eBay Winter Update - Fee Increases & Refund Changes
UPDATE 2-28-22
Reminder - Final Value Fee increases will take effect tomorrow 3-1-22
In a refreshing change, eBay has provided a side by side comparison chart for sellers with no store or Starter Store subscriptions and sellers with store subscriptions of Basic and above.
During the Spring update of 2021, sellers asked for such a comparison but eBay said it was too complex for them to present in a "digestible way" - so I had to help them out. 😉
Liz Morton
Glad to see they have figured it out and I hope they'll continue to provide this level of transparency for all future fee increases.
UPDATE 2-23-22
Sellers have discovered an important "gotcha" in the new policy regarding refunding the $0.30 per transaction fee for cancellations - it only applies to buyer initiated cancellations within the first hour.
Here's what the policy says:
We're excited to announce that starting March 1, 2022, eBay will refund the entire final value fee, including the $0.30 per-order fee, when you approve a buyer’s cancellation request.
We recognize that buyers may cancel transactions for various reasons at no fault of the seller and we want to support you by refunding 100% of the final value fee.
A seller in today's weekly chat asked for specifics:
We get this concern from many posters regarding the upcoming full credit on Cancelations that are requested by the buyer.
Going on historically how Ebay handles stuff like this, even though the Winter Update was silent on this, they mean Cancellations that the buyer actually requests during the first hour after the purchase via the formal method [for the lack of knowing what it is really caused]. If a buyer simply emails the seller at some later time asking for a cancelation that won't count. Which unfortunately where most of mine come from.
But in a nutshell, what is the position of Ebay so we can better answer this questions?
The full credit refund only applies to a buyer initiated cancellation, which are currently only available within the first hour of purchase/payment. Seller initiated cancellations after that will still receive a full refund of any Final Value Fee, but the 30 cent transaction fee won't be included.
As this seller rightly points out, many cancelation requests come after that hour timeframe and most sellers are happy to try to accommodate those requests if they are able to do so - why shouldn't they receive the same "recognition and support"?
eBay's Winter 2022 seller update has good news and bad news about fees.
First the good news: eBay will be crediting more of your fees when refunding or cancelling orders.
Previously partial refunds received no fee credit and cancelled orders did not receive a credit of the $0.30 per order fee - both of those are changing.
Prorated final value fee credits for partial refunds
Starting May 2022, when you issue a partial refund to a buyer, we’ll automatically credit a prorated portion of your final value fee based on the adjusted total amount of the sale.
Along with this, we'll automatically credit prorated portions of other applicable fees including Promoted Listings Standard and international fees.
Fees such as the $0.30 per-order fee, Promoted Listings Express fee, and Promoted Listings Advanced fee will not be refunded. We want to support your efforts to make things right for your buyers and adjust your fees accordingly.
Per-order fee credit for cancelled transactions
We're excited to announce that starting March 1, 2022, eBay will refund the entire final value fee, including the $0.30 per-order fee, when you approve a buyer’s cancellation request.We recognize that buyers may cancel transactions for various reasons at no fault of the seller and we want to support you by refunding 100% of the final value fee.
And the bad news: final value fees will be increasing across the board for most categories and eBay is increasing the Below Standard Service Metrics penalty from 5% to 6%.
Service Metrics:
Below Standard additional final value fee increase
In our continuing effort to mitigate behavior that does not support good buyer experiences and negatively impacts sellers on our platform, we will increase additional final value fees for sellers who do not meet minimum seller performance standards for the US.Starting March 1, 2022, we will increase additional final value fees from 5% to 6% for Below Standard sellers. This fee does not apply to Above Standard and eBay Top Rated Sellers. You can check your current seller level on your Seller Dashboard.
Final Value Fees:
Final value fee increase in most categories
Starting on March 1, 2022, final value fees for Store sellers will increase 0.3% in most categories.For example, sellers with a Basic and above eBay Store who sell in the Home & Garden category will see an increase from 11.7% to 12.0%, a difference of 0.3%.
Final value fees for sellers without a Store will increase 0.35% in most categories.
For example, sellers who sell in the eBay Motors Parts & Accessories category without a Store will see an increase from 12.55% to 12.9%, a difference of 0.35%.
Fees vary across categories as eBay always strives to achieve lowest total fees across category competitors. Fees also vary for sellers with and without an eBay Store subscription.
Listing Fees:
Subtitle listing upgrade fee increase
Starting March 1, 2022, we will increase the fee for the optional Subtitle listing upgrade for items with an auction start price or Buy it Now price up to $150.For auction listings, the new fee will be $1.50. Previously, the fee was $1.00.
For fixed price listings, the new fee will be $2.00. Previously, the fee was $1.50.
Adding an optional Subtitle listing upgrade to your listing can increase buyer interest by providing more descriptive information about your item. We encourage you to evaluate your listings to determine if the Subtitle listing upgrade is right for you.
Stay tuned for an updated fee comparison chart!
