New eBay fee method

[Psycho Sonny]

It’s shocking how eBay are still going really but fair play to them for keeping it going.

I was at an e-commerce conference a couple of years ago and several marketplaces had people there, Amazon eBay, Facebook and some new startups.

You could really tell eBay was a dinosaur, the other marketplace spokespeople were laughing in eBays face. But.... they love to fight another day.

How's it shocking?

They are the original, the biggest and albeit they have some really terrible policies and practices nothing else can get you as many views or as much money. That's what matters at the end of the day.

Doesn't matter if new startup has zero fees if only 2 people view your ad.

 

[Vanquish-Storm]

How's it shocking?

They are the original, the biggest and albeit they have some really terrible policies and practices nothing else can get you as many views or as much money. That's what matters at the end of the day.

Doesn't matter if new startup has zero fees if only 2 people view your ad.

It’s shocking because people still use them, everyone moans about them but they still get used.
It’s shocking because the people running the boat really do not have a clue.

Their shining grace is that they have been around since the land that time forgot and they get the visitors/customers.

Their system is crap for sellers to use but because they are still one of the big 2 marketplaces sellers won’t not use them.

it would be really interesting to see if another player came to the market that could truest challenge the number of visitors. Many of tried and failed though.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

It’s shocking because people still use them, everyone moans about them but they still get used.
It’s shocking because the people running the boat really do not have a clue.

Their shining grace is that they have been around since the land that time forgot and they get the visitors/customers.

Their system is crap for sellers to use but because they are still one of the big 2 marketplaces sellers won’t not use them.

it would be really interesting to see if another player came to the market that could truest challenge the number of visitors. Many of tried and failed though.

I'd happily drop eBay if there was an alternative that got me as much money for stuff or I'd even take slightly less if it gave sellers some sort of power.

Removing feedback was a terrible decision by eBay. Now all the time wasters and scammers can do whatever they want now.

If someone made something that was a true competitor and I don't require social media I'm all for it.

Facebook marketplace is something id never use.

Until then eBay is really the only good choice. It would be easy to be better than them because of all the stupid changes they made.

I don't know why they have put all the power into buyers hands. Terrible policy. Both buyers and sellers should be able to give negative feedback.

 

[pc-guy]

So I recently changed to the new eBay fee (exc PayPal) system and was shocked.

I sold for 270

And 40 pounds of fees were taken

After posting ill be left with 220!

I questioned this.
Vat is now charged!

This was never a thing when I paid by PayPal. I'm sure.

You'd get 10 percent ebay fees.
You'd get 2-3 percent of PayPal fees and that's it.

Anyone else seen this?

How can eBay charge VAT on what you selling which is second hand goods?

Plus why is eBay doing VAT collection? They are not HMRC. That doesn’t sound right.

if a business seller is doing commerce on eBay then as a market place eBay has the duty to verify business status and VAT registration. They shouldn’t be collecting VAT on sales on behave of her majesty’s government. eBay is not a branch of government. That money goes to eBay then HMRC is never going to see it as it will be washed with revenue and losses and costs. And end up with a -ve number that the government has to pay them as rebate somehow.

 

[pc-guy]

I'd happily drop eBay if there was an alternative that got me as much money for stuff or I'd even take slightly less if it gave sellers some sort of power.

Removing feedback was a terrible decision by eBay. Now all the time wasters and scammers can do whatever they want now.

If someone made something that was a true competitor and I don't require social media I'm all for it.

Facebook marketplace is something id never use.

Until then eBay is really the only good choice. It would be easy to be better than them because of all the stupid changes they made.

I don't know why they have put all the power into buyers hands. Terrible policy. Both buyers and sellers should be able to give negative feedback.

i sell and buy on eBay and have had dirty sellers and buyers playing the system.

on balance it is harder for a seller to win if the buyer decides to be a weasel. Where as a buyer, with the buyer protection and the use of credit card you have double protection regardless.

I have had a number of times where buyer tried funny addresses and claim things not delivered. (iPhones). Luckily I record their IMEI and serial number and I register them with Apple first. So if they don’t play ball I black list the phones so they get a brick which I can subsequently claim off insurance as loss.

there are times buyer plays the trick of refuse delivery or leave it at the depot. And then file a claim for not received the parcel. The parcel will stay at depot for upto a month to be claimed but the dispute will be settled earlier than that time frame so they get their money back and their stuff. Unfortunately this is now very common practice. I have had it a lot of times. So now I get full insurance, as soon as a dispute comes, I raise a non-delivery with the courier and they have to resolve the matter (compensation) within 2 weeks which works with the dispute timeframe. So at least I am not out of pocket. But obviously the thieving buyer gets his cake and eat it also.

And I will check the tracking information donkeys later and it will indicate it has been delivered or collected.

 

[Rikmeister]

... and then posting for 10 quid

Sorry this is off-topic but any tips for getting the best value on postage?

 

[pc-guy]

Sorry this is off-topic but any tips for getting the best value on postage?

Bundle it into your sale, and take advantage of the £1 FVF so you don’t get hit by the fees. If you offer free delivery it is always something a buyer prefers.

then you are liberty to choose whichever courier you deem fit.

Or you can set a postage at a much much higher value than cost to cover the fee.

I bought something with a £8 postage before and the seller sent it via RM 2nd class so it was only £2.90. I wasn’t pleased with it but I guess it made money for him.

 

[Rikmeister]

Bundle it into your sale, and take advantage of the £1 FVF so you don’t get hit by the fees. If you offer free delivery it is always something a buyer prefers.

then you are liberty to choose whichever courier you deem fit.

Or you can set a postage at a much much higher value than cost to cover the fee.

I bought something with a £8 postage before and the seller sent it via RM 2nd class so it was only £2.90. I wasn’t pleased with it but I guess it made money for him.

That's good advice. Thanks.

Any suggestions on couriers?

 

[Tephnos]

i sell and buy on eBay and have had dirty sellers and buyers playing the system.

on balance it is harder for a seller to win if the buyer decides to be a weasel. Where as a buyer, with the buyer protection and the use of credit card you have double protection regardless.

I have had a number of times where buyer tried funny addresses and claim things not delivered. (iPhones). Luckily I record their IMEI and serial number and I register them with Apple first. So if they don’t play ball I black list the phones so they get a brick which I can subsequently claim off insurance as loss.

there are times buyer plays the trick of refuse delivery or leave it at the depot. And then file a claim for not received the parcel. The parcel will stay at depot for upto a month to be claimed but the dispute will be settled earlier than that time frame so they get their money back and their stuff. Unfortunately this is now very common practice. I have had it a lot of times. So now I get full insurance, as soon as a dispute comes, I raise a non-delivery with the courier and they have to resolve the matter (compensation) within 2 weeks which works with the dispute timeframe. So at least I am not out of pocket. But obviously the thieving buyer gets his cake and eat it also.

And I will check the tracking information donkeys later and it will indicate it has been delivered or collected.

Refusals of parcels are recorded in tracking and void any not received claims as it is the buyer's responsibility to receive the parcel. Not doing so means the lose their buyer's protection.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

That's good advice. Thanks.

Any suggestions on couriers?

Royal mail if it's small and doesn't weigh much.

Otherwise DPD.

Don't use anyone else apart from parcel force through a reseller of I can't get a good deal with DPD.

 

[DeliciousStorage]

Depends what you are selling I like Gumtree Have sold 3 consoles this year all at full asking

I sold 2 old consoles on eBay, after PayPal (2.9%) and eBay (£1) fees I got significantly more than I would have asked for them on Gumtree. Of course it helped that they were in demand due to lockdown and lack of new stock.

 

[Surveyor]

there are times buyer plays the trick of refuse delivery or leave it at the depot. And then file a claim for not received the parcel. The parcel will stay at depot for upto a month to be claimed but the dispute will be settled earlier than that time frame so they get their money back and their stuff. Unfortunately this is now very common practice. I have had it a lot of times. So now I get full insurance, as soon as a dispute comes, I raise a non-delivery with the courier and they have to resolve the matter (compensation) within 2 weeks which works with the dispute timeframe. So at least I am not out of pocket. But obviously the thieving buyer gets his cake and eat it also.

And I will check the tracking information donkeys later and it will indicate it has been delivered or collected.

How do you receive compensation for a parcel that isn't lost?

 

[Vanquish-Storm]

I'd happily drop eBay if there was an alternative that got me as much money for stuff or I'd even take slightly less if it gave sellers some sort of power.

Removing feedback was a terrible decision by eBay. Now all the time wasters and scammers can do whatever they want now.

If someone made something that was a true competitor and I don't require social media I'm all for it.

Facebook marketplace is something id never use.

Until then eBay is really the only good choice. It would be easy to be better than them because of all the stupid changes they made.

I don't know why they have put all the power into buyers hands. Terrible policy. Both buyers and sellers should be able to give negative feedback.

Completely agree.

 

[pc-guy]

How do you receive compensation for a parcel that isn't lost?

If it is truly lost then compensation otherwise i will have to wait it out and also make the buyer wait it out. If they are trying to scam me they will do all sorts to speed up the refund. And it means a lot of messages and phone calls with eBay.

 

[Surveyor]

If it is truly lost then compensation otherwise i will have to wait it out and also make the buyer wait it out. If they are trying to scam me they will do all sorts to speed up the refund. And it means a lot of messages and phone calls with eBay.

You should re-word your post. It reads as if you're successfully claiming for parcels which have been refused delivery and are sitting in the depot meaning you're getting compensation and the buyer is getting a refund and, eventually, their parcel.

 

[pc-guy]

You should re-word your post. It reads as if you're successfully claiming for parcels which have been refused delivery and are sitting in the depot meaning you're getting compensation and the buyer is getting a refund and, eventually, their parcel.

That did happen to me also.

I refunded the buyer then he rang Hermes and got his parcel the day after the refund went to him. I only found out about it when I was going through my feedback and noticed he left me some unfavourable comments. So I decided to go back to my tracking and check what is happened to it all, mainly to check some dates and events. But in the process found out the parcel was delivered.

I didn’t used packlink or whatever eBay’s thing. I used a intermediary company as the parcel was very large and heavy. It was outside the limit of the eBay services. So the compensation was from the intermediary company. They had limited information from Hermes and took them over 3 weeks to get anything out from Hermes.

 

[Surveyor]

That did happen to me also.

Odd that a delivery company should compensate you for a parcel they haven't lost. Anyway, your earlier post reads as if it's a regular occurance not a one-off.

 

[pc-guy]

Odd that a delivery company should compensate you for a parcel they haven't lost. Anyway, your earlier post reads as if it's a regular occurance not a one-off.

That has happened to me once and I was foolish enough to refund soon as I can.

after I found out buyer can use this tactics, I am a lot more aware now.

I have had a number of buyers doing similar thing. Parcel showing “still with us” and the buyer claiming no delivery. So now I ask them all to wait a long time ie past 30days period. All end up with parcel delivered “magically” within 48hrs of them raising the claim and me asking them to wait for x time because Hermes is looking into it and it will take x time to resolve.

so logic dictates these people are trying it on.

 

[Surveyor]

That has happened to me once and I was foolish enough to refund soon as I can.

after I found out buyer can use this tactics, I am a lot more aware now.

I have had a number of buyers doing similar thing. Parcel showing “still with us” and the buyer claiming no delivery. So now I ask them all to wait a long time ie past 30days period. All end up with parcel delivered “magically” within 48hrs of them raising the claim and me asking them to wait for x time because Hermes is looking into it and it will take x time to resolve.

so logic dictates these people are trying it on.

I'm not disputing how may times buyers might be trying to scam you. I'm querying your earlier post where you say you're protecting yourself by claiming compensation for parcels undelivered but not lost.

there are times buyer plays the trick of refuse delivery or leave it at the depot. And then file a claim for not received the parcel. The parcel will stay at depot for upto a month to be claimed but the dispute will be settled earlier than that time frame so they get their money back and their stuff. Unfortunately this is now very common practice. I have had it a lot of times. So now I get full insurance, as soon as a dispute comes, I raise a non-delivery with the courier and they have to resolve the matter (compensation) within 2 weeks which works with the dispute timeframe. So at least I am not out of pocket. But obviously the thieving buyer gets his cake and eat it also.

And I will check the tracking information donkeys later and it will indicate it has been delivered or collected.

 

[pc-guy]

I'm not disputing how may times buyers might be trying to scam you. I'm querying your earlier post where you say you're protecting yourself by claiming compensation for parcels undelivered but not lost.

Courier computer systems aren’t very good. They don’t necessarily show all the information. At times I have parcel entering Hermes network for instance or being dropped off parcel shops via DHL or DPD and then can’t see anything in the tracking until a few days later it magically turns up as being delivered.

it only takes some glitch in the scanner or somewhere in the computer system for the tracking information to fall apart.

these people who try to game the system clearly knows there is a weakness in the tracking system and they exploit it. Obviously the courier companies will do their most to find out but if their IT system doesn’t show the item been delivered and it is somewhere in their network then, they have to resort to as a lost item. By definition that is lost. But anyway, that’s why they usually ask you to wait an unfavourably long time in hope the parcel turns up.

The instance where I was stung by this scum, I wasn’t using Hermes directly. I was going through an intermediary - probably parcel2go. They compensated me rather than Hermes as Hermes couldn’t give them any information on where the parcel was. I guess for them it was just simpler to compensate as opposed to drag things out - this is still after 3 weeks of raising the issue of non-delivery. But that instance I didn’t have full covered. I only went upto £50 for something that was £100. Foolish but took a risk as the cost of insurance with a bulk delivery was unimaginable expensive.

but before all these started (around March April 2020), never had any issues with Hermes, DHL etc. RM used to have some shady records that’s why I try to avoid them as much as possible plus they don’t have full tracking on their sign for services.