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 ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[buffster1963]

I never touch the funds for a few weeks anyway in case of having to refund so waiting for payment would not matter. But i want to be able to choose my own postage and post where i want. I also do not want to use Evri at all. 

[lardzeppo]

Ha ! EBay look at the ethical picture !! Is that a joke ? The ONLY thing they are interested in is money. It’s the American way .
Sent from my iPad

[imcjay]

Personally I think eBay are shooting themselves in the foot, I came back to eBay as a seller when they took away the fees for low volume private sellers but it was only a matter of time until they claim that money elsewhere in the process.

The new process doesn't work for me, I sell smaller amounts of low cost items ie £5 to £10 which with P&P is often a slow sell & I often have to draw in people with offers/discounts. Adding 4% + 75p is going to kill these sales in their tracks & I'll probably go back to vinted & marketplace as before - I thought the idea was for eBay to target sales on these other platforms?

The change to payment on delivery doesn't sit well either,  many items I've sent using the "preferred" couriers have never made it to the buyer, Evri have lost many - even at the parcel shop & haven't paid out on insurance leaving me to cover the loss, Yodel are similar. How are we to trust the system if 3rd parties are ineffective? I expect some of these suppliers will be forced on the sellers checkout.

Its also open to abuse, ie courier says its delivered buy buyer disputes this, ie most drop on the doorstep & run so a grey area for 'missing' items. eBay will always side with the buyer. 

It also means that eBay will sit on £££'s of funds for this period gaining interest.

No other online purchase works this way, when you buy something, you pay the seller.

It also affects me as a buyer, I probably buy more than I sell at similar price points but will now look to other platforms & probably direct such as Amazon, Aliexpress, Temu etc 

I hope they retract this idea, I'll sell what I can before Feb & think again.

[incredible_how]

The 75p per item is a bit of a killer of cheaper/smaller items, I'm viewing that both as a seller and a buyer. 

If buy it now, would be better to make customised listings if a potential buyer is interested in several items and contacts you before purchase

[department28]

@beacon_77 wrote:-

'The only thing I'm disillusioned and fed up with, is people like you, who don't bother to read what Ebay have said, but moan about what you, or some other gossip, think they might have said:

Feel free to leave if you want.... Ebay could do with a decluttering of sellers who don't know what they're talking about, because they haven't bothered to read up on the subject!'

Like many others, I do not like some of the things eBay are proposing, or have already changed, and have as much right as the next person to express dissatisfaction. This thread invited all comments. If any of the current changes turn out to be intolerable, of course I can choose to go - without requiring your less than polite encouragement.

Be respectful. 

Courteous and respectful postings are expected from all participants. 

📑 Community Guidelines - UK eBay Community

[imcjay]

Giving the buyer choice of courier for me would be a nightmare, yes there are Yodel/Evri points within 4 miles but they assume its convenient for me to drop off - I will only use RM tracked services & the others I have so little faith in both as a seller & buyer.   They're also assuming I work near my home address which I don't.... I want to provide a level of service not the cheapest service to the buyer with no comeback due to missing/late parcels etc.

[sml192]

---

@imcjay wrote:

The change to payment on delivery doesn't sit well either,  many items I've sent using the "preferred" couriers have never made it to the buyer, Evri have lost many - even at the parcel shop & haven't paid out on insurance leaving me to cover the loss, Yodel are similar. How are we to trust the system if 3rd parties are ineffective? I expect some of these suppliers will be forced on the sellers checkout.

Its also open to abuse, ie courier says its delivered buy buyer disputes this, ie most drop on the doorstep & run so a grey area for 'missing' items. eBay will always side with the buyer. 

---

With eBay's new 'Simple Delivery' service sellers are fully protected against loss or damage in transit and late delivery once the item is scanned into the system by the carrier.

With regards to receiving payment, if there is no delivery confirmation then payment will be automatically released 14 days after date of order. 

[incredible_how]

I thought I was remembering right - yes the advice did used to be to wait until the payment was cleared!
My mother opened an account and because a new seller has been experiencing the waiting until item delivered and then some before the money is available.

I thought from what I had read that the simple delivery was already being used for clothing but I've not experienced it. 
And I use Royal Mail collection or evri collection for lightweight large items (i.e up to 1kg). That way many buyers get their items posted the next day. If I have to arrange a lift somewhere (it's a long way for Evri) to drop off, I'd select perhaps 2 days a week to go to the post office. My dispatch time would not be as fast.

[dawns9326]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[vintique*violet]

With eBay's new 'Simple Delivery' service sellers are fully protected against loss or damage in transit and late delivery once the item is scanned into the system by the carrier.

Only for eligible items and only in transit not when they are delivered... if an issue arises on delivery then it is the sellers responsibility. 

[dawns9326]

Exactly, eBay clearly have no idea or give a s**t

[irt303]

I'm probably being dense here, but I can't get my head around the 14-day hold on funds for untracked items (and for which the buyer has not left feedback or confirmed receipt). More specifically, I can't get my head around the reason eBay gives for the hold.

All sellers have to give eBay their bank details, not only to facilitate the transfer of funds from their eBay balance to their bank account (should the seller choose not to leave it in their eBay balance), but also so that eBay can recoup money from the seller in cases where an INAD/INR claim goes in the buyer's favour, and the seller does not have sufficient funds in their eBay balance.

(To be clear, I'm talking about private sellers here, I'm well aware that the hold doesn't apply to business sellers.)

So, eBay already has the means to take money back from the seller in such cases - there is no need to make the seller wait on a 'just in case' basis.

That's my understanding, but I acknowledge that I may be missing something. If I'm not, then eBay's stated reason is highly disingenuous - if not downright untruthful - and the 'gaining interest on held funds' reason looks to be the real reason for this policy.

[hippychick1960]

I have now decided to give up and taken the last few of my listings off this site after at least a couple of years of almost zero sales. I feel sad that it has come to this after being on ebay since 2007 as both a business and private seller. I reckon Ebay are shooting themselves in the foot with all the messing around they have done and are continuing to do both to sellers and buyers.

[vintique*violet]

I feel similar to you... in fact eBay used to encourage sellers to fully list the description and any terms or conditions the seller had... we had the option to inform potential buyers of our posting schedule etc, basically to manage our own account. I think eBay are moving any choice of how to post , whereby we can only use the system by purchasing postage labels from them,  so  to post using a different service of our choice I am unsure and hope it is still available. I have always supported and used RM and our local Post Office, for many reasons and If the imposed Simple Delivery removes this option, I will simply stop using the platform. 

[dawns9326]

Me too

[myoldpaperclutter]

I wonder if ebay are monitoring this thread for negative reactions? I’m sure they are, but will it make any difference. Doubtful as they are driven my money. I’d sooner pay the 4% as a sellers fee instead of all these new changes.  But the thing that will end ebay for me, is if the mandate their so called simple delivery.  I.E. no opt out. I live in a rural area and totally rely on RM Collection. If it can’t be collected then that me off, and I’ve been on eBay since 2003.

Keep the negative reactions coming and let’s break the 1000 messages for this thread.

[mbaracaya]

I am livid. I like to choose the postage, sometimes I upgrade it upon request. Today the system took payment without giving me any choice whatsoever. I have sold on eBay for 3 decades. I was a poor single parent and making a quick sale helped me make ends meet and bridge a crisis. Having to wait for funds for 7 days (I mean why 2 days AFTER delivery? Isn’t waiting for delivery bad enough? There will be no point in buying something to resell quickly and make a fast turnover. After Feb our 3 decade relationship will change to the occasional I-don’t-care-when-it-sells odd thing that I can’t sell at a stall or specialist collector’s private group etc. 

[dawns9326]

My sentiments exactly I do find RM reliable on the whole & not able to
travel round to find which other couriers drop off points are open, working
etc

[millcottage]

I think what sellers should do is that if the postage option that  eBay informs has been selected doesn’t fit the sellers needs then cancel the order and tell the buyer why.

Personally I have no plans to drive to Evri drop off points or whatever when Royal Mail collect from home 24 or 48 hours tracked  works just fine for me. I don’t want the pressure of selling and then the anxiety of if I’m well enough to drive somewhere to drop off parcel or organising someone else to do it for me …maybe …

[dawns9326]

Yes m spit on, many health issues prevent the jumping through hoops eBay
trying to get us all to do