Anyone who shops on eBay is being warned that new fees are in place from today (Tuesday, January 4).
The auction site recently scrapped listing fees for private sellers, making it totally free to list on eBay and sell old unwanted items without having to give a cut to eBay.
Unfortunately, though, the website is now introducing new fees for buyers instead, pushing up the price of items bought on the online marketplace.
From February 4, eBay will introduce a new ‘buyer protection fee’.
The fee will see a flat fee of 75p added to the cost of any item bought from a private seller (i.e. a regular person, not a business).
It will also charge 4% on the first £300 of an item’s cost, and 2% on the portion between £300 and £4,000 – a sort of ‘stamp duty’ for items bought on eBay.
An item which cost £20 would now cost £21.55 and an item previously costing £2,000 would now cost £2,046.
eBay says the changes are for buyer protection, but Martin Lewis’ MSE cautioned that the changes don’t seem to be very significant to justify the price hike.
He said: “eBay’s marketing spin is you’ll now get ‘buyer protection’. However, the updates seem like no great shakes to us. Private sellers will soon get paid after delivery and customer support will be available 24/7 (previously just working hours).
“It already has a Money Back Guarantee scheme, which covers you if you don’t receive something or it doesn’t match the listing. This is staying the same.
“The new fees mean buy an ice cream maker priced at £60 by the seller, and you’d fork out an extra £2.40, plus 75p. That’s a total of £3.15 more than you currently need to pay.
“On cheaper goods, the fees will sometimes be more expensive than the item itself.. buy a hair bow for 50p and you’d pay 77p in fees.”
Announcing the changes, eBay said: “Discover the things you love, knowing we’ve got you covered with our new and existing protections. Starting in February 2025, we’re adding Buyer Protection to enhance your shopping experience. A fee is included when you purchase from private sellers.
“We’ve made it free to sell for private sellers, so it’s easier than ever for more sellers to bring you a wider variety of things you love. To support this change, we will charge a buyer fee to cover Buyer Protection services and ensure a trusted experience when purchasing items from private sellers.
“For listings by business sellers, Buyer Protection is added at no extra cost. Business sellers already pay transaction fees with each item that sells.
“Buyer Protection is included at no cost for purchases of listings from private sellers not registered in the UK.
“Buyer Protection excludes Vehicles, Classified Ads and Property.”
