Buyer protection fee
Summary: A participant expressed dissatisfaction with eBay's new Buyer's protection fee. They mentioned that after making a sale, they ended up financially worse due to buyers offering lower amounts to account for the fee. The structure of the fee is criticized as being too complex, and the participant suggests a simplified flat fee. They also shared a past experience where they were cheated by a buyer and received no response from eBay after reporting the case. The overall sentiment is that both buyers and sellers are disadvantaged by these changes, while only eBay benefits.
Hi, if anyone can help me with the following, it would be greatly appreciated.
I recently had a buyer offer of $15 on one of my ‘buy it now’ items. While I rejected the offer, I received the attached sale break-up from eBay, saying that I would be charged a $1.39 ‘Buyer protection fee’. Essentially, I would receive $13.61 from a $15.00 sale.
I don’t have a pro account and so was under the impression that the buyer would pay this fee. I’ve checked my plan and it’s definitely ‘free selling’.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood the process and I’m being about thick. I’ve tried using eBay’s help option, but I didn’t find it very helpful at all.
Thanks.
tanamane
·2 months agoThe Buyer's protection fee is an ill-advised "improvement" by Ebay. I just made a sale, but ended up worse off than before. Buyers now factor in the fee and make lower or no offers. And the structure is hard to follow. It should be a flat fee, maybe with different brackets. As it currently stands, bother sellers and buyers will lose. Only Ebay will win.
On the other hand, I was ripped off by a buyer some time ago. Where is the seller's protection? I reported the case and buyer, and never heard back from Ebay.
This is not the way to compete with other platforms...
bikeden
·2 months agoWhen previously buying, when you spotted a price of AU whole dollars or at least ending in 99c you could assume the seller was in Australia. Items with odd prices are caused by currency conversion and generally point to overseas sellers. Dead giveaway for 'AU STOCK' listings.
Now with buyers on 'Free Selling' accounts their prices are skewed due to 'protection fee' added to their original asking price, sort of lumping them into the off shore selling crowd now.
Yesterday I was trying to reverse engineer the buyer protection fee to make the final price round to whole dollars. Could someone please 'Ai' a calculator !
twyngwyn
·2 months agoCan any ‘free sellers’ tell me this: when you choose eBay label, does eBay automatically put in the cost of the label or are you free to inflate that cost?
twyngwyn
·2 months agoAnyone know?
And, Scott (OP) how do you have standard parcel delivery on some of your items?
scott_cnp
OP2 months agoMy ‘buy it now’ listings were set up long before the new selling system, so are still showing my original ‘flat rate’ postage charge.
I haven’t sold anything under the new system, but should one of these items sell now, it’s possible that eBay would adjust the postage delivery fee based on whatever Australia Post would charge.
Is that what you were asking?
twyngwyn
·2 months agoOk….so I went to BIN on the red Jag, and it’s not changing the postage….interesting….and has eBay automatically calculated postage on your others, or did you choose the price?
springyzone
·2 months agoNot that I sell and have to worry, but I casually browsed the topic and wondered the same thing.
It's all very well for ebay to calculate postage but postage bags, bubble wrap etc are not free.
All I can say is sellers will have to be very sure their item price covers everything.
I must admit, postage charges must have been a headache for ebay over the years as plenty of buyers get upset if they aren't charged the exact Auspost rate.
*casey*
·2 months agoJust be aware that if you list as an auction , the buyer protection fee is added to the starting price when you list and increases with higher bids.
The final calculation is shown at checkout when the auction ends.
IMO, where buyers have used Buy It Now and see the breakdown in checkout they may query it with a seller. A one time query.
Buyers of auctions 'may" say they wouldn't have continued bidding if they knew there was a buyer protection fee involved , which they won't see until they get to checkout.
twyngwyn
·2 months agoThe whole thing is fraught….the only winner is eBay….but it’s still cheaper than paying fvf
domino-710
·2 months agoSomeone - like twyn or casey - perhaps should begin a thread on the ' free selling ' wrought.
Both are very aware of the pitfalls -but the number of those who aren't and are going to get caught should at least have a heads up.
List the pros and cons.
twyngwyn
·2 months agoThanks dom, but I’m still trying to work it all out ie….. a free seller has free postage and accepts an offer….then fee is on the whole transaction??
casey, do you know?
pnc75
·2 months agoWhat a mess the whole thing is. I thought I understood, but I obviously don't.
twyngwyn
·2 months agoMy head’s spinning and I’ve got a store 🤯
pnc75
·2 months agoWell, so have I now, since the change, but I don't know what to do with it as I have no idea how stores work.
twyngwyn
·2 months agoYes, that’s the case as I just looked at one of OPs free postage listings
countessalmirena
·2 months agoGood point, casey.
It’s not straightforward.
twyngwyn
·2 months agoHmmm…the buyer protection fee is paid by the buyer….so, savvy buyers will get around that by making an offer (which is total cost).
I don’t do ‘offers’, so this is my guess.
twyngwyn
·2 months agoThis is what I see, after clicking on ‘buy it now’
scott_cnp
OP2 months agoThanks for your reply, twyngwn. It appears as you’ve suggested that buyer offers aren’t covered under the fee free terms.
That’s really helped me out. Much appreciated.
*casey*
·2 months ago"buyer offers aren’t covered under the fee free terms"
"If a buyer bids on an auction or makes an offer on a listing, the Buyer Protection fee is included in their auction or offer amount, so they know exactly how much they'll pay if they win the auction or if their offer is accepted.
As a seller, you see the auction or offer price without the fee, so you know exactly how much you'll receive. As the Buyer Protection fee is variable, the fee amount that the buyer actually pays is calculated as part of the final auction selling price"
https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/selling/pricing-items/buyer-protection-information-sellers?id=5595&srsltid=AfmBOoqE-KrH85UgN0rB50dXCMfpI3nCY_R05G33fQ938wnvTJDMonnQ
*casey*
·2 months ago"buyer offers aren’t covered under the fee free terms"
They are .
Your example shows the buyer offer of $15 which is what the buyer would pay.
The buyer protection fee of $1.39 would be paid to ebay and you receive the balance
twyngwyn
·2 months agoI wonder how widespread ‘make an offer’ is?
The upshot of all this is the seller ends up paying the buyer’s fee, if they accept an offer….how lucrative for eBay 🤑💰
How many infrequent sellers will get caught? Get ready for umpteen threads…
*casey*
·2 months agoMake an offer is very common.
It's still fee free as far as selling fees go.
BUT eBay's done it very sneakily.
Free Selling sellers like the OP are fully aware when listing an item that a buyer protection fee is added on.
The total price is what the buyer sees and is what the buyer would pay on a Buy It Now.
eBay hides the fact that the price includes a buyer protection fee until they get to checkout ! Why ?
With offers, most sellers would initially assume it was added on to an offer , not taken from the offer.
But eBay knows buyers would query that !
So I guess you could say the seller's paying the fee.
scott_cnp
OP2 months ago“How many infrequent sellers will get caught? Get ready for umpteen threads…”
Glad to have gotten in first. LOL.