As a buyer and seller on here for 22 years, I'd like to congratulate the people who came up with this buyer protection scam. Let me refresh you with the original announcement and I Quote:
"At the end of 2024, we changed our fee structure, making it free to sell for private sellers. We know that fees are one of the biggest barriers to selling and we've seen a great reaction to the change, with an increase in the number of new sellers coming to eBay to list and sell. "
Totally agree with this part.
" As well as being a positive change for our private sellers, it’s also great news for buyers, as it means more of the things they love - and it's always good news for business sellers when there are more buyers on the platform. "
Agreed again, Completely as the seller's fee was an issue for years especially when they added the extra fee for postage costs too. True some sellers were charging too much postage, but the simple solution for that was not to purchase anything from them.
"Starting from 4 February, Buyer Protection will be live to give buyers more peace of mind when shopping on ebay.co.uk. To minimise any potential disruption on our platform"
This is where it started going downhill fast. If like me as a buyer and seller, sending items sold or bought tracked through whichever service you use, why do you need the extra buyer protection? You are already protected through E-Bay's money back guarantee.
"By removing barriers for private sellers and making it free to sell and simpler to list, we’ve seen many more sellers join the platform to bring buyers the unique inventory that they love. Buyer Protection is the next step, to ensure they keep coming back."
Wrong on so many levels, for example the ability for a seller to send a combined invoice to a buyer who has bought multiple items from them has disappeared. It seems with the conversations I've recently had with the unhelpful customer service, that the buyers are expected to pay the total amount so E-Bay can maximise their fee, and hope that the seller will be kind enough to issue a partial refund for the difference, I don't know about you but that seems like a massive barrier for private sellers and buyers alike.
"As part of Buyer Protection, starting from 4 February, a fee will be included in the item price when purchasing from private sellers, paid for by the buyer to eBay. Buyers will only ever pay what they see, so there are no surprises at checkout. "
Wrong, The fee will be ON the item price which is 4% + 75p PER ITEM. So no wonder E-Bay have removed the combined tool, otherwise they would lose out on the fee.
"Starting from 4 February, UK-based private sellers will also be paid after item delivery. Funds will typically be available in your eBay balance two calendar days after delivery confirmation.
OK I don't agree with this method but it's not a big issue, Unless the service you've used doesn't update their system to say it's been delivered. So you've sent the items tracked, paid for that service, and E-Bay will only pay out if they have a complete turnaround. If not they withhold money your owed until they decide to pay it out.
"Using tracked delivery services can also provide a better customer experience for your shoppers, and for you, with sellers seeing a 50% decrease, on average, in buyer complaints and queries when using tracked delivery."
I personally only send items I sell tracked, No exceptions, and I've received items that were listed as tracked but they weren't, especially from business's who have never provided a tracking number.
In Conclusion, I'd like to say that my recent experience's buying and selling since these changes have not been great, and nobody from E-Bay is communicating with private sellers or buyers about the many many complaints since the changes.
In the last 31 days my sales numbers are down 20% and I've bought multiple items from a private seller who I have bought from before these changes and they can't send a combined invoice like before because the option has been removed.
So Congratulations E-Bay, for a Quick Buck, you've KILLED Private Buying & Selling on this platform, and unless you reset to the system before this buyer protection racket was applied, then you are going to see your revenue from private buyers decline drastically if it isn't already.
This is just my opinion, you will have yours but I think I speak for many private buyers & sellers that expressed the same opinion.
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