eBay scrapping selling fees for private sellers

[brocher]

As a longish term seller on eBay, I have been quite pleased with it. Yes when I started i wondered how much it would take from me in fees, and I did a wee bit irked at first. But then realised that I was able to sell off stuff which otherwise I would have dumped in some way. Sucha as old car radios I had in the loft, ld HiFi stuff, old bookcases, dinner set and crockery. old cameras, pictures, even some books, tools, a couple of bikes, cooking stuff we no longer use, etc. I have made a lot of use of the 80% off fees over the years as well, and the free listings each month which I get - I assume as a regular private seller. All the stuff I see is stuff we have previously had use of and is in good condition, indeed some of it in excellent condition. Over the years I have kept tabs on how much I have sold for, and since around 2016 its approx £7500 after all eBay (and before that Paypal) fees and postage. I think overall the fees paid amount to around 7% due largely to the 80% fee reduction.

So all in all I am happy with that.

The scrapping of selling fees for me is an unexpected bonus, and since they announced it, I have sold 5 items already!

 

[Britman]

I've never really had any issues with eBay as a buyer or seller. As a seller (3D parts) I set my listings as immediate payment and used to get daily payouts before I changed to monthly.

The money now saved in fees has gone into promoting my listings.

Also just be aware that eBay sends details to HMRC and I believe the limit is £1000.

 

[bp122]

Also just be aware that eBay sends details to HMRC and I believe the limit is £1000.

I was worried about this as well. But I watched Martin Lewis's episode on this. If you are getting rid of things that you don't use and are not running a business out of this, you can sell up to £5000 worth of items in a year.

 

[TRITON]

I used to be quite prolific selling old bike bits on ebay, till they changed the payment system and hold the funds
Prior, item sells, payment goes into paypal which i can see as being physically in there, and i pack and send it. I have been a seller/buyer since 2007 and the buy, keep,renovate,oogle and then sell on has given me lots of things and even paid mostly for my Emtb

But with this new system i cant see a payment, and i think only have to reply on ebay telling me to send it.

I suppose what im worried about is if buyer pays, ebay sends notification and i send. Then a day later buyer cancels the purchase by which time the item is in the post and winging its way, but i dont have a payment and wont be getting one.

We know why this new system was initiated. It allows ebay to hold a huge pot of funds for a while and they receive interest payments.

But it's kind of put my off and i've lost confidence in the whole ebay system. Which is a shame as i've so many bike bits I no longer need and selling them off would likely give more than enough funds for the new sawstop saw*

*I prefer to reorganize my possessions, selling off those i no longer need or want, to free up funds to buy things like the saw stop, or other bike bits and tools, rather than pitch into savings/spare income.

 

[Blackswanwood]

But with this new system i cant see a payment, and i think only have to reply on ebay telling me to send it.

I suppose what im worried about is if buyer pays, ebay sends notification and i send. Then a day later buyer cancels the purchase by which time the item is in the post and winging its way, but i dont have a payment and wont be getting one.

I thought the changes were to give eBay better control to protect both buyers and sellers and sellers were advised by eBay once payment has been received. You then send the item which the buyer is notified of. If the buyer then cancels the refund to the buyer only happens when the goods are returned?

Have I got that wrong?

They may get interest on the funds they hold but must be assuming a higher volume of sales to offset the fees that they no longer collect from sellers.

 

[Croolis]

I've had a pile of stuff for a long time that I've been meaning to sell, that has some value. I'm now glad I didn't get round to it .

 

[bp122]

I thought the changes were to give eBay better control to protect both buyers and sellers and sellers were advised by eBay once payment has been received. You then send the item which the buyer is notified of. If the buyer then cancels the refund to the buyer only happens when the goods are returned?

Have I got that wrong?

They may get interest on the funds they hold but must be assuming a higher volume of sales to offset the fees that they no longer collect from sellers.

Nope, you have got it spot on.

I sold something the other day (around 5 pm) and the money was in my eBay balance at 3 am the next day, transferred to my account as soon as I woke up.

And it's not like Amazon where a buyer can cancel an order willy nilly. If a buyer wants to cancel the order, it is said that it is under the discretion of the seller to do so after the buyer has committed to buy the item and the item is already dispatched.

I have entertained order cancellation requests both before and after dispatch of the items, of course it's easier with the former.

 

[Jake]

. If you are getting rid of things that you don't use and are not running a business out of this, you can sell up to £5000 worth of items in a year.

If you are selling stuff you have previously bought for personal use, the relevant tax would be capital gains tax. If you made a capital gain on them you would need to report and pay tax if you are over the CGT threshold for the year. As most s/h goods are sold at a loss from the purchase price, there is no applicable limit and taxation is irrelevant.

I don't know what Ebay do about reporting to HMRC but provided you can show this was the case and that you weren't trading, HMRC won't be interested anyway.
,
Obviously does not apply if you are trading rather than selling off your own personal assets.

 

[stuart little]

When they started the 'new' system, they sat on payments up to 4 days, before sending it to sellers. I believe they had their knuckles rapped for it, something to do with the'banking codes', or something, then payments were sent within 48hrs, now it's virtually the same day - mine has been lately.