THE EBAY OF 2025 - WHAT TO EXPECT AS A SMALL PRIVATE SELLER - SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO ?

[bittyboy101]

Just as the title says...

Apparently a few disturbing/concerning changes to eBay coming in January & February 2025... 

1) eBay Managed Shipping.

2) Payment Holds until delivery of a sold item has been confirmed.

So I'm a bit confused about number 1 - eBay's managed shipping... Not sure how this is going to work ? and whether it will be something like Packlink (only made compulsory instead of optional) ... or will it be like an "eBay Global Shipping program" type of setup where we send our sold items to eBay's 3rd party distributor and they then forward the item to the buyer by their default postal service ??... something tells me this could be Evri  (Hermes ! )  - Not happy or comfortable with this !  knowing Evri aren't always great !  😞

Moving on to number 2 - payment holds/delays until a sold items has been confirmed delivered (or 14 days have passed since buyer purchased the item and the buyer hasn't opened any cases during that time)... This can now be time consuming to get paid... Like eBay's new managed payments wasn't already slow enough !... now it's getting even slower !... not ideal if you've  got little money in the bank that week and have to 'find money upfront' to pay for posting sold items (this can get pretty expensive if 2 or 3 heavy items which cost £20 to post sell on eBay at the same time to different buyers)... Oh wait a moment... Conveniently eBay now does managed shipping and  they'll let you have an advance on your buyer's payment to cover shipping costs PROVIDING YOU BUY IT AT AN INFLATED RATE FROM EBAY ONLY !... How nice !  😞 

Now the debate of whether I should stay ? or go ?

I have always loved buying and selling on eBay for many years... Would it be worth carrying on with these new changes which are very worrying... or would it be better to do what the old saying says and QUIT WHILST YOU'RE AHEAD ???

All comments welcome - The good, the bad and the ugly - Let's know what you all think !

would a small private seller be skinned alive by the new 2025 eBay ? I wonder ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[valueaddedresource]

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@podlingsmum2007 wrote:

My postage is free. Included in the price. Do you anticipate that changing so that free postage is not offered by private sellers?

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@podlingsmum2007  - at this point I think it's a safe bet that mandatory Simple Delivery will just be the same as the current Simple Delivery program, only the ability to opt out will be removed for private sellers.

Using the current Simple Delivery policies as a guide then, it's very likely once sellers are required to use this program, they will no longer have the option to set free postage - eBay will control which shipping methods are available on the listing and the cost for each of those methods shown to the buyer at checkout, with whatever shipping cost the buyer pays going to eBay and eBay then providing a pre-paid label to the seller.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery

The FAQ does say eBay may occasionally decide to offer free delivery to buyers on a promotional basis, but that will be entirely up to them and outside the seller's control.

[podlingsmum2007]

EBay will not know the weights of each item or if they are suitable to pack inside the same parcel. Will ebay take full responsibility for items going missing, being delivered to the wrong address, or not being scanned as delivered when it is them supplying the label and being paid for it?

[bittyboy101]

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@department28 wrote:

'I looked at all my other listings at the time and saw they were all offering international shipping WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE AND AGAINST MY WISH - I then managed to  turn it off again in my eBay preferences but I asked myself WHY DID EBAY SUDDENLY TURN THIS OPTION ON ? ...WITHOUT INFORMING ME ?? '

Did you happen to change some listings from auction to buy it now, or vice versa? I think that can sometimes tick a box that you had previously un-ticked. I know I've switched some listings, and then realised the 'allow offers' option has reactivated itself... you have to have eyes in the back of your head these days, as eBay is always interfering with something... 😠

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Never.

Since 2016 when I had a few non payers bidding on my auctions and not paying, I have been listing everything by Buy-It-Now format only  and with the "Immediate Payment Required" box ticked as an insurance policy ! which worked 100% well to prevent non payers...

It seems that eBay can change anything on their site within the blink of an eye ! so keep your eyes peeled ! 🙄

[moldosgifts]

EBay will not know the weights of each item 

They (ebay) will rely on the sellers putting in the packed weight on your listing in the package size and weight part of the listing.

Otherwise as you say they don't know or they will have a deal with the carriers to post any size and weight for a fixed cost.

[lucy_farmer]

Brilliant and understandable explanation! Thank you.

That sorted out in my head the fuzzy idea of why they wanted to get private sellers buying- with the aid of a 'coupon code' -and *not* non-selling buyers.

So private sellers are supposed to be more 'valuable'  -i.e. spend more. Which makes things look better on ebay's own 'books'.

So it's naff all to do with the 'customers' of ebay (all us buyers and sellers) and everything to do with the shareholders of ebay.

There's a word that I'm pretty sure will get modded if I use it completely, so I'll have to bleep it...... it's  'ens****ification'.

If describes the progress of businesses, going from trying to provide a service to customers and make a profit. To lessening and lessening the service (whilst still keeping the profit) so the business gets more and more profit (i.e. by cutting staff and relying on computers....). To even lessening the profit actually and visibly made by the business, as long as the Share Price keep increasing.

Book of that name written by a very clever bloke whose name I have forgotten!

[bittyboy101]

You're very welcome !  - Enjoy this cool 90's song !  😁 😎 😎

[bittyboy101]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

EBay will not know the weights of each item 

They (ebay) will rely on the sellers putting in the packed weight on your listing in the package size and weight part of the listing.

Otherwise as you say they don't know or they will have a deal with the carriers to post any size and weight for a fixed cost.

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Oh god !

Does that mean we'll have another chore to do before we can sell anything like Item Specifics ??

I just loathe eBay's Item Specifics ! 😞  😞  😞

[moldosgifts]

It's been there for years just most private don't use it.

I Use it because it send that weight to my royal mail account.

Please don't get me started on item specifics maybe for another thread!

[lucy_farmer]

'....They will no longer have the option to set free postage....'

Wonder how this is going to work with good-'til-cancelled listings that are already on with 'free postage'?

Like mine😎

It'll be interesting to see what happens...😁

After that I'm probably going to be calling it quits on the selling front...... I don't have ( or want to get) a smart-phone, so all that drop box biz is not going to happen. And I don't have (or want to buy a printer) for the labels that would be sent to me either..

[department28]

Well, that will certainly add time to listing an item. Items will have to be more or less packed beforehand, so that the correct weight can be entered. For some items, packing ahead isn't too much trouble, & can save time, but this isn't always the case.  Maybe this system will be 'simple' for buyers, but I'm pretty sure it won't be for sellers...!

[bittyboy101]

Not sure but I think I have worked out what eBay are doing with this "managed shipping" (simple delivery)

Seller lists an item, during the listing process they will be given options of several delivery services that eBay makes available to them in a drop down list where a seller can make a selection of what delivery services they wish to offer to their buyers. Once selected it is implemented on their listing which will probably show postage options giving a price range from low to high...

When your buyer buys the item, they then select what desired postage service they want you (the seller) to post their item by and then make payment via eBay's managed payments as normal.

Seller then receives the paid order invoice (with the details of shipping/delivery service stated what the buyer  has paid for) and what you (the seller) have to use in order to comply with eBay's managed shipping rules.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out...      

[valueaddedresource]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

Brilliant and understandable explanation! Thank you.

That sorted out in my head the fuzzy idea of why they wanted to get private sellers buying- with the aid of a 'coupon code' -and *not* non-selling buyers.

So private sellers are supposed to be more 'valuable'  -i.e. spend more. Which makes things look better on ebay's own 'books'.

So it's naff all to do with the 'customers' of ebay (all us buyers and sellers) and everything to do with the shareholders of ebay.

There's a word that I'm pretty sure will get modded if I use it completely, so I'll have to bleep it...... it's  'ens****ification'.

If describes the progress of businesses, going from trying to provide a service to customers and make a profit. To lessening and lessening the service (whilst still keeping the profit) so the business gets more and more profit (i.e. by cutting staff and relying on computers....). To even lessening the profit actually and visibly made by the business, as long as the Share Price keep increasing.

Book of that name written by a very clever bloke whose name I have forgotten!

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@lucy_farmer  that clever bloke would be Cory Doctorow and yeah he really nailed it with that term. I believe he also coined the term "Too Big To Care" and that one fits pretty well here too. 😉

[lucy_farmer]

'....Cory Doctorow....'

Yes!! thank you.

It's a brilliant term that has more or less described the progress of the internet ; gone from being a wonderfull resource of knowledge, to sucking every drop of data and money possible out of the people using it.....

(bit like supermarket 'loyalty cards' : gone from giving customers  'wins' for having one, to simply penalising those who don't!)

[valueaddedresource]

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@podlingsmum2007 wrote:

EBay will not know the weights of each item or if they are suitable to pack inside the same parcel. Will ebay take full responsibility for items going missing, being delivered to the wrong address, or not being scanned as delivered when it is them supplying the label and being paid for it?

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@podlingsmum2007  under the current terms for Simple Delivery, eBay estimates the size/weight based on item details in the listing process. If they are unable to estimate it or if you believe their estimate is not correct, you can enter your own weight and dimensions details instead.

If the carrier reports that information was not accurate, the seller will not pay the extra if they used eBay's estimate but will pay the additional amount if they entered their own weight and dimensions that are then determined to be "wrong."

That of course incentivizes sellers to just go with whatever eBay estimates to avoid the possibility of being charged for any overage.

While eBay has not provided a lot of detail about what they plan to do with mandating Simple Delivery, I believe it is very likely they will at least start with keeping things basically as they currently are with the program and simply removing the ability for private sellers to opt out.

Given that likelihood, I would strongly recommend for all private sellers to read the full FAQ and policy pages to find out how it works to prepare for when it becomes mandatory.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery 

[vintique*violet]

Not using it - I pack my items sold in the way that I see fit and only use Royal Mail direct at the Post Office where they are weighed and measured so the correct service used is paid for.  17yrs, all delivered safely, 100% feedback....  

There is no way I am giving that control over to eBay however they dress it up to mess with my account and selling services for MY customers. 

Profit before people - well,  the people have a choice- comply to feed the shareholders prime salmon or fish elsewhere 😉 

[bittyboy101]

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@vintique*violet wrote:

Not using it - I pack my items sold in the way that I see fit and only use Royal Mail direct at the Post Office where they are weighed and measured so the correct service used is paid for.  17yrs, all delivered safely, 100% feedback....  

There is no way I am giving that control over to eBay however they dress it up to mess with my account and selling services for MY customers. 

Profit before people - well,  the people have a choice- comply to feed the shareholders prime salmon or fish elsewhere 😉 

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Totally agree with you 1 million percent ! 😁

[vintique*violet]

Fabulous insight and I believe you are correct ... thank you so much for all the information. 

Sits back as the penny drops 😉 "sigh*

This seller stopped buying at the beginning of December and sourced elsewhere...

As for selling, there is no way I can manage " simple delivery". it just will not work for me on any level... nor am I prepared to have the hold placed on MY  funds until after delivery...to appease eBays A.I , Automated system. I wonder how many peoples  jobs will be lost? Do they know that this is all to replace them in the long term?

Happy New Year to you @valueaddedresource  you are true to your name 😉  

[ett1954]

@valueaddedresource   Thanks for your 'layman's' explanation of the objective of this new feature; I hadn't looked at it from this viewpoint but it makes complete sense.  Hoodwink Wall Street and the investors for another quarter; or maybe a year if they are lucky.  However this time next year if eBay can't sustain their incentivisation of this programme they may see a dramatic drop-off in their 'enthusiastic buyers' in the following quarters.  No doubt the eBay board will be aware of this but will be grateful of the breathing space which gives them the time to come up with the next 'Grand Plan'.

It demonstrates eBay's business plan succinctly - short term measures to satisfy investors from one quarter to the next rather than commitment in a long-term plan to drive sustainable growth in buyers through which to increase GMV.  No wonder business seller confidence in the UK is at an all time low; they are totally reliant on existing buyers and private sellers to 're-invest' their sales income into the platform.  Is this what is meant by a circular economy? 🤔

[podlingsmum2007]

Sometimes I find buyer address is slightly incorrect. Wrong postal town when I check it on the Royal mail site, part of it missing, or a mis spelling. I correct this so the item gets there. Will ebay correct these errors in addresses before issue of a label I wonder.

[lucy_farmer]

'......I hadn't looked at it from this viewpoint but it makes complete sense. ....'

Yep, if private sellers are seen as 'more valuable customers', it's not just making it *free* for private sellers to sell, but also giving them a discount when buying. (providing they buy from their balance)

Nearly-but-not-quite 'paying private sellers to sell' in order to make ebay's balance sheet look good for the shareholders...!

If I was a business seller I'd be well peeved.