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 ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[kempseykate]

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@irt303 wrote:

Thanks to you and the others who answered my question.

No, my preferences are set to receive all notifications.

I'm not going to go over it all here, but I discussed this with a Community Manager some months back, as I haven't received these crucial seller notifications for a long time - this is just the latest example. You probably won't be surprised if I tell you that the Community Manager in question never tried to get a solution for me, they just left the whole issue hanging.

This only increases my ire, so, if I have time, I'm going to bring this up on the Weekly Chat. I'm really not a happy bunny!

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I have the same issue. I have 2 accounts, with the same settings. One usually gets the messages and emails, the other doesn't. And last time we had a big announcement, I didn't get a message on either account. I only knew about it through the boards. 

I brought it up at the weekly chat and was told, it would have been sent (i.e. my fault for not receiving it!), he would 'pass it on to the team', and strangest of all, it wouldn't be possible for it to be re-sent - not even the offer of a C&P.

[kempseykate]

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@irt303 wrote:

Great summary, and I wish I could be as concise as you are!

Re: point 3 - At least one other poster has alluded to the potentially discriminatory aspects of Simple Delivery, since it precludes (or appears to preclude) home collection, and also presumes that all sellers are able-bodied and do not suffer from agoraphobia or social anxiety.

eBay's defence could be that nobody is compelled to use the platform; if someone disagrees with the T&Cs, they are free to not sign up and list.

To me, that would sound a bit like, say, a museum justifying its refusal to install wheelchair access by saying that nobody is compelled to visit it.

The analogy only goes so far, I suppose - an online marketplace is a very different thing from a museum - but, still, I think that the potential legal ramifications could be far-reaching, and I hope that this angle is explored more fully by disability organisations and advocates.

'List it. Sell it. Get paid. But only if you're able-bodied' is not great publicity, especially in an age where organisations are only too keen to promote their inclusivity credentials.

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I use 'other courier' as my postage setting, so that I can decide which is the best option for me when it comes to sending.
I don't drive and am not very mobile, so I have to rely on OH to drive to the delivery office for RM, or walk down to the shop for Evri.

On Saturday morning I sold an item that could go by either, but OH was unwell and in bed for the day, so I messaged the buyer to say it would be sent today (I have a 5 day despatch time to cover such eventualities).

This morning OH is still not well and there is some snow. Bless him, he's going to take it for me.

It would have been a very different matter if I was using Simple Delivery and the buyer had selected RM express. This is why SD just won't work for me. I need to choose the despatch time (I think you only get 3 days for SD) and the courier.

[ringses]

As a 20 year eBay veteran these changes seem so stupid. Why take away the seller fee just to implement a buyer fee?!?!? It’s just going to mean sellers have to put the price down to make up for the cost so sellers are paying it anyway smh

Also this new only get paid when it arrives is great if you’re only selling big items, I sell Lego figures that are small and cheap, I can send via second class post and make money but if I have to send them tracked I’ll be making little to nothing so it might stop me selling them. 
I don’t think eBay have actually involved their users in these changes as they seem to be worse for buyers and sellers, why not leave it how it was as it was working fine? 
Also (sorry for going on lol) if we HAVE to use the eBay postage service they need to sort it out, as soon as you buy postage it claims the items despatched which is nuts as you can buy postage Saturday but not be able to despatch till Monday so it’s going to be late and the buyers going to get annoyed and also when they give you your label it needs to be available in a label printer format like Royal Mail do on their site. 

[incredible_how]

I'm rural too - if I can't do royal mail collection or evri collection for a few specific size & weight items,I'll probably stop selling.  I think there is now a dpd drop off for dpd at my local shop/post office, but evri is about 8 miles away (despite the people who run our local Evri being our next but one neighbours...this is rural neighbours). My dispatch time would be longer, I don't drive and we don't go out every day, I would pick 2 days a week on which things would be posted if I couldn't do collection - or was forced to do dpd.

If I stop selling I will be MUCH less likely to buy. 

[incredible_how]

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@*maetrix* wrote:

"1. Royal Mail - tracking says tracking will become available when they try and deliver it - item was bought on Xmas day and still no sign of it."

3. Royal Mail - t shirt,was delivered 4 weeks ago - tracking still says undelivered.

Are these proper tracked 24 or 48 postage (two letters at front and GB at the end)? When buying standard not tracked postage it comes with a delivery tracking number. Sometimes that does not register with eBay as having been delivered, that's my experience as a seller.

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[sharky96]

I stopped using eBay for a while when they got rid of PayPal. I have started to use eBay again but if they are going to force a certain type of delivery method then that could be me done. EBay will see me as being in Preston which is a city but I actually live in a small village 15 miles away with only Royal Mail to rely on.
the question I want to know is if what if the buyer does not mark the received item as “delivered”? That will stop payment won’t it? 

[incredible_how]

Thank you for that information.

As Simple Delivery was supposed to have been introduced in May last year for clothing I am surprised that neither my mother or I have not encountered it. 
I can't drop off Evri its more than 7 miles away, I use collection for Royal Mail, unless we have a planned trip to the village. 

[buffster1963]

Everything will rely on tracking. The buyer does not have to mark anything. 

[incredible_how]

I had an eBay message and in my email inbox, on 3rd January, about new buyer protection, including the launch of simple delivery.

It takes you to this page pages.ebay.co.uk/buyerprotection

[incredible_how]

if I don't sell, I would rarely buy - I suspect there are others who fund their purchases with sales of unwanted items

[incredible_how]

the bit of simple delivery that I find absurd is:

"Save time and effort listing items with our easy sizing tool – no weighing or measuring your package, or choosing a delivery service necessary."

Though I don't know what their easy sizing tool is... some magic box you buy from eBay?

[dch2112011]

Apparently, a seller can add collection to RM labels after they have been issued by ebay (packlink at the moment) by visiting the RM website !  No mention of being able to do this with Evri.

[incredible_how]

I've sold clothing over the last year, as has my mother, but no sign of "simple delivery"  (mine is an old account, she only started selling last year, always using tracking as eBay wouldn't make money available until I think 3 days after delivery confirmation). Most have been in vintage clothing but not all

[lucy_farmer]

'if I don't sell, I would rarely buy....'

Me neither , and I'm pretty sure a lot of people are the same. And what's more ebay Big Management know this.

(the poster 'valueaddedresource', has sifted through loads of business bullsh** to discover that ebay think some of their most valuable customers are private sellers *who also buy*. -try going back to post 79 on this thread)

Ebay's up and coming new rules seem to be aimed at making 'fake private' sellers register as business sellers (which is a good thing) by making private selling really awkward and hanging on to private sales money for ages (which prevents sellers 're-stocking' - well yeah, genuine private sellers shouldn't need to 'restock'...)

BUT it's making genuine private sellers very worried and confused, and in some cases *unable* to use the 'simple' delivery that we will all be forced into eventually.

A lot of these sellers will be leaving.

And these are the ones that ebay consider 'valuable' customers ?!  why on earth are they doing this?

[davrman]

"No mention of being able to do this with Evri."

You can't do this with Evri as there's an extra charge per package for collection.

[incredible_how]

ah - I'm wondering if I have not seen Simple Delivery in the clothing category because my post code is not included yet...

[dch2112011]

I don't think ebay will worry about the seller paying extra for collection - my guess is that the 'trial' run of simple shipping is not the finished article -  like all major changes ebay run it out then add change after change over the coming months - just think of managed payments and the constant changes over the first year.

Evri's system at the moment probably doesn't allow for collection to be added after a label has been issued - I guess ebay will be asking for the change to be made - it is a huge potential for evri but takes time ?

[davrman]

"I don't think ebay will worry about the seller paying extra for collection"

As far as I know you can't pay for Evri collections separately...

[dch2112011]

Yes I get that hence why ebay don't suggest you can do it but will Evri change their system to allow it to be added  - quite possibly if ebay exert enough pressure but when is another question 

Will ebay add other carriers from the integrated list as the other carriers make their systems compatable - quite possibly - the volume is potentially huge and I am sure carriers want part of it - will they lose the business or be part of it -  with Amazon delivery they use many different carriers including RM because of the volume 

Will ebay follow through with the labels are issued by ebay or stick with Packlink as in the trial - Is packlink now ebay ?

[chuckysmyhero]

I bought something last week where the seller had used simple delivery - it only gave me options for Evri which I detest  - no option for RM 

the item was marked as dispatched next day and put in Evri locker the same day - where it has remained for over a week - neither eBay nor Evri can tell me when they will pick it up - NY backlog apparently 

but this doesn’t bode well 

as for when they think they may deliver it well it was today but they have changed that to Saturday so we will see 

things like this will only add to both buyer and seller frustration going forward