NO LONGER SELLING DUE TO SIMPLE DELIVERY

[rugbyguy1960]

AS OF 15TH APRIL MY DAYS AS A PRIVATE EBAY SELLER WILL STOP AFTER 19 YEARS.

I AM FED UP OF THE GREED OF EBAY AND I HOPE OTHER EBAY SELLERS DECIDE TO NO LONGER LET THE EBAY CONTROL FREAKS HAVE THIS MUCH CONTROL OVER PRIVATE SELLERS.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Maybe they are trying to make it more annoying for those who should be on Business Seller accounts.

[punzel9072]

Actually eBay are making it more annoying for everybody, including private sellers who do not have to be on business accounts, because it then becomes more expensive for their buyers.

[kevin*cedar]

If in fact your philosophy and assumption is correct  then eBay should have just been transparent and told private sellers that information and the intension for doing so and offered guidelines for all sellers  I sold for years as a private seller even from the start eBay made no jurisdiction or made any attempt at anytime frame to tell me which platform to sell on The only place that I have heard that I should have been a business seller was on this thread No one from HMRC told me anything different and I have reported all of my sales  and income to them over the years On the other hand sometimes I wonder if its just competitive jealousy as there are literally hundreds of people on eBay making things  competitively and selling them on the site and they are private sellers and also business sellers  doing this , Keeping in mind eBay was collecting fees from private sellers for years they chose to change the policy to selling free on the site with no fees then they decided to initiate Simple delivery  and become a parcel service and initiate Buyer protection fees 

I have always believed that " if it is not broken then do not try to fix it" eBay once had a brilliant platform which has certainly diminished especially over the last 12 months with the introduction of Simple delivery

One  should remember  that when one is disrespected  they will never get a return of that customer and all sellers are customers of a eBay platform 

[lucy_farmer]

'No one from HMRC told me anything different and I have reported all of my sales  and income to them over the years..'

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Well, you're correct there: HMRC neither know nor care about anything to do with which type of account you sell on, online.  As long as you report your income and pay any tax due, HMRC are happy.

'I sold for years as a private seller even from the start eBay made no jurisdiction or made any attempt at anytime frame to tell me which platform to sell on'

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Up until recently ebay haven't really cared which type of account people sold on either. (the ebay 'mothership' is a deeply American business, and in the USA there is very little difference between private and business accounts.)

But now ebay have gone 'free to sell' for private accounts (simply in order to compete with Vint*d etc) they may be keener to get more sellers onto business accounts, because business accounts pay fees.

'...sometimes I wonder if its just competitive jealousy...'

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Oh I'm absolutely sure it is, and understandably so!

In order to comply with UK Trading Standards law, if you are selling professionally online, you *have* to have your contact details on every listing (which is impossible on a private account; ebay will not allow it)   Therefore, if you are trading on a private account, you are breaking UK trading laws. *And* undercutting those sellers who are legally trading, because they pay fees on business accounts and 'private' sellers don't.

If I were a business I'd be a bit upset about that myself.

.'..then eBay should have just been transparent and told private sellers that information and the intension for doing so and offered guidelines for all sellers .'

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Yeah that would have been great!  But they can't be honest, can they?

Because 'marketing'. 

No way can a big company tell the truth about changes that are (in reality) about making the company more profit, without lying to make it sound like the changes are sooo much better for their customer....... So much easier! so much simpler! so much better for sellers and buyers!! ......... yeah yeah we all know it's 💩 ebay also know it's a lie, but no way will they admit it.

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Ebay *may* have to start paying more attention to getting sellers onto the correct accounts in the future though.

A.I. technology  will get better and become almost ubiquitous in all onine stuff.  If it ever links all aspects of online selling, buying, finance etc,. it might become more obvious that ebay have been facilitating UK sellers in breaking UK trading laws.

And this will not be a good look for a Global Tech Company.

[cobwebcottage]

'I've never known a system so backwards.. Buyer buys three items (3 stands from the same listing), small enough to fit in a small box at 1kg, yet Simple delivery charges medium at 2+kg. 

Whoever thought of Simple delivery needs to rethink their strategy...'

It is your doing that your buyers are paying additional postage using SD plus a buyer protection fee as you have declared that you are a private seller.

It is quite obvious to every one who looks at your listings that you are trading on the wrong account.

@jhb7140 

[jonatjonatjonat]

I can't vouch for what ebay did decades ago, I only have knowledge of registering a business from 2016 onwards. But looking today, ebay offer a wealth of pages on business seller fees, what constitutes a business seller and what they will ask for from business sellers. The registration page (at least on desktop) has a massive Private/Business option selection. But it really is up to the individual to understand their legal requirements when selling. This would apply to amazon, ebay, your own website, a physical store. It would be like a food truck complaining that no-one told them the food standards agency would turn up to do a check. The business should know.

You were reporting to HMRC, so knew you were trading. You were told months ago you appeared to be a business seller on a private account - but did nothing to rectify this other than insist you were not a business. In fact, the only thing you did was look to avoid simple delivery through some weird collection only, but they I'll post to you method.

Calling it competitive jealousy is nonsense. traders are trading illegally if they are a business on a private account. Breaking the law to be competitive? Is that what you are suggesting? 

To bring it back on track. To those sellers, on a private account who are in fact a business, complaining about simple delivery and no longer selling because its awful. There is a solution in your grasp. It just comes with more fees that you may not like.

[jonatjonatjonat]

And for those - I have sympathy. Of course I do - I'm a private seller myself and I'd be mad not to note its more difficult to sell low price products. Hence why I'm pretty much limiting ebay listings to more expensive products, where the BPF is less of an issue. But my response was specific to one seller who is complaining about a problem of their own making.

[kevin*cedar]

We can agree to disagree and you can make what ever assumptions that please you  What's really weird as you so put it is the fact that you are overwhelmed  with your personal attacks in what I am doing or what I have supposedly done in the past You are infatuated in the topic of converting private sellers into business sellers and offer nothing in regard to what this thread is all about and you just go off on your little rants about about seller status Not to worry yourself I have no listings and  will not be buying on this  website ever again

And so everyone is well aware I stopped selling due Simple Delivery and that requires no approval or justification from the likes of you 

[akemp1]

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@jonatjonatjonat wrote:

To those sellers, on a private account who are in fact a business, complaining about simple delivery and no longer selling because its awful. There is a solution in your grasp. It just comes with more fees that you may not like.

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Ebay really should consider upgrading their systems to enable both private and business sales on the same account so that a seller declares when they list an item if it's a personal item or trade item which needs to comply with the listing/return requirements. That would result in far better compliance for sole traders and then the business accounts could be left for the formed companies, etc which is probably what most ebay users incorrectly presume they are intended for.

[jonatjonatjonat]

That would involve ebay unpicking and reprogramming a whole host of systems. Like reporting, shipping, loads of things. Not impossible, but its a lot. On top of that, anyone who wants to would still just say the product is personal, not trade.

When the ability to run multiple accounts exists, this seems reasonable.

I agree on the last point however, I imagine many are simple incorrectly presuming what they are at account creation.

[rugbyguy1960]

Please keep posts about if sellers should or shouldn't be private or business sellers off this thread.

That is a discussion for elswhere or create a thread about it.

I and plenty of others do not want this thread locked again because of off topic posts.

Thank You.

[lucy_farmer]

'...business accounts could be left for the formed companies, etc which is probably what most ebay users incorrectly presume they are intended for.'

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Indeed.

And the ability to have a 'shop' on a private account has always struck me as very odd, and slightly confusing. (let alone the 'out of stock' option... for sellers who aren't supposed to 'stock' in the first place!)

To some people, the words 'shop' and 'business' are almost interchangable. I'm not suprised a few sellers genuinely assume they are in the correct place when they definltely aren't...

[gmij1961]

Something  a bit odd today is I have 2 separate  but identical emails today from 2 different  sellers I have probably bought stuff from in the past telling me to "check out Yodel direct"

Seems to me Yodel may be a bit upset about their own loss of business due to SD , at one stage I was getting more stuff from Yodel than Evri and Yodel were very much the  actual  chosen alternative to RM in terms of who I bought from .

Yodel are probably doing this without knowledge of the actual sellers but to provide tracking info they probably have loads  ?????@membersebay.com addresses stored on their systems

[crn303]

Agreed … keep to the posting subject.

[sizzenergy]

SD should be made optional for all items under £ 5.00 for letter & large letter

[sml192]

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@sizzenergy wrote:

SD should be made optional for all items under £ 5.00 for letter & large letter

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Why £5.00?  £20 would be more logical. 

[punzel9072]

£20 would be more logical.

Definitely items up to £20 as that ties in with the limit of Royal Mail compensation for items sent by standard post with a proof of posting. There's nothing simpler than sending by standard mail for low value items, not even 'Simple Delivery'.

[gjalp]

Ive had a similar message today too. It left me scratching my head a bit.

[gjalp]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'...business accounts could be left for the formed companies, etc which is probably what most ebay users incorrectly presume they are intended for.'

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Indeed.

And the ability to have a 'shop' on a private account has always struck me as very odd, and slightly confusing. (let alone the 'out of stock' option... for sellers who aren't supposed to 'stock' in the first place!)

To some people, the words 'shop' and 'business' are almost interchangable. I'm not suprised a few sellers genuinely assume they are in the correct place when they definltely aren't...

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Ive had a private selling account for 12 years and I didn’t know you could have a shop 🤣 that said, as a private seller, it would never occur to me to open a shop. I have no need for one.

[gjalp]

Why only £5? I think simple delivery should be optional for all items under £20 regardless of weight and size.