Fees

[cblack68]

BPF- Go back to seller fees

Make simple delivery optional

[*devils.advocate*]

Everyone mentions "BPF- Go back to seller fees" but nobody, not one seller, has said what level of seller fees would be acceptable to them to include in their pricing of their items which buyers would ultimately pay.

Has anyone any suggestions?

[barry.110]

If they want to keep BPF they can as far as I’m concerned, I already account for the seller fees when making my listing. If I’m trying to sell something and I look to see what others have sold for, if the item generally goes for £20 I’ll set mine at about £18.50 so when BPF is added it will be priced competitively. So whatever they call the fee I don’t care as even though technically I’m not paying the BPF as a seller I really am.

what would be nice is if eBay didn’t charge the fixed 75p on every item a buyer bought in one go from a single seller.

I do definitely agree with making simple delivery optional. Like I have said many times on these boards I have been arranging my own postage quite successfully for the past 10 years and would prefer to do that for at least the next 10. However if eBay want to offer this service and some people want to use this service let them, just don’t force me to use it because I don’t want it nor do I need it.

[the-nutwood-collection]

My suggestion is that private buyers pay the same % fee as business sellers.  The fee should be inclusive of VAT for private and non-VAT registered business sellers, and plus VAT for VAT registered sellers.

A level playing field.  No advantage to being a business seller trading on a private account, except for the display of trader's name and address and the ability to refuse returns - which buyers get around by raising a SNAD.

This universal fee should be set at a level which allows eBay to cover its costs and make sufficient profit to satisfy shareholders and invest in the future.  The cost of servicing a private account is the same as servicing a business account, so both should pay the same fee.

I'm a business seller, giving eBay around 18% of every sale, and I see no reason why I should subsidise private sellers ... and don't reply by saying that private sellers spend their money buying business sellers' items.  They don't, they just trouser the loot.  If they wanted to spend money buying business seller's items, there wouldn't be so many posts whining about how long it takes to get hold of the proceeds.

[*devils.advocate*]

My suggestion is that private buyers pay the same % fee as business sellers.

Oh, you’ll be popular! 😄😉

A level playing field.

I agree entirely - who remembers the days when everyone had to pay to list an item (albeit a small amount) and pay extra for more scans/photos?

Nowadays, if that were the case, many private sellers would think twice about listing an item continuously for months/years expecting it to sell at the price they expect rather than what the buyer expects.

[lucy_farmer]

'I agree entirely - who remembers the days when everyone had to pay to list an item (albeit a small amount) and pay extra for more scans/photos?'

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Ohh... I do!

But that gives me an idea about private sellers fees.....

Have selling fees, but not quite as high as business fees. For the reason of private listings having much less 'bells and whistles' than business listings.

Last time I listed something there were 24 (!) photos available. And videos. etc  .. pretty unneccessary if you ask me .

A basic listing for a basic selling fee for private sellers?

If you actually want 24 photos of your second hand rucksack, unused lawnmower belt or once-worn smart shoes you could 'trade up' for it!

[*devils.advocate*]

Personally, they should bring back graduated fee levels - for everyone.

That would help Private Sellers of low value items and help Business Sellers as well.

But eBay must take action against the pseudo-Private chancers if it were to work.

That part it entirely eBay's responsibility - which they seem (deliberately?) oblivious to.

[crafty_cat_lover]

But then it's not a level playing field.

Just do what Nutwood suggests and make the fees the same for business and private, that is a really fair system.

And before anyone points fingers, I am a private seller only and am struggling to understand what all the fuss is about.

[lucy_farmer]

'But eBay must take action against the pseudo-Private chancers if it were to work.

That part it entirely eBay's responsibility - which they seem (deliberately?) oblivious to.'

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Yep; never understood why that's always been such a huge problem for ebay.

After all, their bots can so easily  pick up when a private seller and prospective buyer are trying to swap details...

Surely it can't be too difficult to program a bot to pick up the words 'brand new'  (if they occur more than a handful of times)  or 'made to order' etc

Or even just coming down on private accounts with the word 'Outlet', 'Shop', 'Market' etc in their user name,  (I've seen all of those.....) that'd be a start!

[superchallenge]

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@the-nutwood-collection wrote:

My suggestion is that private buyers pay the same % fee as business sellers.  The fee should be inclusive of VAT for private and non-VAT registered business sellers, and plus VAT for VAT registered sellers.

A level playing field.  No advantage to being a business seller trading on a private account, except for the display of trader's name and address and the ability to refuse returns - which buyers get around by raising a SNAD.

This universal fee should be set at a level which allows eBay to cover its costs and make sufficient profit to satisfy shareholders and invest in the future.  The cost of servicing a private account is the same as servicing a business account, so both should pay the same fee.

I'm a business seller, giving eBay around 18% of every sale, and I see no reason why I should subsidise private sellers ... and don't reply by saying that private sellers spend their money buying business sellers' items.  They don't, they just trouser the loot.  If they wanted to spend money buying business seller's items, there wouldn't be so many posts whining about how long it takes to get hold of the proceeds.

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I quite agree.

People may think that business sellers get something more than private sellers, and that's why we should pay, whilst someone who is "just selling off their collection" shouldn't, but if we do, I don't see it. Even the packaging voucher you get for having a paid store subscription only allows you to buy garish green and pink poor-quality boxes and bags with "eBay" emblazoned all over, meaning they're doing nothing but paying you to provide advertising.

Private sellers can undercut my prices every step of the way.

For example, a private seller can sell an item at £18.51 and it'll show as £20.00 to the buyer. The seller gets £18.51.

For me to get £18.51 as a business, I have to sell the item for £21.22, which puts me at a disadvantage in search results. If I list at £20.00 to compete with the private seller, I get £17.42. Why? I have to provide better service for less money, in order to keep the reputation of my business intact.

And that's before paying for a store and for professional packaging, as opposed to a Tesco bag held together by prayers and sellotape. Not to mention promoted listings to give my items a chance of being seen amongst the sea of tat that has been listed simply because it was free for the seller to do so.

[the-nutwood-collection]

Many business sellers, myself included, don't need or use all the image allowance or the video.  I sell fibre, and there's not a lot you can do creatively with a ball of fibre.  It's just a ball of fibre.

I too remember when there were listing upgrades to be had.  However, to re-introduce these would require significant changes to the code, and I think the eBay developers have sufficient on their plate at the moment.  Let's not encourage them to add more - it'll only end in tears.