record.....

But I will say I've been quite suprised by the sheer amount of 'under the radar' business sellers on private accounts popping up on these boards ☹️

(Until the last few weeks, I was under the impression that it wasn't that huge a problem ... I seem to have been very wrong 😒)

But the very fact that so many 'private' sellers pop up quite openly and innocently announcing what they're up to, seems to underline the fact that they're not aware of the illegality of their position.

Ebay really haven't advised people on *how* to trade, which I think shows a great disregard for their users and uk law....

[ett1954]

"I  sell on eBay and I buy my stock from a trade supplier." - therefore you are a business seller.  BPF doesn't apply to purchases from business sellers.  The solution is easy.