Does eBay still do zero commission offers?

[steve_sordy]

I am doing a bike build for my grandson and I will have a load of stuff to sell afterwards. eBay used to send me offers on a regular basis that were not only no selling fees (now standard), but also zero commission! In other words, I got to keep all of the selling price! The money I will make goes to reduce the total cost to my grandson, it's not for me!

I have not seen of these offers since they went to the "no selling fees" basis as standard. But I don't use eBay much. Has anyone seen any such offers recently?

 

[cozzy]

No. Plus fees have come back under another name.

 

[GDAS]

there are no fees for private sellers on ebay - neither listing fees nor final value fees.
But, a private seller can't list a bike under the category for ebikes. However, people are circumventing that by listing ebikes under the category for bikes.

 

[steve_sordy]

there are no fees for private sellers on ebay - neither listing fees nor final value fees.
But, a private seller can't list a bike under the category for ebikes. However, people are circumventing that by listing ebikes under the category for bikes.

Thank you @GDAS , that is very clear, I think!
If I was to sell a fork for £200 + £20 p&p, total £220, eBay would charge me nothing and I would get the full £220 from the buyer?

Just out of interest, how do eBay make money from private sellers?

I understand your point about eBikes.

 

[GDAS]

Thank you @GDAS , that is very clear, I think!
If I was to sell a fork for £200 + £20 p&p, total £220, eBay would charge me nothing and I would get the full £220 from the buyer?

Just out of interest, how do eBay make money from private sellers?

I understand your point about eBikes.

Correct, ebay would charge you nothing. However, ebay would leave the money in your account, in the hope that you will then spend it on ebay (and perhaps buy items from business sellers, who incur fees). Even if you choose to withdraw the money from your ebay account to your linked current account, ebay won't let you do that until a certain number of days have passed (I've forgotten the specifics but I'm sure you can find it in their T&Cs).

My instant reaction is that they seem to have given up rather a lot - in your example, if you weren't using a promotional offer, I think you would have previously paid £22 final value fees. Which is a lot more than they're now going to earn by keeping your money in their bank, presumably earning interest, for a few days.

But, I'm sure they have some sound reasoning.

 

[Tooks]

Basically, the buyer now pays the fees in private sales.

So, to keep using the £200 forks example, you would list them for £200, and if sold you would get £200, but the buyer would have seen (and paid) a slightly higher price that included fees to eBay.

So, your £200 pair of forks would actually be listed for sale at £208.55 (+3.9% +0.75p) the increase being called a ‘buyers protection fee’. You might have noticed lots of odd priced things on eBay now.

Postage is separate I think.

As a seller, you also only get paid 2 days after the item is delivered to the buyer.

That’s my take on it anyway, but haven’t sold on eBay for a while.

 

[TommyC]

Rules have just changed again.

The above is true. The ‘seller fee’ went last year. Now it’s a ‘buyers fee’ which is 75p +4% for items up to £300, 2% over that. You now only get paid 2 days after buyer receives it if it’s tracked delivery. If untracked its 14 days!

Business sellers are still on the old rules. Average 12% sellers fee, no buyers fee added and paid out daily.

 

[RustyIron]

The money I will make goes to reduce the total cost to my grandson, it's not for me!

I know this isn't what you asked, but I can never pass up the opportunity to badmouth eBay, PayPal, and their shifty practices.

There's a lot of geography between you and me, so maybe my own experiences won't apply. But around here, Facebook Marketplace is pretty reliable. So are apps for your phone. There are a few, but I've used OfferUp. Lastly, Pinkbike has a pretty good classified ad section.

If I've managed to steer you away from eBay, then my work is complete.