Who else here is planning to close all their listings before midnight on the 4th?

[daro2096]

From February 5th it won't be worth it to sell on eBay because of buyer's fees being introduced so on the 4th before midnight I am planning to close all and any items I have up.

Anyone else doing the same?

If eBay want private sellers here they are doing their best to get rid of us.

I will never sell here again(I know I said this before but this time I am out completely).

Well done eBay. RIP eBay, it was good while it lasted.

[4_bathrooms]

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@theelench wrote:

IMO business sellers should beware, these changes may seem insignificant to them now but, once ebay's managed to get them working something like right, by using private sellers as guinea-pigs, they'll be rolled out for you as well.

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eBay can't introduce a buyer protection fee for business sellers. This is because "Presenting rights given to consumers in law as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer" is deemed an unfair practice (and therefore, offence) under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. eBay would essentially be charging their customers for protection they were already guaranteed in law under the Consumer Rights Act and the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

I believe the root cause of all this began with the 80% off final value fee offers for private sellers that I believe were introduced during a previous CEO's tenure. The problem was they were run every fortnight without fail so regular private (and "private") sellers quickly learned that if they just waited until the offer was running before listing they would pay 2.56% (rather than 12.8%) in FVFs.

This obviously left a mess for the current CEO to sort out. His first move was to end the FVF offers - I remember the "February club" of 2023 understandably venting their spleens on the boards. Then, in February last year the Regulatory Operating Fee was introduced so private sellers had effectively seen a ~413%  increase in the variable portion of their FVFs since February 2023. In April last year it was announced private sellers could sell clothing for free - probably because another popular marketplace allowed them to do exactly that by charging buyers a protection fee. Now the floodgates were open eBay saw their opportunity to recoup fees from private sellers - they made a big announcement about how all private sellers could sell for free then announced a buyer protection fee would be introduced. So the "free to sell" banner can keep flying with eBay earning 4% + 75p on every private sale which is much more than the 2.56% + 30p they were making before February 2023. 

[manyjamjar]

I can live with withdrawal two days after deliverey conformation but I don't want buyers choosing what delivery service I use.

[janrom2]

One one level, with selling fees gone, for more expensive items, a seller could reduce the price and still make a little more.

It is the cheaper items that won't be worth listing.  It's not the 4% - it's the 75p per item flat rate that is the killer.

For someone selling CDs (assuming they're offering free postage), the break even point is £3.50 - around £2.60 p&p costs + 75p + 14p (4%).

Selling a CD for less than £3.50 will mean you make a loss - in other words it will cost you more money than you make to sell.

[fassiphone]

I will continue selling.

It's not that I disagree with anyone here, more that I've been winding down my sales over the last few months. Once what I have listed is gone (if at all), that's practically it for me.

[theelench]

Must admit I didn't know about the implications under the Consumer Protection Law and apologise for posting something incorrect.

Have also seen the calculation that under Free to Sell some private seller's transactions will net ebay more than when the seller was paying something in fees.

In all honesty though I don't think that for a lot of genuine private sellers a few percent one way or the other is the real issue.

I don't even think payments into the ebay wallet was so bad but what annoyed me was the compulsory hold on all payments for "Buyer Protection" on a selling account that has a decade long almost spotless record and the implication that I cannot be trusted.

I wasn't surprised by the rest, but was shocked that ebay should suggest that it and buyers should regard all private sellers as not being trustworthy and need to be protected from.

Ebay is definitely its own worst enemy sometimes.

[jma2815]

Me neither. Waiting for the money is neither here nor there as I never spend it for a month anyway as they can always take it back in the event of a return or non delivery even if you get paid on the day of sale. 

I won’t be able to sell when buyer selected shipping comes in.  I live on the northern most tip of mainland Scotland and can only use RM click&drop collection with ‘bring my label’ as I’ve no car, no printer, and no access to any drop off points/parcel shops/lockers as there’s no public transport. 

[parsley2003]

Me too all selling sites are charging buyers now

[peturning]

We are being told that "Simple Delivery" will be optional. Like you I can't use anything other than Royal Mail so I will be opting out of simple delivery in my listings.

[lucy_farmer]

'.....I live on the northern most tip of mainland Scotland and can only use RM click&drop collection with ‘bring my label’ as I’ve no car, no printer, and no access to any drop off points/......'

Here's how I'm *hoping* 'Simple Delivery' will work.....

When you sell something through Simple Del the massive * computing power of ebay should be able to match up your post code with the delivery services who serve *your* area.

i.e. if you live in Reading or Milton Keynes, the buyer would be given lots of choices (may only be RM and Evri to start with but there'll probably be more eventually)

But if you live in Thurso, hopefully the buyer would only be given the 'choice' of RM, it being the only reliable service up there.

I'm optimistically hoping this will also apply to *what* you're selling.

As in which delivery services will carry what you are selling (i.e. are you selling perfume? something with batteries in? etc. If you were to make a sale and the postal service mandated by ebay refuse to carry it, it would make a joke of Simple Delivery!)

The massive* computer should match up the item with the relevant delivery service...

And whether the delivery service will insure what you're selling.

i.e. a laptop *must* go with RM special Delivery, definitely not Evri!

(if, when using 'Simple Del', ebay are paying for non-delivery refunds themselves -which they've said they will be- they'll be shooting themselves in the foot using Evri for anything breakable or nickable...)

So when you put an item on sale, the ebay computer should tick all the boxes and pick the correct postal service for your particular item + sale.  Not a one-size-fits-all.

Optimistic I know, and it's bound to take some time to work out how on earth it's going to pan out; that's why I'm in the 'wait and see' camp.

*massive computing power.  Yeah, I know we all take the mickey, but ebay have got humungous computers. It's just they get told to do stupid things by the humans in charge....

[galloway_cycles]

Private sales & eBay balance generate business seller purchases. Everyone wins.

On this business account I am taking a break anyway, to have a rest. On my private account where I sell surplus household items, and use the cash to buy stuff, usually from business sellers, the kicker is Simple Delivery & the need to use Evri who are utterly useless.  The additional fees I can cope with, but having to use Evri in Simple Delivery means I am out from 4th Feb on private sales until the dust settles.

[reasonable-robert]

i,ve started to list my last lots in auction then im mothballing everything for now 

saves having to restart from scratch.

[lucy_farmer]

'We are being told that "Simple Delivery" will be optional. Like you I can't use anything other than Royal Mail so I will be opting out of simple delivery in my listings.'

Unfortunately it's only optional *for now*. It apparently will be compulsory, for private sellers, sometime this spring.

(unless you are selling things in categories 'not compatible' with simple delivery.... dunno what they are yet though!)

[jma2815]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'.....I live on the northern most tip of mainland Scotland and can only use RM click&drop collection with ‘bring my label’ as I’ve no car, no printer, and no access to any drop off points/......'

Here's how I'm *hoping* 'Simple Delivery' will work.....

When you sell something through Simple Del the massive * computing power of ebay should be able to match up your post code with the delivery services who serve *your* area.

i.e. if you live in Reading or Milton Keynes, the buyer would be given lots of choices (may only be RM and Evri to start with but there'll probably be more eventually)

But if you live in Thurso, hopefully the buyer would only be given the 'choice' of RM…

I’d also *hope* that this will be the case, but there’s been enough info given about it that I know it won’t be. Buyer selected shipping isn’t going to be optional in a few weeks at the most, and I don’t think that eBay will have any truck with sellers knowing that RM is the only viable option for the North of Scotland and buyers will always choose the cheapest, which will be Evri. 

The massive computer also won’t know or care about my inability to use the evri and Yodel services that in theory would actually be available to me even in (say) Thurso (as would DHL, DPD, inPost and Amazon Shipping if eBay decide to add them) but that I cannot access due to my inability to print labels and travel to their drop off points, which may, as in the case of Amazon and inPost lockers at least, be only 8 miles away. I wouldn’t even be able to use Royal Mail if I can’t use their Collect-with-Label services. 

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[johnwash1]

@lucy_farmer 

"Optimistic I know, and it's bound to take some time to work out how on earth it's going to pan out; that's why I'm in the 'wait and see' camp."

Maybe ebay's massive computing power will figure out someone in the middle of a grouse moor is 50 miles from an Evri drop off and needs RM.  Maybe.  I wonder how it will figure out that someone in the home counties with a mobility problem also can't go to an Evri drop off, parcel locker, etc?

Psychic module add-on perhaps?

[medealady]

and no home collection with Simples....

[tressygirl]

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@medealady wrote:
and no home collection with Simples....

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This from their help pages on Simple Delivery:

Collection is available for items sent through Simple Delivery with Royal Mail labels only. You can book a collection on the Royal Mail - opens in new window or tab website after you create your Simple Delivery label.

@medealady

@medealady

[kath3735_wxmjn]

they will just find another way to word it but you can bet they will come after the business sellers next!

[kempseykate]

Also, don't forget that the new BPF only offers a 24/7 phone call/chat,  the knowledge that private sellers will not get their money held for up to 14 days and secure payments. As far as I am aware, none of these things are 'rights given to consumers by law'. So therefore they could start charging the BPF on business sellers items as well - maybe just tweak the name.

[lucy_farmer]

'Maybe ebay's massive computing power will figure out someone in the middle of a grouse moor is 50 miles from an Evri drop off and needs RM.  Maybe.  I wonder how it will figure out that someone in the home counties with a mobility problem also can't go to an Evri drop off, parcel locker, etc?'

Nope, I think we'll just be dumped.

I think Simple Del. will be the end of me too. I live in Milton Keynes so my potential buyer would probably be given masses of choices. But I don't have a smart phone or a printer (and don't fancy getting either of 'em much...)  so all that 'drop-box' stuff for instance, will be impossible.

If you don't 'fit' with the modern majority, loads of companies will be kicking people to the kerb. It's just too much hassle and expense, for them, to accomodate everybody and their differing needs....... as long as 95% of their customers are happy, the other 5% can do one. They'll make up any losses incured by losing the awkward ones, in the AI computerisation (no staff wages!) of everything else.

( try getting parking tickets, train tickets, gig tickets etc without a smart phone? ... ☹️)

(my optimism about the ebay computer was that, surely, they *can't* make it a 'one size fits all' system, because that would make their plans impossible and make them a laughingstock of digital companies)

[crg_music]

They've done that the last 20 years. Business sellers got and still get very little. Most of us are scraping a living, no doubt poorer than the average private seller all while keeping ebay cheap or even free for everyone else. They bundle those scraping a minimum wage with Argos and Currys.

Honestly Ebay are pretty much copying vinted like for like and I sell and enjoy selling there maybe more than here + they hold business seller funds for 14 days regardless of delivery. Not having to mess around buying labels + being able to list cheaper items that only incur fees on sales is a massive positive so if they move businesses over to the new system id be all for it. Ebay has a 10x better seller interface all be it harder to list items so could potentially be very good.

And yeah if vinted allow pro sellers there is 100% a way around it for ebay and I'd also be surprised if they didnt take the entire site that way in time.