No more Final Value Fees?

[38e_avenue]

Did you know?????

eBay Germany Will Be Free For Private Sellers from March 1, 2023

eBay Germany has announced that selling on the online marketplace will be free of charge for private sellers as of March 1, 2023. The following announcement (translated by Google) appeared on the online marketplace’s community board:

Dear sellers,

Selling items on eBay.de will be free for private sellers from March 1, 2023. Private sellers then pay neither a listing fee nor a sales commission (Final Value Fee) when they sell on eBay.de. The change also applies to offers that were already posted on eBay before March 1, 2023, and have not yet been sold.

Why are we doing this? We know that fees have been the biggest hurdle for private sellers to sell on eBay. The change in fees not only means an attractive opportunity for additional income for private sellers, but also a wider range of inexpensive and used items on eBay.de. This allows consumers to save when shopping on the eBay marketplace in economically challenging times and, at the same time, give used things a second life.

With the elimination of fees for private trading on eBay.de, eBay is investing in the entire marketplace ecosystem: the figures show that anyone who sells on eBay also buys twice as much as buyers who do not sell. And that also means higher sales opportunities for our commercial dealers. We are your reliable partner again this year and will support you with improved functionalities and various programs to start and grow your business.

We wish you every success in selling, and thank you for your trust!

Best regards

Your eBay team

[reallynicestamps]

Interesting.

Even more interesting will be how much advertising from "business" sellers will appear on those "private seller" pages.

And how eBay will decide who fits into each category.

Germany is very much a first world market but language will mean this experiment likely will not register with the overwhelmingly unilingual US seller base.

It's also my impression that dotDE is the site of choice for sellers from the former Soviet Bloc who want to deal in a hard currency.

[flipistics]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

Interesting.

Even more interesting will be how much advertising from "business" sellers will appear on those "private seller" pages.

And how eBay will decide who fits into each category.

Germany is very much a first world market but language will mean this experiment likely will not register with the overwhelmingly unilingual US seller base.

It's also my impression that dotDE is the site of choice for sellers from the former Soviet Bloc who want to deal in a hard currency.

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I wonder if this might have more to do with the German packaging laws. It may have killed a lot of commerce there.

[recped]

Yes I'm aware, no it has nothing to do with packaging laws!

It's an experiment eBay is testing to see if it will bring back more one-off or irregular sellers who would then spend the money they bring in on eBay.

If it works then perhaps eBay will expand it, they have the data so they will know if produces positive results

[reallynicestamps]

Ahhh-- then this "eBay is investing in the entire marketplace ecosystem: the figures show that anyone who sells on eBay also buys twice as much as buyers who do not sell."-- becomes the important part of the announcement.

[regs43]

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@flipistics wrote:

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I wonder if this might have more to do with the German packaging laws. It may have killed a lot of commerce there.

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A friend in Germany said its very dificult to buy online now, as most sellers wont ship to Germany anymore because of this law. So its possible it could be a small factor. He also said the packaging law was suppose to expand to other countries sometime soon.

[brettjet38]

the figures show that anyone who sells on eBay `(us small sellers) also buys twice as much as buyers who do not sell.

How many of you have almost stopped buying on ebay...

So, if private sellers (I am a registed private seller here on Canada) no longer pay fees, we will spead twice as much as Buyers who do not sell...

True!

[lady.stark]

I almost stopped buying on eBay. I do it once in a while. But if I no longer pay eBay fees, I might buy some stuff again. If my sales improve that is.

[pjcdn2005]

Keep in mind that we don't know what the definition of private seller is on the .de site or what it would be here if there was no fvf for private sellers. 

Many of the sites have specific rules for each category which currently  don't apply on .ca or .com.  Afaik it is up to us here whether we register as a private or business seller.  On the UK site you would probably be considered a business seller.  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy/business-seller-polic...

Business sellers are required to follow all government regulations, including registering as a business on eBay, and providing contact information and a return policy.

An eBay seller must register as a business if, for example, they sell items they have bought to resell, they make items in order to sell them, or if they buy items for their business.

[recped]

I tried to find the definition of eBay.de, I was using chrome to translate so the results might not be totally accurate but they did indicate that anyone operating as a Sole Proprietor or Corp are considered "business". While I could not find a reference to number of sales I would make an assumption that any seller registered to collect VAT would be considered a business seller. I do not know the requirement that would force you to register. It could be similar to the Canadian GST requirement ($30,000 over any 12 month period) or it could be lower.

According to this page:

https://www.lawyersgermany.com/vat-in-germany

Any business with a total annual turnover of 22,000 Euro (approx CA$32,000) must register. eBay may have other requirements of their own that differentiates Private / Business sellers (like the UK ones you provided).

[joels-retrocade]

I think I would pass out from excitement if this came to Canada lol.  I would certainly spend more cash if I saved on Fees.  Used to buy on eBay all the time but it's very infrequent now.