ebay Winter Update 2024 Probably Feb 21st (Wed)
As a parting gift of sorts, Brian Burke (we'll miss ya, Brian) left us this hint on today's podcast:
Well, if you're listening today, Tuesday, March 20th, you'll want to pay close attention to the Announcement Board. Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 21st.
So, OK, I think Brian might have gotten ahead of himself with the month's...guessing he meant Feb, not March.
@elizabeth@ebay Care to confirm this? For those who pay attention to the Updates, would it be a good idea to pencil this onto our calendars for tomorrow?
I was thinking of doing some sourcing tomorrow, but if I know the Update is coming, I'll stay home (at least long enough to thoroughly review the Update.
24 comments
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@go-bad-chicken one important point though - I think the reference to new tax measures wasn't about VAT (which would be equivalent to eBay collecting and remitting sales tax in the US).
I believe it's about the new HMRC reporting requirements due to UK digital sales laws - similar to the additional costs eBay faces here in the US for having to report 1099-Ks for more sellers due to the threshold being lowered.
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Announcements/Information-regarding-UK-digital-sales-reporting-to-HMRC/ba-p/7548575
valueaddedresource
·2 years agoFYI - US one is live now too - biggest news is per transaction fee going up to $0.40 for orders over $10.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-Winter-Update-Is-Here-Per-Order-Transaction-Fee-Increasing/m-p/34303693#M2359147
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@my-cottage-books-and-antiques UK update is out now - looks much the same as Australia except.....
New Regulatory Operating Fee of 0.35% on total sale to cover costs of increasing regulatory and compliance obligations for sales on UK, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland sites.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/news/2024-february
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/news/2024-february/regulatory-operating-fee?targetgroup=B2C
go-bad-chicken
·2 years agoSay Whaaaaat!!!
Oh that's enough to want to make a U.S. seller spit nails. So it only really cost eBay an aadditional .35% for eBay to deal with the complexities of UK and EU taxation and regulation. But here in the U.S. we have been paying a category based FVF as high as 15% for eBay to take of our tax collection.
"Why is the regulatory operating fee being introduced?
We’re introducing this fee to address the rising costs associated with the increasing number and complexity of regulations impacting eBay’s marketplace - including consumer and environmental protection, as well as new taxation and customs measures."
valueaddedresource
·2 years agoThat's a great point @go-bad-chicken - maybe the recent $59 Million settlement with the DEA, $3 MIllion fine for criminal liability in cyberstalking scandal and the still ongoing EPA lawsuit have caused eBay to have to consider not just the cost of compliance, but possible costs for non-compliance and they figure they better start filling up the coffers just in case to try to avoid shareholder lawsuits if/when they get smacked in UK or EU too?
If things keep going this way with settlements and regulatory scrutiny in the US, it won't surprise me if we don't eventually see a similar additional fee tacked on here as well.
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@my-cottage-books-and-antiques just to add some extra confirmation, and maybe give a bit of a head start....the update page is already live for Australia, they just haven't made the announcement yet. 😉
https://www.ebay.com.au/sellercentre/aussie-seller-news/february-2024
Of course not everything there will be applicable to US and we may get some additional updates they don't, but at the very least that pretty much nails it that we'll get one tomorrow.
Side note: I didn't realize until reading it that eBay explicitly calls out Amazon FBA as being non-compliant/a violation of the third-party fulfillment and drop shipping policies for Australia. 👀
It's apparently been part of the policy for a couple years at least, so not new, but this update seems to be drawing extra attention to it, which makes me wonder if they might be ratcheting up enforcement.
Policies like that are usually based on country specific laws and regulations, particularly around consumer protection and privacy, so I don't think it's likely to be coming to the US any time soon but worth keeping an eye on at least because that would be a major shift if it did.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP2 years agoThanks @valueaddedresource . As you say, some of this might be coming our way, and some of it might not. Agree, it certainly does indicate that, unless they can't meet their schedule, we should be seeing our Update tomorrow.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoAs far as I can recall, it's been in place since they launched eBay fulfillment partnered with Orange Connex in Australia and a few other countries. My brain can't recall the dates without looking it up but I want to say 2021 for Australia. I believe some locations were 2020 and others 2021.
valueaddedresource
·2 years agoThanks @wastingtime101 - I was able to find it as far back as 2022 in the Internet Archive for Australia but figured it may have been sometime before that and just not archived.
It's interesting though, they updated that policy page for Australia effective December 21, 2023 and specifically said it wasn't a change in policy, but "information about activity that doesn't follow this policy has been updated for clarity."
That's why I was guessing there may be regulations in play and/or ratcheting up enforcement but I suppose they could also just be wanting to take the opportunity of a seller update to give a "gentle" reminder.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP2 years agoThis might just be a factor in why ebay has decided to emphasize that Amazon rule:
https://itwire.com/guest-articles/guest-research/amazon-surpasses-ebay-as-leading-australian-marketplace-for-first-time.html
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@my-cottage-books-and-antiques I was thinking the same thing. 😂
wastingtime101
·2 years agoI was pretty close with my dates @valueaddedresource . eBay Fulfillment with Orange Connex:
I think China was 2020? Germany was 2020. UK was 2021. Australia was Feb 2022.
And, of course, they did a pilot in the US a few years ago which was shut down pretty quickly. Because there's no eBay Fulfillment in the US we are not likely to see the same FBA restrictions as these other regions.
valueaddedresource
·2 years agoThanks @wastingtime101 but I'm not sure if this is directly connected to Orange Connex. I've checked UK and Germany pages about drop shipping, and they both still have the same general language as US ie. "listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed on eBay", but they don't say anything specific about FBA.
Australia is the only country I've found that explicitly calls out FBA on the drop shipping/third party fulfillment policy page, ostensibly because orders may come in "confusing" packaging.
Sellers must not:
Fulfil orders via a third-party service when the above conditions are not met. For example, the Fulfilment by Amazon service does not satisfy the third-party fulfilment conditions under this policy
Am I missing something where UK, Germany or China say something like that too?
wastingtime101
·2 years agoI honestly don't know without researching which I can't take time to do right now (I'm on a call and my multi-tasking skills only go so far). I remember reading it in the AU pages as a change when they launched eBay Fulfillment. I don't remember if I looked up other sites or not - it was 2 years ago.
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@wastingtime101 no worries! It was more just a curiosity question on my part, no need to dig into it if you don't remember.
elizabeth@ebay
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, thanks for catching this. Brian confirmed he meant February not March 😊
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP2 years ago@elizabeth@ebay @devon@ebay
Thank you for your responses. I am looking forward to reviewing the update.
readabouthorses
·2 years agoI've gotta ask .... did he really mean February when he said March? Because March 20 is a Wednesday and March 21 is a Thursday.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP2 years ago@readabouthorses That's why I am saying I think it is tomorrow...Brian is retiring March 1st, and so I suspect when he said this, he had his mind on March. Also, these are recorded ahead of time, which can also throw a person off when it comes to dates. But yeah, pretty sure he meant Feb.
@devon@ebay Can you confirm the Update is tomorrow?
devon@ebay
Hey @my-cottage-books-and-antiques! All I can share is to stay tuned as we are working on things here in the background!
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoWth is it always so "top secret"?
dhbookds
·2 years agoPersonally, I think it's because they, with the usual inefficiency, are never sure they will be "ready" on x date.......
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@my-cottage-books-and-antiques
Go source inventory, if the Update comes out tomorrow it will still be there tomorrow evening or the next day.
I doubt it will be so earth shattering that folks will close their Selling accounts. Besides, you might miss the deal of a lifetime for inventory acquisition.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoThe update doesn't effect immediately, so for me there is no reason to set aside time to watch it get announced in real time.