Ebay is cutting selling fees in almost every category – how does it compare to Vinted and Depop?

Ebay has scrapped fees for sellers as it battles increased competition from the likes of Vinted and Depop.

Starting today, buying and selling on the auction site will be free in all categories except motor listings.

This means that private sellers will no longer pay final value fees or regulatory operating fees when selling, saving them the usual 13.22 percent fee.

It comes just months after Ebay reduced charges for selling second-hand clothes amid growing competition from other platforms.

Does this mean that it will be cheaper to list items on Ebay or that other platforms still have an advantage?

What can be sold for free on Ebay?

If you want to sell on Ebay, you could previously list up to 1000 items a month for free, but from today this will be reduced to 300.

This applies to all items, including properties and classifieds, which previously incurred a small fee.

Ebay said it had introduced the changes after evaluating its current model and finding that most sellers do not use the full allocation.

If you want to sell more than 300 items per month, you will need to pay 35p per ad.

However, private sellers will no longer have to pay the 12.8 percent final value fee and 0.42 percent regulatory operating fees they had previously charged in all categories except secondhand clothing.

Kirsty Keoghan, CEO of eBay UK, said: ‘Ebay is constantly improving the marketplace experience so we can deliver what our customers want.

“The elimination of selling fees across all categories is designed to give buyers access to greater breadth and depth of inventory, while creating a simplified and streamlined experience for sellers.”

It’s also free to add a Buy It Now price if you want to speed up the sales process.

Other features such as a reserve price (item will not be sold if bids do not meet the amount) and promoted listings will incur a charge of 35p per listing.

Customers who want to sell cars, motorcycles or vehicles will still face seller fees, as the final value fee and regulatory operating fee still apply. You also cannot use your free monthly listing allowance on engines.

Ebay said it had made other changes to its site, including artificial intelligence-generated descriptions and photo-enhancing tools.

It also said it would allow sellers to use their earnings to shop on Ebay, promote their listings, purchase delivery labels or withdraw funds, similar to Vinted’s “wallet” feature.

How much do Vinted and Depop charge?

The decision to reduce some of its fees means that Ebay is competing directly with other second-hand selling sites that have waived seller fees.

Vinted does not charge any fees for listing or selling items, but instead charges buyers a “protection fee” that varies depending on the price of the item.

For orders priced under £500, it ranges from 3 to 8 per cent of the purchase price, regardless of shipping costs. Orders, including parcels, over £500 will face a 3 per cent fee.

It means that if you are looking to sell more than 300 items a month, it will be cheaper to sell on Vinted as Ebay will charge you more once your free allocation runs out.

Depop has also waived its seller fees. It previously charged a 10 per cent fee on the total cost of the transaction, including the delivery fee, a 2.9 per cent “standard transaction fee” and a 30p charge.

However, the platform removed all seller fees in March, and sellers will now only face a 2.9 per cent payment processing fee, plus 30p.

Instead, buyers now incur a fee of up to 5 per cent of the item plus a flat amount of up to £1, excluding taxes and delivery costs.