Online retailer eBay scraps fees for private sellers in UK

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/01/online-retailer-ebay-scraps-fees-for-private-sellers-in-uk

68 points · 8 comments · view on lemmy.world

8 Comments

Naich@lemmings.world · 4 pts · 1y

Yay.

wiccan2@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y (6 replies)

Any info out there on how they actually plan on making money going forwards?

The article talks about other platforms charging a fee to buyers instead but mentions nothing about eBay introducing this.

Are they really making enough from ads on the site and vehicles to replace the lost revenue?

swampdownloader@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 1y (3 replies)

Not certain but I believe listings are now free to post but when you sell something they charge a commission. It has been this way in the USA for a while, if you’re a small vendor you can list a couple hundred/thousand items for free and they charge fees when sold.

MurrayL@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

Those are exactly the fees they’re removing in the uk:

On Tuesday, eBay said its move, which has taken effect immediately, meant private sellers would no longer pay so-called final value fees or regulatory operating fees when they sold on the site.

GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

They're also changing the way you get money after someone buys something.

eBay balance, apparently. So by default, when a transaction happens, the money stays in eBay, and you have to manually transfer it out, instead of scheduled timed payouts.

thehatfox@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

So I’ve heard they have already switched eBay in Germany to this no-fee system. It proved more profitable for eBay because private sellers who accrue an eBay balance from sales were in turn more likely to spend it on eBay.

Elleo@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Previously you got 10,000 free listings a month on private seller accounts, now it's 300. Which is plenty for actual private sellers, but businesses operating as private sellers will have to start paying for their listings

wiccan2@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

That makes a lot of sense, I hadn't considered that business sellers would still be charged.