Downgrading store in yearly subscription

[rangers2337]

Did anybody has success downgrading their store after the Spring update without a fee when in a early contract. It seemed according to some eBay post eBay was allowing without a fee because of the changes but it was not highly publicized. I want to see if anybody has success before I call. 

[iart]

Not sure if this answers your question, but we had to do this a few years ago and we were charged the monthly fee instead of the yearly. Which means we owed extra for every month we'd been at that higher level.

I cannot imagine that ebay would change this as it would be unfair to other sellers who paid the yearly or monthly rates.

I'd like to know if this has changed.

[nobody*s_perfect]

When a seller downgrades of cancels an annual subscription, there is an "early termination" penalty fee which is based on the number of months remaining in their commitment. The Store Terms of Service has a chart which shows the fees, based on months remaining and level of subscription.

http://pages.ebay.com/stores/subscriptionterms.html

Over the years, when eBay has made significant changes in the store fees or benefits, as they did with the recent spring seller update, they often explicitly exempt sellers from the early-termination fee if they cancel or downgrade their subscription, before some specified time interval after the announcement.

[chapeau-noir]

I recall some fleeting, mysterious announcement earlier in the month that with the new allotments being rolled out, we could change our store subscription for some period of time without encurring penalties.  It may have been one of the mods speaking on the issue.

[valueaddedresource]

@rangers2337  - Here's a link to the only place I've seen an eBay rep acknowledge this.  According to this, you can downgrade and have the early termination fee waived any time before 4/30, but I'd suggest having the link handy when you call customer service. 😊

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Will-we-get-an-opportunity-to-change-our-store-subscri... 

@chapeau-noir 

[iart]

I think there's some confusion here. Or maybe just me. But I'm not sure what the OP is asking.

This is how @nobody*s_perfect link reads:

If you have a yearly subscription and you cancel your Store prior to the last calendar month of your Subscription Term:

• You’re charged an early termination fee. In addition, you’re billed at the current Store subscription fee rate for the calendar month during which you canceled.

There are 2 costs. The termination fee and the cost I mentioned above where you are charged the monthly fee instead of the yearly for those months already used.

So, even if they cancel the termination fee, you still have to pay that difference - which might not be worth it if you only have a few months left.

[chapeau-noir]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

@rangers2337  - Here's a link to the only place I've seen an eBay rep acknowledge this.  According to this, you can downgrade and have the early termination fee waived any time before 4/30, but I'd suggest having the link handy when you call customer service. 😊

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Will-we-get-an-opportunity-to-change-our-store-subscri... 

@chapeau-noir 

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Thank you for that!  I haven't  been able to track it down again.

[valueaddedresource]

@rangers2337  Just an update for anyone who didn't see this in the chat last week - brian@ebay  confirmed the early termination fee will be waived automatically when you downgrade your subscription in your account settings prior to April 30th, no need to call customer service.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Community-Chat-March-31-1-00-pm-PT-General... 

@iart  - I've spoken to several sellers who have downgraded and said they were not charged anything extra, but I'm not sure if what you referenced will apply if you choose to cancel your store subscription completely instead of just downgrading to a lower level.