eBay Profiteering - Making Money Whilst Sellers Lose Out

[joe_fonebone]

Said it before, I'll say it again - all the while eBay has a Seller's payment money eBay are getting the interest on that money and Sellers are not. Millions of Sellers means millions in profits for eBay from interest on money that Sellers are being deprived of.

It needs to stop.

eBay has no good reason to hold onto Sellers payment money - eBay are profiteering.

profiteer
/ˌprɒfɪˈtɪə/ verb

1. To make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, especially illegally or in a black market.

[bojangled]

@joe_foneboneIt was added to the T&C in October 2023.

Receipt and Settlement of Funds

Added a section to clarify payments are not deposits, are not FDIC insured and any interest earned will be retained by eBay, not paid to the seller.

New section:

Funds received by us on your behalf represent an unsecured claim for payment against us, but do not constitute deposits; nor are these amounts eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance. eCI may combine your funds with the funds of other eCI customers in pooled custodial accounts and invest the funds in accordance with state money transmitter laws.

You do not have any ownership interest in these investments and any interest earned from these investments will be retained by us. To the extent you may have any beneficial ownership in the interest or proceeds of these investments, your acceptance of these terms constitutes an assignment of any right, title or interest therein to us.

Jo

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

I just did a search online for "do ebay make money on held payments"

Replay was "Yes, eBay can indirectly benefit financially from holding payments. While they don't explicitly earn interest on held funds, they do gain an advantage by having control over the funds and potentially using them for other purposes.".

Personally,if i were to sell again i would look at it like it was when i started.8 working days (at least) before payment hit my bank,e-cheques could take over 2 weeks to clear BEFORE i could transfer cleared funds to my bank,no free listings,1 free photo,35p per listing (at least),paying postage out of my pocket BEFORE i saw any payment and being expected to post things out immediately not actually knowing payment would "emerge".

They were "the good old days" 😉

[waytogo2]

Whilst i don't agree with some of the new changes Ebay have recently made, Simple Delivery and Buyer Protection Fee being a huge let down, i do think it makes good business sense for Ebay to hold the funds until item is delivered. Perhaps they have lost money over the years from people opening burner accounts, selling items and not dispatching/selling counterfeit items/other dodgy dealings, and then doing a runner.