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Original poster

Suddenly been charged insertion fees on Ebay

28 replies

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 10:45

I'm just a private seller with a few Buy It Now listings. I tend to sell one or two items per month, and I currently have fifteen listings up.

I've just received a monthly invoice and they've charged me insertion fees for seven items. Now it's true that I relisted a few things in order to make them look later, and I'm also aware that "good till cancelled" listings technically relist themselves once a month. But I'm sure I'm well within my monthly twenty free listings, plus I'm sure they recently increased the monthly free listings to about a thousand or something, which I clearly never get anywhere near.

I can't even remember the last time I was charged insertion fees until just now.

What have I missed?

OP posts:

Kpo58 · 20/03/2019 10:51

Did you do any of the following:

add more than 1 picture
have a delayed start on an auction (ie created it at 10am, but make it go live at 8pm)
have a buy it now option

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 11:31

All my items have several photos, but they're all clothes and you don't get charged for photos on clothes.

They are all Buy It Now listings, not auctions. I stopped doing auctions years ago. All of them start straight away with no scheduling.

I found a detailed invoice and the insertion fees are just 35p per item, with no mention of any extras.

OP posts:

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 11:35

Also I thought private sellers now get 1,000 free listings per month?

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General shopping

UselessTrees · 20/03/2019 11:49

"Listing fees apply for each 30 day renewal if you choose a Good 'Til Cancelled duration and these don't count towards your monthly allocation."

I think this might be why you've been charged, although it's a bit unclear.

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 11:52

I know that, but it's always come out of my monthly free listings before. This is the first time I've ever been charged for it. Surely this can't be right?

OP posts:

BillywigSting · 20/03/2019 11:52

Private sellers get 1000 free listings per month but I think it's only on auctions over 5 days (not sure if it's 5, 3, or 7).

I think short auctions and bin sales have insertion fees now

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 11:56

I think short auctions and bin sales have insertion fees now

Technically, yes, but I've always had 20-100 free listings to make up for that, so I never actually paid for them as I only list a few items per month. Where's my free listings gone?!

OP posts:

Kpo58 · 20/03/2019 12:48

Buy it now has always had fees and so has adding more than 1 photo.

Dodie66 · 20/03/2019 12:52

Contact eBay and find out

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 12:53

Buy It Now has always had fees in theory, but I've always had at least 20 free listings per month so I've never had to actually pay for them.

It's only on auctions where you add a Buy It Now option, on top of the already-existing auction, that you get charged extra.

And clothing listings have had 12 free photos for many years now. I have never been charged for them. They stopped charging for that years ago.

Anyway, the itemised invoice specifically says "insertion fee" for 35p, not photo charges or anything else.

OP posts:

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 13:22

So basically it looks like this new 1,000 free listings per month thing is only valid for auctions, and now everyone who sells on Buy It Now listings is no longer getting free listings at all, not even the basic 20 per month?

Seems like a bit of a sham then, since most people do actually sell on Buy It Now these days. Only a small percentage of listings these days are actually auctions. I hate auctions as a seller because the items never sell, and I hate them as a buyer because I don't feel like hanging around until precisely 9.03pm to buy something.

I have some items that sell quickly, and others that take months to sell. I actually recently sold two items that had been listed for over a year. Achieving the right price is more important to me than making a quick sale. And now they're taking my free listings away and want to charge me 35p per item per month to let my listings sit there? Wow.

OP posts:

JugzyMalone · 20/03/2019 14:03

How do you look at a detailed invoice? I get a lot of weirdly high bills from them with no breakdown

JugzyMalone · 20/03/2019 14:08

The deliberate obfuscation is extremely irritating. I think I'll stop using them so much. Already switched to Facebook for most things.

Suddenly been charged insertion fees on Ebay

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 14:09

You can see it better in a desktop computer which gives your a lot more details than the mobile site.

Anyway, I've just had a chat with Ebay through the live help chat thing. They said the 1,000 free listings per month applies to both auctions and Buy It Now listings of 5, 7, 10 and 30 days, but not Good Till Cancelled ones any more. So if I want to avoid being charged, I have to manually relief things once a month and lose all the watchers I've built up, basically starting fin scratch each time.

This may just be the thing that finally makes me leave Ebay and move over to Depop or Vinted instead.

OP posts:

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 14:11

Manually relist, not relief Stupid autocorrect!

OP posts:

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 14:23

Eay changed listings and fee structure at the beginning of the month and you will have received an e.mail. You do need to read these, check your junk folder.

Details are also on the website of what you will be charged for.

Mine changed from 100 free listings plus 20 free listings and 20 scheduled items every month to 1000 free listings, but it applies to certain durations only and the add-ons have changed. I had to read the terms and conditions to find out what had changed.

If you scroll to the bottom of your selling page you will find the details of what is free to you.

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 14:24

Sorry, lost a 'b' there.

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 14:31

Ebay changed listings and fee structure at the beginning of the month and you will have received an e.mail. You do need to read these, check your junk folder.

Yes I did read it, thanks It said they were introducing 1,000 free listings per month to listings of a certain duration. They didn't say anything about discontinuing the 20 free ones to people who already had them. It's very misleading for people who already had Good Till Cancelled listings going and had never been charged extra so far. In fact, the woman I just chatted with has actually just refunded my fees because of this. But she did say I'll be charged from next month onwards unless I change the listings.

OP posts:

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 15:01

I agree that they are not the most efficient with notifications, and have only just deleted my e.mail otherwise I would have had a look but am sure there was a link in it to explain the changes - I checked it several times because people were commenting about it elsewhere.

I stopped using GTC a while ago because the relists incurred fees, not just changed this time round, and relisting in general varied so much with how many times you could relist free that I thought it was either too complicated or Ebay trying to catch sellers out so no longer used auto relist either.

It is best to never assume anything with Ebay, and to check everything before submitting a listing because there is always something being altered and they don't tell you. I also check the bottom of every listing before submitting to ensure the 'list with the above fees' is actually 0, sometimes it isn't due to the category I am using so go back and untick enhanced photos or picture pack to get it back to 0.

You have to be very careful as it is a mix of incompetence and stealth and goes along with ensuring you put everything in the listing to avoid thieving buyers. I look on it as a challenge to keep ahead with it all, tiring and annoying but necessary in my case.

If you don't need 1000 listings per month you would be better off using 'sell similar' in case there is a sneaky relist fee added, but remember to check the fees on the listing before you upload.

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 15:01

Sorry for the lengthy post, am trying to help.

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 15:13

I also check the bottom of every listing before submitting to ensure the 'list with the above fees' is actually 0, sometimes it isn't due to the category I am using so go back and untick enhanced photos or picture pack to get it back to 0.

Yes I do that every time.

And I've always been fine with GTC listings because the relist fees always came out of my monthly free listings, hence I've never actually been charged for them. It's very unfair and misleading to suddenly take our free listings away when we already had long-term listings up.

OP posts:

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 15:41

I think we were meant to 'know' that they would be different when first advised of the changes, but like all other changes on Ebay they didn't tell anyone.

I have seen many people caught out over the years with these things which is why I don't trust the buggers when they change anything and I do waste a lot of time going through my listings, because they also keep changing whether they are compliant (mobile etc.) which is another thing to click on and check before you complete the listing.

If you don't use the Ebay boards, it might be worth taking a look, people usually post on there as soon as something is changed to benefit Ebay and not the sellers, either directly or sneakily. I always go there when something is changed or about to change.

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 15:43

So, your calculated fees on the listings showed 0 and you were charged for them?

It might be worth mentioning that on the Ebay Sellers Forum, might be a common thing.

DontCallMeShitley · 20/03/2019 15:47

I am also assuming that your GTC hadn't gone over the number of free relists allowed which is not always free, last few times I looked at my free relists it had changed to 8, but was sometimes a different no. depending on how they felt on the day.

I also discovered, when I read it on the Ebay boards that auction listing times had previously been reduced for free listings, hadn't known as I hadn't used auctions, but had increased in duration for free ones. Nothing on there is ever a given.

Original poster

tectonicplates · 20/03/2019 15:52

So, your calculated fees on the listings showed 0 and you were charged for them?

Yes. I have been refunded now though, but the lady I spoke to did say I'd be charged in the future.

I definitely haven't gone over my free relists. The lady confirmed I would no longer have any for GTC listings.

OP posts:

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