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Revision to eBay seller fees


ianmacc
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Morning all. Just had a notification through about eBay managing payments on behalf of sellers going forward. In work so can’t read in detail but anybody here analysed what the changes means for the casual seller? Say for example selling a Hornby train set for £50 as a case study. 

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I think it's just a way for them to break away from PayPal I think.

Means in the end, what you get paid is it.  No more getting paid £20 but then a month later having to pay £2 or whatever in fees.

 

While I have declined to allow eBay to have my bank details at the moment (I like holding some money in a PayPal account), I like the "no fees a month later" approach.

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Yes, it enables them to offer an integrated payment hub which means that you get settled the net value for your sales and as long as you comply with their Ts and Cs on using tracked services and managing after sales issues there are no other fees or chargeback risks.

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A friend mentioned this, but I've not had anything about it.


The cynic in me suspects it's a good way to do away with the £1 listing fee offers and what not. I wonder if they're just testing it though.

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You may well be right, but I really don't want them to do away with the £1 fee offers - I only list items over a tenner when they limit their fees to £1.

 

I didn't really expect them to continue those offers as they make a lot more with their standard fees and they dont have any serious competition for sales of specialist things like model railways where the market size is only a tiny fraction of the population.

 

If ebay do drop those offers it's going to be Quorn swapmeets for all of my decluttering of bulky railwayana.

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  • 2 months later...

My account will be switching over in a week or two to the "managed payments system".  EBay thinks it a great idea as they are able to offer the items for sale on your site with the option of many payment systems.  Possibly the seller will not even know what payment system has been used.  EBay also like the system as it gives them direct access to your banking account should you be remiss on a payment say if a decision is made against you and the buyer is to get a refund.  EBay also retain your money for a few days before it appears in your account.

 

From the point of view of the seller what are the disadvantages.  Often when I have sold an item basically every payment has been by PayPal.  I could then almost instantly use that PayPal payment to purchase another item.  Under the EBay system,  eBay will hold onto my payment for two or three days then directly credit it to my banking account.  I do not know about British banks but usually any payment made to my bank account has my banking institution wanting several days to confirm that the payment was genuine.  Thus from my point of view any payment may not be seen actually in my account for a week or so after the buyer has made payment.  I am not a fan of the system as I have always liked PayPal and after nearly twenty years of using it I have never had an issue.  EBay did contact me personally a couple of months ago about the changeover and in a lengthy telephone conversation I made my points known.  The eBay service person listened to my issues however, it was made very clear that the managed payments system was a reality and I would need to accept it.  While I was talking to the person I made it known to him that many, if not most of the eBay sellers are not power sellers with a huge inventory in their store,  nor do they rely on eBay for their sole income.  EBay thinks that everyone is a businessman and not just someone occasionally selling off unwanted items.

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2 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

EBay also like the system as it gives them direct access to your banking account should you be remiss on a payment say if a decision is made against you and the buyer is to get a refund

 

I think you will find that you are incorrect, Ebay nor anyone else has the 'right' to take money from your bank account. There is a direct debit facility in the Ebay revised agreement which Ebay will no doubt attempt to use for refunds. However under banking rules you can require your bank to refund any DD that is taken incorrectly under the Direct Debit Guarantee scheme.

 

It will be interesting to see how any dispute on a refund is handled by Ebay. They do not have a reputation for sensitivity in such matters and I can see there being an increase in indemnity claims made of the banks!

 

I have used the new system for selling and had cash net of fees credited to my account a few days after the sale. It does not feel dramatically different to Paypal although it does give Ebay a couple of days of free cashflow

 

 

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This has not come to UK sellers yet but if it does I will be insisting on PayPal only as it is instant payment that I can then use straightaway and I know I have actually received the money.

 

Adding other payment systems will in my opinion just cause confusion and may well put  buyers off.

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4 hours ago, John M Upton said:

This has not come to UK sellers yet but if it does I will be insisting on PayPal only as it is instant payment that I can then use straightaway and I know I have actually received the money.

 

Adding other payment systems will in my opinion just cause confusion and may well put  buyers off.

I don't think you will be able to 'insist' on receiving payments by PayPal.

 

The impression I get from the e-mail I received from E-bay is that you will have to provided them with your bank details. They will process the payment and the money will go into your bank account within a couple of days. Buyers can still pay using PayPal if they wish. 

 

 

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12 hours ago, young37215 said:

I think you will find that you are incorrect, Ebay nor anyone else has the 'right' to take money from your bank account. There is a direct debit facility in the Ebay revised agreement which Ebay will no doubt attempt to use for refunds. However under banking rules you can require your bank to refund any DD that is taken incorrectly under the Direct Debit Guarantee scheme.

 

The person you are replying to is not in the UK and may not benefit from the DD guarantee.

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13 hours ago, John M Upton said:

This has not come to UK sellers yet but if it does I will be insisting on PayPal only as it is instant payment that I can then use straightaway and I know I have actually received the money.

 

Adding other payment systems will in my opinion just cause confusion and may well put  buyers off.

 

The latest email from eBay specifically states that a seller is not to state the preferred payment method such as PayPal.

Quote: "When eBay manages your payments, your listings are automatically updated to reflect all the ways buyers can pay. Please refrain from specifying preferred payment methods in your listings. For more information, see our listing policies."

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14 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

I think you will find that you are incorrect, Ebay nor anyone else has the 'right' to take money from your bank account. There is a direct debit facility in the Ebay revised agreement which Ebay will no doubt attempt to use for refunds. However under banking rules you can require your bank to refund any DD that is taken incorrectly under the Direct Debit Guarantee scheme.............................................

 

 

 

 

This is a quote from the most recent email from eBay.   British banks may have different banking rules.

 

Quote:  "Instead, eBay will collect fees and other expenses, such as those resulting from refunds, claims or disputes directly from your earnings.

If your funds are not sufficient to cover these amounts, we will charge your payment method on file (debit or credit card, and/or linked bank account). ......,."

 

Edited by GWR-fan
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38 minutes ago, GWR-fan said:

This is a quote from the most recent email from eBay.   British banks may have different banking rules.

 

Quote:  "Instead, eBay will collect fees and other expenses, such as those resulting from refunds, claims or disputes directly from your earnings.

If your funds are not sufficient to cover these amounts, we will charge your payment method on file (debit or credit card, and/or linked bank account). ......,."

 

That would be against UK Banking rules.  When the Direct Debit system was first introduced there was strong opposition on the grounds that all sorts of rogues would be ripping off people's bank accounts.  It was only considered acceptable on the basis that only reputable organisations could originate direct debits and customers could demand that unauthorised debits be refunded by the bank without question.  It was then for the bank's customer and the direct debit originator to sort out between themselves who owed who what to whom.  The banks of course don't know or care who's in the right, so they immediately charge back any disputed sums to the originator.  The banks therefore have to assess the creditworthiness and reputability of firms before DDs can be sent.

 

I remember problems in the 1970s when a multinational oil company didn't charge people for their central heating oil for 3 months because of software problems and then tried to collect the arrears in one ago.  Unfortunately a lot of people had found they had more money than usual in their account and duly spent it - so we were bouncing  cheques left right and centre.  A similar incident involved a very large Building Society who accidentally duplicated everybody's mortgage debits one month.  BACS was later altered to spot such duplications!

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I will not be listing on Ebay if the system is as I interpret their latest messages. If I sell anything I will determine how I will be paid, not them. 

Losing my custom will not worry them as I only list a few odd items of surplus stuff when I gat a £1 listing offer, but they will also lose from the amount I purchase. I do find that very often Ebay is a good place to search for something but then often manage to get the item cheaper by going direct to business sellers.

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19 hours ago, young37215 said:

There is a direct debit facility in the Ebay revised agreement which Ebay will no doubt attempt to use for refunds. However under banking rules you can require your bank to refund any DD that is taken incorrectly under the Direct Debit Guarantee scheme.

 

That's true, although I suspect any seller successfully clawing-back any perceived 'incorrect' refund will likely result in eBay politely closing said seller's account down.  Otherwise there will be DD chargebacks en mass and I think it's safe to say that eBay ain't gonna stand for that.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it is what springs to mind. 

 

PayPal for all its troubles is an instant payment system, seller immediately gets their money, item can be immediately posted and often within a day or two the purchaser has their item.

 

If we are forced to wait to see the colour of the cash whilst Ebay faff about for a few days then that will delay dispatch and increase the number of 'where is my stuff, I want my money back' type complaints.

 

Sorry Ebay, another of your ongoing conveyor belt of stupid ideas.

 

PayPal only I will specify whether you like it or not.

Edited by John M Upton
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31 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

PayPal only I will specify whether you like it or not.

 

I think I read above that the Ebay system will automatically delete any 'Paypal only' wording and substitute their list of available payment methods.

 

John Isherwood.

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eBay sold PayPal about 5 years ago though…

 

I’ve been using the new ‘direct to bank account’ payment for a month or so. It works well. I only list when there are £1 fee offers, and whilst it takes a couple of days to get the funds they are just transferred net of £1. No other fees. In the case of people buying multiple lots it’s even discounted, I paid £2.60 fees on three items. 
 

I never used my PayPal balance for buying stuff, and whilst it’s a bit of a pain that it takes a few days to get the money I’m better off, so I’m happy enough. 
 

No idea on the dispute resolution, but PayPal are happy enough to dip into your account!

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28 minutes ago, Quarryscapes said:

I've been on Managed Payments since September. It looked like a good idea, but in practice it's meant going from 13% of total sale price going out in fees to 23%, forcing a price increase. 

 

Oh what a surprise.  EBay is a de facto monopoly and it isn't regulated by the government.

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1 hour ago, Quarryscapes said:

I've been on Managed Payments since September. It looked like a good idea, but in practice it's meant going from 13% of total sale price going out in fees to 23%, forcing a price increase. 

 

How come?

 

would have thought overall costs would be less if there's no Paypal fee

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5 minutes ago, RedgateModels said:

 

How come?

 

would have thought overall costs would be less if there's no Paypal fee

 

Because eBay have very subtly changed their fee structure to wrangle as much as they can out of you. The paypal fee has now been replaced b the 30p plus whatever increase in % the category now attracts in final value fee. The listing fee used to be split across however many sales you got out of the listing, and would generally become negligible over a month's sales. My sales are predominantly very low value - and depending on the mix of what I sell each month I can be paying as little as 19% in fees or as much as 30%! The previous maximum was 22.5% and would have had to be a very bad month. 

 

 

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