Getting a bit fed up with whinging private sellers

[jere-nott]

Why are private sellers whinging about payments? Most of them should be business sellers anyway.

Some of my buyers can take up to two weeks to pay, no problem for me.

In addition I have to pay a listing fee and a final valuation fee of around 17%. One would have to pay this at a local auction house if not more.

Some private sellers are deluded, list an item at a crazy high price which most of us would laugh at. Yeah you don't need luck with that price you would  need a miracle. For example I have seen valueless postage stamp(s) listed at a BIN price of £1500.00!

Describes it as rare stamp and a collectors must have! Just irritates me that these idiots think that buyers are naive.

Private Sellers if you don't like eBay new rules go elsewhere like ebid

Sorry, just my rant.

[krafty-kreations]

Maybe the easiest solution is to create two separate marketplaces inside of eBay. One for business and one for private sellers.

The easiest solution would be for eBay to force those obvious business sellers using private accounts to upgrade or stop them selling and leave the genuine private sellers alone.

But is seems eBay and these sellers are quite happy to mislead buyers and allow them to pay fees on products that the shouldn't have to!! 

[parsley2003]

It works both ways the whinging. And there is a place that treats everyone fairly like the old real Ebay. The BPF seems to be on everything now. I haven't bought anything for 2 months, my regular business that sells fish food sells it £1.75 cheaper on another platform probably because his business fees are cheaper, all of us are being treated badly this internal civil war isn't helping anyone

[krafty-kreations]

It works both ways the whinging

I'm not whinging 🙂 I have given up!

[thetimetower]

Me too. Only a handful on the boards are actually being screwed over. The majority of the whingers are all businesses on private accounts. Listening to them crying over how unfair everything is after weve had years of no 80% fvf discounts, higher fees etc is laughable.

[theelench]

I agree with you about ebay drawing in businesses and then, once "trapped", increasing their costs.  That in itself is a cause for resentment.

But business sellers should ask themselves why ebay didn't increase the costs for private sellers at a similar rate but progressively reduced private seller fees instead?

Possibly because private sellers are more difficult to trap?  They don't invest in stock, don't need to sell that stock quickly or in volume and are not trying to pay themselves a regular wage.

When ebay, seller numbers and sales were booming private sellers paid Listing Fees on every ad., with very occasional Free Listing Weekends or Free 99p Start Price weekends and no Fee Reduction Offers.  The first Free Listings were introduced  (at the rate of 20 per month) in 'compensation' for ebay's announcement that Free 99p Start Price Weekends were to end.  The reason, on Sunday night on those weekends the site was so slow it must have been near collapse from the sheer numbers of private sellers trying to list before mid-night.  Twenty a month was to encourage private sellers to list more evenly through the month.

And that's the biggest clue to why ebay showered private sellers with Freebies.

Since those days ebay has concentrated on changing the site for the benefit of business sellers and with each change has seen private sellers decline in numbers.  As ebay cannot 'trap' them, it's tried to bribe them to stay.  Ebay has known all along that it's their selling and buying with the proceeds that have made ebay viable for businesses and all the fees ebay can extract from them.

IMO ebay has gone too far with the latest insulting restrictions on private sellers pay outs and trying to control private seller's postage options back-fired the last time they tried it.  I sell on ebid which has probably only survived because of a mass-migration of postcard and stamp sellers back when ebay tried to impose some sort of postage restriction on them.

Some may be fed-up with private sellers whinging but in reality there are only a few hundred coming here to complain.  A few years back there were 1000 post threads complaining about the ending of paypal and introduction of Managed Payments, businesses thought they were something to laugh about as well.  Little did they understand that ebay was already past its sales peak.  If I were a business I'd be worried about how relatively quiet the boards are and how many more private sellers have silently left to sell elsewhere taking their buying power with them.

[jere-nott]

I seem to started a bit of a stir since my original post.

Some replies have mentioned a 'civil war' between business sellers and private sellers. Others have quoted, rightly, the law. Buy to sell you are a business seller. Others volume of sales.

As far as I am aware if you list more than 30 items per week eBay consider you as a business seller. I am open to corrections on this.

Re: Fees. I am more than happy to pay the 36p listing fee and the final valuation fee of, on average, 17%.

However, I think it is unfair of eBay to charge buyers (private sellers only) 4% + 75p buyers fee.

But - if I go to my local Auction House (in Christchurch)  and sell something I would have to pay a sellers commission of 20% plus VAT. If I buy something I would have to pay buyers commission of 10% plus VAT.

If I kicked up a stink about their fees I would be escorted from the premises and told, in no uncertain terms, not to return!

The new eBay fees for buyers will put many off. Some 'private sellers' posters on here have said they are leaving eBay for other sites. Good luck to them.

eBay make the rules, we have to abide by them. As a previous poster said, we have to suck the lemon but I like the lemon. I agree. We, all of us , have to abide by the law, distant selling, HMRC, Buyers Rights, Returns, Refunds etc..

When I list something and it sells the buyer has every right to change his/her mind and cancel, return the item if they don't like it etc..

In conclusion, if you buy to resell (hopefully for a small profit) you are a business seller. I am staying with eBay even if they are very irritating at times and not defecting to the obscure sites like eBid or Delcampe or even Facebook Market Place which is riddled with scammers. 

Best wishes

[beyourb3st]

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@jere-nott wrote:

Why are private sellers whinging about payments? Most of them should be business sellers anyway.

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1. "whinging" is an insultive term.
2. if you read the complaints, you can see why they are complaining, you didn't need to ask.
3. When you say MOST, where do you get this claim from ? Most taken to mean more than half, ie the majority.

I'm a private seller and I find ebays handling of funds to be typical to terrible. There are days when ebay scores very low for me. There are days when they do worse. 

Here's a question or few for all you business sellers :

If I had a house clearance and listed everything I own and lets say I have a few things and I am a collector and a bit of a hoarder. Ergo I end up listing 400 or so different things. Some things are stocked up for use but now that plan has changed and I am gonna be listing a few new unopened unsued things. 
It's not hard to envisage 400 listings. 
How many of you hate the fact that I am still a private seller and no rules can legally change that ? There's more : 
Then after I have finished, a friend says "you know what, can you help me do all of that too ? I'll get you a beer for helping"
How quick are you lobbying government to tax the poor rather than applaud people for making bold moves in their lives and otherwise minding your own business ? 

honestly, some people will happily whip the people for the taxman, just because they get whipped. 

[leon9503]

Was about to say something similar and to tar everyone with the same brush is tiresome also as the OP seems to think, also some retailers are just as laughable for high pricing, in fact the most problems I get are with businesses, so swings both ways.

[susapric-68]

You would be a private seller,  you had a house clearance. Big difference between listing the stuff you don't want and listing 400 items all with multiples of 10 in stock all new. You never brought the stuff in your house with a view to sell for a profit one day

[cooksongold]

why is ebay demanding that private sellers who are clearly not businesses re-register as businesses? 

Because ebay I would imagine use some sort of AI recognition - and AI makes mistakes. Evidently - because its not capable of identifying private sellers selling vast multiples of brand new products!

As for why there is no outrage - its because it doesn't impact business sellers does it? if a genuine private seller is asked to move to business - it doesn't impact on a business seller. While a business hiding as a private seller does, or at least did - because they could undercut the business.

The only advice you could even give in the case of a genuine private seller being told to become a business is - ebay have got it wrong, its awful, you need to complain to ebay.

[jonatjonatjonat]

I don't get it - no one would hate the fact you are a private seller if you are doing a house clearance and you were a collector.

You literally are a private seller. Same if you helped a mate out. Being paid in beer for a favour again, isn't a business.

No idea what this means...."Some things are stocked up for use but now that plan has changed and I am gonna be listing a few new unopened unsued things."

If you mean some of the items in a house clearance were unopened - this is where I am dubious as to ebays terminology. A years old item, unopened is not Brand New. Used, Like New, Unopened would all make more sense - though classing it as new is debatable.

Honestly even if ebay got rid of the option for Private Sellers to be able to list as Brand New - it would go some way to stopping what is happening on some accounts.

[theelench]

I was being facetious but thanks for replying.

From some of the reports I've read the A.I can't even manage to identify sellers of small numbers of new but varied goods or large numbers of old goods like stamps i.e the OP, as private sellers.  I've even read of new sellers having brand new accounts where they've sold literally 2 or 3 items being required to up-grade because ebay decrees that they are a business.

Seems to me the Automatic Idiot is doing a lousy job, especially as I'm still reading on the BSB that blatant, high volume, high value "private sellers" are still trading without restriction.

Looks more to me like ebay doing a bit of random tokenism just to show it is doing 'something' and is picking innocent, but low volume/value private sellers to make examples of.

[moldosgifts]

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@theelench wrote:

I was being facetious but thanks for replying.

From some of the reports I've read the A.I can't even manage to identify sellers of small numbers of new but varied goods or large numbers of old goods like stamps i.e the OP, as private sellers.  I've even read of new sellers having brand new accounts where they've sold literally 2 or 3 items being required to up-grade because ebay decrees that they are a business.

Seems to me the Automatic Idiot is doing a lousy job, especially as I'm still reading on the BSB that blatant, high volume, high value "private sellers" are still trading without restriction.

Looks more to me like ebay doing a bit of random tokenism just to show it is doing 'something' and is picking innocent, but low volume/value private sellers to make examples of.

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The high lighted section is open to debate so a private seller sold 1 or 2 item has on of that item or a private seller has old 1 or 2 item but holds stock of 10 of each, one AI would not give a second glance the other will get a change or else message.

[sutton-park-sales]

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@jonatjonatjonat wrote:

Honestly even if ebay got rid of the option for Private Sellers to be able to list as Brand New - it would go some way to stopping what is happening on some accounts.

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That is a perfectly reasonable idea.

It would hurt me because I'm currently clearing things that my late wife either bought or were bought for her, but she wasn't able to use after she went into hospital.

However, it's actually not a bad idea to perhaps limit the volumes of what a private account can list as 'new' or variations of new. Say 10 items per calendar month?

[moldosgifts]

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@sutton-park-sales wrote:

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@jonatjonatjonat wrote:

Honestly even if ebay got rid of the option for Private Sellers to be able to list as Brand New - it would go some way to stopping what is happening on some accounts.

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That is a perfectly reasonable idea.

It would hurt me because I'm currently clearing things that my late wife either bought or were bought for her, but she wasn't able to use after she went into hospital.

However, it's actually not a bad idea to perhaps limit the volumes of what a private account can list as 'new' or variations of new. Say 10 items per calendar month?

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It goes back to the old argument sorry debate of when is new not new, you see as a private seller you can never sell new things as you purchased them for yourself and for whatever reason never used it, so you have preowned it so it isn't new.

Only a business seller can sell new because they didn't own it, the intention was always to sell it (it is stock), private seller don't have stock they have my things they now don't need as in preowned .

[beyourb3st]

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@sutton-park-sales wrote:

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@jonatjonatjonat wrote:

Honestly even if ebay got rid of the option for Private Sellers to be able to list as Brand New - it would go some way to stopping what is happening on some accounts.

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That is a perfectly reasonable idea.

It would hurt me because I'm currently clearing things that my late wife either bought or were bought for her, but she wasn't able to use after she went into hospital.

However, it's actually not a bad idea to perhaps limit the volumes of what a private account can list as 'new' or variations of new. Say 10 items per calendar month?

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How about no. How about extending the idea that you are actually doing what you are doing thus after your listing for 25x "example product" and they all sell without return, you then have no more to sell, thus proving you aren't a business and haven't restocked to make more money.

[sutton-park-sales]

Having an identity crisis today 🙂

'New' as per ebay:

New: A brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged item in the original packaging (where packaging is applicable). Packaging should be the same as what is found in the retail shop. If the item comes straight from the manufacturer it may be delivered in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag.

@beyourb3st  - that would be one approach, but only enforceable after the fact, so not workable.

[moldosgifts]

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@sutton-park-sales wrote:

Having an identity crisis today 🙂

'New' as per ebay:

New: A brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged item in the original packaging (where packaging is applicable). Packaging should be the same as what is found in the retail shop. If the item comes straight from the manufacturer it may be delivered in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag. 

@beyourb3st - that would be one approach, but only enforceable after the fact, so not workable.

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Yes but we are talking about changing that not what it is we all no what it is now.

Remove all that rubbish and only make new available to businesses, and add another like new which is what they are describing 

NEW:- A brand-new item

LIKE NEW :- Pre owned unused, unopened and undamaged item in the original packaging (where packaging is applicable). Packaging should be the same as what is found in the retail shop. If the item comes straight from the manufacturer it may be delivered in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Sorry - I have no idea what your point is from that statement.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Indeed - that is ebays terminology and is to my mind, the issue.

Amazon has a different approach. Its only 'New' if it comes from a valid supply chain. If you bought a CD from HMV, didn't open it and then listed it, you can't list it as New.