eBay has announced the elimination of seller fees. The decision is eBay’s counter to the growing popularity of competitor platforms like Vinted and DePop – and could inject a £9 billion boost into the economy through increased sales of unwanted items.
Anticipating a surge in private sellers and buyers on its platform, eBay’s fee removal comes ahead of the pre-Christmas rush and is expected to extend well into the future. The initiative follows a successful pilot in Germany where eBay scrapped fees for private sellers, and an earlier move this year to abolish fees for private clothing sales in the UK.
eBay’s revamp also includes AI-powered listing simplification, streamlined delivery processes, and the promotion of a local pickup scheme, enhancing the overall user experience. With the rise of alternative platforms such as Depop and Vinted, which have been attracting British consumers by charging buyers instead of sellers, eBay has felt the pressure.
For instance, Vinted does not charge for listing or selling items, but imposes a “buyer protection fee” ranging from 3% to 8% of the item’s price before postage, plus a fixed amount between 30p and 80p. March of this year saw Depop drop its 10 percent selling fee for newly listed items, while introducing a new “marketplace fee” for UK buyers capped at 5 percent of the purchase price plus up to £1. Yet sellers on Depop are still subjected to a payment processing charge.
eBay’s research indicates that the UK has roughly 294 million unused items lying around, which could be sold to rake in about £9 billion in second-hand sales. After eBay Germany eliminated seller fees last year, there was a spike in sales, hitting figures in the hundreds of millions of pounds. The move brought about a considerable increase in inventory and options, attracting an additional 250,000 buyers.
Moreover, active shoppers were seen purchasing twice as much as previously. In the UK, axing fees on fashion sales resulted in a significant boost in listings for sought-after items like jeans, shirts, and dresses. An eBay spokesperson commented: “With an estimated 294 million unused items in homes across the nation, there is an estimated resale potential of over £9 billion to be unlocked.
“Half of households (50 percent) put the value of their unused items at between £50 and £300. Close to a quarter (24 percent) have potential treasures worth in excess of £500. Amongst the most frequently abandoned items in UK residences are adult clothing (44 percent), DVDs/CDs (33 percent), and tech products (27 percent).”
Research conducted by eBay has revealed that the majority (55 percent) of people sell items they no longer need to earn extra cash, with almost half (47 percent) considering it a more sustainable option than simply discarding them. A significant number of individuals are looking to free up space in their homes (55 percent), while nearly a quarter (23 percent) sell items to fund the purchase of new ones. With its new features and free selling, eBay aims to make the process of selling unwanted items easier than ever before.
Kirsty Keoghan, the general manager of eBay UK, commented to say: “eBay is constantly improving the marketplace experience in order to deliver on what our customers want. Removing selling fees across categories is designed to give buyers access to greater breadth and depth of inventory, while creating a simplified and streamlined experience for sellers.”
The changes mean that fees will be scrapped on all sales by private individuals, excluding motors including cars and motorcycles. The selling process will be simplified: sellers can list items across categories within minutes using guidance about the best pricing and shipping options, alongside AI-generated descriptions and photo-enhancing tools.
Furthermore, a service called ‘Simple Delivery’ is currently being introduced across categories. This offers sellers a tracked and fully covered delivery at competitive rates, prepaid by the buyer, for a simple and secure shipping experience.
In addition, eBay Local is a feature that allows shoppers to locate items in their vicinity for collection in person, all under the protection of eBay’s Money Back Guarantee. This feature also enhances the visibility of sellers’ listings to local buyers and provides a secure payment process.
Elsewhere, eBay Balance: is launching from mid-October. This new feature offers sellers the flexibility to utilise their earnings for shopping on eBay, promoting their listings, buying delivery labels or withdrawing available funds.