eBay Selling Fees
- Thread starter olisuds
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Gadders
Padawan
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I think the catch is buyers now pay a small fee instead of the seller.
lejackal
Grand Master
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Buyers do not currently pay a fee. Private sellers will be encouraged to open a 'shop' for 20 quid a month to get to list more items for free. Once you go over a certain number of sales, or value of sales, they'll almost certainly want to recategorise you as a business.
jared007
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I'm glad this is being asked - I wanted to post a similar question. From what I have seen others say (but I have not verified this myself in the T&Cs), it seems 100% free for the seller here in the UK if the item sells to another address in the UK. If it sells to the US for example, then fees apply as normal.
The next bit is that it is only free when then total combined account sales stay under £1,500 in a year (unsure if that's calendar year, or rolling 365 day period). If you go over that amount then you must enroll as a business seller to continue (you start paying fees) and also HMRC are now notified of your extra income that I presume will attract personal tax.
I am looking to sell a couple high end pieces very soon, so I am seriously considering selling on eBay again. I have not sold anything on eBay since they dropped PayPal and pay into a bank account so yet to experience that part. All considered, it looks like a good deal if you can stay under £1,500 in sales. And like it or not, great to see eBay trying new things to stay relevant. I'll be giving it a go with something small to start with!
Cheers, Jared.
The next bit is that it is only free when then total combined account sales stay under £1,500 in a year (unsure if that's calendar year, or rolling 365 day period). If you go over that amount then you must enroll as a business seller to continue (you start paying fees) and also HMRC are now notified of your extra income that I presume will attract personal tax.
I am looking to sell a couple high end pieces very soon, so I am seriously considering selling on eBay again. I have not sold anything on eBay since they dropped PayPal and pay into a bank account so yet to experience that part. All considered, it looks like a good deal if you can stay under £1,500 in sales. And like it or not, great to see eBay trying new things to stay relevant. I'll be giving it a go with something small to start with!
Cheers, Jared.
jared007
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Ok, so I have just read through all T&C I could find. I can't find any reference to a £1,500 limit anywhere. So all this bit I put above can be classed as fake news until otherwise proven.
I always like to understand how businesses make money, so here is my take now. eBay now charges for listing enhancements that used to be free such as reserved prices, custom listing duration, large images and a few other things, so I think they are hoping people will add that stuff on. They will still make fees if someone outside the UK buys the item. I suspect they will be banking on sellers not limiting the scope of their listing from other markets. If a foreign buyer buys, and you cancel the listing to avoid fees cause you didn't realize it was listed globally then I think you will still get stung with the final value fees. If there is even a hint of coms to do the transaction outside eBay then the final value fees are taken as an introduction fee. eBay also has an advertisers revenue stream. So by encouraging sellers to create more content on the site, there is bigger advertising potential. Free listings with no seller fees certainly encourages that.
So all considered, this is a very encouraging move from eBay and it has my attention. I'd be interested to hear how others get on with it! And do chime in if you read things differently to what I have.
Cheers, Jared.
So latest I've heard is that eBay will be charging buyers fees in early 2025. Sellers fees will remain free apart from international fees and listing enhancements. So whilst no fees is great for a seller, you can expect that items will sell for lower prices as the buyers factor in their fees.
jared007
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Really interesting move by eBay, and I wonder what has prompted this turn around of strategy for them. Where did you hear this out of interest? I wonder what percentage the buyer fee will be ...
As far as I know this is how the likes of Vinted operate, all the fees and postage are paid by the buyers. So I guess to compete eBay have had to follow the same.
I didn't know E bay had stopped using PayPal? I've not sold anything in ages but I always liked the fact I could use PayPal as E bay were notorious for backing the scammers that said items didn't arrive or arrived damaged.
I sold a boxed ATAT and the buyer returned it, not the same box, or toy inside, repro chin guns, missing the door and swapped box, buyer denied everything, I sent photos etc and e bay sided with him, said box could have been damaged by courier!!! I had to take up with them.
I haven't sold anything since.
I sold a boxed ATAT and the buyer returned it, not the same box, or toy inside, repro chin guns, missing the door and swapped box, buyer denied everything, I sent photos etc and e bay sided with him, said box could have been damaged by courier!!! I had to take up with them.
I haven't sold anything since.
They already implemented this in March 2023 here in Germany, I'll try to sum it up:
- as private seller you can list 300 items a month without any transaction fees (except cars), after that you'll 35p per listing
- if the buyer lives abroad you'll be charged 3% transaction fees
- selling within the UK: no transaction fees / provision > you get the full sales price
- highlight pictures or advertising of your listings still cost additional money but is not needed in my opinion
- make sure to list your items on ebay.co.uk and not ebay.com or something
I'm unaware of the payment process in the UK but here it works as follows: After you have won an auction you pay to Ebay using bank transfer, PayPal, CC, Klarna or whatever you wish. Ebay freezes the money for the seller. The seller ships the item and as soon as the parcel arrives the money will be withdrawn. Ebay is pretty fast with their withdrawals. I usually have the money on my bank account one day after the buyer received the item. If you send without tracking information you have to wait until the buyer confirms that the item arrived or you need to wait a certain amount of days until it gets withdrawn
- as private seller you can list 300 items a month without any transaction fees (except cars), after that you'll 35p per listing
- if the buyer lives abroad you'll be charged 3% transaction fees
- selling within the UK: no transaction fees / provision > you get the full sales price
- highlight pictures or advertising of your listings still cost additional money but is not needed in my opinion
- make sure to list your items on ebay.co.uk and not ebay.com or something
I'm unaware of the payment process in the UK but here it works as follows: After you have won an auction you pay to Ebay using bank transfer, PayPal, CC, Klarna or whatever you wish. Ebay freezes the money for the seller. The seller ships the item and as soon as the parcel arrives the money will be withdrawn. Ebay is pretty fast with their withdrawals. I usually have the money on my bank account one day after the buyer received the item. If you send without tracking information you have to wait until the buyer confirms that the item arrived or you need to wait a certain amount of days until it gets withdrawn
androjonny
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The catch is eBay pass all the sales data over to the UK government and anything over £1k net you'll have to pay tax on as it is now classed as income. Obviously some things like used clothes will be exempt from tax, but things like old toys and collectibles are included. When you get the bill from Mr Taxman it will then be for you to go through your individual sales for the year and provide reasons and receipts for postage or purchaes to challenge them on it if you feel some of the items should be exempt. Complete headache.
Example would be.... if you bought a new figure for £15. You sell on eBay for £15, but you pay postage of £4, so technically you've lost £4. Taxman will take this as £15 profit as that was the sale. You'd need to send them a receipt for the original purchase and the postage to prove you've actually lost money not to pay tax on it. This is how I read it.
TheJabbaWookie
Sith Lord
They are also introducing eBay Wallet where (very much like Vinted) money will sit in an eBay bank account earning interest unless you are proactive and transfer the money to your account straight away. They are hoping lots of sellers will leave their money there in order to spend it on the site or just forget to withdraw it.
jared007
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I could not find any mention of this income reporting in the terms and conditions. Can you give a reference?
lejackal
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you can still pay via paypal, it just default`s it to your bank details, Its in the drop down options.
Ok thanks for clarifying, appreciated.
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Although if you sell, I think you have to use their system. From memory they hold the funds until it's posted or something, it was a pain at the time as I don't sell regularly and I think I got hit with fees with postage too.Ok thanks for clarifying, appreciated.
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