Are Buyer Protection Fees coming to US?

[14thebox]

UK private sellers now have added fees to their listing that the buyer has to pay will this be coming to the US?

[bashort]

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@14thebox wrote:

UK private sellers now have added fees to their listing that the buyer has to pay will this be coming to the US?

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I would not doubt it, most every state, county, municipality and township in the US are desperately trying to devise new ways to increase tax revenue.

[bennotbill]

The last item I bought on .uk (my homesite) was more than a bit confusing.

A cheap auction item start price of £1.75, includes buyer protection fee of 76p or so it says on the page.

It's been round a few times so I expected it to sell with it's maiden bid. I won't be in so I set a snipe a little higher than that.

Confusion 1. the snipe site says the start bid is 99p

Confusion 2. I won and paid 99p

Confusion 3. checked the sellers sold items and it shows as sold for £1.75

The UK forum is more boring than usual. As well as the usual private versus business arguments, which I'm sure ebay is happy to see, it's just many many posts on the buyer "protection" fee.

[chapeau-noir]

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@bashort wrote:

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@14thebox wrote:

UK private sellers now have added fees to their listing that the buyer has to pay will this be coming to the US?

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I would not doubt it, most every state, county, municipality and township in the US are desperately trying to devise new ways to increase tax revenue.

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I'm not seeing the connection?

[bashort]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@bashort wrote:

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@14thebox wrote:

UK private sellers now have added fees to their listing that the buyer has to pay will this be coming to the US?

---

I would not doubt it, most every state, county, municipality and township in the US are desperately trying to devise new ways to increase tax revenue.

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I'm not seeing the connection?

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we are already seeing "retail delivery fees" added in some places, once the door is opened to tack on extra taxes it will done much more

[chapeau-noir]

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@bashort wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@bashort wrote:

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@14thebox wrote:

UK private sellers now have added fees to their listing that the buyer has to pay will this be coming to the US?

---

I would not doubt it, most every state, county, municipality and township in the US are desperately trying to devise new ways to increase tax revenue.

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I'm not seeing the connection?

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we are already seeing "retail delivery fees" added in some places, once the door is opened to tack on extra taxes it will done much more

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These are buyer fees, though - paid to the site. As a taxable event it would yield almost nothing to any municipality. I see it more as a desperation move by eBay to try to expand the site and onboard casual sellers. The attempt bombed on Mercari and bombed on Poshmark, though.

[cityslickercreations2004]

For Buyers on Mercari:

"Starting January 6, 2025, a Buyer Protection fee of 3.6% will apply to the item price and buyer-paid shipping for new and updated listings. "

For sellers on Mercari:

 Effective January 6, 2025, a 10% selling fee will apply to item price and buyer-paid shipping for new and updated listings.

My listings are generally less than $10.00 so I was only affected by the traffic reduction. I am unsure if other sellers were able to rebound.

[chapeau-noir]

I left Mercari at that point and haven't started back up again, mostly because it seemed like a waste of time to list there with such a ridiculous scheme, even though I had had success selling there. But I've read that they've cleaned it up and fees are not so unpredictable. I'm a buyer there, too, but not recently. I might start selling there again. I've got to get this danged house cleaned out and all of my inventory GONE. The mountains are calling.

[luckythewinner]

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@mooncat_watches wrote:

Usually policy changes like these are not due to whimsical decisions, but laws that are introduced in other countries that don't affect, say, the US. eBay still has to abide by and adjust to these.

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Or in Mercari's case, a desperate attempt to save a marketplaces that was foundering.