Is it really "free"?
Summary: gopies2026 inquires about whether eBay's current 'free selling' offer is truly without hidden fees, citing past experiences with 13% fees that led to dissatisfaction. twyngwyn clarifies that while selling is free if annual turnover is under $25K, a fee is charged to the buyer. davewil1964 mentions that the 13% fees have been longstanding, implying they were not a recent change. e_purchasing raises skepticism about claims that sellers have left eBay in large numbers, while springyzone argues that many occasional sellers have indeed moved to platforms like Facebook Marketplace due to the absence of fees and increased competition, acknowledging eBay's strategy to attract new users without fees.
Can anyone advise whether the current "free "selling: is actually that, or are there additional hidden fees - as eBay have done in the past and I suspect are doing again.
They lost me when they got greedy and started slugging occasional sellers whopping 13% fees - which literally cost me hundreds of dollars when I was doing a home clean-out ahead of an interstate move late last year and early this year. No wonder occasional home sellers of second hand goods have left the site in droves.
Once trust has been lost it is difficult to restore - and sometimes impossible.
e_purchasing
·1 month agoNo wonder occasional home sellers of second hand goods have left the site in droves.
Where is the statistical data that backs up this claim of yours? Just because you thunk it (sic) does not make it fact.
It is free to sell if your turnover is less than $25K per year. The proviso is eBay will charge a fee to the buyer which will show in your price and you must use eBay postage
springyzone
·1 month ago · EditedNo wonder occasional home sellers of second hand goods have left the site in droves.
I don't have the stats either but I suspect it is true that plenty have.
For anyone who has been around for years on ebay, it is very apparent that these days most sellers seem to be 'professional' small or large sellers of mostly new stock. And flooded with chinese products.
In the beginning, the site was the opposite in that most people seemed to be small 'home' sellers of second hand items. And from Australia, for the most part.
I can still recall one buyer back then coming for pick up and commenting that we had an awful lot up for sale. She said it twice, as in surprised and wanting to know what was going on.
At that time, we only had about 15 items!
I would bet my bottom dollar, even without the stats, that ebay has lost a lot of the 'occasional seller' business to Facebook marketplace. Young people are all over it, I use it a lot too and so do most of my friends, including some who also list on ebay.
The key feature of marketplace is no fees.
There is no way ebay would be introducing a no fee system unless they were trying to tempt new sellers into the fold. There's a lot of competition out there.
davewil1964
·1 month agoThe fees have been around 13% for many years, so they started slugging sellers long before you cleaned your house out.
twyngwyn
·1 month agoFor ‘free selling’ the buyer pays a fee