Selling on eBay is now free

[John Conduitt]

I received an email from eBay telling me that as a private seller, I no longer have to pay transaction fees, and I still don't have to pay listing fees up to 300 a month. Selling internationally has a fee but it seems to be 2.5% +VAT, which is a lot less than it was. They do not seem to have put any extra costs on the buyer.

So they are paying for us to sell our coins now - unless you can get up to 300 a month, which must rule out almost everyone. This is a bit odd given how much time they waste fixing the incorrect tax rate they charge when I'm buying coins, but I won't complain, unless they come up with some other charge to compensate.

[CPK]

Is this some sort of UK thing? I'm pretty sure they are still charging a seller's fee, which, last I checked, was around 14-15% of sale price for coins.

[John Conduitt]

5 minutes ago, CPK said:

Is this some sort of UK thing? I'm pretty sure they are still charging a seller's fee, which, last I checked, was around 14-15% of sale price for coins.

Possibly? That would be strange but you never know. They were charging 13% + £0.30 and now nothing. And if I'm paying only 2.5% to sell to the US, then I could sell some coins cheaper to the US than someone in the US.

[Deinomenid]

29 minutes ago, CPK said:

Is this some sort of UK thing?

Yes.

This was a couple of days ago

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/01/online-retailer-ebay-scraps-fees-for-private-sellers-in-uk

 

[CPK]

Wow. I wish they'd do that over here in the US.

Does the article explain why ebay has done this? 

[mcwyler]

I received the same message. I haven't tried to find out what the catch is simply because I have never sold an ancient coin and have no immediate plans to do so. 

But I will await further news with interest!

 

[John Conduitt]

8 minutes ago, CPK said:

Wow. I wish they'd do that over here in the US.

Does the article explain why ebay has done this? 

To keep down the competition. When they did it in Germany, it increased both listings and buyers. (Who knew that cutting prices increases demand!). But given they now make nothing, an increase in nothing is still nothing. They don't seem to have added fees onto buyers.

[Dwarf]

Situation in Germany: Ebay makes a tiny percentage on payments, as this has to be made through ebay-chanels, and by providing easy postage.
Big problem: The coin section has changed to a garbage bin. This goes especially for modern Euro-coins, especially for so-called "error coins"
The ancient sector is flooded with forgeries, so is German "Reichsgold" (1871 to 1917).
I watch only occasionally, bargain-buys are - rarely - possible for the advanced collector.

Beware: As soon as a private collector sells for more than 2.000 Euro or has more than 30 transaction, ebay (and any other selling platform) has to inform German IRS and must provide all data - beginning in 2024

Best regards
Klaus

 

Edited October 3, 2024 by Dwarf

[John Conduitt]

47 minutes ago, Dwarf said:

Situation in Germany: Ebay makes a tiny percentage on payments, as this has to be made through ebay-chanels, and by providing easy postage.
Big problem: The coin section has changed to a garbage bin. This goes especially for modern Euro-coins, especially for so-called "error coins"
The ancient sector is flooded with forgeries, so is German "Reichsgold" (1871 to 1917).
I watch only occasionally, bargain-buys are - rarely - possible for the advanced collector.

Beware: As soon as a private collector sells for more than 2.000 Euro or has more than 30 transaction, ebay (and any other selling platform) has to inform German IRS and must provide all data - beginning in 2024

Best regards
Klaus

Yes UK eBay is similar. There are already lots of fakes even before this change. And they inform the Inland Revenue if you have 30 transactions. But the rule is that if you are selling your possessions, and not buying to sell, this is not taxable. And of course, if you are just trying to get back what you spent, you also do not have to declare it. It will be a lot easier to sell unwanted coins now you can do it for almost exactly what you paid for them.