eBay Spring Seller Update: Seller Commission Increases May Be More Serious

On March 3, eBay announced its Spring Seller Update, which included changes and updates in multiple areas including listing and promotion, business operations, payment methods, category and classification changes, etc. In addition to providing sellers with some new features and benefits, it also increased fees for some categories.

eBay launches new features such as coded coupons, partial refunds

eBay has also updated some new features, the most interesting of which is the coded coupon, which is a novel and flexible promotion method. Sellers can use this new tool to create coupon codes, and customers can enjoy discounts by using the coupon code at checkout. In addition to promotions, coded coupons can also be used as a way to compensate and appease those dissatisfied customers.

eBay has also introduced further seller protections for sellers with "Below Standards" and "Very High" service indicator evaluation levels. There will also be a policy update in the service indicator that will provide further restrictions on sellers with a "very high" number of "not described" and "not received" return requests. Not only that, sellers will soon be able to provide partial refunds to avoid returns, and all after-sales will be centralized in the Seller Center without having to visit the Resolution Center.

In addition, starting in April, eBay will launch automatic campaigns for recommended listings. If your inventory changes frequently and it is tedious to manually create new "Recommended Products" campaigns, sellers can use this feature to automate this work. The feature can automatically add or remove listings from the campaign and adjust the advertising rate based on the rules set by the seller.

eBay reminds sellers to pay attention to EU VAT changes

In eBay's seller update, the EU VAT changes and German-specific VAT requirements are also highlighted. From July 1, 2021, the EU VAT changes will affect the VAT collection method for goods imported into the EU, non-EU sellers supplying goods within the EU, and EU sellers' cross-border supplies. eBay requires all sellers to provide a total price and a separate VAT rate on their listings so that eBay can determine the correct amount of VAT to charge consumers based on their location.

Due to legal changes in Germany that will take effect from July 1, 2021, all sellers who need to register for VAT in Germany will be required to provide a German VAT ID. eBay will perform an automated check with the German authorities to ensure that the business seller’s details on the eBay account and the details on file for the German VAT ID by the tax authorities match.

eBay is increasing its selling commissions

Although it wasn’t mentioned in the Spring Seller Update, eBay is actually increasing commissions.

A year ago, eBay made a major change to the way it charges sellers for managed payments, combining commissions and payment processing fees into one final value fee. At the time, eBay executives said, "Most sellers can expect to see savings in fees across the board."

But on eBay's page for changes to "Fees and Finance" in its "Spring Seller Update," it says " Final value fees increased for all sellers in select categories ."

The fee increase means eBay will charge more for shipping costs and state sales taxes, and as more states in the United States impose sales taxes, shipping costs rise, coupled with the increased costs caused by more frequent shipping backlog claims, eBay's price increases may be more severe than before.

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