I agree. Despite private sales being supposedly 'free' I'm finding they are not in reality.
Paying a fee for protection that already existed seems like a con to would-be buyers. It's off-putting.
Furthermore, it artificially bumps up my price, so I'm having to discount an already fair asking price by the amount of the new fees. So, in reality, I'm still paying fees.
I'm a private seller that is constantly decluttering my house and garage. Over the years, I've accumulated a hell of a lot of bits and bobs related to my hobbies of car and bike restoration. It used to be quite a thrill to turn stuff I would otherwise have scrapped / binned into cash to put towards the household bills or current interests. And it was fun to take the pictures, write the spiel, and put them up for sale.
Not so much now.
Now I have to wait until the item has actually been delivered and acknowledged as such before the payout is initiated, which can take two days or longer after delivery. With some delivery services having poor tracking / unreliable tracking, I've felt vulnerable to both their poor service and to the opportunity to be played by dodgy buyers (not for the first time), The waiting game / worry I won't be paid has dulled my enthusiasm somewhat.
This has added another negative aspect, I've started to feel apathy when notified of a sale. Because the payment is no longer immediate, I don't feel the same sense of urgency to get the parcel out of the door. Whereas I would normally drop it off to the courier that same day I now think, well, it'll be several days before the money is paid, I'll wait until after the weekend.
I'm starting to just find the whole thing a chore. My sales are way down these days. I'm currently trying to recoup the cost of having to buy a new washing machine through selling the good parts of the defunt machine. After they're gone I think I'll just pack up selling on eBay. Indeed I might just stop buying on eBay too - it was convenient to use the platform that I sold on.
