The Buyer's Premium Comes To Ebay Uk.

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
ebay uk recently removed fees for private sellers, presumably because of competition from Vinted and other sites. But, from February, it will recoup some of those losses via its new "buyer protection" arrangements - a buyer's premium by any other name. There was a potentially unpleasant element for sellers, in that ebay proposes to withhold payments until delivery is "confirmed", i.e. tracking would be required. After I had an online exchange with ebay, it eventually said that, if confirmation had not been received after fourteen days, funds would be released.

ebay message below.

More protection for your buyers
Hi Geoffrey,

We recently changed our fee structure, so it's now free for private sellers to sell, and there are no barriers for you to list the items buyers will love. As part of this change, we're launching Buyer Protection to give buyers more confidence and security when shopping.

We wanted to share what this means for you and your buyers. From 4 Fe#65279;b, a fee will be included in the item price when purchasing from private sellers, but buyers will only ever pay what they see, so there are no surprises at checkout.

What's great about Buyer Protection
We've added benefits to give buyers more peace of mind when shopping:

• 24#65279;/#65279;7 customer support: Buyers can connect with a real person by phone at any time of day, or start a chat to get quick answers.

• Seller paid after delivery: When buying from private sellers, funds will only be sent once their item has been delivered.

We've also still got buyers covered with other great free services like eBay Money Back Guarantee and Authenticity Guarantee.*

How the Buyer Protection fee works

• The fee will be included in the item price from private sellers, so there are no surprises at checkout.

• Buyers will pay up to 4% of the item price, plus £0.75.** For example, when they see an item for £20, the fee of £1.49 will already be part of the price.

• The fee is lower on higher-priced items over £300, and there's a cap on the total amount they'll pay.

• For items from business sellers, they'll get the Buyer Protection benefits at no extra cost.

Learn more about the Buyer Protection fee

How we're improving things for private sellers
As part of our ongoing mission to be the best marketplace for buyers and sellers, we recently announced:

• It's free to sell (excl. Vehicles) so you can bring buyers more of the things they love.

• It's simpler to list so you can get your items out faster.

• It's easier to get your items to buyers with the launch of Simple Delivery.

Now, to give your buyers even more confidence when shopping, UK-based private sellers will be paid after item delivery, from 4 Fe#65279;b. Your funds will be available in your eBay balance two days after delivery confirmation.*** We know it's important to get your money fast, so we recommend using a tracked delivery service either through Simple Delivery, or arranging for local collection.

Learn more about what's changing for sellers

We're also updating our User Agreement to reflect the Buyer Protection service. If you have any questions or concerns, just get in touch—we're here to help.

Thanks for being part of the eBay community.

*eBay Money Back Guarantee and Authenticity Guarantee only apply to eligible items and categories.

**Buyer Protection excludes Vehicles, Classified Ads and Property.

***Some exceptions apply. Learn more.

So, Ebay gets 4% plus for the New Year. I am running across this with everything here across the Pond. From my trash removal to property taxes everyone has their hand out and of course in exchange they make vague promises of ethereal advantages for all their subjects. How about some honesty for a change.

"We will be increasing the cost of your service to provide additional compensation and a new jet for our CEO. The upside for you, our loyal customer, is that you get to feel better about yourself although we don't know why because you are gaining weight and have halitosis"

I,ve just been reading through all this myself, im a business seller on ebay, I buy collections, take out what I want and resell the rest on ebay to recoup monies as to not affect family finances, its worked out well for last 10 years or more and I've built a good collection from it, it says it wont affect buisness sellers getting paid on scheduled dates but its getting a bit too expensive now, the promoted listings seem to be nesecary if its a big ticket item being sold by auction aswell,

36p to list then final value fee taken from postage costs aswell, now the charge for buyer protections, private sellers will have to wait to get paid on delivery? that means all items are going to have to be sent recorded, across the pond thats around £8, anything under £20 I send standard and get proof of postage then reclaim if it it doesnt arrive, I've had items to the US sometimes take 3 to 4 weeks to arrive if its held up, tracked I've seen items take 6 days just to leave the UK

once ebay announced it was free to sell for private I knew theyd stick a charge somewhere, I know there trying to run over vinted but private sellers could be waiting a long time to get paid,

ive never used anything other than ebay, are there any other sites that have the market share size of ebay?

I'm sure buyers will be delighted to see an extra charge - and they'll probably blame the seller. And if tracking for cheap stuff is added to that, many will walk. But I do like the concept of "buyer protection", when it's actually the opposite of that.

i think it will hurt the private seller stamp catergory, no more 99p listings, its 4% plus 75p if I read it right?, add to that you can only really send it tracked as the 2 week window before you can open a claim as a buyer isnt long enough speaking from experience, then you have to wait for delivery acknowledgement before you get paid, theyll be no point doing low start auctions for private seller on low value items, plus ebay rake it in interest holding funds in escrow.

And 'POOF!' just like that, HipStamp as a selling platform suddenly looks mighty good!

Buyer protection fee - corporate speak from some freshly minted MBA no doubt

Morning all. Does anyone have any experience of using other sites such as Hipstamp or Delcampe as private sellers? I looked today at Hipstamp and it appears they want a monthly fee.
Regards
DavidR

David - isn't Hipstamp rather US-oriented? The fact is that the coverage you get from ebay is likely to outweigh the disadvantages of its pricing innovations.

You're probably right Geoff. I only move on about a dozen items a month, with low start prices. Will have to see how the new structure pans out before trying elsewhere.
Regards
DavidR

It will be interesting. One thing I've noted over the years is how impervious many buyers are to postage costs - so often they buy several items and pay separately instead of waiting for an invoice. So the new ebay charge may not register with some.

@DavidR as you are a UK based seller, probably eBay is still best for you.

I sell on all three (eBay, Hipstamp, Delcampe) actively. Hipstamp is almost all US/Canadian sellers & buyers using Scott #s & charges a monthly sub (it's a good venue for me as a seller, but I'm located in Canada). Delcampe is mostly European and formerly pretty good but recent changes to push fees onto buyers have led to a real downturn in activity there.

Will be interesting to see if other national eBay sites follow the UK model, and with what results.

~Greg

Thanks Greg.
Regards
DavidR