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 ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[janey72..honestly]

I'M QUITTING, THERE'S A REASON THEY KEEP MESSING WITH PRIVATE SELLERS POLICY'S. 

SALES ARE WAY DOWN,AND EBAY JUST WANT CONTROL, BUT LIKE YOU TO THINK THERE MAKING IT EASIER FOR US, THERE FIZZLING US OUT I RECKON. 

ANOTHER GIMMICK.. STICK UP !!

[pebebenursery]

It won't work for me i sell custom made dolls that take upto 6 weeks to make but only buy all the stock once paid , i can't afford to make them unless paid for . So being paid after wouldn't work . Shame i have been selling on Ebay for 18 years . Too many changes for me . I will have to stop custom made dolls. End of an era . Also the shipping doesn't work for me i don't trust ebay global ship i only use fedex or UPS . Goodbye Ebay . 

[kempseykate]

And this is the reason that people selling off their own stuff get so much dislike from business sellers. Unfortunately we are all tarred with the same brush.

If you are making/buying/growing to sell, register as a business, and stop moaning about losing privileges you never were entitled to.

[buffster1963]

There are so many of these that i think people really do not realise they should be trading on a business account. They see a way of making a bit of money and jump in without reading up on anything. Even when it is pointed out to them, they still do not see how they could possibly be a business. 

[bojangled]

@buffster1963 sadly I think eBay have a lot to answer for on this subject.
I’ve seen some private sellers assume because they have a shop they are correctly registered.

As are the sole traders that may well be registered with HMRC but with no idea what the legalities are of running a business on eBay DSR etc. 

Jo

[janey72..honestly]

Well I'm done and they'll be lots more that follow.

 

[356antiques]

I agree, I’m already now looking at alternatives. Been with eBay since 2006, enough is enough. I’m happy to pay for the service, but to wait for my payments is just a joke. Also expecting buyers to pay for the privilege of increasing ebay profits?? I can only see this going one way I’m afraid 

[bnuksales]

i think ebay proposed changes are a smokescreen to drive out private sellers and / or change them to business sellers.

The punitive "buyer protection" fees, essentially, when taken with the reduction from 1000 to 300 free listings, are all about driving the smaller sellers out.

i sell 35mm photographic slides at £1 - £1.75 each, a 75p surcharge plus 4% will seriously damage sales, its hard enough to get bids let alone with the price near doubling for the £1 items. 

I would rather go back to 1,000 free listings and pay the 10% fee they charged. As anything now under £5 will be hampered by their new fee structure. 

Then the strangled hold on delivery, Simple Delivery will be mandated in 2025, thus forcing us to use their rates, which will soon rise once they are the only choice. I shop around to get the best rates on larger items i sell, but no more after this change.

i have been selling and buying on ebay for 20 + years under my other seller name and the last 5 years have seen ebay make some ludicrous changes all to the detriment of what was their core seller base.

[clachaben]

I ship quite a lot of glass. Are you now saying that ebay gives the option of who to use to ship this? 

OMG because i have to choose really carefully which courier i use because glass cannot be covered under insurance

Im not happy about this. Buyers will always choose cheapest 

Im not happy with this interference 

[lucy_farmer]

'I would rather go back to 1,000 free listings and pay the 10% fee they charged. As anything now under £5 will be hampered by their new fee structure. '

If I was in your shoes I would possibly change to a business account.

You would pay fees and not have to use the new fee-structure *or* 'simple' delivery- which will be anything but....

[vintique*violet]

Are you registered as a business? 

[vintique*violet]

I am truly sorry ,ebay will lose a great deal genuine good people 😔- I will be following you, and have decided to wait to see how this all plays out and so I can stay reading /participating on this community board.. unless anyone knows how this is possible if your account is closed? 

[vintique*violet]

To be fair, over ten, possibly fifteen years ago I enquired about "business" and was told you did not need to register as a business on eBay if you were registered with HMRC.  

Times have changed, I suppose and there still could be those who had the same response and are unawares...and then there are those who know but ignore...

[dch2112011]

ebay have for a few years now been encouraging business sellers to increase their order values - you are quite right  low value items will become devoid of much of ebay's protection as the move to tracked and quick next day delivery  becomes the expectation. 

This really is part of the evolution of selling online not just on ebay but everywhere - online selling to continue to grow has to offer a service as near to or better than high street shopping as it can.

People will pay shipping costs if they get it tomorrow but on low value non essential items the cost has to be proportionate.

For genuine sellers of unwanted items - you have to think that the item has no cost to the seller - it is an unused unwanted item collecting dust  - so whatever it sells for and ends in the sellers pocket be it 1p or £1 it is 100% profit to the seller.

For those who buy from charity shops, car boots etc who sell under a private account - they have costs to cover which puts pressure on them to recover costs and make profits - so of course they will complain about anything that makes their business more exposed and difficult.

Private sellers who want more money for their £1 discarded items - take them to a car boot pay the up front entry fee and see how much they walk away with - each has it's own problems

[vintique*violet]

I wonder what... " in limited cases we may need you to provide additional information or take certain actions to close your account"  ...these will be?.... 

[dch2112011]

Any open returns, sales made within 30 days, money on hold, identity doubts, death certificate, third party identification - executors, power of attorney - all these may warrant additional information or delaysin closing an account - without checking these seem likely

[moldosgifts]

Switch to a business account you don't have to wait then.

Lets face it what you are doing is classed as a business activity according HMRC and Ebay and any other platform you are on.

Ie Making things to sell

[dch2112011]

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@redconnboy wrote:

Anyone have any ideas on how managed shipping will work for private sellers like myself who have always offered free delivery with their items? no one seems to have mentioned this yet in their replies?

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This is guesswork but if the option for free delivery still exists when listing with simple delivery when it becomes compulsory, I imagine that it would override the simple delivery option for the type of service included for free BUT  the buyer will be able to choose the premium delivery options  such as next day guaranteed delivery  as an additional cost - pretty much the same as it is now

[tigger462]

Evri tracking (vis ebay purchased postage) isn't working/updating again.

So when getting paid relies on this working.... it doesn't bode well!!

[sml192]

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@dch2112011 wrote:

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@redconnboy wrote:

Anyone have any ideas on how managed shipping will work for private sellers like myself who have always offered free delivery with their items? no one seems to have mentioned this yet in their replies?

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This is guesswork but if the option for free delivery still exists when listing with simple delivery when it becomes compulsory, I imagine that it would override the simple delivery option for the type of service included for free BUT  the buyer will be able to choose the premium delivery options  such as next day guaranteed delivery  as an additional cost - pretty much the same as it is now

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Ebay would have to charge the seller for the label then though, instead of the buyer, so they probably won't want that complication.