As you may have read today, Ebay is attempting to change their policy to charge a Final Value Fee if they suspect you taking the transaction outside Ebay with a buyer....EVEN IF THE ITEM DOESN'T SELL! I urge all sellers to contact their state attorney to protest this as it is surely not a legal practice to charge someone for a service that was not provided. They can limit your communications, they can suspend or withdraw your account, but they surely cannot charge a final value fee if the item was not sold.
According to Ebay, it will be up to their discretion to assess the fees however many questions have been raised such as where exactly had the buyer seen your item for sale. It could have been on Ebay but it also could have been in a discussion forum, on Facebook, Twitter, Letgo or Snapchat, on Amazon, on Craigslist, on your established and promoted website, or any number of other places. Another serious question is how did they determine if you took a sale outside Ebay? Did they monitor your messages with a bot triggered by keywords, did they pose as a buyer suggesting the sale be taken outside Ebay to entrap sellers, did they harvest information without our approval or knowledge to make this determination? These are all disturbing possibilities.
As a seller, you have a right to protest policy that forces you to agree to such a dangerous precidence. If they can charge for items not sold, what will be next? Don't allow Ebay to open the door to erroneously charge whatever fees they like.
Just add your username to this thread if you don't agree with this new policy. No discussion is needed but I urge you to include your username (or seller name) to show Ebay your disapproval.
