eBay are continuing to differentiate the experience for Business Sellers compared to Private Sellers on their marketplace in the UK, with the latest announcement concerning payment terms.
TLDR: The changes only really impact private sellers, nothing for business sellers to worry about!
eBay’s announcement note says “We’re revising the Payments Terms of Use to better describe the payment services we provide to you. As part of this revision, we have clarified which payment options are typically made available to buyers on the eBay website. Further, the terms related to settlement and availability of funds have been revised for sellers residing in regions outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.“. The important part is the settlement and availability of funds section, but before we get to that it’s worth noting how eBay are differentiating the experience between professional sellers and casual sellers.
While many were unhappy that they still have to pay fees while private sellers can sell for free, we’re starting to see a picture that goes beyond selling fees and starts to really differentiate the selling experiences:
- You’ll be only too aware that Private Sellers no longer pay basic selling and listing fees (they still will pay for listing enhancements, Promoted Listings and an International fee).
- You should also know that at some point in 2025, buyer fees will be introduced.
- eBay are also mandating UK Private Sellers will all have to use eBay Managed Shipping by Q1 of 2025.
- Now the latest change will impact payment terms for Private Sellers sellers.
You’ll find these changes hidden away in Section VI. 3, which applies to ECUK (eBay Commerce UK Ltd).
In the new eBay Payments Terms of Use, effective immediately for new sellers and effective from the 4th of February 2025 for existing sellers, it states that “Proceeds from the sales of private or non-professional sellers become available for disbursement after the item is deemed delivered to its shipping destination.”
For Business Sellers, the new eBay Payments Terms of Use says “If you are a business seller, as defined in our business seller policy, proceeds from your sales on eBay typically become available for disbursement within 1 business day of confirming the buyer’s payment.”
Reading between the lines, what this means is that as a business there’ll be no real change for you as eBay recognise that businesses need cash flow and that Business Sellers are (probably in the main) much more reliable and fast to ship than Private Sellers and (again probably) are more reliable in shipping products exactly as described. To ensure Private Sellers keep their customers happy, they won’t have access to funds from their sales until the item is in the hands of their buyer.
eBay are starting to increasingly differentiate the experiences between selling as a private individual and selling as a business seller. We expect this to continue in 2025 so watch this space for further announcements.
5 Responses
It would be good if ebay were to actually do something about business sellers on private accounts taking advantage of no fees where as small businesses like myself and many others are struggling as it is with all the ebay fees, shop fees and ad fees that you have to pay to actual sell anything at the moment.
Private accounts are taking sales away from small businesses as they can undercut and still take maximum profit.
So as things stand business sellers are losing business and having to pay for so called private sellers who should be on business accounts.
I think they are taking action. I know of someone who was doing exactly what you describe and had done for years and years, blatantly, with his business phone number and everything. He got a notice from ebay a few weeks ago, that he needed to change his private account to a business account. He ignored it and that account got suspended until he did as required. Now he has to pay fees.
There will always be newbies coming along and doing the same, so ebay will have to keep on top of it. I’m hopeful that they will. If you think about it, all these free to sell accounts lose ebay money on every sale. They’re not even charging a payment processing fee, so they literally cannot afford to ignore business sellers operating on private accounts. It would be hard to detect in some cases, but anyone selling multiple new items or having a shop on a private account, that should be a big red flag and attract immediate attention.
Fingers crossed but ebay are extremely slow at taking any action.
Having reported at least 15 usernames the past couple of months they’re all still happily operating on private accounts and reaping the benefits
If they’ve got their own intel plus that supplied by rightfully annoyed business sellers, I’d imagine the list is overwhelming and might take a while to deal with. But if they don’t, then when they get to Q1 or Q2 next year, and someone looks at a report and asks angrily ‘where has all the money gone? The sales are good, but the fees aren’t coming in!’ then they’ll speed up. Ignoring private accounts that are really businesses just isn’t an option for them.
I mean I sell sell like 20 item a month to flip for some profit as a side hustle and told eBay about it and they said I can continue it as it’s a small side hustle and under sales limit for private seller so I guess I’ll continue if eBay have allowed it.