MESSAGE TO EBAY: YOU GIVE WITH ONE HAND AND TAKE MORE AWAY WITH THE OTHER!

[whitehouselearning]

MESSAGE TO EBAY

YOU GIVE WITH ONE HAND AND TAKE MORE AWAY WITH THE OTHER!

Your new rules are both unfair and highly prejudicial to private sellers for the following reasons:

1. Buyer Protection Fee means that if a seller lists an item for £18.51you will change that to £20.00. How is this protecting or helping sellers to sell their items at a reasonable price?
2. You have decreed that you will immediately add the Buyer Protection fee to all existing Buy-It-Now listings. Not only is this extremely unfair it is also utterly deplorable and its lawfulness is questionable. Such retrospectivity is rarely applied to our laws the expectation of individuals being, that if their actions today are considered by a future court, the applicable law at that time will be performed; but it also flies in the face of all acceptable business practice because it invalidates what was previously valid by enacting that, as at a past date the rules shall be taken to have been that which they were not.
3. Calling this a "Buyer Protection Fee" is an invidious euphemism which is not fooling anyone since it is, in fact, yet another means for you to earn more money off the backs of struggling sellers.
4. You are giving buyers 24/7 customer support so that they can connect with a real person by phone at any time of day - but you have failed to afford sellers - who really need this - the same facility.
5. "Paid After Delivery" means sellers cannot post very light and low cost items by ordinary mail but must swallow the extra cost to send them tracked and which, in many cases is more than the sale price of the item.
6. Your new rule for "untracked deliveries, or tracked deliveries with no delivery confirmation signal, that funds will be available 14 days from the order date", is simply shocking because (which is not exhaustive):

          (a) You know perfectly well that couriers habitually leave items on the doorstep

          of buyers so that it could be stolen or unscrupulous buyers can falsely claim that

         they never received it; and  

         (b) You get to hold on to our money for even longer than when you used to charge 

         sellers a commission and paid out promptly; thereby earning vast amounts of

        interest for yourselves.

1.  Your 'Simple Delivery' means that sellers are forced take their items to a Post Office or drop it into a post box if it will fit. But, what about disabled sellers who cannot do this and rely upon collection (which Royal Mail provides for free)?
2. 'Simple Delivery' is provided by Packlink whom I would not use again if you paid me to do so since, in my experience, they are a thoroughly disreputable firm who use every possible device to avoid paying sellers the compensation they have paid for and have proven to be due.
3. Needless to say, you are undoubtedly earning a fat commission from Packlink as well.
4. The only 'new' assistance your rules offer sellers is that neutral or negative feedback for delivery-related issues can be requested to be removed from an account. This is nothing new as it was supposedly already in existence and I am forced to observe, from personal experience, that this quite the most disingenuous fairytale as you have failed to remove any such feedback in circumstances where the buyers have been proven to be lying.
5. The Global Shipping program. You are already charging private sellers an international fee of 3% if the delivery address for the item (entered by the buyer during checkout) is outside the UK which you unfairly calculate on the total amount of the sale which includes the item price, any handling charges, postage, and any applicable taxes.  
6. On top of all that, you have decreed that, on 20th January 2025, all active listings using the Multi-buy discount tool will automatically become multi-quantity listings, and the discounts will be removed.

In conclusion, I have shown that you have now made eBay a more horrible place for private sellers than before you brought in the 'free to sell' by clawing back even more than the commission you previously charged thereby (allegedly) giving with one hand and taking more away with the other.

I rest my case.

[*vyolla*]

If you were trading correctly on a business account then you wouldn't be affected by the changes for private sellers. 

Just saying. 

[whitehouselearning]

What exactly do you mean by "trading correctly on a business account "? Are you implying that I am trading fraudulently as a private seller when I should be trading as a business? Because if you are, that is a very serious allegation which, you not only have no right to levy but will have the consequences it deserves.

I await your response.

[*vyolla*]

I am suggesting that if you upgrade to a business account then the forthcoming changes may have less of an impact. For example, the buyer protection fee of 75p + 4% that's going to be levied on items listed from 4th Feb is for private sellers.

You'll just need to do the math there.

[sishi_5545]

I wholeheartedly agree with the comments you have made. Anyone with a shred of common sense knows that no business can operate for free, so private sellers expected and accepted the 30p per order charge and the 12.8% fee. But to scrap this a replace it with a 75p per item fee plus a 4% fee, and dress it up as somehow better for sellers and buyers beggars belief. If anyone at Ebay reads these posts – please reconsider and reinstate the old system.

[whitehouselearning]

That is very clearly NOT what you said. Please carefully read your post again. Your explicit words were "If you were trading correctly on a business account" emphasis on the word 'correctly' which indubitably implies that I am incorrectly  - and fraudulently -  trading as a private seller.  This is not the behaviour that we, as contributors, are entitled to expect from an 'experienced mentor'. 

Accordingly, if you are now saying that it was 'a suggestion' then I would be grateful to receive an immediate withdrawal and an apology .

[whitehouselearning]

Thank you sishi! And particularly for your comment "But to scrap this a replace it with a 75p per item fee plus a 4% fee, and dress it up as somehow better for sellers and buyers beggars belief" as that is precisely my message (amongst other things).

Moreover, it is very much my hope that the people at ebay, who clearly spend their time conjuring up these money-making devices, do read these posts and reconsider otherwise they are highly likely to see private sellers leaving in droves - and I for one will be one of them! There are plenty of other platforms crying for our business.

Best Regards

[micks-music-and-magazine-emporium]

I have joined Ebay to sell off my extensive collection of music and magazines (around 50,000 items), both of which I started collecting as a school boy and I am now in my early 60s.

How could I possibly change to a business account? I do not have receipts for these items, some I have owned for 50 years, so how could I possibly calculate correct business accounts? If I tried to become a business, this would be fraudulent in itself as I would be claiming to be something I am not!

I just have reached a point in my life with various health conditions where I have decided to clear out a lifetimes worth of stuff to ensure it goes to someone that appreciates it and not leave my kids with the problem of getting rid of it and possibly throwing it out \ selling it cheap for the ease of doing so.

All I seem to see here is that business sellers think that all private sellers are people selling new items on private accounts, which is not always the case. Nothing I have to sell is brand new and purchased to sell on, and is at least a few years old, even the many duplicates I have acquired when buying collections etc even if I have kept some of the items in "as new" condition. Every single item is either used or pre-owned!

[vintique*violet]

Thank you for taking the time to eloquently express what many of us are feeling and unable to... 

One thing I would like some clarification of regarding funds held... 

As per eBays own terms

How do I get paid?

For private sellers, funds will be sent to your eBay balance when the order is considered delivered. You can then use your balance to shop, pay for postage, promote your listings, and pay for other selling costs on eBay.co.uk. Private sellers can also request payouts directly from their balance to a linked bank account by selecting ’Withdraw’ in the Payments tab.

If you don’t use or withdraw your balance, the available funds will be automatically sent to your bank account on the first Tuesday of every January, April, July, and October.

For business sellers, nothing will change and you can expect to receive your payouts on your usual schedule.

While my funds are pending, can they be used for anything?

Until the order is considered delivered, you’ll see your order’s funds as pending. You can use your pending funds to buy postage labels and give refunds to the buyer.

So even eBay admit that whilst they hold your funds in " pending"  until 48 hrs after delivery confirmation ...  They will allow you to access them to purchase postage labels and to refund? 

So, my interpretation of  what they are really saying is they are " restricting" your access to your own funds for items you have sold thereby not allowing you to be paid in full or  to  manage your funds in the way you need,  BUT you can access your " pending" funds to fulfil eBays polices ?

So basically they are " managing" YOU and your ability to run your account and funds without interference, but it's okay to use " pending" funds for what eBay say as long as it lines their pockets or to  refund a buyer SHOULD there be an issue...  ? 

" Held to Ransom" springs to mind!

If you or anyone else has a better way of explaining/interpreting,  I would be grateful. 

Edit - to highlight in blue eBays own policies to make it easier to read ... 

[*vyolla*]

It is a conundrum. With a 75p & 4% buyer fee being added to items listed by private sellers, if the items are reasonably low value then that higher price may be off putting to buyers. 

Trading on the incorrect account is not a fraudulent act though, no matter which way round you look at it. 

With items that are reasonably high in price and quite niche, I think that buyers will disregard the extra fee they'll be charged with, but for anyone listing a collection of stamps, postcards, records, books, trading cards etc the new change must surely heavily impact sales. A 99p item suddenly costs the buyer nearly double. I can't see a workaround here except to either bundle items up together into bigger lots (which, I can appreciate may not be possible) or to look into changing account type. As a business, you can have sales of £1k per tax year without having to complete a self assessment, it's HMRC's Trading Allowance.

The people that I fear that this is most heavily going to impact will be the 'hobby sellers' who enjoy eBaying literally as a hobby. They may be disabled and housebound, or have some other issues in which they seek enjoyment photographing and listing items and enjoy the engagement they get from trading with others. If you take that away from them, they have nothing. 

[whitehouselearning]

Hi Mick

Your post/reply is almost exactly on all fours with my situation. I am a retired IT engineer who has collected a lot of stuff over the years - a good deal of which is vintage and rare -  which I am attempting to clear out so as not to leave my loved with the problem of getting rid of it or throwing it out.

Your pithy, and eloquent, rendition of the fact that sellers such as ourselves could not possibly register a business account even if they wanted to, is also exactly on point and admirably summed up with your words, "If I tried to become a business, this would be fraudulent in itself as I would be claiming to be something I am not!" Almost all the items I am selling are pre-owned with very few being brand new - which, in most cases, means I just haven't used them.

[lisamaykes]

I totally agree with you! 

[technthread]

50,000 items could take a business seller years to sell through one by one. 

You might need to think outside the box here and sell in a number of different ways. I’d start off by grouping things up, seeing what media buyers will offer, looking into selling bits off in bulk to a business, Facebook marketplace, auction houses, car boot sales etc. 

[bojangled]

@micks-music-and-magazine-emporium 

You have some pretty cool things listed there Mick. As @technthread suggested you might want look at different ways to sell, maybe take some of those music collections to a specialist auction house. 
Jo

[lisamaykes]

Brilliant post!  Well said!  

The amount of times when walking my dogs, that I have seen parcels left on doorsteps inviting the thieving fraternity to steal them, is ridiculous.  Being a thoughtful and decent human being I move them out of sight of passers by.  I don't believe eBay or some delivery companies actually care about people at all.

[micks-music-and-magazine-emporium]

My plan was to try and sell here first and see what sells and what doesnt, then consider other options for the rest. Selling in bulk always results in lower prices as those that buy tend to be those who buy to break up and sell on. 

Id rather make the money myself than have someone else benefit, though as a realist, i will struggle to sell the 6000+ railway magazines I own individually so they and other similar item will probably end up being broken into lots and sold for a low individual price.

[micks-music-and-magazine-emporium]

Thanks.

I havent even started to scratch the surface yet. I considered starting to sell at specialist fairs \ conventions etc but due to eyesight issues, I am currently unable to drive so that option has gone. 

I have some vinyl that are worth in the £1000s each so will certainly have to reconsider selling them on ebay now as I dont have much confidence in the protection for a seller at the mment, so auction houses could be best for those.

[lucy_farmer]

'I don't believe eBay or some delivery companies actually care about people at all.'

Well, no they don't.

Business basically only cares about making money. You can ignore any adverts from banks or companies about 'being by your side' or whatever their slogan is.....

Most businesses will happily thrown their customers under the bus if it makes the bottom line look good to shareholders.  Shareholders are now the most important part of any big business; they're the people that the bosses are trying to impress and keep interested.

(a few posters on here have likened ebay to the 'punitive Labour govt'. : A huge American mega-corp like ebay is the furthest thing possible from anything left wing ! 😂)

[vintique*violet]

Stakeholder Capitalism is the new term... 

Plenty of info about to realise what is really going on in this mad World. 

[lisamaykes]

Wow!  What a very hostile and judgemental comment! 🙁

Just saying!