“We want to share some news with you about an update to fees which will affect some sellers.
From 20 March 2022, business sellers will no longer be eligible for final value fee volume discounts. This will only affect you if your total sales volume has been at least £25,000 in the previous three months.
This change will take effect for all sales from that date onwards, regardless of when the item was listed, relisted or renewed.
You can get more information about business seller fees here.
Thank you for selling with eBay.
– eBay
The above announcement from Ebay will be received with a mixed reception for Ebay sellers. For those below the threshold of ‘high volume’ sales, the announcement will be viewed as a long overdue levelling of the playing field. For those above the threshold, this will seem like the rug has been pulled out from beneath them. Let’s take a look at how the removal of final value fee volume discounts will affect Ebay sellers.
What Are Final Value Fee Volume Discounts
Essentially, final fee volume discounts were a discount to Ebay fees granted to sellers who had a significantly high turnover. Those who had a turn over that was over £25,000 a month were privy to a 4% discount, and those selling over £200,000 a month were granted a discount of 8%. However, from the 20th March 2022 this will no longer be available to sellers.
By ending the discounts to fees smaller sellers will probably argue that Ebay are no longer showing favouritism towards their bigger sellers and thus they might see the abolishment of the discounts a fair. However, those who were benefitting from the discounts will understandably be incensed by the increase of almost 10% on to the cost of their operations.
How Will This Affect Ebay Sellers?
If you are an Ebay seller and your turnover falls far below the thresholds then it is likely that this latest developments regarding final fee volume discounts will be of little consequence to you. As this makes up the majority of the sellers on Ebay, this may lead you to believe that the change to procedures is of little consequence. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
By removing the discounts, Ebay are effectively disincentivising their sellers to grow their sales. Obviously, the discounts had previously been a big incentive for sellers to increase their sales to benefit from the discounts. It is possible that sellers will now prioritise sales on their own websites, since they don’t have to pay any fees to Ebay for these sales so there is a high profit margin on these transactions.
Conclusion – We Specialise In Supporting Ebay Sellers
As usual, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our long history of working with Amazon and eBay sellers means we can offer you expert advice. As a trusted member of the Amazon Service Network, we can act as a third-party service provider for the Amazon VAT service.
As well as helping with your Fulfilment, we would be more than happy to help you register for the OSS and help you with all your VAT compliance needs in case your account faces any issues. So please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com for a quote today.