Ebay watch authentication process.
Discussion
I sold a watch this week. I posted it to EBay on Tuesday, it arrived with the buyer today, Thursday, from EBay, having been authenticated.
The cost to me and the buyer, £0.
EBay is not charging fees to private buyers currently, so selling the watch via eBay, getting the protection for me and the buyer and postage from EBay to the buyer has cost me £0.
I am doubtful that eBay has become a charity, so what is the win for them? My best guess is that they are trying to take on, and beat,
Chrono24. After which they will crank up their fees.
Any advance on that theory?
The cost to me and the buyer, £0.
EBay is not charging fees to private buyers currently, so selling the watch via eBay, getting the protection for me and the buyer and postage from EBay to the buyer has cost me £0.
I am doubtful that eBay has become a charity, so what is the win for them? My best guess is that they are trying to take on, and beat,
Chrono24. After which they will crank up their fees.
Any advance on that theory?
I think eBay has been losing a lot of private sellers to other platforms recently and that's why they have got rid of the fees for private sellers to try and stop them all leaving elsewhere.
Only thing I can think is if the sellers leave the platform then there's no goods for buyers and so they leave too, I know there's still plenty of business sellers on eBay paying the fees but it must have reached a tipping point for eBay where they have decided they need to do something about it
Only thing I can think is if the sellers leave the platform then there's no goods for buyers and so they leave too, I know there's still plenty of business sellers on eBay paying the fees but it must have reached a tipping point for eBay where they have decided they need to do something about it
sandman77 said:
I have wondered the same. Only thing I can come up with is they make enough money from business sellers they don’t need to worry about a small loss on private sales. The main goal is to take business away from other platforms.
...and they've also changed the payout system to encourage people to maintain an 'ebay balance' to spend on eBay. They can earn interest on that cash if you let it sit there. (I don't know why you would, but I'm sure plenty of people won't bother requesting a payout immediately after every sale.)MajorMantra said:
sandman77 said:
I have wondered the same. Only thing I can come up with is they make enough money from business sellers they don’t need to worry about a small loss on private sales. The main goal is to take business away from other platforms.
...and they've also changed the payout system to encourage people to maintain an 'ebay balance' to spend on eBay. They can earn interest on that cash if you let it sit there. (I don't know why you would, but I'm sure plenty of people won't bother requesting a payout immediately after every sale.)They are aiming to get much more traffic back into eBay, and make more money from the business sellers.
It's been brilliant all round as a private buyer and seller IMO. Loads more stuff being listed on there now from private sellers, and I've sold a few things that I had been meaning to sell for ages but didn't previously due to the fees.
I even like the new 'eBay balance' system, as I was annoyed when they ended the PayPal arrangement and I could no longer sell stuff and build up a PayPal balance.
It's great all round.
Trevor555 said:
Louis Balfour said:
I sold a watch this week. I posted it to EBay on Tuesday, it arrived with the buyer today, Thursday, from EBay, having been authenticated.
I didn't know that's how it's done nowadays, sounds good.So the buyer is guarranteed an authentic watch
I used it to sell a Tudor, great service.
MajorMantra said:
...and they've also changed the payout system to encourage people to maintain an 'ebay balance' to spend on eBay. They can earn interest on that cash if you let it sit there. (I don't know why you would, but I'm sure plenty of people won't bother requesting a payout immediately after every sale.)
Yes, this is a bit suss. I've sold about £5k in the past 6 weeks (set of car wheels took up a big chunk of that) then two weeks ago after my last sale, ebay put my funds on hold and wanted me to re-confirm my bank details. I tried and it failed so attemped with another account ... still not working (or so I thought) as the error message was still showing, requesting my updated details. Turns out that the error message doesn't dissapear when you've followed the process but when you continue to re-enter your details, the process starts again after speaking to ebay. They've sent me 1p and debited 1p but are my funds are still on hold 2 weeks later ... there's no decent explanation as to why the funds are on hold .... I suspect I'm not the only one and they're making a few quid out of millions of users funds sat with them. JEA1K said:
Yes, this is a bit suss. I've sold about £5k in the past 6 weeks (set of car wheels took up a big chunk of that) then two weeks ago after my last sale, ebay put my funds on hold and wanted me to re-confirm my bank details. I tried and it failed so attemped with another account ... still not working (or so I thought) as the error message was still showing, requesting my updated details. Turns out that the error message doesn't dissapear when you've followed the process but when you continue to re-enter your details, the process starts again after speaking to ebay. They've sent me 1p and debited 1p but are my funds are still on hold 2 weeks later ... there's no decent explanation as to why the funds are on hold .... I suspect I'm not the only one and they're making a few quid out of millions of users funds sat with them.
I went through this too actually, I even phoned ebay. I can't remember exactly how I resolved it, but I was told I need to the extra authentication because I'd passed a certain threshold of sales, £1800 maybe?In other news, I'm currently experiencing the bad side of being a seller, which is that you essentially have no rights when a thick buyer wrongly claims an item is defective, and you have to accept the return.
JEA1K said:
MajorMantra said:
...and they've also changed the payout system to encourage people to maintain an 'ebay balance' to spend on eBay. They can earn interest on that cash if you let it sit there. (I don't know why you would, but I'm sure plenty of people won't bother requesting a payout immediately after every sale.)
Yes, this is a bit suss. I've sold about £5k in the past 6 weeks (set of car wheels took up a big chunk of that) then two weeks ago after my last sale, ebay put my funds on hold and wanted me to re-confirm my bank details. I tried and it failed so attemped with another account ... still not working (or so I thought) as the error message was still showing, requesting my updated details. Turns out that the error message doesn't dissapear when you've followed the process but when you continue to re-enter your details, the process starts again after speaking to ebay. They've sent me 1p and debited 1p but are my funds are still on hold 2 weeks later ... there's no decent explanation as to why the funds are on hold .... I suspect I'm not the only one and they're making a few quid out of millions of users funds sat with them. I agree with most on here, the new eBay watch authentication procedure is excellent. I sold a JLC a few weeks ago, I just parcelled it up and sent it to the stated address, yes there was postage costs to cover, I sent it Royal Mail insured, but I added postage costs to the price for the buyer. Highly recommended.
As for them dropping seller fees, I assume it's to counter Facebook market place and the like.
Also, I had the bank account issue but I got a helpful eMail from their support team. Tuned out that despite them having my bank details from the old PayPal days they need a credit card too in case the have to charge any fees to you. I added a credit card and it all worked.
As for them dropping seller fees, I assume it's to counter Facebook market place and the like.
Also, I had the bank account issue but I got a helpful eMail from their support team. Tuned out that despite them having my bank details from the old PayPal days they need a credit card too in case the have to charge any fees to you. I added a credit card and it all worked.
neth27 said:
How do you post the watch to them? Royal Mail or do Ebay offer insured delivery.
https://pages.ebay.co.uk/authenticity-guarantee-watches-seller/terms/“ Upon purchase, you are required to post the Eligible Item, using a shipping service with signature confirmation, to a facility located within the United Kingdom, as directed by eBay. Items must be sent to the facility individually unless part of a multi-item order. The cost of postage to the Authentication Partner is not covered by eBay.”
They then cover the onward postage
“ An authentication partner will inspect the watch within two business days after they receive it. Following inspection, the item will be posted to the buyer with fast, tracked, signature-required delivery. Estimated delivery dates will automatically be adjusted on eligible listings”
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 18th December 08:26
neth27 said:
How do you post the watch to them? Royal Mail or do Ebay offer insured delivery.
RMSD then use an insured delivery service. I sold an Explorer II last year on there during one of ebays reduced fees period ... paid £12 for RMSD then paid around £65 to insure it with Securesus (all paid for by buyer). Louis Balfour said:
neth27 said:
How do you post the watch to them? Royal Mail or do Ebay offer insured delivery.
The watch in question was £2500 so it was possible to pay for RM SD extra cover. It cost £28. For higher value watches I think you could be looking at £XXX via a fully-insured courier.Gassing Station | Watches | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff