FREE for Private Sellers to Sell Pre-Loved Clothing Items on .co.uk as of Today! *08/04

[bits_n_bobs_heaven]

Hi folks,

As from today, it's now FREE for private sellers to sell any pre-loved clothing item listed from today or those pre-loved clothing items already listed which sell from today (8th April) will not be charged any basic listing fee's or FVF's. Optional extras fee's still apply.

Obvious items excluded: - Accessories: hats, footware, watches, bags, jewellery ect.............

https://pages.ebay.co.uk/fashion-selling/#

Happy selling! 😊

[*devils.advocate*]

What are pre-owned clothes?

Pre-owned clothes are items you no longer want or need …... These items can be new or used.

Eh? - thought the idea of pre-owned anything, never mind clothes, was that the items were used - not "New"?

Another kick in the teeth for some business sellers?

Isn’t it about time eBay restricted the number of “New” and “New (Other)” items which private sellers can sell to say one per month or even 6 in any one year.

Do genuine private sellers seriously have a never-ending supply of “New” items?

[kempseykate]

At the moment I have about half a dozen items of unworn clothing with tags which I will probably never get round to wearing. We are just in the process of clearing my brother in law's house and there were a few unworn with tags in there as well. So yes, it is possible for private sellers to have pre-owned new clothes.

(Incidentally, as I'm not a fan of selling clothes on ebay all the bro in law's went to the charity shop, bar one item that we may put on here)

As for other 'new' items, there were a heck of a lot in b-i-l's house - he was one of those that had a spare of a spare of a spare. Had I listed all the 'new' stationery, I would definitely have looked like a business seller, but fortunately it all found a home in my daughter's school.

[1956glyn]

I agree this really sounds like a kick in the teeth for some business sellers and may be the final nail in their coffin 😞

As for your last sentence (and i rarely if ever list clothes)  maybe.    My son has two deliveries a week every week of expensive clothes....some of which he never wears as he changes his mind grrrrrrr.     I may be tempted to list a few if no fees are going to be charged.       IF i am prepared to list a few clothes then i am sure others will.......again defo a kick in the teeth to business sellers unfortunately.

When i see the word "pre owned" i too automatically think of used clothes

[vinylscot]

This is part of the problem with the term "pre-owned". Although we all probably think we know what it should mean, it is wide open to interpreation.

Even in any large department store, all the items on sale were previously owned by the wholesalers, and are therefore "pre-owned". An eBay private seller is at least one step further along that chain, so all their items will be "pre-owned", although some may consider them "new". 

You can get lost in semantics, but I do think eBay needs to scrap senseless terms like "pre-owned". (And don't get me started on "pre-loved") Even the term "new" is ambiguous. How can something be new, when it has been at the back of a wardrobe for a year or more, even if it still has its tags? (and watch how quickly "new" turns to "vintage", if the seller thinks there's more money in it.)

[maggie44d]

Pre-loved. Is that the same as unloved?😜

[btr.style]

Ok so that's us finished then. 

About a year ago I decided we were going down the pre-loved/vintage route on eBay. I've invested a lot of money personally into this, around £60,000. Working myself to the bone and if truth be told, I actually had a breakdown at one point with debts I racked up continuing with sourcing items exclusively from one supplier (they deal with me only if I take all the stuff they get in wholesale). 

Already there is a HUGE amount of private account sellers who are really businesses selling this clothing. I'm not naming any names but you get the idea.... Usernames like vintagebusines44 (not real names but just an example). With about sections saying all about their business. 

Once again eBay have given them the advantage and it will just mean many many many more pre-loved business starting up and being competition, seriously undercutting my business with no fees to pay while we scrape at trying to get by with full eBay fees. 

Enough is enough. First the 100% off fees causing a significant decline in sales of new clothing due to private account businesses and now this. 

It's time to remove all used clothing from my business and do something else in future. I'm not paying full fees while countless others get away with paying none. 

[poppiesoffershop]

Excellent... The amount of people using PERSONAL accounts for BUSINESS operations is outrageous and this is just going to give them a further boost whilst hitting people like myself who are wanting to sell pre-loved clothes as a legitimate business.

I'd say a good 75%+ of these aren't paying no tax either (no matter what these new tax regulations that have come in will do, there's not enough manpower to police it all).

Thanks eBay!!

[btr.style]

---

@maggie44d wrote:

Pre-loved. Is that the same as unloved?😜

---

I remember you saying this before and my response is the same as before. 

Why would it be? Used clothing isn't just junk. I personally could wear real luxury new items. I've got a big collection of the stuff. Yet especially in recent times I'll wear used luxury clothing. Nothing like owning and wearing a classic 90's item you can no longer buy anywhere. 

It's all about what it is and how it's treated. There's junk and there's quality and depending on how it's been treated and processed, it can be as good as new. 

Unloved would imply someone has worn it to the death, not cared for it yet actually there's a lot which was cared for, and has become available for sale because it doesn't fit them anymore or if someone has died and the family have cleared out the belongings. Pre-loved is just a fancy way of saying used but that far from means unloved. 

[douglaspuglas]

Don't forget the new 0.35% regulatory operating fee starts today as well.

[*vyolla*]

eBay just noticing that Vinted and Depop have done away with seller fees on their site then.

[vinylscot]

The word "loved" should not come into it at all, particularly from a business seller.

Although there are exceptions, the vast majority of used clothing sold by private sellers is sold precisely because they DON'T love it. With business sellers, it becomes even more ridiculous - you have no idea whether any item was ever loved - again, you have only been able to buy so many old (you may call it vintage) items, because their previous owners DIDN'T like them.

Any business seller using the term "pre-loved" is certainly guilty of false representation, if not outright lying. The market seems to have adopted the term, but that doesn't make it right.

[btr.style]

" you have only been able to buy so many old (you may call it vintage) items, because their previous owners DIDN'T like them."

I don't call used clothing "vintage". I call 50+ year old clothing items "vintage" (because that's what they are) and anything else "used" (I did say pre-loved in a post here though). So what you are saying is they never liked/loved the items? Someone just bought any old clothing for the sake of it?

My business sells new but also only good used designer clothing. Nobody would have walked into a shop to spend £100+ on something with a nice design, crests, and so on hating or being impartial to it. They would have liked/loved the design and the quality of the item. 

Therefore at 1 point the item would have been loved, it would have been someones pride and joy. Just because it no longer fits them, or their tastes have changed, or they passed away, it doesn't mean it was never loved. 

[vinylscot]

Utter nonsense,as I'm sure you know.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

I sell my families stuff, live next door to each other and my nephew bought a pair of trousers and they did not fit but he could not be bothered to send them back!  Just ordered another pair.  My niece is a bit of a shoppaholic and she is the same.    My sister bought three outfits for her sons marriage....   So yes private sellers can have a lot of new stuff to get rid of.  Me, i buy from car boots and charity shops!

[litp*records]

And just like that, Ebay killed all clothing businesses overnight.  Well done Ebay, take a bow.

You'd really have to be insane now to sell any clothes on your business account.

I know they are trying to compete with Vinted and Depop but ... that only works if you actually police the site, the fake private sellers flipping the entire contents of Primark are going to have a field day!

[kath3735_wxmjn]

not strictly true!  I had a lovely pair of white trousers, had them for years as i only used them on holidays and if my body had not decided otherwise i would still be wearing them!  Over the past 20 years i have gone from a 12/14 to 16/18 and i have sold so many clothes that i really liked simply because i knew at 71 i would never get in them again.   Its a woman thing (if i am allowed to say that!)

[peturning]

Yep, almost certainly a response to Vinted etc.

Thing is though there's still fees, it's just the buyer pays them. In the case of Vinted it's a "buyer protection fee" but I suppose eBay is different in that (as far as I know) nothing changes for the buyers, this looks to genuinely be no fees.

[ereiam-jh]

Vinted will still be a preferred place to sell clothing.

There are far fewer instances of people buying, wearing, then returning. Ebay still needs to sort out its "buyer always wins" return policies.

Also, how are they going to deal with the inevitable flood of non-clothing items being listed in clothing categories?

[2007dcase]

I'm gutted tbh, they've made whole category free for 'private' sellers. How can I compete when I pay shop fees, selling fees, accept returns etc and unregistered businesses don't have to pay anything at all