eBay goes free for private sellers

[AGTDenton]

As of today there are no more listing or final value fees, with a few exceptions (Vehicles being the main one)

Free selling for UK-based private sellers

It's now free for UK-based private sellers to sell on eBay (excluding motors: Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles listings). You won't pay final value fees or regulatory operating fees when your items sell.

Fees will apply if you list more than 300 items in a month, if you add optional upgrades to your listing, or if you deliver to an overseas address. See our FAQs - opens in new window or tab for additional details.

If your registered address is in the UK, we charge an international fee of 3% if the delivery address for the item (entered by the buyer during checkout) is outside the UK.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/...0000&ch=osgood

[Jonj1611]

Wow, wasn't expecting that, wonder how much they will lose. Is this a regulation thing or what I wonder

[Rob_B]

losing ground to facebook/Vinted etc it seems. Can't complain, although I don't sell much any more, especially expensive stuff!

[AGTDenton]

losing ground to facebook/Vinted etc it seems. Can't complain, although I don't sell much any more, especially expensive stuff!

Yeah definitely the clothing has spurred them on, a month or two ago they started doing free listing/final with that category only.
Ironically within that time Vinted has decided to do the same thing.



The only thing I'm now not clear about with eBay is the fees for card payments. That is missing from the above page and can't see who pays it or how much.
From what I've read on Vinted the buyer pays those card fees.

[Saracen999]

Well, superficially at least, it seems like good news.

That said, if every item I've ever sold on eBay had been at zero fees, it would have saved me .... must be, ohhh .... erm, in the region of .... dunno, maybe .... £0.00.

Total items sold = zero.
Total items bought ? Maybe half a dozen. Maybe. I can't really remember.
Number of years since I closed my eBay account? Guessing at 20. Or getting towards it.

I am not what one might regard as an experienced eBayer. I just know I didn't have anything I wanted to sell badly enough to faff about with what certainly can/could happen if you did it on eBay. What things are like these days, or anywhere near recently, and what rules have changed ....? I know less about that than I do about quantum physics. And you could fit thati on the pointy end of a typical ... erm .... quantum? In large size print.

So when I say it seems like a good thing, don't read much into it. There could be any number of gotcha's I'm not seeing .... which is why I gave up eBay in the first place - avoiding getting done seemed too much like hard work, and I'm a confirmed, dedicated and card-carrying lazy-ass when it comes to such things.

[Percy1983]

The only bad thing for me is I have an ebay box and each time free listing came around I would list the contents of the box.

I had spotted generally other platforms creeping in, my with use vinted and I do look at FB marketplace before ebay for used and aliexpress is generally better for new rather than ebay (I guess that where half the sellers get their stock).

[sammyc]

Quick sigh for past fees paid.
Various other changes in the offing, including the upcoming 'eBay balance' /wallet thingummy, not the most appealing idea ever (well to them it is naturally) and I foresee the new Simple Delivery listing option being fun & games.. ah for the old days, there really isn't much left that they haven't mucked about with now. Change & decay in all around &c, mumble mumble. Seen the new Messaging view for example? :/

[raygdunn]

Encouraging people to still visit the site? Doesn't seem to be covered by adverts.

I've made 700 purchases, but no sales.

Royal Mail free collections now making small item sales more practical (else 7 miles to town for post office).
Mailman is hours later now. Wonder how long that can last..
For that matter, I wonder how long Royal Mail can last

[Saracen999]

...

For that matter, I wonder how long Royal Mail can last

It's probably a whole different thread (if I was interested enough) but .... I'd wondered that recently. Then I wondered .... "Do I much care?"

Which got me to wondering two things :-

- what do I get, still, via actual 'snail mail' post?
- what do I NEED to get via said snail-mail?

For the former, it seems to be the odd government communication, some bills where I refuse to give them my email address (which is everywhere I can), and bank statements (yes, I prefer paper statements). Oh, and 'unaddressed' junk mail.

What do I really NEED to get via prnted mail? Umm, .... I'm still wondering trying to come up with something. Answers on a postcard to ....

So I think the answer to how long Royal Mail can last (* see note) , honestly, even to a fuddy-duddy ol' stick-in-the-mud like me, is "Do I much care how long?" No, not really, beyond nostalgia and bloody-minded adherence to paper bills. And if even I feel that way ....


(* Note) - The exception, of course, is the ever-shrinking generation of older people that can't use any form of computer, and absolutely don't want to learn, either. An, I guess, the severely economically disadvantaged that can't afford one, but the entry-level price of a basic PC, laptop, even a simple tablet/phone is so modest ..., well, maybe it ought to be a budget option for those on income-related benefits. I don't know, and fortunately, am not in that situation.

Yeah, Rayg, I know it's a fairly serious response to a throw-away question, but it's a good question, IMHO.

[AGTDenton]

Just a follow on from the original announcement.

The way you get paid into your account is changing. Instead of being paid automatically within a few days, you will now have an eBay Balance that you withdraw from.

Payout changes
With the arrival of eBay balance, we’re also changing how payouts work. The following changes will take effect after a final scheduled payout on 16 October 2024:

• Daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly payout schedules will no longer be offered.
• You can withdraw available funds from your balance on demand.
• If you don’t use or withdraw your balance, we’ll automatically send your available funds to your bank account on the first Tuesday of every January, April, July and October.

[Jonj1611]

Yeah its a step backwards. It worked fine before

[AGTDenton]

I bet they're counting on people forgetting whilst earning interest on it for a couple of months

[Jonj1611]

Absolutely, got to recoup their losses from selling fees somehow.

I just can't see how getting rid of selling fees is a good business move. But then I did a recent search for an item and noticed 80% of people selling that item were actually businesses.

[Zak33]

I spent 6 moths end of 23 into 24 clearing out all my unwanted stuff and paying a blasted fortune in fees.

So I wept a tear... I did..

I have nothing left to flog!

[AGTDenton]

I did a bit of an experiment and sold some dead DDR3 RAM. Amazing what people buy but at least it stays out of landfill just that bit longer.

Some interesting points,

• I got the full amount into my account with no deductions. Not even a card payment deduction. So the buyer must pay the card costs??
• I received the full amount for P&P now! An awful decision when they made it 15 or so years ago.
• Withdrawing is unintuitive on desktop, but very intuitive on the App...

So it's the usual hieroglyphics nonsense to withdraw your money on desktop. Took me ages to find it...

[Jonj1611]

Yeah I have sold a few things myself.

Not sure about card payment deduction? What is that? Most buyers use paypal, never seen a card payment deduction?

They put the final valuation fee on P&P because people were selling items worth hundreds of pounds for like £1 and having P&P at like £500. So they could get around the final valuation fee.

Withdrawing on desktop I found was quite straightforwards, it shows your balance then when you click on it you can see withdraw at the bottom.

But yeah people do seem to buy anything and now I am not being charged for anything I am putting more stuff up for sale