Massive change to eBay selling fees could save you serious cash – how does it compare to Depop and Vinted?
SELLERS on eBay will be able to take home more cash from each sale thanks to a huge shake up of charges.
Fees are changing from today, October 1, meaning those who sell secondhand items including CDs, books, toys and furniture will not be charged anything.
Buying and selling items on the auction website will be free across all categories except motor listings including the sale of cars, motorcycles and vehicles.
Before the change private sellers had to pay an enormous fees of 13.22 per cent when selling items on eBay.
These included a 12.8% “final value” fee plus 30p per order and 0.42% “regulatory operating” fee.
For a seller listing a chest of drawers worth £20 the change would save them £2.94 in fees.
They will now take home the full £20 instead of the previous £17.06.
For items worth just one or two pounds the fee changes could have an even greater impact.
This is because previously there was a fixed 30p element to how the final value fee was calculated.
On a £3 transaction this would be equal to 10% of the seller’s total profit, without including the other elements of the fees.
The news comes just months after eBay slashed fees to sell secondhand clothes on its website in a bid to compete with other platforms including Vinted and Depop.
Meanwhile, in August the secondhand website also stopped accepting American Express credit cards as a payment method.
Kirsty Keoghan, general manager of eBay UK, said: “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.”
eBay is also set to bring in several new features for sellers.
Users will be able to list items across categories within minutes with the help of AI-generated descriptions and photo enhancing tools.
The secondhand website is also launching Simple Delivery, which will offer sellers tracked and fully covered delivery.
This will be prepaid by the buyer and will be at competitive rates, although the prices have not yet been confirmed.
Starting from mid-October the eBay Balance feature will allow sellers to use their earnings to shop on eBay, promote their listings, purchase delivery labels or withdraw funds.
This is similar to Vinted’s “wallet” feature.
Top tips for selling on eBay
NEW to eBay? It's head of secondhand, Emma Grant, reveals how to optimise your listings:
- Use key words – eBay automatically filters listing titles for key words, so it’s crucial to use the terminology people search for – especially brand and product names.
- Choose the right category for your product – It might sound obvious but it’s important to always choose the most specific category to sell in.
- Pictures are important – Most users will not bid on items they cannot see. For best results, take photos in natural light against a neutral background and be honest about any scratches or damage to the item.
- Be as detailed as possible – Be honest about the condition of the product and be sure to note any wear and tear.
- Look at past sold items– eBay has a function that allows you to search for the item you want to sell and then filter the results by sold items. Here, you can view the price the item has sold for and get insight into how others have listed it.
- Selling Sundays – Get the timing right. The busiest time for buyers is Sunday evenings, so schedule your listings to end around that time. Opt for seven-day auctions to ensure the max number of bids. The longer your item is listed, the more chance of people seeing it, so unless it’s time-sensitive, pick seven days. December is the busiest month on eBay.
- Be realistic with pricing – Try searching for similar items on eBay, to make sure you’re going for the right price and always ask yourself “would I pay this price for this item?”
- Donate to charity – When listing your item, consider donating a percentage of the sale to a cause of your choice – from 10% to 100% – you can donate the funds raised from your item straight from the platform.
The secondhand website hopes that these new features will make it easier than ever to sell unwanted items.
What do the changes mean for sellers?
Changes to seller fees that had already been announced by eBay come into force today.
Previously private sellers could list up to 1,000 items a month for free on eBay but from today this falls to 300.
After you’ve used your monthly allocation of 300 free listings you will be charged 35p for each additional listing created.
This will not be a problem for most sellers but could have a big impact on small businesses.
Meanwhile, the international fee will increase to 3% for all delivery addresses outside the UK.
What do other companies charge?
There are no fees to sell items on Depop after the platform removed the 10% charge on the total transaction cost earlier this year.
But there is still a payment processing fee which is 2.9% of the total transaction amount + 30p, which includes shipping costs and taxes.
In addition, buyers in the UK must pay a marketplace fee which is up to 5% of the purchase price plus a fixed amount of up to £1.
Money from the marketplace fee will go towards investing in Depop Protection, customer support, platform improvements and growing the community.
In comparison, there are no fees to list or sell an item on Vinted.
Instead, buyers are charged a protection fee, which varies depending on the price of the order.
For orders including bundles which cost less than £500 buyers are charged a fixed amount of between 30p and 80p.
They are also charged a variable amount of 3% to 8% of the purchase price agreed between the buyer and seller, regardless of postage cost.
For orders and bundles sold for £500 or more buyers are charged 3% of the item’s price, including the VAT applied to its price.
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