- Ebay slashes fees for private sellers across most categories
Ebay has scrapped fees for sellers as it battles increased competition from the likes of Vinted and Depop.
From today, buying and selling on the auction site will be free across all categories except motor listings.
It means that private sellers will no longer pay final value fees or regulatory operating fees when selling, saving them the usual 13.22 per cent fee.
Going, going, gone: Ebay slashes selling fees for private sellers across most categories
It comes just months after Ebay cut charges for selling secondhand clothes in the face of increased competition from other platforms.
Does it mean that it will be cheaper to list items on Ebay or do other platforms still have the upper hand?
What can you sell fee-free on Ebay?
If you’re looking to sell on Ebay you could previously list up to 1,000 items a month for free, but from today this will be cut to 300.
This applies to all items including property and classified ads, which previously incurred a small cost.
Ebay said it had introduced the changes after evaluating its current model and finding that the majority of sellers do not use the full allowance.
If you’re looking to sell more than 300 items a month, you will need to pay 35p per listing.
However, private sellers will no longer have to pay the 12.8 per cent final value fee and 0.42 per cent regulatory operating fees it had previously charged on all categories, other than secondhand clothing.
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.’
It’s also free to add a buy it now price if you want to speed up the selling process.
Other features like a reserve price – the item won’t be sold if bids don’t reach the amount – and promoted listings will incur a 35p charge per listing.
Customers looking to sell cars, motorcycles or vehicles will still face seller fees as the final value fee and regulatory operating fee still apply. You also can’t use your monthly free listing allocation on motors.
Ebay said it had introduced other changes to its site, including AI-generated descriptions and photo-enhancing tools.
It also said it would allow sellers to use their earnings to shop on Ebay, promote their listings, purchase delivery labels or withdraw funds, similar to Vinted’s ‘wallet’ feature.
What do Vinted and Depop charge?
The decision to cut some of its fees means Ebay is directly competing with other second-hand selling sites that have waived seller fees.
Vinted does not charge any fees to list or sell items, instead charging buyers a ‘protection fee’ which varies with the price of the item.
For orders priced less than £500 it ranges from 3 to 8 per cent of the purchase price, regardless of postage costs. Orders, including bundles, over £500 will face a 3 per cent fee.
It means that if you are looking to sell more than 300 items a month, it will be cheaper to sell on Vinted as Ebay will charge more once your free allocation runs out.
Depop has also waived its seller fees. It previously charged a 10 per cent charge on the total transaction cost, including the shipping fee, a 2.9 per cent ‘standard transaction fee’ and a 30p charge.
However the platform dropped all seller fees in March, and sellers will now just face a 2.9 per cent payment processing fee, plus 30p.
Instead, buyers now incur a fee of up to 5 per cent of the item plus a fixed amount up to £1, excluding taxes and shipping costs.
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