Most shoppers like a bargain with many turning to online sites such as eBay and Vinted to secure the best price on deals. However new rules have come into effect on eBay which Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert website is warning people to watch for.
From Tuesday, February 4, buyers will pay more when purchasing from private sellers. Vinted already has a buyer protection scheme in place and now rival eBay has introduced its own.
This is made up of a flat charge of 75p per item plus 4% of the first £300 cost and then 2% on anything over that up to a cost price of £4,000. There is a cap on fees at £4,000 which means buying an item at that price would set you back £86.75
This means some cheaper items will actually cost more in fees than you pay for the product itself. Buy something at 50p you would pay 75p in flat rate fee plus 2% – or 2p, making the total cost in fees of 77p – 27p more than the item.
According to MSE eBay has said the fee will be included in the price on the listing. The protection fee will not be paid on the postage.
Some categories are excluded including cars, motorcycles and vehicles, property and classified. People who get a refund will also get their buyer’s fee returned.
MSE advised: “Sadly there’s little you can do to avoid fees when buying from private sellers. As always, use shopping comparison sites to benchmark the best deals elsewhere.”
It also warned there were changes for sellers saying: “From Tuesday 4 February, eBay will begin to only pay private sellers once an item has been delivered – not when it’s sold. This could mean you’ll have to wait up to 14 days for your cash. Previously, funds appeared in your eBay balance within two working days of a sale.”
The shopping site says the change will be rolled out to “minimise potential disruption”. It said it was starting in electronics and then moving across the other included categories.
eBay has explained its policy on the site saying: “Buyer Protection is included at no cost when purchasing from business sellers. The Buyer Protection fee, if applicable, is already included in the item price that you see when browsing on the site and in any bids or offers you make, so there are no surprise fees at checkout.
“You’ll see a breakdown of your order total, including the Buyer Protection fee per item (if applicable), at checkout and also in your order details.” It adds the benefits are:
- 24/7 customer support: Connect anytime with a person by phone, or send a chat to get quick answers.
- Private sellers paid after delivery: When you purchase from a private seller, payment is sent after the order has been successfully delivered.
- Secure transactions: All payments are encrypted end-to-end and handled by our trusted payments partners.