I have sold nothing in 6 months since the buyer protection fee was introduced

[markey164]

I always have 20-30 active listings on the go, and typically sell 2 or 3 items a month. My items are always priced competitively to sell, but lately I've noticed I haven't sold anything since February. When I reviewed my listings this evening, I noticed they were all listed for several pounds more than the price I had entered in the listing.

I've realized this is because of this new buyer protection fee. However having checked, when setting the item price, there is absolutely nothing that tells you if you enter a price of £34.99, it will actually be listed for £37.11. I can't believe this has passed even basic testing.    The only way I can sell things now, is to reduce my selling price to offset the fee, and in doing so, I am basically paying the buyer protection fee myself.  What a scam. What was the point of spending 20 years building up a 100% perfect record, with hundred's of positive comments, for that good conduct to be completely disregarded in favour of penalizing me! This is nothing to do with protecting buyers, this is eBay squeezing yet more profit out of their customers, Pure and Simple

I know its a case of if you don't like it go somewhere else, but sadly there is nothing else really on a par with eBay for the sheer variety of things you can buy and sell.

Ebay have made some unpopular changes over the years, but this one takes the biscuit for me!

[superchallenge]

---

@markey164 wrote:

The only way I can sell things now, is to reduce my selling price to offset the fee, and in doing so, I am basically paying the buyer protection fee myself.  What a scam. What was the point of spending 20 years building up a 100% perfect record, with hundred's of positive comments, for that good conduct to be completely disregarded in favour of penalizing me! This is nothing to do with protecting buyers, this is eBay squeezing yet more profit out of their customers, Pure and Simple

Yes, you can reduce the selling price to offset the fee, and you'll be essentially back where you were before they temporarily removed selling fees for private sellers, and before they introduced the buyer protection fee. If you've been here for 20 years, you know what it used to be like.

Before, you would list something for £30, the buyer would see the price of £30, and you would get £26.24 or so after fees.

Now, you list something for £28.15, the buyer sees the price of £30. You get £28.15.

All they've done is moved the fees from the seller to the buyer and given it a new name. It's your choice as to whether or not you let the buyer pay the fee, or alter your price so that you're paying it instead.

I don't see how that's anything to do with "penalizing" you or your good conduct.

[dch2112011]

If you haven't sold for six months the problem existed well before buyer fees - you need to look further than the new fee structures to find why you are not selling 

[j.p.greenwood]

It's truly remarkable how few sellers seem able to work this out.

If you're reducing your price to cover the BPF, that's really the same as keeping your original price and paying a selling fee.

Some of the over the top hyperbole though would make you think someone had sent 'the E-Bay boys' around to some sellers to extract money from them directly.

However, E-Bays missteps in how they implemented it and how they're hiding their heads in the sand hoping it'll blow over are future management case studies I suspect.

[foresterdon]

Perhaps you are missing the first and most important part of the headline: "I have sold nothing in 6 months...."

Well, how are your sales going since Buyers Protection was introduced?

Do let us know.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

there is nothing on a par with e bay but i am still going, i have most of my items now on another site and by the end of next week will be finished with this one (until (LOL) they realise the error of their ways and bring back proper custom postage)

[j.p.greenwood]

I'm not a trader, so honestly not bothered if things sell in a month or six months.

E-Bay has always had a 'seasonality' factor to it, anything new always has a period of adjustment, however I do think E-Bays implementation of a number of 'new' features has been a disaster for people who have relied on the income.

[thepillenwerfer]

---

@j.p.greenwood wrote:

If you're reducing your price to cover the BPF, that's really the same as keeping your original price and paying a selling fee.

It's actually better as the old fees were 30p plus 12.3% of both the item and postage prices.  The BPF is 75p plus 4% of just the item price so, apart from on very low value things, it's less.

Say in the past something sold for £5+£3.50  e-Bay would have taken £1.35 leaving the Seller with £3.65.

Now they'd take 95p.  A Seller could therefore offer that item at £4.05 and keep the price to the Buyer the same and still end up with 40p more or sell it for what they'd have actually cleared in the past and make it cheaper to the Buyer even with the BPF.  The higher the value of the item the bigger the savings.

I can't see how e-Bay are being "Greedy" or indulging in a "Cash grab."  A lot of their costs will be the same if an item makes 99p or £99.

[j.p.greenwood]

I meant 'the principal', not the minutiae of the actual fees charged, as there were so many discounts, promos and other offers going on the published fee structure never made a great deal of sense.