£208.68 ?

[kodiakblair]

Just curious.

 

Was killing time at used basses and a fairly large number carried BIN prices of £208.68. On a second look it appears prices ending with .68 or with an '8' in general are just as common.

 

Anyone an idea why ?

[tauzero]

It's the new "Buyer Protection Fee" ("Nice item you've got there, wouldn't want anything to happen to it would we?"). More information here.

 

 

[rwillett]

A mandatory fee set by eBay. Never underestimate the ability of these people to find new ways to extract money from you. This is why selling is free, the seller is now paying for the privilege of selling to you through eBay. 

 

[Updated as I got who pays this the wrong way round coz I'm an idiot]

 

Rob

Edited September 17 by rwillett

[Woodinblack]

eBay made a big thing about making listings free, so they got rid of fees on transactions and then added a manditory buyer protection fee, that the seller pays, that was higher than the fees in the first place. Means all the prices look stupid and it is not clear that when you make an offer to someone for say £100, it comes through to the seller as 'they made an offer of £87.32'

 

[pete.young]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

eBay made a big thing about making listings free, so they got rid of fees on transactions and then added a manditory buyer protection fee, that the seller pays, 

 

 I think you'll find it's paid by the buyer. 

[rwillett]

9 minutes ago, pete.young said:

 I think you'll find it's paid by the buyer. 

 

You are correct, my mistake. As I do sell on eBay, I should have realised that. 

 

Corrected

 

Rob

Edited September 17 by rwillett

[kodiakblair]

Thanks for putting me in the picture folks 👍

 

 

[Woodinblack]

39 minutes ago, pete.young said:

 I think you'll find it's paid by the buyer. 

 

ok, yes, all money is paid by the buyer so I guess you can say that fee is too, but it is a price on top of the sale that the seller doesn't get and can't avoid

[Kev]

On 17/09/2025 at 14:58, pete.young said:

 I think you'll find it's paid by the buyer. 

For private sellers.  Business sellers on eBay have to pay the fee.

[binky_bass]

eBay is killing itself with these absolutely hidden fees while advertising 'free to sell' and simultaneously compelling people to use their 'simple delivery' system that forces people to wait in between 0700 and 1800 for collection which never happens... I've used eBay for 20 years and after their 'changes' this year I just cannot use them anymore, its prohibitively constrained as to how you can sell and it just doesnt suit me as a seller anymore. Foolish people in their lofty towers high above the 'shop floor' making arbitrary decision to put a few quid in their specific pockets that undermine the whole company... seems to be commonplace these days across the board. 

[Happy Jack]

eBay doesn't want your business, or mine. Private sellers like us who sell perhaps a handful of items each year are a mere legacy from the original eBay, and they'd love to be rid of us and focus on challenging Amazon.

 

eBay is now essentially the 2nd biggest shopping mall on the planet, with the vast majority of the business being done by shops and concessions, not by people buying and selling with each other in the concourse.

[p4ul]

100% this ^

[Kev]

I don't actually mind the simple delivery at all, used it a couple of times now and just dropped off at the local shop.  Don't have to worry about charging the customer the right postage amount, buying the right postage, or even really about weighing and measuring it (eBay "guess" based on the item and if they're wrong, they pay the extra postage needed).

 

As a seller I think the changes are for the better, its the buyer protection fee and the confusion that causes with offers etc that is the real issue for me.

[BigRedX]

32 minutes ago, Kev said:

I don't actually mind the simple delivery at all, used it a couple of times now and just dropped off at the local shop.  Don't have to worry about charging the customer the right postage amount, buying the right postage, or even really about weighing and measuring it (eBay "guess" based on the item and if they're wrong, they pay the extra postage needed).

 

Agreed.

 

This year I have mostly used eBay for getting rid of a load of unwanted tat including several things that were sold unworking for spares or repair that would have probably otherwise ended up in a landfill. I didn't make a massive amount of money, but all the new automated process meant that most of my time was spent taking the photos and then boxing up the items when they sold. 

[ped]

The worst thing about eBay is having to find a suitable box and packaging up stuff. Almost every time I sell something it'll be shortly after clearing out loads of empty boxes in the garage that I think I'll never need! Invariably I end up hacking up a box that's too big making me feel like I'm running a custom cardboard box atelier boutique from my garage.

 

Maybe one day they'll do what Amazon do for returns - take the item to a shop, print the return sticker with a QR code and they do the rest.

[Kev]

35 minutes ago, ped said:

The worst thing about eBay is having to find a suitable box and packaging up stuff. Almost every time I sell something it'll be shortly after clearing out loads of empty boxes in the garage that I think I'll never need! Invariably I end up hacking up a box that's too big making me feel like I'm running a custom cardboard box atelier boutique from my garage.

 

Maybe one day they'll do what Amazon do for returns - take the item to a shop, print the return sticker with a QR code and they do the rest.

I've got custom box making down to a fine art, I challenge your boutique to a duel.

[sprocketflup]

"Box off! Box off! Box off!"

[binky_bass]

With their 'simple delivery' it means when sending something over a certain size you HAVE to use DHL which only allows for collection from your home and only gives you a collection times of between 0700 and 1800 which means taking a day off which is not practical.

[BigRedX]

4 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

With their 'simple delivery' it means when sending something over a certain size you HAVE to use DHL which only allows for collection from your home and only gives you a collection times of between 0700 and 1800 which means taking a day off which is not practical.

 

Which is fine for me. I work from home and therefore I'm in all day, and having my item collected from home means I don't have to lug it to the "nearest" drop-off point.

[binky_bass]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

Which is fine for me. I work from home and therefore I'm in all day, and having my item collected from home means I don't have to lug it to the "nearest" drop-off point.

Bully for you. For those that don't work from home, the process doesn't work. There needs to be the option to either choose to have it collected from home for those in your camp, and for those that don't have the luxury of being at home every day there needs to be am ability for someone to drop a parcel off at the post office as it suits them.