The UK February Seller Update is out now, and there are some big updates around increasing fees for sellers trading on eBay UK.

Starting on 2^nd March 2023, final value fees will increase in a variety of categories that have a range of final value rates. The fees do vary by category so it is worth looking up your categories on the main update page from eBay, as the fee increase ranges from 1%-3% depending on the category.

Below Standard Performance Sellers – the vital part to understand

While there will be fee updates across the board, Team Optiseller have had a deep dive into the update, and we have to highlight the absolute importance in getting your listings to the highest level of quality as you can. This is due to an increase in ‘Below Standard’ seller fees that will be on top of the standard fee, and can really eat away at your listing profit margin. But this is where Optiseller’s Scaling and Consultancy team can really help guard that vital bottom line.

eBay UK state “Starting 2 March 2023, we’ll increase additional final value fees from 4% to 6% for Below Standard sellers. In doing so, we're continuing our effort to mitigate behaviour that doesn’t support good buyer experiences and negatively impacts sellers on our platform. The additional fee will continue to apply to the total amount of the sale, and does not apply to Above Standard and eBay Top Rated Sellers.” - (eBay UK - https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/news/2023-february/fees?targetgroup=B2C)

So, what does it mean to be a Below Standard seller? Your Seller Level can fall to below standard if your transaction defect rate is above 2%, or if your percentage of cases closed without a seller resolution is above 0.3%. It can be quite easy to fall in to this trap, especially if you have lots of listings to manage or let your performance slide. Potential impacts of this can include:

• Your items may rank lower in search results
• Limit or restrict listing creation
• Funds may be held in your account
• Blocked from using promoted listings
• And where we will focus today – higher final value fees for Below Standard Sellers

Not good right? Having your seller performance slip leads straight to higher final value fees, and at the end of the day, impacts your bottom line and the profit you make on eBay.

A word from Chris, our Senior Marketplace Growth Specialist:

The Picture

Let’s go back to the additional final value fees for Below Standard sellers; to give you some context here.

We were working with a large seller in Q4 2022, who was on our three-month scaling programme that had frankly gotten into quite a mess with their account. They had significant transaction defects caused by poor product quality control and had just let dispute cases be escalated to eBay without seller resolution.

They came to us needing help, and upon first review/analysis we discovered they were paying an additional 4% final value fees due to being below standard of £12,000 per month, in any business this is not sustainable.

Let’s take a look at how the fees stack up in a bit of a different way.

Our Seller's Final Value Fee (including below standard fees) was very high for an ‘Item not as described’ listing.  Simply a 50% increase and with VAT on top, becomes a 60% increase in additional fees.

Had this seller done nothing from 2^nd March 2023 they would be paying £18,000 (6%) which is a 50% increase in fees! This is huge!

When sellers drop into below standard, it is a real tricky one given the reasons mentioned above. However, there are ways to get out of it with an action plan.

We worked with this seller and by end of month one, we had got a handle on the transaction's defects through education, guidance and tricks along the way. The seller was on track to be evaluated as ‘Above Standard’ as at the 20^th of the month. This is an important date in the seller calendar as it is the monthly date where eBay evaluate sellers performance.

Lets put this into context, and how you can fix it

To put this into perspective, a typical scaling programme costs £3,000 for three months support.

This seller would have faced £12,000 x 3 months in additional below standard fees if carried out business as usual = £36,000

Total costs incurred in this example, one month of additional below standard rate of fees £12,000 + scaling cost of £3,000 = £15,000

So overall, we can see that Optiseller’s eBay Scaling Programme could potentially show a total saving of £21,000, and that is not including the vital knowledge you gain from the team on scaling calls which you can take into the future.

While we do not have the power to green list sellers out of ‘Below Standard’, we can however help the seller get back on track, and get a plan of action together to fix things.

So how could an Optiseller Scaling Programme help you?

Our team can help you improve your store in eBay's performance standards in several ways:

1. Faster identification of listing issues: We have the knowhow to spot listing issues quickly, with a combination of vast expertise and software tools. This can help below standard sellers to identify issues that may be affecting their seller performance and take action to correct them.
2. Improved listing quality: We provide sellers with detailed reports highlighting listing issues and offer specific recommendations for how to improve them. Improving the quality of your listings is the secret sauce to selling on eBay as it leads to higher visibility, and essentially more sales.
3. Time-saving: Our tools and services are designed to be quick and easy to use, saving sellers time and resource. This can be particularly valuable for sellers who are operating with limited resources or who lack the expertise to make the necessary changes to their listings. We understand that time is money!
4. Expert support: Our team of eBay experts are on hand to provide guidance and support to you, helping to navigate eBay's performance standards and stay up to date with the latest marketplace trends and best practices. We have helped countless sellers over the years and you can read some feedback from them here.

So what are you waiting for? Let's have a chat and a virtual cuppa to look at your eBay store performance and guard that all important bottom line.

Pop your details below and one of the team will get in touch.