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 ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[essexicingcentre]

I only sell very low-cost items so the 4% + 75p  makes it not worth me selling my ribbons also I send 2nd class

and get proof of posting so I will have to hope the buyer lets eBay know they have received their

goods 

don't think I will be staying eBay 

[anne.craig]

Just in case anyone is unaware, here is a link to items Evri will not compensate against for shipping:

https://www.evri.com/send/what-i-can-and-cannot-send

I have no idea if eBay will insist on you using them even though there is no insurance, presumably if they do then eBay will be responsible for said compensation if lost/stolen/undelivered.  Otherwise, most items on the site can only go Royal Mail regardless!   

Minefield?  Or will we be held responsible for using an unsuitable carrier even though it would not be by our own choice?  

[incredible_how]

I do get perplexed when best match says there are some 15,000+ but when I change it to lowest price incl P&P it might then be 815 items... but that's another topic...

[lucy_farmer]

So basically, if you're sending a teddy bear, you'll probably be OK 😂

(I imagine ebay will have negotiaited a rather different set of rules with Evri, RM etc, than the rules *we* get to see. Evri will probably bend over backwards in order to get a contract as huge as the one they'll get from ebay!)

[davrman]

I understood that eBay will be compensating buyers for items that arrived damaged, or not not at all. The company will probably negotiate a very low rate with no compensation, as I can't see it bothering with thousands of claims from RM or Evri, can you?

[da-vids]

"if you're sending a teddy bear, you'll probably be OK "

My golfballs squash everyone else's parcels 😬

[da-vids]

"when best match says there are some 15,000+"

Maybe I'm thick but just can't get how a 'best match' can be identified from so many listings, that algorithm and how it works should be public domain. It used to be default 'ending soonest', that is still a filter option. Should have kept 'ending soonest' default and when they invented 'best match' made it a filter option.

[johnwash1]

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@da-vids wrote:

"when best match says there are some 15,000+"

Maybe I'm thick but just can't get how a 'best match' can be identified from so many listings, that algorithm and how it works should be public domain. It used to be default 'ending soonest', that is still a filter option. Should have kept 'ending soonest' default and when they invented 'best match' made it a filter option.

---

It IS an option.  My option is defaulted to 'lowest price+p&p', I only ever see 'best match' when I look at completed items (and then change it immediately).

When designing a computer screen there are constraints on how much room there is to display the appropriate text.  'Best match' is shorthand for "We're showing you the things we think will generate the most profit for ebay because we've found there are enough stupid buyers around that displaying something that doesn't match the search terms leads to some saying ooooh shiny and pressing 'buy'".  You don't seriously suppose that ebay are trying to do the very best they can for buyers and sellers?

[papso22]

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@essexicingcentre wrote:

I only sell very low-cost items so the 4% + 75p  makes it not worth me selling my ribbons also I send 2nd class

and get proof of posting so I will have to hope the buyer lets eBay know they have received their

goods 

don't think I will be staying eBay 

---

Business accounts, I.e those for members who buy to sell, are not subject to these changes.

[millcottage]

I have been selling since 2003 and an eBay member since 2000.

during this time I have only ever cancelled a buyer twice.

1st time was in 2011 and a vase I was selling got damaged during packing.

2nd time was a few weeks ago where a buyer purchased a £15 figurine with free postage and buyer within 15 minutes asked if I could cancel the sale, so I did.

When the option of not be able to have items collected by Royal Mail (they bring a label) that I have used over 300 times now over last 2 years is no longer an option , then due to health reasons I will have to quit eBay.

I can’t see eBay barring people with disabilities (I’m not disabled however, but chemotherapy side effects can make me housebound some weeks) personally. If eBay did go down that route and I’m sure they will not ,then the media bad publicity for such discrimination would be horrendous for them.

Martin Lewis could do a section on his show about the changes with someone from eBay to answer questions maybe?

Ebay as a company need to clarify these changes now and stop the speculation.

[da-vids]

🤣🤣

Best match for eBay and lazy people.

I filter 'Nearest first'

Not sure most even notice how many filters there are, in mobile or web browser.

[tribalgiftsuk]

Are you really a private seller with 7100 listings? I think you need to consider being a business seller with that number of items. Going forward it will make more sense for you, after 20 years  😁

[papso22]

It would make sense for a lot of posters as these changes do not apply to business accounts, which are the ones for selling items bought for that purpose.

[vintique*violet]

@millcottage I am in a similar situation to you... and without sharing personal details  I am sure there are 1000's of private sellers who have disabilities, health challenges etc who are finding the latest " proposals" overwhelming and confusing... If the normal way which I sell and post items ( RM only with the Post office)  for the past nearly 17yrs is taken away not only will eBay have restricted my funds, but myself by removing the choices to conduct my account providing an " above standard" service for customers, in a way that is befitting to me. They will have actually discriminated and damaged my wellbeing and "way of life!" 

But I don't think they actually care! 

I wish you well and all the best for 2025. 

[incredible_how]

Because my Ma was a new seller from late October 24 everything needed to be sent tracked, because no payment until something like 3 days after delivery, a couple of Evri, rest Royal Mail, it went ok. Some of the smaller items that would have been letter size went large letter tracked made them a bit more expensive. eBay's 75p would make them very expensive

[parsley2003]

I see your point i have been selling for 20 years and have realised that it's very hard for new sellers it's shocking that you have to use large letter instead of letter post (even 1st letter signed is £2.55) and people won't want to pay for expensive tracking on low value items. I'm worrying about someone buying multiple items listed singly by me and have decided that i would have to take them off sale and post a new listing with them all on so that there would only be 1 75p instead of multiples added. This is going to be very time consuming. 

[tribalgiftsuk]

Yes theres clearly an Elephant in the room now and some will do all they can to avoid looking at it 🤣 They prefer the buyer to pay for their below board trading.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

I sell on car boots and e bay and basically not much gets sold on the car boot for more than a £1!   I only buy stuff from car boots or charity shops for my personal use because i am too tight to go into real shops and pay £20/30 for a blouse from M & S.   In my 70s now and i do not require a whole host of clothing.   I have enough stuff from my family to sell that i have no need to look for anymore.   

[kath3735_wxmjn]

So if the seller never sees any of the money in their bank account how does that work with HMRC as e bay say that it will be included in your e bay earnings.  Surely that money cannot be part of our earnings if we are not setting the price for it and it never appears in our bank accounts??  Probably just being thick as we are all in simple delivery/buyer fees/waiting for your money overload at the moment.

[incredible_how]

bundles might be the only way with small things, but have to make it clear to buyers.