More unwanted enhancements coming

[pnc75]

 From an email just now:

An update to selling on eBay

Coming at the end of April, we're introducing updates to improve our online marketplace and make selling easier. Learn more about the changes and what they mean for you below.

What this means for you

We’re updating our subscriptions for sellers who want more flexibility and control or who sell higher volumes.

This includes a new Pro Starter plan subscription for sellers who use advanced selling features, like multi-quantity and multi-variation listings.

Based on your usage of these selling features, we believe you’ll have the best selling experience with a Pro Starter plan.

• The Pro Starter plan reflects your current selling experience and includes access to advanced selling features, as well as expanded shipping and payout options and additional customer support. 
• This plan has no monthly cost and you will continue to pay final value fees, as you do today.

Free selling

We’re introducing free selling in late April for Australia-based sellers with up to $25,000 in sales annually. Eligible sellers will no longer pay transaction fees when they sell on eBay.com.au, across all categories.

Learn more about selling fees and how your sales are evaluated.

Free selling is intended for sellers with simpler selling needs and does not include access to advanced selling features or scheduled payouts. These sellers will have to buy labels on eBay for eligible items. A Buyer Protection fee will also be added to their listings and paid by the buyer to eBay.

Based on your current selling activity, you'll qualify for free selling.

You don’t need to do anything right now; we’ll confirm your eligibility in late April and explain how you can cancel the Pro Starter plan if you would rather take advantage of free selling. If you choose to cancel, you will lose access to the selling features available in the Pro Starter plan. 

[grannytakesatrip17]

Could I please ask you a question.

I know you are always very helpful.

I have had problems recently with a buyer who wanted to collect from me.

He was messing me around a fair bit and wanted to pay cash on collection.

So to start with I agreed, but said he had to commit to buy, ie. buy it now but not pay.

Well he couldn’t make that work.

So I tried so hard to help him and said, ok buy it now and pay, but enter collect.

There seemed to be no way to make this work either, as ebay kept messaging him to pay including postage.

I must admit that I am now quite elderly and in the end I said I would have to post the items.

If you can, or anyone else, could you please help me.

I am sorry to be a bother.

I am aware that this is a members only forum and not ebay itself.

With kind regards.

[domino-710]

Let me get this straight.

He wanted to pay on collection - but you said he had to commit to buy - ie buy it now but not pay.

What on earth are you doing. ??

[twyngwyn]

Does that item have pick-up enabled?

Yes, he has to commit to buy before you are allowed to give him your details.

And he doesn’t have to pay immediately, unless you have that set as a requirement….and he can pay cash (until the end of this month) supposedly.

What is the item number?

[twyngwyn]

Was ‘best offer’ involved?

[gudasnu2005]

If I'm a 'free seller' and am required to BUY ONLY ebay postage labels, will ebay STILL CHARGE a FEE on the POSTAGE I bought from them? I wonder.

eBay cannot claim that I profitted from this amount and am dodging fees. They will know exactly how much I paid them for postage.

They can determine the fees and charges AFTER the seller has bought the eBay postage labels, so that the postage cost will not be charged!

If they already charged fees on the postage after transaction completion, surely they can refund the fees they charge on postage after! But that is, If they really want to!

[gudasnu2005]

OOPS! SORRY, CAN't READ - Free selling NO FEES!

[merfar2107]

From Today's 'Seller Scoop'

While listing, you'll see that a Buyer Protection fee will be added to the item price. You'll be able to review your item price, the Buyer Protection fee, and the total item price the buyer will see before completing your listing.

While listing, you'll see that a Buyer Protection fee will be added to the item price. You'll be able to review your item price, the Buyer Protection fee, and the total item price the buyer will see before completing your listing.

You may want to revise your item price on existing listings when Buyer Protection is introduced. 

How is the Buyer Protection fee calculated?

When an Australia-based seller who doesn't have a Pro plan lists an item on eBay.com.au, we add a Buyer Protection fee to the listing price. This fee is paid by the buyer to eBay. You can review the listing price, the Buyer Protection fee, and the total item price the buyer will see before you complete your listing.

It may take some time to see the Buyer Protection fee reflected in your listing. Typically this delay is only a few minutes but may take up to 24 hours. Australian buyers will always see the total item price.

The Buyer Protection fee is calculated as:

• A flat fee of $0.30 per item, and
• 8% of the item price up to $20, and
• 6% of any portion of the item price from $20 to $500, and
• 4% of any portion of the item price from $500 to $5,000

Any portion of the item price over $5,000 won't incur any additional fee.

So all of the items will be more expensive which will mean less sales unless the seller drops their original asking price. 

[lezned-toycollector]

Of course.

Currently as the fee structure stands, the seller pays the 13.4% FVF.

So by reducing their asking price to eat the 8% buyer protection fee, the buyer ends up paying the same amount as now, and the seller increases their profit. 

I don't think the issue is going to be the item price, but rather the additional buyer protection fee being shown to the buyer. Many of them have no idea how much eBay charges sellers now... and there's also a large number who don't know eBay charges sellers anything at all.

So who knows how a buyer will react when they see an extra fee added on to the price they have to pay. 

[domino-710]

Still want my choice of delivery.

[*casey*]

"So all of the items will be more expensive which will mean less sales unless the seller drops their original asking price."

It's all about how a buyer evaluates the total price they pay.

Right now, a  seller can include their fees in the asking price and the buyer happily pays that plus postage.

But the problems that have occurred on  the UK site are that when they get to checkout they see

eg UK example

£ 250.31

inc £ 10.32 buyer protection fee

and  buyers are then hitting the back button.

UK sellers have been  inundated with questions about it  as some buyers think  it's  a  seller fee and some think it devalues their item