R.I.P eBay (UK) ------>> 19th Feb 2025

[yorkscollectables]

The introduction of the eBay Buyer Protection fee of 75p plus 4% of the value of goods,  effective from 19th February 2025 has effectively killed off eBay (UK).

Buyers have walked away and Private Sellers are now forced to drastically reduce their prices to try to compete with 'Business Sellers', who are not subject to the eBay Buyer Protection fees.

It's a great shame, and unless eBay's management team in San Jose, California see the error of their ways, and quickly, there will be nothing left to salvage from the wreckage !!

[action_man]

Hehe. I'll get on the piano and you can all have a sing-a-long. Then we'll have some nice cocoa. How's about that? 😋

[thesmi42]

Putting it simply, when you're in a hole it's probably best not to keep digging!

[action_man]

Is that an analogy? Because it would be bad advice for coal miners.

[thesmi42]

Just for the record, I think it's a metaphor rather than an analogy.

[action_man]

OK....

Is that a metaphor? Because it would be bad advice for coal miners.

[action_man]

Oh, by the way, you all need to lighten up a bit. It's only a forum.

[bzmotman]

"Objectively £300 over 3 months is really low."

Its £300 more than you have made. Anyway looking at sales turnover is pretty irrelevent. The only important figure is net profit. If you sell £300 and have a profit of £250 thats better than sales of £30,000 & a loss of £250. So sales ie turnover is simply a measure of activity not profitability.

Sales is vanity, profit is reality is the way to look at it.

I have said several times on this thread that since BPF came in my sales [& profit] have increased week on week and I stand by that. Feel free to check my sales on this id. Though you won't get the full picture as there is a 2nd id you will see sales have increased with roughly the same amount of auctions every week. Facts are much better than mere assertions as I am sure you will agree.

[action_man]

You say "Facts are much better than mere assertions as I am sure you will agree". That's quite ironic when you just came out with a whole lot of hot air and clutching at straws. Your first paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. To be waffling on about turnover and profits on sales of £300 is a joke. The extent to which you went on to explain your rather lame point just made me laugh. If you don't think that £3-per-day is really low, then that's fine. Nobody is asking you to agree. But considering the time it takes to list items, make photos, package items, post items etc. all for £3 per day, in any normal reality that is really low.

[buffster1963]

You are thinking of it in terms of a wage and it isnt. Private sellers are just selling off unwanted bits and pieces and anything they sell it for is a bonus. £300 for things that may have either gone in the bin or been given away is a pretty good bonus. 

[kath3735_wxmjn]

speak for yourself!  I am not the forgiving type.....

[kath3735_wxmjn]

there is an old saying that fits here - you cannot argue with stupid!  Of course you could also ask what they are doing with their £300 they got for their unwanted items, oh that would be right they do not have even £1!!  As i am not a business i do not think of anything in terms of profit, wages, costs for stationary or any other expense doing this.  It is a pastime for me and if i state that my sales are good at this time then that is because they are good.  Much better than any other February i have had since starting.

[game_raid]

This is exactly the trap a lot of private sellers fall into, they over price their items because they look at is as a wage when it shouldn't be, they want payment for spending time listing, taking pictures, packing, they want fuel and payment for going the post office then after all that want profit on the item that has sold.

After they have worked all this out they set a price expecting to cover everything and on secondhand unwanted items it rarely happens and then try to belittle people who are happy with whatever they sell because they have sold only x amount or priced something too low then complain when they get no sales blaming everyone except themselves.

A genuine private seller just lists to get something back whether this is £1 or £100 and no matter how much they get it is all a bonus, they will never once think about how much time it takes because there is actually sellers out their that enjoy the process so will take as much time as they like.

I know some private sellers that will take well over a few hrs to list an item because they want to make sure they get it right to give them the best chance of a sale, they will sometimes spend on an whole evening doing this because it keeps their brain active on a hobby they enjoy which is in their words better than watching the frivolous nonsense on TV.

[action_man]

You said "You are thinking of it in terms of a wage and it isnt".

No. I'm not thinking of it in terms of a wage. I never said that.

[*devils.advocate*]

When I found eBay, I was a mere struggling student - and wish I had had £3 a day extra!

I decided to try and make a little extra cash by selling odds and ends I no longer used or wanted and which would just clog up the wardrobe, the bed or the floor.

Pleasantly surprised I was that others wanted my “cast-offs” but the extra cash (albeit small sums) was better than nothing - after all, until the items sold they were worth exactly that, nothing - £0.

I couldn’t eat or drink my items but I could with the money they made.

Everyone has their own reasons for selling - even if, in my case then, it was just extra coppers for a few pints or for a curry evening with friends.

The value of money means different things to different people.

[action_man]

It's interesting how some people are taking things out of context and then getting all irate over that and then attacking the person. Either that is a lack of ability in actually being able to comprehend what is being said in a broader sense, or it is an abusive tactic. Either way, it's weird.

[cobwebcottage]

'It's interesting how some people are taking things out of context and then getting all irate over that and then attacking the person. Either that is a lack of ability in actually being able to comprehend what is being said in a broader sense, or it is an abusive tactic. Either way, it's weird.'

It's also weird if someone spends so much time commenting on the boards and looking at other peoples sales when they have chosen not to sell themselves.

Wouldn't your time be better spent finding ways that you can make more than £100 per month?

Abusive tactics? You have been offensive in your posts.

[action_man]

If the cobwebs are cleared from the home, they are also cleared from the mind.

[cobwebcottage]

I think you should get out in the sunshine. It may improve your state of mind.

I spend so much time on the laptop because it's my job although I will be sitting in the garden with it later on.

I love spiders by the way. I hate flies.

[1956glyn]

As a genuine private seller i am not prepared to just give our decent items away......all we want is the current market price for them.   Yes anything is a bonus but it has to be a fair price.

I am selective in what we list because often postage may be a complete turn off for a potential buyer 😞

[kath3735_wxmjn]

personally my bug bear are cockroaches and rats!  Used to work where there were kitchens and they were always having to get the exterminators in for the roaches.  Once they are there it is difficult to get rid of them.