Upcoming changes to eBay's PayPal Payments

Over the course of 2021 eBay will be incrementally changing how it works with sellers. Changes include updates to the fee structure, how fees are collected and how money is paid to sellers.

For the most part buyers will notice little or no difference when buying on eBay. There will be some new payment methods offered to buyers including Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Changes to seller fees

Under the existing system when an item sells eBay charges a 10% fee on the sale price, including any postage charges. PayPal will take a 2.9% cut of th final amount, again including postage plus a flat 30p for each transaction.

Under the new system eBay will charge a 12.8% fee including postage plus 30p per order - the previous 2.9% cut that PayPal tool will no longer apply. Sells will be fractionally better off. 0.1% better off.

Changes to payment method

Unlike standard PayPal payments which are instantaneous, sellers on eBay will now have to wait up to two working days before they see cash in their account. The new Managed Payments system will be enforced from yesterday (1 June 2021) and is compulsory for sellers, who may have accounts limited or removed if they refuse to use it.

By skipping PayPal and linking directly into seller's bank account it gives eBay the ability to directly lift funds via Direct Debit. This may cause an issue for sellers who have been caught out by eBay's "buyer first" attitude to issues with purchases, where eBay will oftentimes side with the buyer at the expense of the seller. The fear is that refunds will be lifted directly from the seller's bank account under the new system.

eBay however has made clear that the new system will follow the same rules as any other direct debit payments and all customers/sellers will have advance notice of how much is being taken out, and any incorrect or fraudulent payments will be fully refunded.

Cash-in-hand/Collection

Another change is that cash-in-hand sales on collect will now be charged the selling fees, this will be taken directly from the seller's bank account. So if a buyer decides to collect their purchase in person there's now no way round the ebay fees.

Alternatives

With eBay taking a tighter grip fo the PayPal integration on their platform, now might be the time to consider moving to or adding additional selling channels.

• Shopify Like eBay fully-hosted accounts are managed by Shopify all you have to do is add your own products and pay the relevant fees.
• Magento Unlike eBay or Shopify Magento allows for completely self-hosted stores so you can take complete control of your selling process.

These services can, with the right marketing, replace your eBay store, or can be used to suppliment your existing eBay store. Both offer the ability to manage your catalogue/stock/orders centrally and push out to other channels like eBay and Amazon.