eBay's February 4th Failure To Launch: No Buyer Fees, Missing Pre-Owned Conditions & App Outrage

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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UPDATE 2-8-25

eBay UK Buyer Fee rollout continues as well as expected, with users calling out difficulties encountered when trying to use the Offers function on listings which have the Buyer Protection Fee applied.

For example, one user said they received an offer at £12 (8% off) and clicked through to find a banner saying "You received an offer of £13.20 (0% off) from the seller."

Others pointed out the new system makes it nearly impossible to negotiate because the buyer and seller do not see the same thing and thus are not bartering based on a shared point of reference.

Meanwhile just two days into the update, buyers are already sharing tips for ways to workaround the policy and avoid paying the new fee.

As eBay UK Buyer Fees & Simple Delivery Rollout, Users Share Tips To Circumvent New Policies
As eBay UK Buyer Protection Fees roll out, savvy buyers are finding & sharing creative ideas for how to workaround the new policy.

UPDATE 2-6-25

The eBay UK Buyer Protection Fee is finally starting to roll out in Electronics categories - here's what it looks like!

On the listing page, the buyer is shown an item price inclusive of both the seller price and the buyer fee.

And at checkout, eBay shows how much the fee is and that it is included in the price.

UPDATE 2-5-25

eBay appears to be trying to figure out how to get UK Buyer Fees launched - but they still don't quite have it right.

The listing page clearly shows the buyer fee added in to item price, but that doesn't follow through to checkout like it's supposed to.

UPDATE 2-5-25

eBay's official support channel @AskeBay has confirmed launch of the Buyer Protection Fee has been pushed back until February 6th.

Source: @AskeBay on X

Further update - AskeBay deleted the tweet about an hour later and has made no additional public statements about when Buyer Fees will go into effect.


eBay had some ambitious plans for February 4th, 2025 but execution and communication missteps have rained on their parade with a failure to launch Buyer Fees in the UK, missing pre-owned conditions for clothing categories, and forced app update outrage.

First, it was supposed to be the big day for introducing Buyer Protection Fees after removing selling fees for private sellers in most categories last October.

Originally, eBay had said the Buyer Protection Fee would apply to all items from UK private sellers in all categories (excluding Vehicles, Classified Ads, and Property) starting February 4th, 2025 - but in a last minute shakeup, the announced yesterday it would instead be a phased rollout starting only in Electronics and expanding to other categories "in the following weeks."

eBay UK Makes Last Minute Buyer Fee Changes, Opts For Phased Rollout To Avoid Disruption
eBay UK is making a last minute change to introduction of Buyer Fees, opting for a phased rollout to “minimise potential disruptions”.

However, it would appear no one has actually seen any evidence of Buyer Fees being charged, even on Electronics.

Re: ICYMI - Last Minute Buyer Fee Change, Will Be Phased In Starting With Electronics
When is the 4% BPF due to go live in electronics? I thought it was today. Only, I’ve looked at a number of items in that category listed by private sellers, and they are all still showing rounded / standard prices ie, £14.95 etc, no incongruous figures as would be expected with 4% added. Am I missin…
When is the 4% BPF due to go live in electronics? I thought it was today. Only, I've looked at a number of items in that category listed by private sellers, and they are all still showing rounded / standard prices ie, £14.95 etc, no incongruous figures as would be expected with 4% added. Am I missing something?
I can't see it yet either - I'm looking at private seller's listing, buy it now, in the electronics category, the price is a round £150, so the buyer fee should apply as far as I understand it.

When I go to checkout the price is still £150, no breakdown including buyer fee is shown.

Maybe ebay haven't turned it on yet? Can anyone see any listing with the buyer fee applied, just curious to see how it's implemented really.

One seller says they were told by support that the fee would not apply to existing listings in Electronics, only new listings - that would contradict what eBay's announcement and policy pages have said, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time support gave conflicting information.

New Buyer Protection Fee not applicable to existing listings!
Ive just had an interesting chat with eBay’s Customer Service department - it seems that existing listings will not have this crazy new Buyer Protection fee added! Apparently, it will affect new listings only. It’s disappointing that eBay have chosen to go down the “Vinted” model route and say it’…
Ive just had an interesting chat with eBay's Customer Service department - it seems that existing listings will not have this crazy new Buyer Protection fee added! Apparently, it will affect new listings only...

Per eBay's FAQ about the Buyer Protection Fee:

Where can I see how much the Buyer Protection fee is?
Where applicable, the Buyer Protection fee will always be included in the item price. At checkout, you will see the fee amount underneath the item’s name.

Click on Buyer Protection to see what protection is included and a detailed breakdown of the price.

Meanwhile, I've checked both existing and new listings from private sellers in Electronics categories while using a VPN with UK location and providing a UK postal code throughout the day and - I'm not seeing any indication of buyer fees being applied either.

Even worse, when asked about this apparent failure to launch, eBay support seemed to be completely clueless about the change to a phased roll out, let alone the fact that Buyer Fees are not even being applied in Electronics categories, as far as anyone can tell.

eBay has so far made no further announcements about the Buyer Fee rollout, which could put them in a precarious position when they report Q4 earnings on February 26th to investors and analysts who are waiting on pins and needles to find out how buyers react to the new fees and whether or not this change will make up for lost seller fee revenue.

In possibly related news, eBay's community forums were flooded with posts about problems with the latest updates to both the iOS and Android apps - specifically impacting only users in the UK after a forced app update yesterday.

eBay App Update Stops Support For Older iOS & Android Versions, Leaves Users In The Dark
eBay users scramble after updates leave both iOS & Android apps non-functional on older devices that don’t support Android 10 or iOS 17 or above.

Could it be connected to the launch of Buyer Fees in the UK and if so, is that why users are not seeing the fees applied yet? That would certainly be the kind of disruption eBay had hoped to avoid by changing to a phased roll out.

Either way, eBay now has a lot of very upset UK users who are not reacting positively to suddenly being told they'll need to upgrade their mobile devices or use the web experience - and some of those buyers may simply choose to opt for using a different shopping app instead.

UK private sellers were supposed to have their payments held until after delivery starting February 4th as well, but it's not clear if that actually happened amidst all the other hubbub and chaos of the day.

eBay UK Private Seller Funds To Be Held Until Delivery As Fee & Payments Changes Continue
eBay UK just dropped the other shoe on private sellers, revealing the cost of fee-free selling will be longer wait times to get paid.

UPDATE: A private seller in the UK community has confirmed they sold two items on February 4th which do not have the funds being held until after delivery, so this appears to have also not been launched on time.

Re: Existing listings after February 4th ’25
From the link Jo gave: “UK private sellers were supposed to have their payments held until after delivery starting today as well, but it’s not clear if that actually happened amidst all the other hubbub and chaos of the day.” I sold 2 items yesterday (private seller) funds for both are avail…

I sold 2 items yesterday (private seller) funds for both are available to withdraw today, so it looks as if that hasn't worked either!

However, other sellers say sales made on February 5th are having the funds held after delivery, so it seems the reprieve may have been short lived.

Re: February 4th Delayed?
Hold on funds started today Sold two items today and the one sent untracked shows “Pending – in eBay balance 20 Feb” in transaction activity. One sent tracked ” Pending – awaiting delivery”

Hold on funds started today

Sold two items today and the one sent untracked shows "Pending – in eBay balance 20 Feb" in transaction activity. One sent tracked " Pending – awaiting delivery"

And finally, sellers across eBay's US, UK, Canada, and German markets were supposed to see changes to clothing category conditions on the 4th, adding in new pre-owned options to better communicate item condition to buyers.

Big Changes To eBay Pre-Loved Fashion Conditions Coming In 2025
Fashion sellers are in for some big changes in 2025 as eBay expands condition grading requirements to include pre-owned fair, good, & excellent.

But when trying to edit existing listings or create new ones, sellers were stymied when they noticed the new pre-owned conditions are not yet available in the listing form.

Trying to update listing with eBay’s updated condition feature
Can someone help me with updating my listings with the condition change policy? I have revised and ended listings and still shows the same condition. Today started the new condition policy and im having problems updating. thankyou
Can someone help me with updating my listings with the condition change policy? I have revised and ended listings and still shows the same condition. Today started the new condition policy and im having problems updating. thankyou
just tried a new listing...still has the old conditions...devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay any news?

I've tried it as well across multiple sub-categories under clothing and can confirm - there are no new options for the different pre-loved conditions.

At ~6:00 PM, eBay finally posted a belated announcement in the US community saying they've decided to postpone the condition updates, giving only a vague "mid-February" timeline.

Update to our new conditions for pre-loved clothing
We recently announced the expansion of new item condition options for pre-loved clothing listings, starting February 4. Today, we’ve made the decision to reschedule the launch of these condition options to assure the best experience possible for our customers. The new condition options rollout will…

Meanwhile, sellers are still scouring Facebook Marketplace for any sign of their listings after eBay announced a partnership with Meta last month - and are still coming up empty handed.

eBay Sellers Hunt For Listings On Facebook Marketplace After Meta Partnership Announcement
Sellers try to spot their listings on Facebook Marketplace following eBay & Meta partnership announcement, but so far they’ve come up short.

If these initiatives were how CEO Jamie Iannone planned to kick off 2025, the technical mis-execution as well as leadership and communication failures are staggering.

As we approach Iannone's 5th year at the helm and just having passed the 6 year anniversary of Elliott Management's activist bid to push for change at the company, it's embarrassing how much of Elliott's "Enhancing eBay" plan still rings true today - particularly critiques around glitches that plague the platform and lack of leadership prioritizing operational and technical excellence.

How much longer will Iannone, Chief Technology Officer Mazen Rawashdeh, Chief Product Officer Eddie Garcia, Chief Communications Officer Gigi Ganatra Duff and the rest of the executive leadership team be allowed to blunder down the same path before eBay's Board of Directors finds themselves facing another call for change from investors?

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Liz Morton is a seasoned ecommerce pro with 17 years of online marketplace sales experience, providing commentary, analysis & news about eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Shopify & more at Value Added Resource!


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