The new buyer protection on auction items

[brianw3560]

We have all been expecting the new buyer protection policy when they introduced free listings, And while I understand some element of fees on buyers who buy off ebay ,what I want to understand that if I sell an item for £20 the listing will show a price of £21.55  but what happens if I list a item on a auction with a starting price of £20 ie £21.55  but the end price is £50  will the buyer be expected to pay £52.75 ,And what happens about postage cost 

  if on a auction they add the buyers protection fees  on the starting bid and not the final bid I will be doing a lot more auctions 

[*vyolla*]

The fee will be variable and based on the final auction price.

The postage price isn't subject to any fee.

Taken from eBay's guidance page:

When you enter a starting bid, we add the Buyer Protection fee so you can see what the buyer's minimum bid amount will be. As the Buyer Protection fee is variable, the fee amount that the buyer actually pays is calculated as part of the final auction selling price.

By including the fee in the buyer's bid price, we're making it simple and transparent so buyers always know what they'll pay and sellers know how much they'll receive.

[brianw3560]

so if a buyer say puts in a bid of £50 expecting to pay £50 he will pay £52.75 is that how i understand it ,if thats correct the buyer is going to feel ripped off ,look at the problems with cpi+ 3.9% added to broadband so I hope the statement is not correct

[*vyolla*]

The buyer will see the total price that he's going to be paying though (it doesn't just appear as a mark up at checkout). 

If he bids £50 he'll see that he's paying £52.75.

[a45heaven]

 If he bids £50 he'll see that he's paying £52.75 for one item. ( £13.75 total for the five wins)

So the Buyer Protection is a variable fee - Why?

What happens when the bidder wins 5 items in the sellers auction, does the buyer get presented with 5 lots of variable fees ?

Surely a Buyer Protection claim is for a Single package which would probably contain the five items ?

Will the composite total be used to calculate turnover, even though it is a extra payment to ebay not the seller?

Do the designers of these fantasies ever enter the real world of selling and buying?

[brianw3560]

buyers wont understand that their £50 bid is now costing them £52.75 ,most buyers dont understand now that we were paying fees as sellers ,they think that a private seller doesnt pay any fees ,unless ebay explain they are paying these fees they will feel hard done by ,and I am protective of my 100% feedback and like to be fair with anyone that buys off me

[dyingcult]

It will deter bidding imo or create lower bidding as any potential buyers will see their fee accumulating during the auction as people normally put in several bids.

The fee is hidden in buy-it-now items so wont have as dramatic effect on sales

buyers will have to assume in every auction it will end up as the highest amount their prepared to pay so they can cover the 4 percent at the auctions end-hardly ''bringing back the fun to shopping on ebay'' which was how they advertised all these changes

I imagine with multiple orders they're all combined an the buyers fee comes out the total and if a buyer wants an item/s enough they'll pay whatever to get it..  i assume this is ebays logic going ahead

[*vyolla*]

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@a45heaven wrote:

 If he bids £50 he'll see that he's paying £52.75 for one item. ( £13.75 total for the five wins)

So the Buyer Protection is a variable fee - Why?

It's a variable fee because the price will be a variable one if it's an auction style listing. 

What happens when the bidder wins 5 items in the sellers auction, does the buyer get presented with 5 lots of variable fees ?

If a buyer wins 5 items on 5 separate auctions then there'll be a fee charged on each auction win. 

Surely a Buyer Protection claim is for a Single package which would probably contain the five items ?

It seems that it's being based on item price.

Will the composite total be used to calculate turnover, even though it is a extra payment to ebay not the seller?

Not for tax reporting purposes. 

Do the designers of these fantasies ever enter the real world of selling and buying?

Absolutely not, I'm pretty convinced that they don't sell, maybe they make the occasional purchase. 

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[*vyolla*]

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@brianw3560 wrote:

buyers wont understand that their £50 bid is now costing them £52.75 

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It will be displayed on the screen, they'll see it. 

[chrislight99]

Be interesting to see how the incoming buyers premium on private seller sales has an overall effect on the eBay economy of the marketplace as a whole. Many buyers, myself included, spend on eBay as a priority because we are already in, and familiar, with the market place. With many buyers, and private sellers finding that the benefits of buying and selling on eBay are diminishing I would anticipate a possible recession effect on the eBay economy as a whole. As a private seller I was more than happy to pay the fees on items sold - around 15%; and would probably tolerated 20% [in line with many offline auctions].

[a45heaven]

Thanks for the reply -

It's a variable fee because the price will be a variable one if it's an auction style listing. 

So set sale items will be rated at different fee values than auctions?

i can only judge that this is the most ill thought through process ebay have ever come up with - i have little experience on claims on my sales the item or delivery, so its difficult to judge how ebay can dedicate such a vast fortune in fees on this - unless of course its just a guise in order to reap more funds for themselves , kinda like the Regulatory Fees, only on a larger scale now once they 'got away' with R.F. 

Any thoughts on the wording of how we explain this increase in the buyers bidding figure to the buyers ?

I know they are very aware of ebay glitches and such, but this will be very regular.

[brianw3560]

hi I found this apparently on multiple quantity listing you will pay 4% on the items but one 75p 

so if 2 items each £5 total cost £10

buyer protection fee 2x 4%  =   £0.40

buyer protection flat fee       =    £0.75

        total                                       =     £11.15 + postage

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/buyer-protection-fee?id=5594

[vintique*violet]

Well considering Poshmark in the US introduced buyer fees and had to roll back and remove them just 21 days later when shoppers stopped shopping. eBay may just find themselves in the same position? 

[*vyolla*]

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@a45heaven wrote:

Thanks for the reply -

It's a variable fee because the price will be a variable one if it's an auction style listing. 

So set sale items will be rated at different fee values than auctions?

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No, the fee is still 4% + 75p. It's called a variable fee because nobody knows what the end auction price will be. 

[anne.craig]

I was under the impression that private sellers had recently had the ability to list multi-quantity items removed - not something I've used but would presumably mean these changes would not apply anyway.  For private sellers it's more if a buyer wants to buy multiple items from different listings, as the old 30p fee was per payment, not per item!  eBay's comms are so rubbish, everyone is now confused, maybe that's how they like us.

[rubberduckinmybath]

I would have thought that the buyer bids £50.00 and the bid shows as a lesser amount on the seller's screen after Ebay have taken out their fee, ie the seller will see the bid as £47.36 (ish).

[comedydad69]

No, if they want to bid £50 it will show up that it will cost them £52.75, (the £2.75 to eBay and £50 to seller) if buyer then chooses to bid £45, it will show up £47.55 (£2.55 to eBay and £45 to seller)

Any buyers bid will show them the total price at the time of bidding

[a45heaven]

If what you say is correct - then a bidder would not know what they may win the item for.

Say the Highest bid before bidding was £10 - then the bidder  B bid £50 - would the highest bid show as £14.75, or does the bidding increment also show (£15.75?) ?

Then someone - Bidder C -  bid later to increase the high to £49.00 - which , when the new fees are added, takes the top bid amount to above the bidder B's  top bid - so does the  bidder B wins at £50.00 ( his maximum bid) or do ebay inflate the amount higher?

This is going to be very messy, and barely a whisper sent to the Buyers regarding whats happening very shortly. 

Why should sellers try to explain this to buyers?

Do ebay expect the host of newly recruited CS in foreign climbs provide the answers which they have to read out, that they are being paid to do, unlike the Mentors who moralise for zero rewards from ebay.

[lucy_farmer]

'....then a bidder would not know what they may win the item for.'

When you place a bid *at the moment* :

On bidding you can either bid what you want or tick one of the boxes next to the (bid-what-you-want) box. These boxes say things like 'Bid £5.00' or 'Bid£8.00' or 'Bid£whatever', depending on item starting price or the price it is currently up to.

When this buyer fee appears, it would be logical to suppose that those 'Bid £5.00' etc boxes would also have the total price that the item would cost if that bid won. ...perhaps in brackets or a different font/colour.

So the box marked  'Bid £5.00' would now read ; 'Bid £5.00 ( total price including BPF = £5.99)

(Or something like that....!)

I'm pretty sure that ebay will keep bidders informed of the total price that their bid will incur if it wins ; I don't reckon ebay will leave bidders/buyers with a nasty suprise on winning or buying. Nasty suprises are usually kept for sellers 😈

[a45heaven]

Pee up and brewery comes to mind 😞

I wonder how many bids will be cancelled after the event of the auction ending - i wonder who will be left to sort that shambles out - maybe if a disclaimer of ebays  undesired action should be posted on suitable locations.

I can not imagine how snipe bids will work out, im assuming the details is organised at the snipe site then actioned within seconds of the auction end -