eBay Managed Payments Caution

[Nick Regan]

I have just received an email from eBay entitled "Update to Payments terms of use" it is as follows.

"Dear Seller,

At eBay, we strive to make our policies clear and our services easy to use. We wanted to let sellers know that we have posted a new version of our Payments Terms of Use, effective October 10, 2021.

Please note that eBay Commerce UK Limited is replacing eBay S.à r.l. as the Responsible Payment Entity for the sale of items listed on ebay.co.uk. In case you list items on ebay.co.uk, eBay Commerce UK Limited will start processing transactions for your sales of such items on October 11, 2021.

If you do not agree to the changes, you may terminate these Payments Terms of Use, pursuant to Section 11 (“Term, Termination”), without any extra cost at any time before the effective date of the changes.

Thank you for being a part of eBay,

The eBay Team"

I followed the link Payments Terms of Use | eBay.co.uk and found pages of gobbledegook that, not beig a commecial lawer, I found a different language. The gist of it as I saw was that ebay is starting up differet companies in different countries who will manage your money. Now already, I dont like ebay receiving the total payments to me from my customers and deciding what and when they pass on to me, there must be a reason benificial to eBay that they are doing this at this time. If ayone could work out what this advatage is could they let me kow please? Also what type of institution is "The Responsible Payment Entity" is this something regulated by the finacial industry or is it just a name for tax reasons?

I know thier (ebay) answer to all this is if you dont like this then just close your account and trust me, if at this moment in time it was not a necessary evil I would be out of there like a shot. (I am working on a new system of selling but its taking time to set up and attract the customers).

eBay would be so good if it wasn't for ebay


Nick

[Lee Mannering]

True, edging all a bit one sided

[Osi Osgood]

True. Usually, there is a "interest" that they will make, the longer they hold onto the money, bit in this one case, I actually agree with eBay in one regard. Some sellers have had a very bad habit of being paid, but not even shipping for up to even 10 days after the item is sold, even in cases of buy it now. With ebays holding onto the payment until it is actually shipped, (and not just buying a label and still not shipping), it is in the best interest of these lame sellers to speed up they're shipping.

[Alan Rik]

The managed payment system is designed to curb/stop deals outside of Ebay for one.

By doing it this way they will alway be assured they get their cut. Also they want to get PAID 1st. In the old system you got paid by the seller and then you paid Ebay their fees- but now they take their cut first and then what's left over is yours.

I am sure there are many accounts that have been cancelled due to non paying Ebay fees. And then there is the tax reason. By forcing a seller to agree to them managing your payments they need your social security number. Then all sales over a certain amount gets reported to the IRS as additional income. I believe its set at 20k but things are changing so fast there that who knows what the dollar threshold is.

Right now film sales on Ebay US charges a fee of around 17%. And that includes the fee that they charge to 'manage' your payments and also if you get an overseas bidder there is a new 'fee' for that as well. And of course the final value is based on not only on the final bid amount but also that will include the tax paid by the seller, and the shipping charges as well. Yes they take a cut of those too.

Many sellers are only using Ebay for the "Blockbuster" films but for most of the other ones they are using forums and Facebook.

[Nick Regan]

I have been using the managed payments since it started and I know it has nothing to do with only paying out when the item has been sent. The money comes to us once they have had thier 2-4 days regardless, I know this because in some cases I will refuse to send items out until we have actually received cleared funds when the buyer could be cosidered "Dubious" due to eBay refunding money without our knowlege or consent when we have not eve been paid ourselves. I do agree however with the comment about them stopping deals outside of eBay and contact with your customer direct.

However it is more the fact that although we have been using this managed payment system now for over 6 months , they have now decided to alter the terms and conditions and, create a new compay to manage my money with out my consent, that is my concern. Thier terms also have a new Temination clause that actually works against anybody who has already been using the managed payments.

[Lee Mannering]

They will be feeling the pinch now film fairs are restarting. Collectors at least will get hands on interaction when making a purchase which will be better for you than flea Bay. Zero fees and much rejoicing on the hillsides the new norm.

[David Baker]

Everybody has complaints about eBay . So why don't you use other alternative bid/selling websites that don't charge the outrageous fees eBay does ? Like eBid . I believe that one is based in the U.K. Most people say , " there's not enough traffic there " . Well if all film sellers and buyers became members , there would be a lot of traffic . It's an alternative .

[David Strelitz]

They will be feeling the pinch now film fairs are restarting. Collectors at least will get hands on interaction when making a purchase which will be better for you than flea Bay. Zero fees and much rejoicing on the hillsides the new norm.

Are you serious? I doubt if cine and related kit accounts for 0.01% of their turnover. I was contacted last weekend by a seller asking me to confirm safe receipt of a purchase a month earlier. He had not marked the sale as despatched and eBay were withholding payment

[Nick Regan]

Everybody has complaints about eBay . So why don't you use other alternative bid/selling websites that don't charge the outrageous fees eBay does ? Like eBid . I believe that one is based in the U.K. Most people say , " there's not enough traffic there " . Well if all film sellers and buyers became members , there would be a lot of traffic . It's an alternative .

David, as a seller I use eBay mainly for the size of the market it covers, world wide. However at the moment this plus is only just slightly larger that all the negatives and the gap is always closing. I totally agree that it is a case of if you dont like it go elsewhere. However it used to be a good platform but then they insiduously start to take over and bit by bit control more and more of how you would run your own business.

In my case the answer is our own dedicated website but to set this up professionally can cost a fortune and you have to then build up a solid customer base. The other option is to build your own website and the load it up and maintain it, then try to get the customers.

So eBay becomes a nescessary evil while we try to build somewher go.

Perhaps the board could entertain Adverts from suppliers etc related to cine?

Nick

[Osi Osgood]

Actually, there was an instance when, by accident, as we were on vacation and no access to Internet, I didn't find out until 5 days after the sale, that I had a sale, and it was a buy it right now sale. They had the money right away. Embarrassed, I apologized to the seller and mailed it out, day 6, and gave eBay and the the buyer the tracking number, on day 6. two days later, eBay finally released a payment they already had for 8 days. Therefore, do a test, sell something, hold onto the item for, let's say, 5 days. Let's see if eBay releases your money in 2 to 4 days.

[David Strelitz]

Let me run a scenario by you. I sell you a gizzmo for £500. You part with £500 via PayPal or similar but I don't despatch the gizzmo. Are you suggesting it is right for me to be paid whilst you have to battle to get the goods or a refund? Btw buy from a real auction house and see their buyer and sell commission! At present eBay are in the driving seat in much the same way Amazon are redefining retail with same day and next day delivery.

[Nick Regan]

Osi,

I have just sold a stereoscope for £300. My listing states despatched within 3 working days, It was paid for by the customer on Wednesday the 11th. This toal less a (charge of £30) was sent to my bank on Friday the 13th and cleared later that day. I dispatched the item this morning. Saturday 14th. Before they came up with managed payment eBays rules stated we wait and only despatch upon releasing cleared funds from the customer. In certain cases I intend to carry on with that policy.

It is akin to waliking into a high street shop, remember those, and taking a car load of gear and saying I will pay you in 3 days.

David S,

I run a business where people buy, pay for and receive goods. A business where you take money for something and not provide that, is fraud. If for any reason that item does not arrive then the seller should be able to deal with that problem directly. Its not the customers fault It is ebay who have turned things around so we only have 1 Customer and that is eBay itself. The same as the buyer is actually buying from eBay not the original seller.

You will get fraudsters all over the place in and out of eBay.

As a seller about half of my stock comes from auction houses and I have yet to find one who charges me fees and comission anything like eBay, They do however charge both the seller and the buyer a comission for the same item.

At the end of the day, I would much rather be in the position of dealing directly with the customer and look forward to that time.

Nick