eBay User Agreement Update 2-9-22 Comparison
eBay released an update to the User Agreement in conjunction with the Winter Seller Update today. Value Added Resource has an exclusive comparison of the most important changes!
But first - a little housekeeping.
No Warranty of Accuracy; Disclaimer. This comparison was created using automated and manual tools. We make no warranty, and expressly disclaim all warranties, as to the accuracy or completeness of the documents, files, data, and information provided.
Excerpts provided are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all changes to the User Agreement. As always, we recommend reviewing all terms, conditions and agreements before using the eBay platform.
The first section of changes doesn't have anything particularly important, but it's clear the lawyers have been here. I guess "just about anything" was too open ended and eBay apparently feels it needs to be extremely clear they are not a party to the transaction and do not take any responsibility or accountability for....anything.
It's ok eBay, sellers are already well aware of that.
The next section combines a few things, but what really caught my eye was you will not "share your log in credentials with any third parties. If you require that authorized third parties (employees, agents, etc) have access to your account we offer a Multi-User Account Access program for that purpose."
In the past, MUAA has been touted as simply something more convenient for sellers who have employees or assistants helping them. This is the first time I can remember it being specifically called out as a security feature and that the UA requires you to agree to not share your log in credentials.
Given the amount of hijacked account fraud I've seen on the platform, not sharing your password does seem like a logical security protocol, however I have to wonder if adding this in is eBay's way of wiggling out of responsibility for hijacked accounts.
It would be easy enough for them to say "we don't know how your account was compromised - maybe it was someone you shared your password with."
"We charge sellers for the use of our Services. In some cases, where a buyer receives supplemental Services such as authentication Services for items in certain categories, we may also charge the buyer for such supplemental Service." 👀
For those who noticed recent changes in the terms of authentication that say "no cost to you *for a limited time", it looks like we now at least have an answer of who will be paying, if and when eBay decides to pull that trigger.
This one is mostly just about cleaning up old PayPal references after the migration to Managed Payments. However, the bottom section about third-party advertisements is very interesting.
The previous UA in this section said "We may display third-party advertisements (including links and references thereto) or other content in any part of our Services, in our sole discretion and without consent from, or payment, fee reduction, or other credit to, sellers."
There was no explicit mention of listings, and if it was important enough for the legal team to call out explicitly, there's likely a reason. I predict we'll be seeing more third-party advertising on listing pages, in addition to the Promoted Listings that already clutter the page.
Another interesting addition related to ads and marketing. "Cooperating third-party operators of websites, applications, services, and tools" sure sounds like eBay is going to be using seller info to advertise and/or promote the site.
More cleaning up PayPal language and stipulating all the ways eBay can charge sellers for return shipping.
The change from a specific cancellation timeframe (one hour) to a more generic answer (within the time period provided in cancellation policy) is noteworthy.
The linked Order cancellation policy page still says 60 minutes as of today, but it won't surprise me if at some point in the future that changes without notice because eBay gave themselves that wiggle room here.
The addition of terms allowing eBay to deduct cost of a shipping label from the buyer's refund suggests eBay may have been having a hard time collecting from payment methods on file in cases where the buyer should be responsible to pay.
Side note - if a buyer disputes a charge to their payment method for a separate shipping label fee charged by eBay, that dispute is eBay's responsibility and comes out of their pocket. However, if a buyer files a a chargeback for the reason "did not receive refund" that will be against the seller.
If eBay doesn't very explicitly explain to buyers exactly why they didn't get a full refund, I think we can all guess how that is going to go down (and maybe even if they do - we all know how often buyers don't read all the details).
Mostly housekeeping and cleaning up language in the next three sections as well - though it's interesting to note that eBay seems to be moving away from the term Managed Payments and toward eBay Payment Entities.
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They just "killed the golden goose". I imported my 1500+ eBay items to there since it was free. Turned out just to be a lot of work for (maybe) 3 sales a month.
The total fees were higher there before this new $20 a month cost structure, even though they claimed otherwise. When one factors in the 3.49% + 49 cent PayPal processing fees so one can get paid, there went a good chunk of profit.
Now they have boosted their commission to 11%, and still claim that the cost to sell there is less than eBay's. And remember that this does not include payment processing. WHY?? Makes no sense at all.
On eBay, for $27.95 a month, I sell over 100 items there every 30-31 days. Makes ZERO SENSE to pay a site $20 to make just a couple of sales. Since they now allow 50 "free listings", I have trimmed my offerings back to just below that amount. Also had to raise all my prices accordingly to absorb the extra selling costs.
The people who run the show here obviously didn't realize that eBay sellers who imported their listings gave the site a great depth of product, which would attract more buyers. Now that will be gone, because NO ONE will pay them $20 monthly for little to no sales.
The site also has technical issues that they refuse to fix. It was a decent resource to enable the occasional sale, but they will soon be stacked onto the eCommerce trash heap of companies that THOUGHT they could compete with Amazon and eBay. Etsy may also suffer the same fate soon, as many sellers are also leaving their site due to high fees, website issues, and poor management.
Basic eComm rule here: When you do not carry any inventory, and sellers are solely responsible for supplying your site with the goods offered, DON'T BITE THE HAND WHICH FEEDS YOU!!!
eBay seller since 2022
Just started selling about a year and half ago
800 items sold 99.7 feedback
Recently I went away for family things for 30 days set my acct to be away … got back with items not received cases opened
I wasn’t able to revise existing listings post new listings OR refund the buyer from my eBay funds …
The items were caught up in recent wild fires but ended up being delivered late. I had to beg the buyer to let me pay them off of eBay to close the case because it was on hold and I wasn’t able to refund them from my eBay acct etc…. So luckily they obliged and I did … but ever since then my acct must be strikes as high risk because funds have been on hold 3 days after delivery since then indefinitely might I add… I get the run around everytime etc etc FINALLY I got someone saying it’s temporary it’ll be back to normal etc. these r all reps from escalated departments… one lady told me that with my history and feedback I’ve proved beyond doubt that I’m reliable seller and shouldn’t be on hold she put in for a appeal never heard back got the run around for another few months… they keep telling me I’ve been chosen for the new update they r rolling out total BS … do you believe that sellers will stay on eBay with these holds ? No they will simply go to another platform … they r 100% making money on the holds and use any reasoning to tell you basically no and keep profiting…. The get around is creating a new acct… these cases were closed without eBay having to step in and might I add I lost $$ and its been truly frustrating esp since I’ve built the acct up but I know I can do it again.. when they tell me its going to happen to all accts I just mention how my brother just opened one n now has immediate payments they don’t know what to say I don’t think they really even know.,, its sad n scummy but I see a class action lawsuit coming honestly ! I don’t know💬 if I forgot anything but well written thanks for the information. Have a great one!