Upcoming ‘Buyer Protection Fees’

[lady4838]

I’m a member for 14 years - I have today complained fiercely to EBay with regards to 4% + 75p charge on each item purchased as we all know this is a Back Door way of recovering the Seller Fees which were scrapped recently - Buyers already have adequate protection - as to payment 2 days after delivery - we’re at the mercy of Royal Mail to scan all  items when collected (not guaranteed) 😡

 Fellow  members I urge you to let your disproval known - SHAME ON YOU Ebay😡😡

[vintique*violet]

Thank you I was not aware of this, so it is good to know. 

[lucy_farmer]

'apparently come march when this system is enforced tracked delivery will be the only option anyway as all private sellers come march will be forced to use the simple delivery.'

Yes. Tracked delivery will be absolutely necessary when using Simple Delivery.

Under the Simple Delivery system , *ebay* (NOT) the seller will be responsible for paying the refund on an item that doesn't arrive.  

Seller will still get their money (just after 2 weeks of ebay using it for business purposes somewhere in the world banking system!)

If the items are not tracked, what to stop crooked sellers just *saying* they've posted the item, keeping it *and* the payment and ebay paying out the refund....?

[troopster2525-per]

as far as i know when they update peoples current and live listings then yes your price you listed will stay the same for YOU but the buyers will then see the inflated new price with the fees added. so i presume people who say watched one of your items now...when they check it again after feb 6th the price will be up.

oh not the 4% is just the item price not postage price. well the 75p is for this silly buyer protection thing so if anything goes wrong on delivery etc the buyer is protected and gets refunded via ebay BUT this is the only upside for us sellers is it also protects us

if we post something after it is scanned when its at the post office and it gets lost, damaged or anything else it is ebay who refunds the buyer...not the seller which means sellers will not have to refund buyers anymore if delivery goes wrong in some way.

[fireofthephoenix]

This is my situation and why the simple delivery is pointless for me. I already have a better work flow for postage.

I cannot print a label at home or take it to a parcel shop for printing (which itself has a fee) and I make use of the click & drop collection service.  Item sells, 20 mins or so later it automatically appears in my click and drop account, pay for postage using pre-populated address information from ebay, book collection and get it collected next working day. Easy.

There is no need to go through another ebay system and have them potentially take their cut of the postage  cost there too

Let sellers use whatever postage system they wish but if it goes wrong then that's what feedback and the buyer claims system is for.

If a seller isn't capable of arranging their own postage then hope is lost for them. Post offices and parcel shops exist for people not comfortable buying postage online.

The crux of the issue for me is the 75p flat fee and postage rubbish. I can take 4% fee and waiting a few days for payment but the flat fee is the real kicker for low cost sellers 

[troopster2525-per]

What is to stop crooked buyers saying something is damaged during delivery and getting a refund?with simple delivery all items are posted tracked anyway. sellers will no longer have the option to post items untracked so no more 1st class or 2nd class standard posting.

but you do realise even 2nd class standard its actually tracked and scanned at the post office so sellers can not get away with saying they posted even then as its scanned using the label barcode.

its crooked buyers who get away with stuff and will keep doing so when they get to keep the item and get a full refund off ebay for a so called damage delivery which never happened...but atleast this way the refund will not come form the sellers!

[troopster2525-per]

i agree, its the 75p for me and having to use expensive tracked delivery which puts my items i had planned to sell at over £7 total cost when i was charging 3 quid at a push 3.50

[millcottage]

I had a buyer who damaged item unpacking it with scissors.

The damage to ceramic could not have happened in post. The chip was inside the ceramic. The box had zero dents on it and item was sent in a box inside a box (buyer sent pictures).

On return of item it was obvious damage was caused by them.

I contacted eBay and they refunded the buyer from their funds that I thought was very generous of them.

As a seller I kept money I sold item for and returned damaged ceramic.

Guess they (eBay) will dl this all the time now.

[chris-5643]

eBay calling re-introduced fees 'buyer protection fees' is just embarrassing.

Obviously the market will only stand certain price points, therefore the seller will have to lower the price - so effectively it's re-introducing seller fees.

eBay's business strategy here  an absolute mess though - it's as if they're making it up as they go along.

No doubt the CEOs will reward themselves for this skip fire by giving themselves increased bonuses.

[twin--turbo]

All of my items have suddenly increased in weight to 21KG

[troopster2525-per]

oh yes i wonder if my coasters can be that heavy too haha

[fireofthephoenix]

In that situation, sellers of low price items would be better off being liable for refunding the occasional person who didn't get an item themselves than lose sales because of enforced higher prices.

I've had exactly 1 item not delivered in around 300 sales so returning £1.99 every 300 sales or so is hardly a hit. I had no indication that they buyer was dishonest and promptly refunded the payment after they sent me a message.

Anything that is worth the cost of tracked (£3.99 or higher,) gets it but £1.99 items go 2C

RM 2C does usually include a delivery confirmation scan if you purchase postage online and have it collected and again, maybe 4 or 5 of the items I've sold didn't have the delivery confirmation there but feedback from the buyer and no issues.

If a seller won't refund a non-delivered item then the dispute system would take care of that issue. There needs to be a push for better seller standards and not just hit everyone "just-in-case fee" because there are bad sellers out there.

Add fees to sellers with high cases or slow resolution times and not punish the people who are providing good customer service

[twin--turbo]

I started doing 102 items manualy, then realised  you can do it in bulk edit.

!Stick It To The MAN!

[troopster2525-per]

i had someone once who bought a vintage spectrum computer...the keyboard that has the cassette tape drive attached to it who told me themselves before buying they restore them and clean the circuit board etc inside. they had actually gone to unscrew it and when cleaned and putting it back they screwed a screw in way too tight which screwed into the circuit board and cracked it.

they got refunded via ebay because the buyer stated it was damaged like that when they got it in delivery. that refund that time came out of my bank though as ebay fully sided with them..this is all without talking to me

[fireofthephoenix]

I wouldn't expect too much of a problem in most mail centres. Tracked is already a huge, high priority, operation and with the way they are handled, it would be "scan, sort, scan,sort" rather than just "sort,sort."

Normal packet areas would be used for Tracked streams as one goes down and the other goes up so I wouldn't expect RM to struggle with space.

The interesting point would be how deliveries would handle it at peak times due to the timed nature of the product compared to non-tracked items

[troopster2525-per]

not sure how a item cheap costing 3.99 is worth the cost of paying about 2.70 for tracked delivery though.

guess depends on the item but i know full well say a coaster no.one will be paying that total of 6.69 for one delivered as its too much thats why i post them 2nd class which will not be possible to use come march as its all tracked only delivery from march.

3.99 that is with the 4% and 75p added on the buyers side lol so even worse for the buyer

[dala8593]

Hi 

that’s exactly my point of view I recently received an “ offer on a DVD I was after but when I looked at the seller feedback both negative and neutral is was horrendous 

I paid extra and went elsewhere there are  so many that are the same , one seller is taking orders and the money for 5 draw metal cabinets which they don’t have stock then sending me a message to chose another it took three weeks to get a refund ( and waiting in for something that was never going to arrive ) and it’s still being advertised as in stock I

contacted eBay and the seller but nothing was done or changed 

personally I go to a lot of care to ensure my customer expectations are met or exceeded 

so yes eBay should go after those that give shoddy service 

I’ve made my dissatisfaction known 

go to seller help and contact put please phone me ( the bot then try’s to interfere) put please phone me again , you get a print would you like a call back ( yes) which they did

the representative was very pleasant ( I’ve always found that ) and agreed with me and did say they have had a lot complaints regarding this change 

in the meantime I’ve scrapped all my cheap listings it’s not worth the hassle 

its hard work at the best of times I’ll just give to charity or bin stuff 

Dave 

[chris-5643]

More likely worse for the seller as unless the seller lowers the price to
include the fees there's a good chance they won't make the sale.

I would guess most buyers look at the total cost and aren't too fussed
about how it breaks down.

[momonflorida]

Couldn't agree more with lady 4838.

My post office (rural) have difficulty in working out postage, if it will, or will not go through the slot!  I have just had a case opened from a buyer who said item not received, two days after it should have been, she didn't take into consideration the run up to Christmas even though I posted the same day she paid.  I asked her to let me know if it arrived. Nothing.  Asked her again if it had arrived, nothing!   Phoned Ebay and very smart assistant took the hold of my payment instantly!  Another buyer wanted a return because of photo. differences and used  my6 photo. to complain.  Again, Ebay sided with me.  Its all too hard to be bothered.  I have been a member for 18 years, selling family stuff and items from family estates.  Oh dear.

[artemisia1558]

I totally agree, but eBay doesn’t care. Can’t anyone come up with a new selling platform?

[artemisia1558]

Well said, but Vinted are no better than eBay and the buyers there waste your time by making ridiculous offers!