Any way of reducing eBay final value fees?
Discussion
Sold an engine via eBay which is all fine and good however I didn't realise eBay have upped their cap from £40 to £250 on final value.
It's going to cost me just under £300 with eBay and PayPal fees.
I've agreed a price with someone and he won't go direct via PayPal so it means I've shot myself in the foot.
Short of asking for another hundred quid I don't know what to do.
YES I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED YES THIS IS MY FAULT AND YES IT'S VERY CLEAR ON THEIR WEBSITE. YES MX5.
Anyone know any ways of dominating eBay so we can reduce the fees or is it a no?
It's going to cost me just under £300 with eBay and PayPal fees.
I've agreed a price with someone and he won't go direct via PayPal so it means I've shot myself in the foot.
Short of asking for another hundred quid I don't know what to do.
YES I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED YES THIS IS MY FAULT AND YES IT'S VERY CLEAR ON THEIR WEBSITE. YES MX5.
Anyone know any ways of dominating eBay so we can reduce the fees or is it a no?
The Spruce goose said:
i sold something for 3.5k, ebay wanted nearly 300 quid in fees, i just asked the buyer to cancel the sale after buying got my fees removed. you could try and explain even worth giving them 50 quid back.
Ignoring any moral issues here, you need to be a little careful here as both the buyer and seller. Ebay and paypal are expensive but at least both offer a thin veil of protection should dealings go a bit wrong. As I said above. Wait for a reduced fee offer. They happen very frequently.
Gad-Westy said:
Ignoring any moral issues here, you need to be a little careful here as both the buyer and seller.
the morality issues of a company that makes 1.1 billion from the UK but pays 1.1 million tax. I honestly didn't know the unlimited fee situation and won't be selling again on ebay.Gad-Westy said:
Patience is your friend here. Every couple of weeks or so, ebay will have offers on that cap selling fees. Often at only £1. You'll still have paypal fees but they're somewhat easier to stomach.
This is what I do. Really makes a big difference if you have a fair amount of stuff to shift.Though I don't especially begrudge them the fees. 10% plus the PayPal ones is a noticeable hit, yes, but on the other hand, you get a big audience and a convenient platform. There's always Facebook and Gumtree as alternatives.
Be carefully about how you avoid fees with sales though. Ebay do monitor your messages, and will take note of any communications that seem to be trying to sneak around this stuff.
Ironically, I've had this issue with them not letting me pay the fees. Sold an engine, but guy wanted to look at it beforehand, so he came to do so, wanted it, and gave me cash - but hadn't actually hit the buy it now button on Ebay. So I had to cancel the listing.
Ebay weren't happy about not getting the fees, but they have no concept of people wanting to actually look at stuff (just give more photos was their answer), and when I said fine, I'll pay you a final value, they don't actually have a mechanism to let you do that. Guess they can't want the money that badly then.
It does seem a lot of money but honestly, they are putting your product in front of an enormous buying audience and offering various levels of protection/guarantees.
When you look at this from a commercial aspect then 10% is tremendous value. Any long standing retailer would appreciate the costs involved in trying to sell product prior to the likes of eBay.
The key is to understand if the products that you're selling are best suited to brokering via eBay or another service such as Gumtree or Schpock etc. And as others have said, use their regular listing offers to your advantage.
When you look at this from a commercial aspect then 10% is tremendous value. Any long standing retailer would appreciate the costs involved in trying to sell product prior to the likes of eBay.
The key is to understand if the products that you're selling are best suited to brokering via eBay or another service such as Gumtree or Schpock etc. And as others have said, use their regular listing offers to your advantage.
If that doesn't work you could always try this and list it as a car 
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/promos/2017/103920.html
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/promos/2017/103920.html
Josho said:
Buyer wouldn't do anything but go through eBay and PayPal.
I was seriously tempted to say it would be extra but I stuck to my word and lost nearly £300 ??
Well, that's what you've agreed to by selling on Ebay, and going through that way is what affords the buyer their protections under ebay and paypal.I was seriously tempted to say it would be extra but I stuck to my word and lost nearly £300 ??
I appreciate the fees are annoying, but trying to pin this on the buyer using the site just as they're meant to do is a bit knobby.
I wouldn't consider selling anything like an engine and taking Paypal - there are loads of stories about the buyer saying it's not as described and sending their old one back or having swapped parts with yours, sending it back.
I tend to stick my Tel No. in ads - speeds up the process no end
I tend to stick my Tel No. in ads - speeds up the process no end
The Spruce goose said:
DonkeyApple said:
When you look at this from a commercial aspect then 10% is tremendous value.
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