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 ! 🤔 🙄 😁   

[vintique*violet]

Well, I " simply" cannot go running around dropping off parcels due to numerous factors, nor will I be at the mercy of a buyer using the cheapest option for a fragile item which requires far more than a bit of bubble ... 

If eBay want to discriminate this gal with an  above standard account, 100% feedback of 17years they can go ahead as I just cannot get on board with any of it - it goes against my own ethics. 

[herewego2016]

I,m not far from you , Galloway . its a 2 hour round trip to a PO or a drop off. I weigh ,stamp and if nessecary stick a recorded label on. Postie comes round 3 days a week, collects from me and away it goes. If buyers  rather than me, can choose how I dispatch my sales that’s the end of eBay for me, It’s a shame I enjoy selling but this is one step too far.

[johnwash1]

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@da-vids wrote:

Long story short if folk want to live in la la land too sort your packaging out and use tracking! Has anyone ever suspected their part in their failed post in the threads you mention with their ridiculously lacklustre packaging. Do they think postmen and women risk their job stealing parcels of which they don't even know the contents of the parcel.

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Depends what you mean by 'stealing'.  Some years back (well before Covid) I heard a tale from someone who had divorced her husband, a Hermes driver.  The stress had driven him to become an alcoholic.  Later she looked in her garage to discover it rammed with parcels, undelivered because he'd not been able to keep up with the demands.

[da-vids]

😆 shouldn't laugh 😁

[valueaddedresource]

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@da-vids wrote:

eBay 'Best match' post services, could be fun, they'll have you running around dropping off all over town, remember the simple delivery thingy is optional, so everyone opt out, reject their idea, see how eBay like them bananas. Leave simple delivery to simple people.

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@da-vids yes by all means opt out now while you can, but every private seller needs to understand that the CEO has explicitly said this will become mandatory for private sales of eligible items sometime in Q1 2025.

That statement was made as part of prepared remarks in a public earnings call speaking to eBay's investors and carries a lot of weight not just with investors but also with regulatory bodies like the US Securities and Exchange commission, thus they are are scripted and planned weeks if not months in advance and vetted by multiple high level stakeholders in legal, compliance, investor relations and communications at the company.

I provide all of that context by way of explaining that this is not conjecture or assumptions on the part of people saying it will be mandatory and those statements would not have been made in that way, at that time, to that audience with a specific timeframe of Q1 2025 unless this was already a well developed plan, already in motion to be executed in the timeframe they've laid out for investors.

Is it possible eBay could read the room after all of these posts and decide not to make it mandatory? Sure, anything's possible. But how many of us can give many recent examples of eBay backtracking on significant decisions like this, especially when they have already given explicit information with a timeline to investors?

Trust me, nobody at eBay wants to have to explain to Wall Street why they backed down on this, especially when they've very clearly and directly positioned Simple Delivery as a revenue generating initiative to assuage investor concerns about the fee situation.

I'm not saying the sky is falling, but I am saying when the weatherman tells you there's a 99.9% chance of rain, it's a good idea to grab your umbrella - which in this case would mean private sellers should absolutely take the time to read and understand the FAQs and T&Cs for Simple Delivery, even if they are currently opted out.

[pwyl4943]

Adding all my listing on now and come February may close the account or suspend perhaps they will change their mind. An additional 4% plus 75p on top of tracking cost may make it unviable 

Also not happy with recent customer support appears to be all about the buyers, which cant work if the sellers close the stalls. Looking at my options and alternatives after 15 years 

[valueaddedresource]

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@johnwash1 wrote:Wow!  Many thanks.  Since you're one of the consistently reliable sources of info on here, rather than all the conjecture from many that we're suffering, I'm particularly obliged to you.

In my defence, I didn't imagine it could possibly be like that.  No company would be that stupid, I thought... which goes to show... something... I guess.

OK, I'm not in a wheelchair, unlike some around here, but this week I've made a couple of low value sales, and I certainly wouldn't be inclined to get in my car and drive a mile or two to some drop off point, not to mention the hassle of finding parking.

Ebay is reinventing itself.  I'm glad I don't have shares in it.

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@johnwash1 you're welcome and no defence needed - eBay has a knack for doing things most people with sense and experience find quite baffling and we're all just trying to find a way to wrap our heads around this latest example. 😂

The accessibility issue is definitely one of the top things eBay needs to address before moving forward with making Simple Delivery mandatory.

I can state with a very high degree of confidence that eBay is well aware of that specific problem with the program, though whether or not they will address it is anyone's guess at this point.

[da-vids]

So without proper competition eBay can do what they like, they like their investors. Until the masses do vote with their feet this won't change. No one can do anything about anything because we agreed to an agreement which we have no choice but to agree to, strange it can be called an agreement when there is no choice but to agree. No one reads a single word of the agreement as there's no choice but to agree... agreed?! The agreement is actually dictat.

[valueaddedresource]

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@da-vids wrote:

So without proper competition eBay can do what they like, they like their investors. Until the masses do vote with their feet this won't change. No one can do anything about anything because we agreed to an agreement which we have no choice but to agree to, strange it can be called an agreement when there is no choice but to agree. No one reads a single word of the agreement as there's no choice but to agree... agreed?! The agreement is actually dictat.

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@da-vids true but I try not to be too defeatist about it and believe there are always things one can do in these situations to try to affect positive change.

eBay is a publicly traded company and there's nothing stopping sellers from buying stock and becoming investors. But more realistically, I would at the very least advise those who are concerned about or will be impacted by the accessibility issue to report it to whatever relevant regulatory or governing bodies might take an interest in such things.

And if you're inclined to be willing to speak publicly about your experiences, contacting journalists who have written about these changes and telling them you'd be happy to provide a quote for their next piece on the subject can be an effective way to advocate for change as well.

[johnwash1]

"And if you're inclined to be willing to speak publicly about your experiences, contacting journalists who have written about these changes and telling them you'd be happy to provide a quote for their next piece on the subject can be an effective way to advocate for change as well."

How do I give 100 kudos points for that?

As in Dad's Army (does that BBC TV get shown over the pond?) "They don't like it up 'em, Mr Mainwaring!".

[papso22]

There are quite a few things ebay does that would make a good news story (or should that be a bad news story?)

The issue would be that anyone who brings it to a journalist's attention needs to be sure they are squeaky clean and don't become a story themselves.

EBay’s total failure to deal effectively with illegally trading 'private' accounts springs to mind, with the devastating impact it has had on the livelihoods of properly registered businesses.  But of course it would be properly registered business sellers bringing that to the attention of the media.

[da-vids]

I'd assume there's something against speaking out in the 'agreement'. The agreement that absolutely not one single person on the planet has read a single word of but everyone has agreed to. So no one does anything about anything otherwise account will suddenly disappear if even think about doing anything, because, you guessed it, there will be something against it in the agreement 🙃

[valueaddedresource]

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@johnwash1 wrote:

"And if you're inclined to be willing to speak publicly about your experiences, contacting journalists who have written about these changes and telling them you'd be happy to provide a quote for their next piece on the subject can be an effective way to advocate for change as well."

How do I give 100 kudos points for that?

As in Dad's Army (does that BBC TV get shown over the pond?) "They don't like it up 'em, Mr Mainwaring!".

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@johnwash1 Monty Python and Blackadder were staples of my youth but sadly I missed out on that one. I'll have to remedy that and add it to the streaming list, thanks for the suggestion!

[papso22]

I am a person who reads every word of any T&Cs that have a financial implication for me.  So I have read every word of the user agreement. 

[da-vids]

You are right, eBay doesn't deal with the accounts situation, makes me wonder why there needs to be 2 different kinds of accounts if it can't be policed effectively. The best solution to actually deal with it is to have 1 sort of account for everyone which holds up to the standards of a business account, for example why should a private individual get to refuse returns regardless of what the law says. I'm speaking as someone with both types of account.

[valueaddedresource]

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@da-vids wrote:

I'd assume there's something against speaking out in the 'agreement'. The agreement that absolutely not one single person on the planet has read a single word of but everyone has agreed to. So no one does anything about anything otherwise account will suddenly disappear if even think about doing anything, because, you guessed it, there will be something against it in the agreement 🙃

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@da-vids I think it's fair to say I've likely spent much more time reading much more of it than the average user and I've found nothing in it that would or has prevented me from publicly sharing my personal experiences or thoughts about eBay.

But your mileage may vary - and so might different country's laws and traditions about protected speech - so one must of course always do their own due diligence and risk/reward assessments. 😉

[da-vids]

Ok so 1 person in the solar system has read the agreement🌞

With all respect there's no disagreeing with the agreement so no point reading it.

[da-vids]

Though I'm sure the agreement contains lots of goodies for me and I'm treated as an equal partner just as if we had sat down and negotiated the contract together.

[papso22]

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@da-vids wrote:

Though I'm sure the agreement contains lots of goodies for me and I'm treated as an equal partner just as if we had sat down and negotiated the contract together.

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The one thing it is not is even handed.  It is biased towards ebay in the same way that ebay is biased towards buyers.

[lucy_farmer]

'So without proper competition eBay can do what they like, they like their investors. Until the masses do vote with their feet this won't change.'

Sorry to be a bit pessimistic here, but I don't believe ebay will change anything *even* if the masses do vote with their feet and leave.

There will always be new people joining, lots of 'em. And they won't know it could be, and indeed *has been* better in the past.

However something stands when you join it /start doing it,  it is *normal* to you.....