eBay’s changes for Private Sellers kicked in from the 4th of February. It appears to be a gradual roll out and has been seen first in the electronics categories. Buyers will see the price they’ll pay on the item page, in search and checkout… but it’ll now be rare to see a nice round number as the price from Private Sellers, as the Buyer Fee is being included.
New Buyer Protection
At the end of 2024, eBay changed their fee structure, making it free to sell for private sellers. This month eBay are launching Buyer Protection to give buyers more confidence and security when shopping.
Starting from today, Buyer Protection will be live to give buyers more peace of mind when shopping on eBay UK. To minimise any potential disruption, the Buyer Protection fee will be gradually rolled out across items listed by private sellers, starting in Electronics and coming to all eligible categories in the following weeks.
Buyer Protection Fee
As part of Buyer Protection, starting from today, a fee will be included in the item price when purchasing from private sellers, paid for by the buyer to eBay. Buyers will only ever pay what they see, so there are no surprises at checkout.
Payment after delivery
Also starting from today, UK-based private sellers will also be paid after item delivery. Funds will typically be available in your eBay balance two calendar days after delivery confirmation. Pending funds can also be used to buy postage labels and refund buyers.
Recommendation to use tracked delivery
We know it’s important for you to get paid fast, and that’s why eBay are recommending that private sellers use a tracked delivery service, either through Simple Delivery or arranging for local collection, to get your funds as soon as possible. Using tracked delivery services can also provide a better customer experience for your shoppers, and for you, with sellers seeing a 50% decrease, on average, in buyer complaints and queries when using tracked delivery.
Shipping untracked
eBay have heard your feedback and understand that shipping costs are particularly top of mind for low price items. When you’re selling a single item for £10 or less, and it’s sent untracked, funds will now be available 24 hours after you receive positive buyer feedback. This will be live by the end of February.
Since the launch of Simple Delivery, eBay have added Royal Mail as an additional delivery partner. eBay will continue to evolve their Simple Delivery offering, with even more features set to launch in the coming months to further simplify the shipping process for private sellers. You can read more about eBay Simple Delivery and pricing for available services here.
What’s changing for business sellers?
From today, as a business seller, Buyer Protection is included for free for you and your buyers. They’ll get the same protection, without any additional costs.
When it comes to payouts, nothing will change for business sellers, you will still receive payouts as you do today.
Letter from Eve Williams
Eve Williams, General Manager, eBay UK, has published an update covering all of these changes, plus many more.
3 Responses
i love it about time ebay sorted out these private sellers
Well this private seller has well and truly been sorted out! My modest ebay income has significantly reduced in the last 6 months since ebay has addressed the private seller question. But that’s OK, I do have a real full-time job which has an adequate wage; my ebay “hobby-job” was there to enjoy ebay and indulge in expanding a wide variety of collections. However, my ebay spending power has shrunk considerably so when I’m considering items to buy on ebay, including amongst many business sellers, I simply can’t buy as much as I used to. Is this what business sellers want?
Morally (though it’s hardly genocide), ebay and business sellers may trumpet this change, but economically I don’t think it helps anyone. I anticipate a downturn for everyone and an eventual U-turn and return to happier times in the end.
PS I used to declare my income to HMRC so Mr Taxman was kept happy.
The new system is nonsense. I have to now wait almost 3 weeks for my money after making a sale unless I use tracking which is much more expensive. So I guess buyers want much higher postage prices then? But my money is available 24 hours after sale IF someone leaves feedback? Ridiculous! Some people don’t leave feedback, so now what? It was working fine as it was but things always have to be messed with.