eBay UK - Changes to Fees & Charges for Both Sellers and Buyers

[DylanDog]

As has been noted previously during October eBay UK removed their Final Value Fees on most items for sellers, however those who thought this sounded too good to be true appear to have been proven right.

From the 4th Feb eBay are introducing a compulsory ‘Buyers Protection Fee’ This means that anyone buying from the eBay.co.uk site will now have to pay extra for the privilege.
According to the info released today the ‘Buyer Protection Fee’ will be calculated as:

• A flat fee of £0.75 per item, and
• 4% of the item price up to £300, and
• 2% of any portion of the item price from £300 to £4,000

So, if a jacket price is set at £500 by the seller it will now incur an additional fee of £16.75 on top (+ any p&p)

Also, sellers are going to see more changes as any funds you receive for items sold will now only become available to be withdrawn 2 calendar days after confirmation of a successful delivery has been received from whichever tracked shipping service is used.

How all these changes affects buying and selling obviously remains to be seen, however my immediate thought as someone who certainly buys more than they sell is that I’m going to be buying fewer items (or at least paying less)
Consequently this will probably also lead to deflation in final sales prices on higher priced items and buyers are going to be receiving less for their items. For example: if your overall budget is £500 you won’t be willing to pay the extra £16.75 and will probably offer somewhere around £485.

 

[Pilot]

 

[B-Man2]

Coming from EBay
We just knew it was too good to be true … didn’t we ?

 

[John Lever]

They might just squeeze too much.

 

[taiAtari]

It makes sense if you consider these changes are just a reaction to Vinted eating into their sales. They're trying to copy their model. Wonder if they will also shift to cheaper shipping options.

 

[bn1966]

My experience with Vinted has been great as a buyer & prices appear generally a lot lower than eBay ….takes more time to find items ... nice old USA Alpha B-15 (90’s) for £80 the other day is now in my wardrobe. Mostly I buy field and casual wear, several RL button down shirts in new condition for £15 a piece recently. Don’t seem to use eBay as much as I used to ….

 

[B-Man2]

My experience with Vinted has been great as a buyer & prices appear generally a lot lower than eBay ….takes more time to find items ... nice old USA Alpha B-15 (90’s) for £80 the other day is now in my wardrobe. Mostly I buy field and casual wear, several RL button down shirts in new condition for £15 a piece recently. Don’t seem to use eBay as much as I used to ….

Enjoy your new found freedom from Geedbay !!

 

[DylanDog]

My experience with Vinted has been great as a buyer & prices appear generally a lot lower than eBay ….takes more time to find items ... nice old USA Alpha B-15 (90’s) for £80 the other day is now in my wardrobe. Mostly I buy field and casual wear, several RL button down shirts in new condition for £15 a piece recently. Don’t seem to use eBay as much as I used to ….

eBay is clearly introducing these changes and new charges in response to the increasing competition from the likes of Vinted and Depop but while the occasional bargain can be found on these platforms I find both to be quite frustrating to use.
Their search functions are very limited. For example: on Vinted a search for Aero Leather will bring up a completely different selection of items to a search for Aero Leathers. Then, the quality of the listings, both in description and photographs, is generally pretty poor, and they don’t seem to have any time limit. So, sellers can upload a listing and then never bother to check back in or respond to any questions or offers.

 

[John Lever]

Vinted is hopeless in comparison

 

[bn1966]

Agree Vinted has a long way to go …. Poor search facilities …… Vendors asleep … minimal descriptions etc. The odd gem and generally good prices for wardrobe staples keep me coming back. Going by the Wife’s experiences there are even more bargains to be had in the woman's clothing section if you are patient with your browsing.

 

[DylanDog]

Yes, although both Vinted and Depop are pretty poor they must still be having enough impact for eBay in the UK to take notice and make changes to their terms.

As has been noted the quality of seller on both the newcomer platforms certainly leaves a lot to be desired, however this can also have the advantage of an undervalued gem being sometimes uncovered.
Both sites could definitely be improved by having a time limit on listings.
I’m aware of a relatively high value jacket (£750+) which has been listed for 5 months and the seller hasn’t logged in or ‘been seen’ for 3.
Another item of clothing has been listed for 11 months. The seller for this seems to log in very, very occasionally and randomly but even then doesn’t bother to reply to any enquiries or genuine (not lowball) offers.
Also, another seller replied positively to a message requesting measurements for a jacket which had been listed for 9 months but nothing was ever heard of again despite the listing still remaining ‘live’

Finally, there have also been issues with accounts being hacked and scam listings posted. The old adage of ‘if it’s too good to be true’ is always something to keep in mind when browsing the sites.