eBay becomes even less seller friendly

[Tony Griffiths]

eBay now requires your bank details and fees now appear to be a massive 12.5% of the selling price + posting fees, etc.(is that correct for all items?)
Also, want to know where an eBay seller is? Here's something I found in one seller's blurb that lets you know how to find out:
"I'm afraid due to policies on this selling site we are not allowed to give you a number to call for advice and we are not allowed to tell you where we are so you can see the products in the flesh so to speak, but, because we are a VAT registered business and have premises with a showroom, our legal information has to be displayed by law and you can find this on the legal information tab."

[JonE]

I reckon its down to tax office starting to want to see a bit more...

The ebay 80% off deal (plus 30p transaction charge) still on though from time to time with the new system.

I'm surprised the sales and wants on here is not more well used.

[Tony Betts]

Hi tony.

I think its ongoing trying to push business sales, rather than private individuals.

Ebay is also forcing member to go through there new payment payment system instead of paypal. You dont pay any fees (at the moment). But what you save they have loaded onto sellers cost.

Buy signing up for the new payment system, (compulsary) you have to give them full access to your bank account. So they can pay you. And also TAKE IT BACK if there is the slightest complaint. Also you have to give then photo proof of who you are. Driving licence or passport with all your details on.

The new sign up for payments is composary, wich like most of what they do is probably elegal. Same as charging fees on postage.

I noticed since the new format, we having had any more £1 listing weekends?
We have been offered a £3 listing day.

And this weekend is an 80% variable listings. Not sure how that works, as there is nothing veriable about there fees.

Were they go from here I dont know, but it's not good.

Tony.

[Hedd_Jones]

The sad thing is despite all of this, for the sexy stuff, ebay comes up trumps every time in terms of return for me. For run of the mill stuff its hit and miss.

I had a very nice 7 related piece recently. Touted it about privately on here and facebook. I might well have been asking over the odds, but only got some offers which were pretty low. Didn't follow anything up.

Put it on ebay, the price it made at auction was pretty much what I was asking for it (and to be fair I expected to be chipped a bit), with the 'fees' over £200, I still got well over £200 over the highest offer received privately. Winner winner chicken dinner. Went a long way to bridging the gap between buying one Chummy and selling another.

I see the same with the good steam stuff that goes through my hands. Buyers want to beg it when for sale via an advert. Put the same thing on e-bay and it goes bazerk. Usually for more than my valuation. I've basically given up advertising steam stuff and either place the gear I get, or it goes straight on e-bay.

One thing I dont like with the new system, there was something on e-bay advertised at a price or best offer. Advertised clearly with free postage - courier (in the correct place). I made an offer, it was accepted. I paid paypal. Seller had cocked up, his description said collection only (despite the free postage - courier noted in the proper place). I told him to stand by his advert, he wouldn't and cancelled. E-bay showed a refund. All done in the space of 12 hours. We are talking a few hundred quid. 3 days later Paypal Take the moneys, 10 days after that I get it back in my bank. Most annoying. Particularly as I cannot give the @rsehole bad feedback. This was an Austin chassis.

The other thing as a seller is, you can't instantly withdraw your money like you could with paypal. And the first few transactions they wont let you withdraw for so many days. Again all very annoying.

That said the current combined fee at whatever it is (12.5%?), is less than the 10% ebay + 3%(?) paypal fee. But obviously on high value items on collection (a lot of Seven stuff) where you got cash, you are paying more.

Unfortunately it is what it is

[Mike Costigan]

Ebay has also announced that they will add VAT to all items sold to the EU regardless of whether the buyer and seller are private individuals. \it sounds like a con to me; why to the EU and not to other buyers outside the EU?

[Tony Griffiths]

Ebay has also announced that they will add VAT to all items sold to the EU regardless of whether the buyer and seller are private individuals. \it sounds like a con to me; why to the EU and not to other buyers outside the EU?

It's simply the EU using these revised customs regulation on tiny-value items as part of their punishment scheme for us daring to leave - and, at our end, imposing equal "tariffs" to balance things up. Sending stuff to anywhere else in the world is, naturally, unaffected as to paperwork. Outside of eBay sales, if you are a trader and sell into an EU country you might now have to register there and collect VAT on their behalf and send it on. As many have said to me - we're just not going to bother, it's all too much trouble and paperwork for a few small items. Larger traders will, of course, have a computer system that deals with the bumph automatically.
Here's the slightly complicated answer from the eBay site:
VAT treatment of imports into the UK
From 1 January 2021, eBay will be legally required to begin collecting and remitting VAT for UK imports. From that date, eBay will have to charge buyers the applicable VAT amount directly and remit this sum to the relevant authorities
UK sellers trading domestically and all sellers trading with UK buyers and listing on the UK or any EU site will need to provide both gross prices as well as the applicable VAT rate used to calculate the gross price on all listings.
We strongly urge sellers listing on eBay.co.uk or other European eBay sites to specify the applicable VAT rates on existing listings as soon as possible. All new listings should include a VAT rate. You will find the field for the VAT rate beside the price when you create or edit listings.
If you don’t have an EU or UK VAT ID, then simply enter 0% beside the price when you create or edit listings. If sellers do not specify gross price and VAT rate, or if sellers specify a VAT rate of 0%, eBay will assume that the price provided is the net price (i.e., the item price excluding VAT), and eBay will calculate the gross price that is displayed to buyers.
The changes at a glance:

• From 1 January 2021, eBay will start to collect and remit VAT for UK imports on all consignments with a value of up to £135. There will no longer be a VAT exemption for small consignments up to £15.
  
• In cases where the seller is a non-UK business and the goods are already in the UK, eBay will collect and remit VAT for goods sold to consumers within the UK, regardless of their value.
  
• Sellers should begin listing the applicable VAT rates on all their existing and new listings as soon as possible.
  
• From 1 March 2021, eBay will make it mandatory to add the VAT rate on all UK and EU sites when listing items.
  

Changes to EU VAT for cross-border e-commerce
From 1 July 2021, the EU will introduce significant changes to how VAT is collected on imports into the EU, supplies within the EU by non-EU sellers and cross border supplies by EU sellers. 
 
The changes at a glance:

• The current VAT exemption for imports of goods in small consignment of a value of up to €22 into the EU will be abolished.
  
•  eBay will collect and remit VAT for imports of consignments up to a value of €150 shipped into the EU and sold to consumers.
  
• For goods where the seller is a non-EU business but the goods are already within the EU, eBay will collect and remit VAT on sales to consumers within EU countries, and from one EU country to another.
  
• The current distance selling thresholds for intra-EU cross-border supplies will be abolished.
  
• All sellers will have to provide a gross price and separate VAT rate on their listings, so that eBay can determine the correct amount of VAT to collect from consumers.
  
•  EU sellers with an annual turnover of more than €10,000 for their complete intra-EU cross-border supplies will have to charge the VAT of the EU country of delivery.
  
• As eBay is preparing for these changes, cross-border trade sellers should also assess the impact on their business and prepare for the changes. Please contact your tax adviser for questions on your VAT obligations.
  

[Tony Betts]

just had my email from ebay to say they will be collecting 20% vat on sales to the EU, regardless private or business seller.

i stopped selling to overseas on ebay a few months ago. as parcels were either rejected or lost when going to germany, spain, or france. even though paperwork was correct and present.

we still sell to the EU from the website. but now we send the customer all postage details. and after that they have to take responsibility for any losses.

money grabbing is a big thing for multi million pound companies at the moment, and it makes me wonder if ebay can claim the VAT back on the vat money they collect???.

the bubble will have to burst somewere.

tony.

[flywheel1935]

Having just sold an item on ebay since the paypal account was withdrawn I still have yet to receive the money into my account (after 3 days) !!!
From now on I will only buy off ebay, and any Austin 7 parts I may look to sell will first appear on this site instead.
Might suggest that the sales and wants section is better used, buy all users and keep all our money ourselves rather than pay ebay commissions !!!!
On another note, if you do sell on ebay slip in a contact number, as the seller of a pre-Ruby chassis has done., very clever !!!! its on the rear x-member

[Edgar Lowe]

Having just sold an item on ebay since the paypal account was withdrawn I still have yet to receive the money into my account (after 3 days) !!!
From now on I will only buy off ebay, and any Austin 7 parts I may look to sell will first appear on this site instead.
Might suggest that the sales and wants section is better used, buy all users and keep all our money ourselves rather than pay ebay commissions !!!!
On another note, if you do sell on ebay slip in a contact number, as the seller of a pre-Ruby chassis has done., very clever !!!! its on the rear x-member

I have been looking to sell couple of large items since the change. Maybe I can ask cash on collection or direct transfer to my bank account.

[flywheel1935]

The hard bit is getting the sellers details prior to actually bidding, I just  bought a cheap item off a chap, just to get his details so I can get to see the rest of his stuff prior to him selling on ebay (Its A7 bits), so I can do a private purchase.
Like said before, sneak a contact number into the sale item, ( as a "part number" ).