FUNDS HELD NEW EBAY POLICY! CLOSING ACCOUNT AFTER 19 YEARS!

[tricia-o]

Im absolutely furious! Ebay have changed their policy and are now refusing to pay monies (which belong to the buyer) until the item has been posted and received!!

I have been selling on Ebay for 19 years and this is how we are being treated?

I will NOT pack and post my valuable antiques until I have been paid! I have never heard anything so ridiculous! Can we not be trusted? Shame on you Ebay! You are the loser here! I have now cancelled all sales and 67 listings and I will find another platform to sell my antiques with someone that values me!!

[jonatjonatjonat]

Just out of interest - are all those antiques your own personal possessions you are selling off?

[tricia-o]

Yes.
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[rugbyguy1960]

Hi.

I feel exactly the same and I've been on ebay since 2005.

It will be even worse when as rumoured that ebay will make SD compulsory. 

[moldosgifts]

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@rugbyguy1960 wrote:

Hi.

I feel exactly the same and I've been on ebay since 2005.

It will be even worse when as rumoured that ebay will make SD compulsory. 

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They will it is not a rumour

[rugbyguy1960]

That's when I'll no longer sell.

Like someone said to me: private sellers sell and buy on ebay.

It'll be their loss.

[jow1995]

Just upgrade to a business seller, then the new rules will not apply.

[rugbyguy1960]

I've looked at that option but as I'm a private seller I do not meet the criteria plus I don't want to be a business.

[tricia-o]

Im not a business.

[rugbyguy1960]

Would etsy be any good?

[jonatjonatjonat]

I can see the confusion. You do have a high turnover, but you also use a logo that claims you were established which could be seen as misrepresenting yourself as a business - as private sellers wouldn't have a date of establishment.

That being said, given you state you are selling off your own personal effects - I can sympathise as these changes will impact you.

[tricia-o]

The logo was designed for me by my daughter in law. She would have been hurt if I didn't use it!

[suelel1968]

Ebay holding money until the transaction is complete is actually quite fair to both sides. If your buyer leaves good feedback you will get the funds within 2 days. If you use tracking, the same. Otherwise, its 14 days. We all hate it because we are good sellers and because eBay is profiting from it, but they never claimed to be a charity. Once the money starts coming through it will not seem so bad and despite everything that is bad about eBay, there doesn't appear to be a better all round platform.

Don't overreact, is my advice. 

[vintique*violet]

Just upgrade to a business seller, then the new rules will not apply.

If you are not trading as a business you cannot register as a business.

Telling people to upgrade to a business seller account is not for you to determine and is actually incorrect advice and could create far more issues than you perhaps realise. 

Not every private account which has sold upward of a 1000 of items over many years are running a business. 

Those who are do know the importance of registering correctly and would have their legitimate business also registered with HMRC. Just because eBay  have " business account" criteria does not mean that every private individual is trading or that business activities are taking place, nor does it mean that eBay can assume and restrict accounts without prior evidence, but they are and this is frightening people to jump to opening a business account when there is no legal requirement to do so, but hey that's okay , its " policy", and eBay are making their big bucks and in turn pushing people into something they do not need, are not and which could lead to further serious implications, and that is not okay!

@jow1995 

[jonatjonatjonat]

This is hardly a valid excuse for misrepresentation, which you are doing by claiming a year of establishment. If you don't believe me, believe the ASA.

I'd take out the established year - you'd be fine. It's an otherwise nice logo.

Given ebay will be sharing your sales data with the HMRC, do you want to give them a reason you might be a business when you aren't?

[forestfeline62]

I send my items tracked 24 now with royal mail ,so the item will be delivered the  next day and the tracking will be scanned by post person . Not like standard delivery  where you have to hope the items will be scanned on delivery , but not always and not every buyer leaves feedback which is just as bad as it means sellers have to wait even longer to get their payment up to 14 days . It only costs 20p more to upgrade to tracked 24 or 48 so I think it is worth the bit extra and you are covered to a higher amout if an item is lost or damaged in transit 

[jma2815]

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@tricia-o wrote:

The logo was designed for me by my daughter in law. She would have been hurt if I didn't use it!

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Daughter in law or not if you really are a private seller I think its misleading (I don’t know the legalities) to have a professional looking logo that heavily implies that you’re running an established business. 

It is a nice logo, I’ve played around with having a pretty name and picture in my profile myself in the past but I agree that you should get rid of the established year part of it.

Such a badge is a representation of you that will be taken seriously by your buyers who will think they are buying from a business - its not meaningless and just a nice gift to your DIL that you’re using her artwork. 

[jckl1957]

'If your buyer leaves good feedback you will get the funds within 2 days.'

That is incorrect, sorry.

This is what Ebay said in their update:

We’ve also heard your feedback and understand that shipping costs are particularly top of mind for low price items. When you’re selling a single item for £10 or less, and it’s sent untracked, funds will now be available 24 hours after you receive positive buyer feedback. This will be live by the end of February.

[porte2425]

The logo just looks like a novelty bar mat to me. I think anyone who knows how eBay works will not be persuaded to think someone is a business based on a logo. Anyone who doesn’t know, well they tend to assume lots of things incorrectly anyway. It is also a lot harder to read the ‘est.’ part on eBay – it’s larger on these forums, for some reason. Besides, no regulatory board is going to pursue a case against a private individual over a logo on eBay. (Maybe if they were a large business and were claiming to be established before they were.) So, please, unless you have evidence that Tricia stands a good chance of being fined etc. for using that nice logo, let her enjoy her daughter-in-law’s creation without worry.

[tricia-o]

Hi
Thank you for your in depth reply. You’re absolutely right. I don’t want a business account as I’m not a business. My mother died and I had to clear her whole house. She collected for 50 years! I’ve taken everything off eBay and won’t sell again until they change this ridiculous policy! This whole situation has brought home that they don’t give a cats whiskers for their loyal customers!
Thank you.
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