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]

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@papso22 wrote:

That's a very specific problem.

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Maybe, but it was one that didn't exist before. The whole mess of buyer offers could be fixed if the fee was actually added (when applicable) rather than deducted. The offer screen could very easily calculate and show the BPF surcharge as the offer amount is entered. However, eBay are instead trying to hide this away within sale/offer price. They are happy to add postage and customs/GSP fees to the item price, so handling this fee differently for buyer offers is just bizarre.

[bogush75]

That is my question - which bank is ebay using (ebay is not a bank), what exactly is happening with all that ebayers millions "in the meantime". Where can we find those details?

It is quite important, isn't it?

[tressygirl]

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@bogush75 wrote:

That is my question - which bank is ebay using (ebay is not a bank), what exactly is happening with all that ebayers millions "in the meantime". Where can we find those details?

It is quite important, isn't it?

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This was taken from on of eBay's announcement's apologies cannot confirm exactly which one.

You do not have any ownership interest in these investments and any interest earned from these investments will be retained by us. To the extent you may have any beneficial ownership in the interest or proceeds of these investments, your acceptance of these terms constitutes an assignment of any right, title or interest therein to us.

@bogush75 

[lucy_farmer]

'That is my question - which bank is ebay using (ebay is not a bank), what exactly is happening with all that ebayers millions "in the meantime". Where can we find those details?'

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Well, I don't suppose ebay are using a 'bank' like us normal mortals do 😆

All the 'held monies' will be swirling around in the global money markets whirlpool of Corporate Financial Investments etc.

(Even the shareholders would probably have difficulty working out how that little lot works!)

And there's probably some legal hurdles to finding out how Mega Corps invest their money, so no, I don't believe it's even possible to find out

[bogush75]

So is this a secret ?

Seriously - nobody knows what exactly is happening with our monies between payment and receivement ?

[podpages]

"eBay has just realised the consequences of doing away with fees haven't they?  They've decided to claw something back in this devious way."

First thing that came to my mind. Its basically the seller fees back again but now they make it sound like they are charging people for the privilege of spending their money on ebay. We know we're being charged (as we have to factor in the cost and decrease our price) while the buyer feels like they are being charged. Its like they are designing ebay in the most likely way to fail, again

[the_book_seekers]

I haven't heard of any changes to this. When ebay stopped using paypal it employed a company called Adyen, which is a dutch payment company, to run Managed Payments. I'm guessing at how it works but I think Adyen will hold monies until directed to pay out by ebay. 

[bogush75]

Its basically the seller fees back again but now they make it sound like they are charging people for the privilege of spending their money on ebay. We know we're being charged (as we have to factor in the cost and decrease our price) while the buyer feels like they are being charged. Its like they are designing ebay in the most likely way to fail, again"

My thoughts exactly !

[thesmi42]

I don't think many organizations, if any, would divulge exactly where they place their investments, (for example; do you know where your local authority invests the funds received via Council Tax?) but overall financial activity would be included in an Annual Report. It's also common practice to move investments around to reap the benefit of the best returns at any given time.

[bogush75]

"I don't think many organizations, if any, would divulge exactly where they place their investments" - you are wrong.

There is a big difference between authorities (Council or Government) and e-commerce company.

Ebay is just a big online marketplace with shareholders.

Anyway,  we are going a bit off-topic here.

[thesmi42]

In that case the information you are after will surely be shown in eBay's Annual Report.

Anyway, I thought that eBay 'hanging on to the cash' was part of the topic.

[bogush75]

In that case the information you are after will surely be shown in eBay's Annual Report.

Not so sure.  (which is a part of the topic )

[bob3012]

So true this is just another scam eBay have totally lost the plot they are shafting sellers and buyers to the point it will not be worth selling anything, we are just lining their pockets when we sell or buy. When I started with eBay in 2003 we promoted the service no point anymore.

Bunch of rip off merchants such a shame.

[payesdegalles]

So how does it work if a buyer wants to collect, and pay in cash? I listed an item yesterday at "buy now" for £135, eBay put the price at £141.12 , I had a response asking if they could collect and pay in cash, which would suit me fine, but short of going outside of eBay, this seems impossible?

[andha-21]

@payesdegalles 

If you both want to keep your accounts it is impossible 

[jow1995]

Get the buyer to pay, then refund him the £6.12 , no cash on collection. That way you know he is not a time waster/no show

[lucy_farmer]

'So how does it work if a buyer wants to collect, and pay in cash?'

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Sorry payes, it's no longer possible 🙁

Cash on collection has been 'out-lawed' for several months now. You and the buyer will not be allowed to swap contact details/address for collection etc, until the item has been bought *and paid for* through the ebay online payment system.

If you and the buyer go ahead with this sale under those conditions, you *must* get the collection code off your buyer before they take the item away.

This code is a 6 digit number your buyer will be given when he's finished buying.

He gives the code to you on collection, and you put it into the sale page.

This is the only 'proof of collection' that ebay will accept.

[ripface]

Sent this to eBayUKComplaints@ebay.com

Dear eBay UK Complaints,

I'd like to raise a complaint regarding the recent implementation of payment after delivery for UK private sellers.  I've been a member of eBay UK of around 24 years, and in all that time I've never had to complain or contact eBay UK Help ... until now. 

In the last few weeks I've had occasion to request a callback from eBay Uk Help four times regarding the new policy which in my opinion is completely unfair and does not work.  The tracking process for package delivery is inherently unreliable, and when sellers are sending more expensive items in the post this results in major issues when expecting payment for items that have been sold in good faith, been paid for up front by the buyer and also been received by the buyer who is happy *and* in some cases has left appropriate feedback.

This means I am frequently being left out of pocket whilst the funds that should be sitting in my account (and previously were prior to the new process) are not available to me.  This is becoming more and more of an issue as I'm having to manually check multiple sales to ensure that I actually get paid for them.

I know that I'm not the only eBay seller who is experiencing this, and social media is rife with people complaining about this.  Can something be done to return the payment process to the way it was??  I for one will not be using eBay if this continues as it is incredibly frustrating and irritating to have to be constantly monitoring order items to make sure that payment is made, even for items where positive feedback has been left.  I've built up a reasonable feedback score on eBay over the years and in 24 years have had only 2 (unfair!) neutral feedbacks, surely sellers of such good standing could at least be trusted to continue their good work and not have this awful process of payment after delivery foisted upon them?

Regards,
John.

eBay ID: ripface

[bogush75]

Almost 400 quid from my sales is waiting for me "somewhere in ebay's account" now.

My payments depend on delivery persons reliability... and..or... buyer's honesty..

2 days or 2 weeks, who knows...

[kenwill9896]

It would seem that in future only signed for will do but will buyers be
willing to pay the extra?