eBay shoppers are poised to face fees for their purchases amid a backlash over the plans.

The controversial decision has been attacked by some sellers who fear it will turn customers away.

Yet the firm say it aims to relieve sellers from some financial burdens and there is hope at the company that it will benefit shoppers by growing the platform and bringing in more products.

eBay says the fees will be ‘small’ but exact details remain unclear. Yet there is clear unhappiness about the proposal in eBay seller circles – with fears they will even have to absorb the fees themselves.

One seller took issue with the scheme in a post on an eBay forum. They said: “We will now be expected to absorb the buyer’s fee and our own business selling fee (and shop fees etc).

“This seems crazy to me – although eBay say it’ll be ‘small’ , if it’s 8% like elsewhere that’s a massive hit for us to take.  

“Yes it’s for the buyers but we all know prices will drop because of it – for example a 350 item will now cost 379 to the buyer with an 8% fee that is currently used by another platform, so of course sellers will drop the initial price so that the item actually sells and to offset this.

“Fine for private sellers who have no fees to compensate, but insane for business sellers with hefty final value fee and shop fees already. 

It is not known yet when exactly the change will happen. The move comes after the company’s recent policy update in September, which has exempted private sellers from fees on used clothing across most categories.

Elaborating on these upcoming changes, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said in an internal message: “We are also planning to introduce a buyer-facing fee in the UK in early 2025 alongside a set of buyer enhancements that provide additional value.”

On the same forum, another seller also criticised the plans, saying: “Why are we being treated like this?  What did we do?” Another fumed: “Are they for real? Business sellers will be absolutely destroyed if they charge buyers in the new year. It’s almost like they want to be this friendly fun marketplace for the general public and hope the business sellers will cover the costs.”

Yet another commenter warned that it will turn buyers away from the site, saying: ” In terms of sales, even a small fee would put a lot of buyers off, especially in terms of low value items.”

The charge would echo strategies by other digital retailers such as Depop and Vinted. The latter offers free listing and selling yet applies a buyer protection fee ranging between 3% and 8%, plus a fixed amount of 30p to 80p.

Depop has similarly removed their 10% selling fee for new postings this year, instead imposing a marketplace fee for UK buyers, subject to a cap of 5% and additional charges up to £1, but maintains a payment processing charge for sellers.

The process has been tried elsewhere. eBay Germany abolished seller fees last year, an action that led to skyrocketing sales figures mounting into hundreds of millions of pounds.

Following Germany’s lead, eBay says a surge in products attracted more than 250,000 new consumers. In turn, regular eBay users ramped up their shopping activity, buying twice as much as before, the firm says.

In the UK, the removal of fees on fashion items led to a significant increase in listings for popular items such as jeans, shirts, and dresses. According to an eBay spokesperson, “With an estimated 294 million unused items in homes across the nation, there is an estimated resale potential of over £9 billion to be unlocked.”

Research revealed that half of households (50%) valued their unused items between £50 and £300, while nearly a quarter (24%) had items worth over £500. The most commonly abandoned items in UK homes were adult clothing (44%), DVDs/CDs (33%), and tech products (27%).

A majority of people (55%) sold their unwanted items for extra cash, while 47% saw it as a more environmentally friendly option than throwing them away. Additionally, 55% wanted to declutter their homes, and 23% sold old items to fund new purchases.

Kirsty Keoghan, eBay UK’s general manager, stated: “eBay is constantly improving the marketplace experience in order to deliver on what our customers want. Removing selling fees across categories is designed to give buyers access to greater breadth and depth of inventory, while creating a simplified and streamlined experience for sellers.”