I've just found out that soon, when you receive money for eBay sales, payments will go directly into your bank account rather than your PayPal account. So by the end of May you have to provide eBay with your bank details.

The blurb I received says that once you provide your bank details (which you have to do in order to continue selling) you will "automatically offer all payment methods" to buyers.

I presume that this means your bank details will be passed on to any old Tom, Dick or Harry so that they can pay you directly if they want to (and also have the chance to harvest your sensitive financial information). Although it does appear that they can still pay you via PayPal if they wish ... it's just that the cash (or what's left of it) will instead be credited to your bank account rather than your PayPal account.

eBay call it the "end-to-end selling experience" and say that they are "enhancing" it in order to "deliver a more seamless experience for both buyers and sellers". I just call it fixing something that's not broken.

They're also making hay out of the fact that there are "no more PayPal payment processing fees" and that most sellers will now supposedly pay "the same or less" in fees as before. Although given the fact that they are increasing their final value fee from 10% to 12.8% and slapping a new £0.30 fixed fee on every sale, I'd say it's swings & roundabouts unless you're selling high-value items, in which case the effective 0.4% fee cut (I think PP fees are currently around 3.2%, something like that) might be slightly more noticeable.

Others may disagree, but suddenly selling on eBay has become less attractive for me.

- Steve

Yes I agree with that. eBay was great in its early days (and fees were much more modest). But over time it's morphed into the big corporate monster that it is today.

I also recall some years ago when eBay forced everyone to use PayPal, their justification was that it was a secure payment platform for buyers and sellers alike. They now seem to have changed their minds about that for some reason.

- Steve

Socialism.
Is, or could be the answer.

Hi Steve

A good thread ...for them its all about profit , customer doesn't really matter IMO ,.....fees are getting too much might aswell give stuff away

Haven't see any free listing offers either .....have they stopped this as well ??

What annoys me is that any money in your account can't be transferred instantly as a result of sales yet if your sent money it can ........take on average 2 days .....not good

I believe PayPal and e E Bay have split and are separate companies each with own charges

Of course sell your stuff here on PF ...absolutely FREE ..great bonus for members

Nap

Hi Kev, further digging has revealed that PP was spun off from eBay in 2015, and that this move has been in the works since at least 2018.

I'm sure that eBay have their own (business) reasons for doing it, and you can be sure that it's for their own benefit not the customers' - no matter how they try to spin it as "improving the experience" in their corporate-speak.

It also transpires that if you sell something on eBay for £30, under the new system you'll end up with a grand total of 4p (in words: four pence) more than you do at present. Sell something for £100 and under the new system that amount rises to the giddy amount of 10p (just don't go mad and spend it all at once). And as you correctly point out, for that you'll then have to wait a couple of working days for your money instead of getting it credited instantly to your PP account as is the case at the moment.

The benefit of selling on here is of course that it's completely free, although it's also true to say that our relatively obscure little corner of the web doesn't have the global "reach" that eBay does.

- Steve

It was great for both buying and selling when it first started, like a giant online car boot sale.

But as it's become increasingly corporate & glossy over the years (and as selling fees have crept ever upward to match its corporate-ness and glossy-ness), it's become much less attractive. You get the impression that "attic-clearance" sellers are an inconvenience now, and they're only interested in the big-volume businesses and "power-sellers".

- Steve