Is there a Seller's Union?

[kitten_slave]

It seems obvious that Ebay does not listen to or care about many of the problems that sellers experience. 

Is there an Ebay sellers' Union? 

If we collectively challenge them - with threats to pull listings - they might listen. 

[dch2112011]

No but ebay in 2022 introduced the seller council where  members were invited to join and once a month  were invited to zoom style meetings with ebay management in various departments to discuss future and existing changes where the members views were taken into account - this was quite good and often council members trialled changes before they were rolled out.

THEN came 2024 and ebay virtually stopped the interaction and introduced surveys to replace the one to one interactions  suggesting that council members use the community platform for interaction.

However the consensus of opinion is that the Community team tries their best to address customer questions and concerns both during designated chat events and general daily forum posts, but they are often handcuffed by internal procedures and roadblocks, unable to do anything except "pass the information to the appropriate team" where they often get no follow up answers for weeks or months, if ever.

[kitten_slave]

Call me cynical but that does sound very one-sided.

Thanks for the detail though. 👍

I'm very much not a communist but I do think Ebay need to be held to account by sellers. EBay are treating sellers unreasonably in their quest for hundreds of millions in profit plus some of their recent changes are actually bad for the health of the company.

[morseidiot2]

I see the current situation as an act of desperation.

Ebay have stood still for ages but rather that be truly innovative the best they can come up with is to copy a rival who is eating into their market share and rinse the buyers/sellers they already have to the maximum.

The Free to sell campaign is an attempt to lure new people into the fold,something they have failed to do for the last couple of years.

We all have a choice to use Ebay or not,its not compulsory,some will stay and some will leave over the new policies that have been implemented,its certainly too early for Ebay to backpeddle and I dont think a sellers union will change that because its not about the sellers,its about the money Ebay think they can make with BPF and SD,they clearly feel that will offset any seller exodus over the changes.

Personally I feel no loyalty to Ebay at all because they show zero loyalty to anyone, if they vanish someone else will come along to fill the void.

Ive never understood the "Ive been an Ebay member for 20 years" type posts..honestly Ebay dont care how long you have been a member for,they really dont.

If it works for me I will stay, if it does not I will leave.

At the end of the day,the shareholders will be the ultimate judge of the health of the company,if they dont like what they see Ebay will doubtless turn to more desperate means to prop itself up.

[infohelps]

Report them to the CMA (Competition and Marketing Authority)  - a body that investigates unfair practice and abuse of power in the marketplace - a bit more hard hitting than your local Trading Standards!    I made a report yesterday and it took me less than 5 minutes.  I didn't even put their address in, just their website address (after all they're pretty well known!).   I have been given a case reference number.  If enough people do this eBay will have to take note of the CMA - even if they have made it quite clear that they are happy to lose private sellers.  Apparently they see us all as side hustlers who are causing business sellers grief!  Yeah right, Chinese sellers are really disturbed by my vintage knitting pattern listings.  Anyway,  here is the link 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/contact-the-cma

This is what I put, but of course it's better if it's in your own words, and if you add anything else that I haven't covered.  

"eBay are discriminating against private sellers. From the 15th April, they are forcing sellers to buy postage/courier charges through their own Simple Delivery (SD) system, even if sellers want to offer free postage. They are also charging buyers a buyer protection fee (75p per item plus 4%) for protection that was previously free. As such a big player in the on-line market place this is an abuse of their power and privilege. For many sellers, especially those who sell low cost items, they are finding that their postage is more expensive than if you were to go to the post office yourself as it includes built in tracking. Many sellers of low cost items do not send their items tracked as they wouldn't make any money on it. Ebay are now making private sellers wait 14 days before payment if the item is not tracked, but many private sellers are forced to take this route as adding in the cost of tracked delivery would make the item too expensive.
Please can you look into this matter as we all know that there is a cost of living crisis at the moment and so this is the time when buyers and sellers of second hand goods need to be able to connect with each other, and eBay are making this very difficult."

It might be good to add - I didn't realise this when I did my report as i have removed all my listings- that if you exclude Evri or RM then you are warned that postage will be 'more expensive'.  

[susapric-68]

This is going to be fun. "eBay are discriminating against private sellers." Yes you get no fees to pay plus 300 listings that renew each month on top of what you already have listed. eBay will have to make it fair with no free listings and you get to pay a FVF, you do want fair don't you? As for the paid protection buyers have to pay it's because they get no real cover, MBG is worthless and buyers are not covered by consumer laws or DSR when buying from a private seller. I look forward to you getting fees for listing and FVF, just to be fair to ALL sellers. Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. BTW did you take down your listings so they could not see you're yet another business seller on a private account "NEW COPIES No Bacon and Eggs Tonight - JH Brook WW2 RAF 617 Squadron Dambusters" you sold 4 of them and still had over 10 listed all new

[sellingmystuff642]

You have free delivery on all your items? How does that work when postage would be equal to, or more than, just about every item you sell?

[ett1954]

".....you're yet another business seller on a private account "NEW COPIES No Bacon and Eggs Tonight - JH Brook WW2 RAF 617 Squadron Dambusters" you sold 4 of them and still had over 10 listed all new" - If correct, and the CMA contact eBay to carry out an investigation into examples of the seller's activities, then they have effectively reported themselves.  One of the primary unfair practices they investigate are violations of the Guidance on business conduct that the law on unfair business-to-consumer trading prohibits under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

[technthread]

Royal Mail 2nd Class large letter 100g is £1.55. 250g is now £1.80.

An eBay business account can be tough when you add the insertion / shop fees that were eluded to. This is what equality would look like if private sellers had the same arrangement, that doesn’t include VAT and not to mention the final value fees and other add ons applied at the point of sale. 

I have a basic shop paying £32.40pm. I have 300 comics here that I ideally want to list on auction all to end in a single weekend. I would have to either upgrade to a featured shop or pay 15p insertion fees after the first 100. With eBay auctions so quiet I’m not prepared to fork out more and more money to them.

That’s my moan, nothing against private sellers but you do get a free hit to list a lot of items whereas we don’t. 

[britanniabug_stamp_store]

Private Sellers may have the option of NO SELLING FEE's and 300 FREE LISTINGS PER MONTH. However all our Buyers are having to pay the rip-off BPF and this is what is hitting Private Sellers sales. Even promoting my listings I am seeing very few sales. Buyers see an additional £0.75p BPF for a £0.99p item and are immediately put off ... and who would'nt be if they can get the same (or very similar) item from a Business Seller and pay the advertised price. No! Private Sellers are viewed by eBay as "second class citizens" on eBay.

[jonatjonatjonat]

They are also charging buyers a buyer protection fee (75p per item plus 4%) for protection that was previously free

Buyer Protection Fee has NOTHING to do with the ebay money back guarantee.

[susapric-68]

Look on the bright side, when they do go with a business seller they have the peace of mind of knowing they are supporting all the staff at eBay and contributing towards the running costs of the site. I'm all for getting rid of the free listings and have private sellers pay to list and FVF unless you think business sellers are "second class citizens" and just here to fund the site for you to sell for free

[technthread]

I do see what you’re saying, the lowest price items are massively impacted for private sellers who break collections and stuff down into 99p items. 

That’s where some private sellers will adapt and combine lots. There will be a sweet spot in some categories where the buyer and seller won’t feel it as much and it probably just has to be done. I’d rather do that as a private seller and still keep making sales than abandon eBay entirely. 

[infohelps]

I am selling copies of my Dad's books that he paid for during his lifetime.  Now he has passed away they are now my responsibility to sell as I promised him I would do.   I am not a business and I have nothing to fear from HMRC.

[infohelps]

I have several boxes of my Dad's books (new as they were never sold) that we paid to have printed for him during his lifetime.  Therefore these items are mine to sell, I have not purchased them to make a profit. He passed away in 2003 and I have been selling them ever since.  I am not a business.  An in depth look into my other items for sale should tell you that I am selling only inherited items, childhood toys, and items related to hobbies I can no longer participate in .  I would be overjoyed to have Final value fees back any day.   You are absolutely wrong in your assumptions but I appreciate that feelings are running high at the moment. 

[rob_539794]

unfortunatly its e bays way or no way...😡

their platform their rules everything you agreed with when you signed up to their T&C,S

basicly they have you by the wotsits.

[infohelps]

susapric-68 is incorrect in saying that I am a business seller.  I have nothing to fear from HMRC.  The books were paid for by myself and my husband in 2002 as a vanity project gift to my father who had written the book twenty years previously.  My father died in 2003 and  my mother in 2016 which is when the boxes of unsold books came into my possession again and I have been selling them ever since. They are 'new' because we still have a few boxes left, and the books have never been taken out.  However, they are not items that have been purchased by me to make a profit.  

[infohelps]

 I think that the only protection that buyers are interested in is wanting their money back if the item is defective or  not received.  This is something that I have availed myself of several times over the years as a buyer.  I can't think what other protection would be relevant to me as a buyer.    I phoned customer services at ebay and asked them if this new BPF was a charge for the protection that we had already been receiving as buyers and they said yes it was apart from 24 hour helpline (though some people say it is only AI).   Two members of staff told me the same thing as I have been making calls about these issues for months now.  However, I am  willing to admit any misinformation I have shared caused by receiving incorrect information from eBay themselves, so please can you update me as to what the differences are, and what extra benefits the buyer now gets from paying the BPF charge that they did not get before for free? Thank you so much, it would be really helpful.

[lucy_farmer]

'the differences are, and what extra benefits the buyer now gets from paying the BPF charge that they did not get before for free? '

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Well, very few to be honest.

The BPF is simply paying for the already exisiting MBG (ebay *say* they had supplied it for free up until now; I  suppose it came out of the old sellers fees, so they had to replace that with something.)

Paying for the new 24/7 help line (already admitted to being AI after hours....)

And 'secure money transactions'. Well I flippin' well hope that's *always* been secure!!

(and again; thats something I rather thought came out of the old sellers fees so they need to replace that bit with something)

It the bullsh** spin about trying to sell the BPF that's something new and wonderful that wasn't there before, that is the problem.

Telling people what the removed sellers fees covered and how they are now replacing, them would have been more honest.

But the words 'honesty' and 'advertising' don't very often crop up in the same place....

[infohelps]

I wanted to add to my earlier reply, but I cannot edit it so sorry for bombarding your in-box!  I, like many other private sellers, would actually be happy to pay a listing fee as well as a FVF,  if we could retain control over who we use to deliver our items, how long we have to post the item out, and the cost of that delivery service.   Why not?  It's what we used to do and I am happy to go back to how it was 20 + years ago when eBay was like a giant car boot sale, and eBay respected private sellers who were the bedrock of the company but are now no longer wanted.  I am not bothered about 'free' selling.  I expect to pay the platform that is advertising my stuff, otherwise how can they operate, and I would simply add the costs of selling into the asking price as I used to do. With regards to the MBG, I  have personally received money back from ebay after opening a case with a private seller due to an item not received so my experience is that the MBG is not worthless. I have asked another person on this thread to explain how the MBG and the BPF differ from each other, and what additional benefits the buyer gets from paying this, as even eBay's own staff have said to me that the BPF is a charge for the protection that was already in place.    In answer to another of your points,  I have not taken down my listings because I am afraid of the CMA or HMRC.  I have simply added a "Time away" banner at the suggestion of a eBay customer service member of staff  who could not answer my questions about Simple Delivery and it's mandatory use from tomorrow.  So I have taken 'time away from selling' until 7th May (for now).     Did you read the listing for my Dad's book or did you just look at the numbers?  The story of my Dad's experiences and why I am selling the books left over from the print run makes it quite clear that I am a private seller.   Oh and I wish I only had 10 left!!!!    Last time I looked there were quite a few boxes in the bottom of the  wardrobe.....  😆 Anyway, I wish you well with your ebay sales!