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 .

[andha-21]

I read through your reply to me and you seem to accidentally or deliberately miss the bit that a consumer can no longer buy a private sale without buying BPF.

That means the BPF is the main condition of sale and it is a business service.

Saying it another way to cover thought perspectives.

If you pay for BPF then you can buy a private sale.

Any which way you look at it, under the new system a private sale cannot take place without the consumer paying eBay for a business service. As soon as that happens eBay are giving the consumers rights.

[dogrobinsnest]

Unfortunately the only way to beat this is to walk. In time there will be a new platform to offer better terms & conditions.

[papso22]

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@andha-21 wrote:

I read through your reply to me and you seem to accidentally or deliberately miss the bit that a consumer can no longer buy a private sale without buying BPF.

That means the BPF is the main condition of sale and it is a business service.

Saying it another way to cover thought perspectives.

If you pay for BPF then you can buy a private sale.

Any which way you look at it, under the new system a private sale cannot take place without the consumer paying eBay for a business service. As soon as that happens eBay are giving the consumers rights.

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You have an extraordinarily vivid imagination and a very odd way of looking at things.

When you come back with some verifiable legal advice that supports your take on contract law some of us might take more notice.

[andha-21]

Can you buy a private sale on eBay without paying for BPF?

[goodibags]

Interestingly, the BPF must be paid for even if a buyer arranges to collect an item from a seller.

Rather than spending 75p (plus variable) on an assistant to help sellers to get their packaging right (as previously mooted) it's being spent on an invisible 'heavy' accompanying a buyer to a stranger's address? 

Given that heavies (just guessing, I don't use them) may charge around £50 per hour the fee will buy almost a minute of their time. Should be long enough to pick up and inspect most items.  😉

[andha-21]

Actually to cover roll out that should have been will you be able to

& I'll also add in all respective sectors to allow the exemptions.

[andha-21]

Sorry the 2 previous replies were meant for you. 

& yes, I know I have an "odd" way of looking at things. I simply see things differently to most of you. Doesn't necessarily mean I'm dumb or wrong though.

[goodibags]

'Out of the box' thinking is usually considered a good thing, especially in a business or start-up environment.

Not sure why Ebay and its corporate partners have suddenly developed such a downer about it?

[davida2945]

Why do buyers need this fee anyway?

Any good seller who values their customers,will go out of their way to ensure the buying experience goes as smoothly as possible.

when things do go wrong which in my experience, is normally caused by Royal Mail failing to deliver.

whatever the reason, the buyer can receive a refund or if you have them you can send replacements, Then just make a claim through Royal for the original purchase and postage.

so there really is no need for buyer protection tax.

[martinwh1]

The title is very misleading - the free Money Back Guarantee and Authenticity Guarantee (which apply equally to business sellers)  remain in place. As far as I can see the fee only really provides 24/7 Customer Service, probably via a chatbot out of hours but I'm not sure what benefit that offers.  Of the other two "benefits" - sellers not paid until goods delivered and end to end encrypted payments the first really isn't of any interest to the buyer and the second would be expected without having to pay for it and suggests that the current payment method which eBay uses is insecure. They should be honest and just call it a "Buyer's Fee" as it doesn't offer a buyer any more protection that they already have. 

[lynneelizabeths]

So I listed an item for 139.00 and when I checked the listing it was over £145.00 so over £6.00 added for this so called protection (whatever the hell it is). No extra protection for the seller "if at all there is any!"...Sold an item to Poland £60 +p&p at the new year and buyer got in touch to say it hadn't been delivered after the delivery window closed. Tracking showed it was stuck in customs, eBay stepped in and gave him a full refund then 4 days later his item got delivered. Ebays policy is to have a nice chat with the buyer to ask for your payment to be returned....but of course the buyer never responded to my message, soooo out of pocket again (thanks eBay) Sold an expensive box set to France to a buyer with zero feedback (yeah I know I shouldn't have sent it) he got in touch to say the set was damaged and a disc was broken and scratched demanding a large chunk of cash back or a return.......I always thought this sell for free was way to good to believe.....EBAY YOU NEED TO GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER.

[bertie2468]

A private seller sells an item for £2 plus £2.10 postage plus 91p ‘protection’. Total is £5.01 to the buyer. A business seller sells the same item - cost is £4.10 to the buyer. How does the private seller compete? Reduce their price by 91p - seller is now paying. Buyers should have the  option to pay protection or not and taking a percentage from postage costs also isn’t a good look…

[papso22]

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@bertie2468 wrote:

A private seller sells an item for £2 plus £2.10 postage plus 91p ‘protection’. Total is £5.01 to the buyer. A business seller sells the same item - cost is £4.10 to the buyer. How does the private seller compete? Reduce their price by 91p - seller is now paying. Buyers should have the  option to pay protection or not and taking a percentage from postage costs also isn’t a good look…

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Given that the private seller should be selling something that they no longer want from their personal possessions and the business seller has had to buy the item they are selling and include that cost in the selling price, together with the costs of overheads and ebay fees, the chances of the prices being the same before the BPF are minimal.  And if they are, it's the private seller ripping buyers off.

[dogrobinsnest]

If a private seller has it from his collection he has paid a certain price for it.

[goodibags]

"Given that the private seller should be selling something that they no longer want from their personal possessions and the business seller has had to buy the item they are selling and include that cost in the selling price, together with the costs of overheads and ebay fees, the chances of the prices being the same before the BPF are minimal.  And if they are, it's the private seller ripping buyers off."

In other words, if only business sellers weren't paying such high fees then they wouldn't need to pass on these costs to their buyers? 

That's certainly an unusual take. 😉

[papso22]

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@dogrobinsnest wrote:
Total *bleep* if a private seller has it from his collection he has paid a certain price for it you are taking rubbish.

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So in order to be rude you chose just one of the possible costs that a private seller might just be able to claim to have, at a pinch and in very specific circumstances, and used that against me! Classy, not.

[andha-21]

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@papso22 wrote:

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@bertie2468 wrote:

A private seller sells an item for £2 plus £2.10 postage plus 91p ‘protection’. Total is £5.01 to the buyer. A business seller sells the same item - cost is £4.10 to the buyer. How does the private seller compete? Reduce their price by 91p - seller is now paying. Buyers should have the  option to pay protection or not and taking a percentage from postage costs also isn’t a good look…

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Given that the private seller should be selling something that they no longer want from their personal possessions and the business seller has had to buy the item they are selling and include that cost in the selling price, together with the costs of overheads and ebay fees, the chances of the prices being the same before the BPF are minimal.  And if they are, it's the private seller ripping buyers off.

I've seen loads of people make similar posts to yours and I keep wondering why people think like this.

I own something. For whatever reason I decide to sell it. What is wrong with me trying to get the best price I can for it?

Profit is one side of the coin, loss the other. So loss management should be a thing too.

It's like people expect private sellers to give away their stuff almost free of charge.

Do we not buy it at a market price? If so why can't we sell it at one?

Nobody else is going to look after my wallet so I have to do that myself.

[goodibags]

The other slight oversight here is that business sellers who buy from private sellers are having to pay the new BPFs too. Thus apparently raising their costs even further.

Soon the only items left on Ebay may be those changing hands for £100+.

[1964pickup]

I just lost an item  I was bidding  on because the amount I  was willing to  go to  was less once the added BPF was deducted , its a confusing mess of   system .

[papso22]

In other words, if only business sellers weren't paying such high fees then they wouldn't need to pass on these costs to their buyers? 

I don't understand your point.  Of course businesses pass on costs in the final price of something.

While you would like to think that if those costs go down, so would the final price, we can't expect businesses to do that.   Certainly there was little evidence of private accounts doing that when fees were removed last year.