feb 4th the clock is ticking

[reasonable-robert]

a lot has been said on S/C about this but what will e bay really be like after the 4th of feb as quite a few private  sellers intend to walk away from e bay will it no longer be viable to sell on e bay and it just implodes from within with sales plummeting to the point of oblivion.

buyers could turn to e bays biggest rivals like amazon or ali express to buy and as someone pointed out if they wanted a £10 blue ray dvd thats what they want to pay not £11.75 and would shop elsewhere to get it at that price.

or if not the above rivals but cheaper at tesco, sainsburys ,morrisons or asda with the weekly shop.

the BS may dance with delight about this decision but to be honest if the buyers have gone where will your meagre sales come from this may turn out to be e bays biggest blunder and may come back to haunt them and they maybe even back pedal but once you lose those sellers it will be difficult to attract people back to e bay.

so what of the future if e bay want an even bigger slice of the cake after all they do answer to their shareholders and investors what else is around the corner.

we know simple delivery is right behind the buyer protection fee where e bay take total control from the sale to the delivery forcing use of their packlink service making them more money as well as intrest which they claim they dont make on held funds this is before we get on to the potential scammers taking advantage of more holes than a swiss cheese.

B/S dont think you will escape the wrath either because as fees plummet with the private sellers  the will turn to the B/S to recoup lost money as they are ebays cash cow.

who knows what e bay will come up with next both buyer and seller paying a fee just like auctions perhaps.

this is just the beginnning

[papso22]

I think (hope)  there will be a publicity campaign aimed at buyers that explains the fees, but they are running out of time!

[1956glyn]

Maybe a discussion needs to be had on this Wednesdays Community chat.

[ile136yz]

Very good points being made.

eBay should now be providing samples of how the Seller's adverts will look after 4th February.

One point I think that is being overlooked is the delivery charge the Buyer has to pay. this will increase to include tracking.  An item that was sent RM large letter for £1.55 will be put up to £2.69 after 4th Feb.  Okay the Buyer will have Buyer's Protection and the Seller's item will be tracked, but will there be any sales???  

[game_raid]

Simple delivery isn't compulsory as yet so no as large letter won't be £2.70 on 4 Feb unless the seller has opted to send the item that way also tracking is optional when simple delivery is finally rolled out.

The adverts won't change the price you see is the price a buyer pays, when they checkout they see a breakdown of the fee they have paid.

[jckl1957]

We don't know that sellers will increase their postal charges.

Simple Delivery will be an 'opt-in/opt-out' option when the changes are introduced on 4th Feb.  Sellers will not be obliged (initially at least) to use a tracked service.

As a seller, I plan to use Royal Mail LL for as long as possible for low cost items.  Waiting for payment is not an issue for me.

[theelench]

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@manyjamjar wrote:

Looks like private sellers will just have to be happy with 14 days payout.  If you ring CS saying the delivery service shows item delivered and its not confirming on eBay, you might just get the usual line like problem is with Evri or RM and they can't do anything about it.

As private sellers get used to 14 payout, eBay might just have some more ideas 😑

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I'm sure they'll have to have some more ideas.  Ebay has declared it's Free to Sell for private sellers and the trade off is compulsory payment holds and raising private seller's prices by adding a BPF. 

But the way ebay works is still exactly the same, visibility and sales are dependent on paying a Sponsorship fee to ebay, so if a private seller wants to sell they'll still have to pay fees and if their item is something that's easy to find, probably have to reduce their price to reflect the BPF to remain price 'competitive'.  

Then wait for anything up to 16 working days (14 day hold + a couple more for the money to reach their bank account) and that's only if ebay doesn't decide that they need to re-verify anything else before pay-out.

Yesterday I made my first 2 sales this year on the other site I use and the money is already safely in my paypal account.  The parcel will be sent today, as always, by RM 2nd Class.  No extra expense to my buyer for Tracked delivery, no hassle for me about "late" delivery because 2nd Class doesn't come up to ebay's expectations.

Are private sellers really going to flock back to a site where it isn't free to sell, unless they're content to sell virtually nothing.  Where they are distrusted and treated as suspect second class sellers and wait for their money when they do manage to sell something?

Ebay would be better off if, instead of trying to pull the wool over private seller's eyes, they put some effort into making the site attractive to private sellers again.  The fact that they have been slowly but surely deserting ebay for years won't be reversed by a catchy "Free to Sell" banner.  Private sellers are still at the back of the queue for visibility and sales and ebay has decided to make getting their money even more inconvenient.

IMO that's not the way to attract them back, rather the opposite.

[jaffas_attic]

So tell me, why exactly do you need to be a business seller to sell a new blu-ray? Condition has nothing to do with whether you're a business seller or a private seller. Not everyone uses items they have bought brand new.

[moldosgifts]

He refers to a technicality if it is new you should not have owned it.

A business can only own a new item as the intention is to resell it . They can also own second hand for the same reason.

If you own it it is unused.

The fact ebay let you list it as new is what you refer to

Amazon does not allow a private seller to list new .DVDs Blue rays Books etc it is like new then add item description where you state never opened it so still brand new.

In my opinion the best change eBay  could make is change the terminology on condition and forget everything they have introduced.

Remove new for private sellers and bring in unused, only a business can truly sell a brand new item.

You wouldn't accept a preowned unopened item from Tesco would you? Especially as it described as brand new.

[goodibags]

If you returned an unopened item to Tesco for a refund I'm pretty sure (for non-foodstuffs) they would put it back on the shelf as 'new'. How would anyone know if it'd been sold and brought back repeatedly?

I have 'new' things at home that have not been opened. It's probably not that unusual.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

if something is unopened and therefore in original packaging it is still new whether you are a business or a private seller.   If it is out of the packaging then obviously that is another case.  Being a business does not mean that the item is any different to one bought by a private person who then decides they do not want it.  Personally i have never bought a DVD that i did not watch but maybe someone got given one for christmas and had already got a copy?   

[kath3735_wxmjn]

I worked in Index back in the day and we often took back items and they were put back on the shelf, same with all shops, pretty sure that would go for business sellers on here too!

[moldosgifts]

No and i've worked For Tesco they add it to the discounted shelf.

Along with all the damaged items

Even sealed stuff

As a private seller you do not own new stuff, you own you have bought or been gifted so pre-owned by you, its a simple change could easily be implemented only a business can sell new otherwise it is unused.

And forget all these changes they are aimed at getting incorrectly registered businesses to change their accounts to a business.

Reduce selling qty, simple delivery, remove token/vouchers, remove multi qty listings and holding fees until delivery shown its all geared towards those registered on the wrong account.

So you can thank those that abused the privilege for the changes.

Or ebay can forget all that and just stop private sellers from listing as new. Then see what happens if more needs doing do it then.

[insidethe93]

wellingnorth said: "as a buyer I would rather see a round number price, eg £19.99 (even if that is then plus postage)"

A few years ago I noticed, when I'd search & compare supermarket websites, that Waitrose had started routinely charging 20p more e.g. £3.19 instead of £2.99p (silly, we all know it's £3). It put me off as it looked like the deliberate mark-up it was. I like to keep a rough running total in my head when shopping and all those 19 pences would stress my mental maths. I preferred to travel much further for a major trip, e.g. stock up for winter, to Tesco which had "normal" prices ditto when they opened a Sainsbury's. After a while I noticed Waitrose had stopped the 19p malarkey; their sales figures must've dropped.

M&S long ago decided not to bother with penny amounts. Never £3.99, but £4. Customers seem to prefer this as it looks very straightforward. Also easier to work out the unit price when it's "buy 3 for £9".

eBay's BPF will add an extra set of figures for buyers (including tired ones) to contend with, especially in auctions when there's more to think about than BIN.

[medealady]

Lucky to get £30!  I have one sitting around and not rare and cba to list (again as it didnt sell) and give it away but why do i keep it? blah I inherited it so my kids can lol.

The RD ladies, Pendelfin rabbits, Lladro grey ornaments, TY beanies et all are things from the past generations now dont collect.

Collecting is another nail in the ebay coffin.

[medealady]

Ebay are also losing sight of the march of cheap selling sites that have changed their model to be more buyer friendly like Ali Express, Temu etc. They can pop an order on a plane and to Evri in little over a week. Ebay businesses and 'private' from China quote weeks and even then the item may not match the image and you get a whole lot of descending partial refund offers as they dont want it back or cant.

Charging buyers for this experience is not good although hopefully the oriental 'private' accounts in hiding will get weeded out.

[theelench]

If anyone's interested I've still got the bottle of Azzaro "Sport" I won in the pub's 2023 Christmas raffle.  Still in its cellophane un-opened with the plastic bar code stuck on the outside.  It's got a bit dusty waiting for a buyer and a slightly sticky patch where the winning ticket was attached.

Is it New, Like New, New Other?  It not opened or used.

BTW. It's not on ebay as I might be accused of being a business or under-cutting 'real' businesses by sellers just looking for something / anything to beat private sellers with.

[goodibags]

You should put it up for sale anyway. And call it 'new'. Hopefully it'll sell in the next 7 days?

You're hardly a 'business' just because you have one item of something that also appears in shops. I have 2 or 3 of the same things at home and am definitely not one. 😉

[ett1954]

"If you returned an unopened item to Tesco for a refund I'm pretty sure (for non-foodstuffs) they would put it back on the shelf as 'new'." - they wouldn't; it is against safety regulations as they would have no guarantee it had not been contaminated either innocently or intentionally.  

[studiomaster_uk]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

He refers to a technicality if it is new you should not have owned it.

A business can only own a new item as the intention is to resell it . They can also own second hand for the same reason.

If you own it it is unused.

The fact ebay let you list it as new is what you refer to

Amazon does not allow a private seller to list new .DVDs Blue rays Books etc it is like new then add item description where you state never opened it so still brand new.

In my opinion the best change eBay  could make is change the terminology on condition and forget everything they have introduced.

Remove new for private sellers and bring in unused, only a business can truly sell a brand new item.

You wouldn't accept a preowned unopened item from Tesco would you? Especially as it described as brand new.

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Tut! Most of this is nonsense, possibly misleading nonsense, even as far as ebay are (presently) concerned. Item conditions by category

#Misunderstanding title, 'ownership' and contract law.

[theelench]

That's a very good point IMO.  

On the other site I use I now get more sales than on ebay.  I noticed years ago that buyers do seem to like 'round' numbers so I always round down my postage, the small discount is a further incentive to buy.  Currently for a Small Parcel I charge £3.50, a Medium Parcel is £6.00.  Most of my items are priced in round pounds and even if some are £x.50, it's not too taxing to add 2x 50p together.

With ebay adding 4%(?) + 75p, prices will be all over the place and probably off-putting for some buyers.  Not a good idea at a time when any buyers at all seems to be a bonus for so many private sellers, anything that is confusing or off-putting is probably best avoided.

I must admit I haven't been following this topic in any great detail so I have to ask, how will a private seller know what the total price shown to buyers will be when they list their item?  If they want to list at a price of £10 and deduct £1.15 (4% + 75p), will the buyer see a total price of £10?

I wonder which would be more off putting?  A price of £8.85 + BPF = £10, or a price of £10 + BPF = £11.15?