eBay introducing Regulatory Operating fees

[AGTDenton]

eBay are introducing a new Regulatory Operating Fee.

I've quoted the email I received as it was a better summary.

At eBay, we value you as a seller and want to inform you about a change to our fees.
To address the rising costs associated with the increasing number and complexity of regulations impacting eBay’s marketplace - including consumer and environmental protection, as well as new taxation and customs measures - we're introducing a new regulatory operating fee.

What’s changing?
From 8 April 2024, this new regulatory operating fee will apply to all sales from listings on the following sites: UK, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland.

How the regulatory operating fee is calculated
This fee is calculated as a fixed percentage rate (0.35%) of the total amount of the sale (which includes the item price, postage, taxes and any other applicable fees), and is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT), where applicable. This fee is in addition to any final value fees and selling-related fees you currently incur.
For more information on the regulatory operating fee and to see how the fee will be calculated, please visit our Seller Centre page.

Further information
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/...-operating-fee

If you've got a few things to sell, it would be a wise idea to have a clearout in March before the fee introduction! As well as utilising the 80% off weekends.

[Saracen999]

Interesting. Though, I closed my 'bay account about 20 years ago and haven't used it since, so interesting from a "doesn't affect me" perspective.

[Jonj1611]

I saw that, seems another excuse for an extra charge. I have some stuff to get rid of then closing my ebay account. Will sell locally after that

[Rob_B]

It's not a massive charge, but it's worded to sound official rather than 'we just want more money from you'

I only sell with 80% discount on final fee deals so even with this the charges are reasonable IMO, but I won't sell anything expensive on there.

[Iota]

Closed my eBay account a few years ago, I found it quicker and easier to get rid of unwanted items through Gumtree.

[Jonj1611]

That's currently where I am at, not to mention its cheaper. As with Rob I generally only sell with 80% discount but even so locally I find a lot easier without the fear of lost parcels or goods arriving "damaged"

[sammyc]

I have currently got the pay no fees at all til April something, which I assumed was a bit of a sweetener ('don't leave us over the reporting sales to HMRC thing plz'), it's not all accounts but I would have thought some of you would be just as likely to get it, I know a couple of people personally who have.

.35% isn't massive but another nibble I suppose.

[Rob_B]

I have currently got the pay no fees at all til April something, which I assumed was a bit of a sweetener ('don't leave us over the reporting sales to HMRC thing plz'), it's not all accounts but I would have thought some of you would be just as likely to get it, I know a couple of people personally who have.

.35% isn't massive but another nibble I suppose.

Lucky thing, I tried but didn't get the deal, I don't sell much but maybe I was just over their limit.

I was just about to post a wanted thread for a GPU but am still making my mind up, that made me think where I'd sell my old one and I really don't want to put it on eBay but CEX give ~£70 less than I'd get on eBay and I don't have OCUk members market access and I hate using gumtree (don't have FB and wouldn't use it even if I did) - Selling hardware is getting tricky :/

[sammyc]

Lucky thing, I tried but didn't get the deal, I don't sell much but maybe I was just over their limit.

I was just about to post a wanted thread for a GPU but am still making my mind up, that made me think where I'd sell my old one and I really don't want to put it on eBay but CEX give ~£70 less than I'd get on eBay and I don't have OCUk members market access and I hate using gumtree (don't have FB and wouldn't use it even if I did) - Selling hardware is getting tricky :/

That said, I did make an unusually nice sale in Jan, just inside the HMRC reporting bracket, and outside the pay no fees timing..

I usually get the 70% not the 80%, I must say I preferred the old days of £1 fee offer and PayPal handling your payments (however much people on the community pages get wound up explaining to people that they are better off).

Don't suppose you have another account or a friend/family one that has this offer, for the GPU - I have a buying account as well as a selling, in theory, there has been a bit of crossover - don't have this offer on that one.

[Rob_B]

It's more the risk of a bad buyer than the fees for me, heard too many horror stories.

[Jonj1611]

8 out of 10 of my last ebay auctions were won by people who didn't pay. They didn't respond to any communication, just nothing at all.

All auctions I posted were during promotional periods so by the time you report them which at the moment is 5 days you have to wait. The promotional period is long gone.

It's just not worth the hassle on eBay anymore, even though the prices are a bit higher than selling locally

[Output]

8 out of 10 of my last ebay auctions were won by people who didn't pay. They didn't respond to any communication, just nothing at all.

Ouch.

As someone who buys on eBay at various times (usually if the deal for something I want is the best I can find compared to elsewhere and is a price I'm willing to pay of course), I can't imagine why someone would agree to buy and not follow through with the deal (except for one instance many years ago, which myself and the business seller agreed to cancel due to a payment method issue between us).

All auctions I posted were during promotional periods so by the time you report them which at the moment is 5 days you have to wait. The promotional period is long gone.

It's just not worth the hassle on eBay anymore, even though the prices are a bit higher than selling locally

With 8 out of 10 not paying, I can certainly understand why you would come to that conclusion.

It's issues like that, and stories of buyers who try to scam sellers out of both the item and a refund, which make me think it wouldn't be worth trying to sell something I no longer wanted on there (although I'd imagine the latter is more likely to happen on very expensive things like iPhones, there are probably still some who would be willing to do it to something relatively cheap too).

I know I'm an honest buyer, but that doesn't necessarily mean that whoever agreed to buy my unwanted item would be.

It still seems very dumb that eBay stopped sellers from being able to rate buyers as anything other than positive.

As a result, I think if I decided there was something I no longer wanted to keep, I'm more likely to either give it away to a friend or family member (if any would want it), trade it in to CeX or similar, or give it to a charity shop.

There is of course the option of just throwing it away (whether just in the bin, or taking it to a more appropriate disposal facility, depending upon the item in question), but I'd obviously prefer to avoid that if possible.

[Jonj1611]

I have noticed it more in the last few years. Mainly 0 rated buyers buying at the last moment then not paying. The thing is you can't cancel the auction and relist as it counts towards your seller stats and more than 3 cancellations and they lower your rating which means you dont get the special offers anymore and higher fees!

[Output]

Isn't there an option to reject people with 0 feedback from being able to bid/buy?

I'm pretty sure I saw something like that in the settings in the past (but that was probably years ago).

[Jonj1611]

No, only people that have had a minimum of 2 cancellations of unpaid purchases over 12 months

[AGTDenton]

Isn't there an option to reject people with 0 feedback from being able to bid/buy?

I'm pretty sure I saw something like that in the settings in the past (but that was probably years ago).

I know exactly what you're thinking about. For years there was a hidden/hard to find area of 100s of settings for your account. They also never changed the look from the 90s so it looked dated, but was very functional.

I believe this has finally been depracted and replaced with some really basic tools on a new page: https://www.ebay.co.uk/bmgt/buyerrequirements