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

[wellingnorth]

I'm not sure if there's been any definitive information about this yet, I guess we may have to wait until the 4th to find out.

Certainly at the moment I can see auctions starting at 99p which finish after the 4th and it's letting me bid 99p and showing me a final price of 99p + postage, so my assumption would be that it will only apply to auctions that actually start on or after the 4th.

For my existing listings I was thinking about how to adjust my prices so that the buyer sees the same after the changeover and I think this may be possible using the csv upload / download feature. I think it should be possible to download the csv of current listings, add a column to take the current price, subtract 0.75, divide by 1.04 and round it, then copy the values over the original column and reupload. I think my maths are right there and fairly sure that is possible with the csv feature, but someone else may be able to confirm!

I would hope for new listings ebay will give sellers the option to set price received OR price shown to buyer, or at least display both in the listing tool to be transparent.

[theelench]

CSV upload / download feature?  You're obviously more into the techie side of things than me as a poor old pensioner / private seller, I've never heard of it let alone used it !!

Probably it's another useful tool aimed at businesses that we'll all need to learn how to use to sell on the future ebay .

As I read more about these new changes the more happy I am that I ended my listings before Christmas and decided to give-up on ebay as a selling venue.

Good luck to all who persevere.

[crg_music]

I suspect it doesnt matter what we think, a desperate situation means desperate measures so I'm sure this huge change is not taken lightly.

As a paying business seller I have a rack full of stock ready to list after the 4th. Discogs + Vinted has had most of my trade this last 4 months after the very silly free listings rule for private sellers was introduced. It wasn't a strop just not really able to compete at the lower end. Everyone knows that free listing(+buying) days were always the worst days to sell as items just get buried. Atleast private seller items will be atleast a £1 more than they are right now so cheaper items from business sellers might become viable again.

At the end of the day they get paid for business sellers just listing items, selling or not. Maybe a dated model in 2025 but its how it is and they need to keep those business sellers happy and listing, making them feel like mugs when giving private sellers totally free use of the site will only make business sellers look elsewhere where they feel its at least partially fair. Its like Ebay dont realise that 99% of business sellers are not big multi million pound businesses, most of us are scraping a living often minimum wage or even less all while all we see is private sellers who are either working, receiving benefits or on a pension getting the benefits we get but unlimited and whats more all for free.

The site wont change, a few might leave, a lot of business sellers will return and people will continue to buy here. These private sellers who are not relying on sales for a wage but just to clear old junk will have to reduce prices by £1 + 4% or whatever it is to be back where they were before the 4th.

At the end of the day all ive seen is people moaning about how dead it is so surely we've already hit rock bottom. I'm optimistic about what will happen in the next year, things can only get better as they are already as bad as it can get.

The idea that business sellers have had any sort of advantage is rubbish. The only way to get advantage is to spend on promotion which is unfortunately essential if you are relying on sales for rent and means more beans on toast at the benefit of the shareholders.

[vintique*violet]

There is no way ebay are holding my funds and stipulating when that payout is. 

Vinted hold payments to " ensure the buyer receive their purchases"... same with eBay ... who a load of tosh!  As if holding funds would ensure this. They also use MangoPay a licensed electronic money institution ...Quote

MangoPay SA is a licenced electronic money institution regulated by Luxembourg’s supervisor of the financial sector Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier. It provides and manages Vinted Balance for us as a financial service.

Want to be a seller and use Vinted Balance? You’ll have to activate your Vinted balance and agree to Mangopay’s Terms and Conditions and become MangoPay’s client.

This way, we’re not involved in handling or holding your money. We leave it to the professionals who do it safely. Unquote. 

 Has eBay informed us of what financial institution they are using to hold private sellers funds? 

[parsley2003]

Mango pay are a disaster. I can't join it as have no passport or driving licence to prove who i am and they won't accept anything else at all

[bojangled]

@1956glyn 

Oooooh, I love a real life auction! Highly addictive.

Years ago bought a box of pens and basically the contents of someone’s junk draw for a tenner. 
Right at the bottom I discovered a vintage Leyland Tiger Coach badge, went for silly money and so my addiction began.

Hope you have fun whatever you decide to do with the Art Deco lady!

Jo

[vintique*violet]

Me too - A family member used to be an " auctioneer"  but since they passed, haven't been to one for many a year. 

[vintique*violet]

You are not alone  - many do not have these - and they are NOT Government ID... The Uk does not have, never has had and should not have any form of I.D. ( card or whatever) as it goes against our " freedoms" and especially digital I.D. 

Driving licence - is not an ID -  it is to show that you can legally drive a vehicle. 

Passport - is not an ID - it is to show that you can travel internationally. 

If you have a bank account and this has been verified along with your name and address it should be sufficient.  I certainly do not consider any " online marketplace"  safe to hold  personal information and keep it secure.  If these personal documents along with the National Insurance number are handed over - they now have all your private/personal information/data. What could go wrong? 

[reasonable-robert]

i was going to sit in the wait and see camp but i,ve decided to give up selling & keep my e bay as a buyers tool

am i right that if you bought say a blue ray from a p/s for £10 it will cost £11.75 but if you buy it from a b/s it will only be £10 and the 4% plus 75p does not apply can someone clarify this please

[*devils.advocate*]

Correct.

But not everyone buys the cheapest.

[dan-myers]

How is it an overreaction? as a private seller i know what will negatively impact my business and earning and it is not over the top to have that opinion

[papso22]

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@dan-myers wrote:

How is it an overreaction? as a private seller i know what will negatively impact my business and earning and it is not over the top to have that opinion

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There is so much that does not compute in your post!

[sml192]

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@reasonable-robert wrote:

i was going to sit in the wait and see camp but i,ve decided to give up selling & keep my e bay as a buyers tool

am i right that if you bought say a blue ray from a p/s for £10 it will cost £11.75 but if you buy it from a b/s it will only be £10 and the 4% plus 75p does not apply can someone clarify this please

---

Yes, that will be the case if the seller doesn't reduce their asking price to allow for the buyer protection fees. 

Also, by my calculations it would be £11.15 not £11.75 (4% of £10 = 40p).

[wyntersemporium]

I’m a business and I don’t buy my charms off here I go over to the other place beginning with a E as you can actually find the items you are looking for. 

[Anonymous]

I have now quit and many will too...  Having to wait until the item is scanned as received before the payment is received makes no sense to a private seller. Example - Posties hand held device batteries fail and they just post the item anyway, not scanned in so doesn't register then ebay thinks the item is not received and can issue a refund to the buyer and they get to keep the item without paying for it. A scammers new paradise has just opened up as well...

[jckl1957]

Even if the item is not scanned, or is sent untracked, you would get paid 14 days after the transaction.

Ebay will not automatically refund.

It is not a scammers' paradise.

Dishonest buyers have always been able to claim items have not been received if they are sent untracked or they are not scanned - that has not changed.  I don't see why buyers should be any more inclined to make false claims after today.  And, as has always been the case, no claim - no refund.

Most of my little items are sent as Large Letters under 100g with just a stamp on and are never marked as received.  I had one INR claim in 2024.  Most buyers are actually not dishonest scammers.

I don't mind waiting for payment.  I don't have staff to pay or stock to buy.

I will continue to sell.

[dan-myers]

Then trace the conversation back to its roots and start from there.

[dan-myers]

Great! 14 days after i sell an item i will finally get my money, said no  business ever.

[1956glyn]

I have just received my renewed passport back.   A well known bank will only accept a current passport or photo driving licence as id and absolutely nothing else.  

[lucy_farmer]

'Great! 14 days after i sell an item i will finally get my money, said no  business ever.'

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I think that's part of the point of ebay's plan...... Business sellers *don't* have to deal with the new rules; for them life goes on as normal.

Ebay wish to force people, who run businesses on private accounts, to register as business accounts.