UK Account

Question

Has anyone in the United States opened an account in the UK eBay? I have several high dollar items that would appeal to English buyers more than the US buyers. I was thinking about opening a UK account to sell them. Would shipping go though eBay Global Shipping program? Any advice would be appreciated.

comics-scifi-collectibles · Answer

@amazingbuys2 That would cause problems with receiving your payout and wouldn't change anything unless you are able to have the items IN the UK for shipping to a UK buyer.

You are enrolled in the eBay International Shipping Program. This shipping program replaced the Global Shipping program and has much better seller protections. Once the item safely reaches the US hub your job as a seller is done.

The UK does have MANY import restrictions on items such as toys, electronics, and more.

The EIS program also has restrictions on shipping which you can see on the linked page.

You CAN use your US account and list directly on the UK site if you wish, however be aware that you will be subject to currency conversion fees AND pay selling fees based on the UK site. The UK does not charge selling fees for private sellers that reside in the UK. I am not sure how they handle fees if the seller lives in another country.

Seller currency conversion charge

When you create listings or sell items on an international eBay site, eBay may convert your funds to a different currency in order to collect amounts owed by you to eBay, or to payout funds due to you.

For example, if your registered address is in the US and you create a listing on eBay.de for which fees are due (such as insertion and/or optional listing upgrade fees), eBay will convert your funds from USD to EUR using the transaction exchange rate applicable at the time of listing, in order to collect these fees. When the item sells on eBay.de, eBay will calculate your payout amount by converting the sales proceeds from EUR to USD using the transaction exchange rate applicable at the time of the sale.

If eBay converts your funds, the conversion will be completed at the transaction exchange rate we set for the relevant currency exchange. eBay's transaction exchange rate is composed of a base exchange rate plus a conversion charge. The conversion charge is a fixed percentage applied to the base exchange rate and retained by eBay. The base exchange rate reflects rates within the wholesale currency markets applicable to the currency pairing on the day of the conversion, or the prior business day. If exchange rates are set by law or regulation, the base exchange rate reflects the government reference rates.

If your registered address is in the US, the seller currency conversion charge applied and retained by eBay is 3%. If your registered address is not in the US, please refer to the fee page for your country or region of residence for your seller currency conversion charge information.

Examples of fee calculations

Auction-style listing example

Fixed price listing example

Other terms and conditions

If you use supplemental services, such as buying and printing shipping labels on eBay, or if you participate in any of our advertising programs, additional terms and conditions may apply, and you'll pay any costs or fees associated with those services. Details of the costs or fees will be on your monthly financial statement and we'll charge the payment method you've set up on your seller account
All fees are in US dollars
Sellers may be invoiced for fees under certain circumstances
Fees may apply if you end your auction-style listing early
The fees on this page apply to listings on eBay.com. If you list an item on another eBay site (for example, eBay.com.au or eBay.co.uk), the fees for that site will apply
Seller fees don't purchase exclusive rights to web pages on eBay. We may, in our sole discretion and without consent from or payment to sellers, display third-party advertisements (including links and references thereto) and listings from other sellers on any eBay page
Depending on the tax legislation for where you reside, local sales tax, excise tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), Goods and Services Tax (GST) or similar consumption tax might apply on your eBay fees. Details of any tax charged on your seller fees will be on your tax invoice. Learn more in our Taxes and import charges article and our Tax policy