Late Friday afternoon (19th September) one of our readers posted that in a telephone call with PowerSeller Support, they had been told that UK non-resident sellers would no longer receive email or telephone support from eBay UK, even if they had a UK-registered seller account.  I called the Dublin support centre and was told the same.

This is intriguing because we both live in “the Far East” region.  Yet, on Saturday, Sue at TameBay published a blog post which implied she had received help from UK Support that day, even though she lives in France.

Recently querying why Seller Performance Discounts had never been applied to their invoice in months that they qualified, the same reader was told by UK PowerSeller Support that the discounts would only be paid to UK-residents with UK-registered seller accounts.  Again, UK PowerSeller support also repeated this to me.

This has never been stated in any official announcement, although it was posted in the PowerSeller forum by UK Head of Trust & Safety that -

“UK sellers who qualify for discounts in the UK won’t get any discounts when they list on eBay.com. The same is true in the other direction, and for other sites.”

Click image for full size view in new window

This in no way addresses the issue of residency for UK sellers registered on the UK site but living elsewhere. It is however, the nearest thing to an “official” announcement matching what UK PS Support are saying.  I blogged about the above quote here.  The issue of UK-residency being a requirement for UK-sellers to receive FVF discounts has never been officially announced, nor directly referred to in forums on eBay as far as I can find.  (If you know different, please post a link in the comments box below).

Does PS Support’s assertion therefore mean that the UK has written into eBay law yet another off-the-cuff decision?  If so, who originated that decision and was it based on the tone and attitude of the seller when they contacted UK support, rather than the context of the Seller Performance discounts scheme?

If PS Support is using Mr Ambrose’s forum post for their assertions, have they considered the effect it will have on eBay UK’s revenue and seller-side user numbers?

At the start of February, just 2 days after the original US announcements about Seller Performance discounts, the Asian eBay sites all posted official announcements that Asian-resident PowerSellers, registered on their sites, would receive the FVF discounts from all countries offering them – including the UK, US, and Germany.  Again, I discussed this in a lengthy blog post, warning sellers in those western countries to prepare for an invasion from the East.  UK’s attitude seems intent on driving expatriates to move accounts to the Eastern sites.

The Asian announcements made no reference to UK-registered non-residents needing to move their accounts to Asian eBays to receive the discounts from UK, yet these announcements would have been the perfect channel to do so, backed by announcements on the UK site.  Participating Asian sites include -

• India
• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Singapore

Also, the same announcements were made on China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand, but I don’t have links to their announcements in English.  But it’s not just Asia.  Known European countries that made the same announcement include -

• Spain

There may have been other European announcements that I missed – please let me know of any (see next paragraph about France & Italy).

This latest move by the UK is stunningly self defeating, not only because of what was blogged on BuildaSkill recently about the cost of shop subscriptions on different sites varying enormously, (allowing UK & US sellers to save hundreds of Pounds per month in subscription fees), but also when placed alongside current promotions from the Asian sites listed above, such as this DSR-related promo from Singapore, which earns sellers 5 days of 50% insertion fees on the USA, and extends the list of non-Asian sites giving the FVF discount to Asian sellers to include Australia, France, and Italy.

Do eBay UK never check what the other sites are offering before issuing further punishments and restrictions to sellers? When I queried the UK PS Support team, they knew nothing about the Asian sites’ cross border FVF discount promises, nor would they confirm the UK would honour them – and I did push them hard on this issue.

However, any queries to eBay Singapore to confirm if UK are honouring them or not, get bounced to UK Trust and Safety, who in turn obfuscate and dodge the issue …. hmmm, thoughts of Advertising Standards Authority and hidden surcharges / false discounts spring to mind at this end.

With the contexts of all that has happened, and remembering Bill Cobb’s warning in Washington, on 29th January, that all participating sites (in the FVF discounts) would set their own rules, the only conclusion I can draw is that, eBay UK is in severe cost cutting and revenue protection mode, and that usually means a company in crisis and decline, when implemented in such nefarious ways as UK are demonstrating.

I urge all expatriate UK-registered sellers to contact UK support and PS support, to query the statements at the top of this article – push them hard and don’t let them fob you off.  Post in the PowerSeller forum, linking to this post, and demand answers.  Then come back and tell us what you were told (in-forum or on the phone).

Remember what happened recently regarding sub-99p listings.  It took 3 weeks of constant and extreme pressure to get a definitive answer (even though none of us liked it).  I believe the same will be needed over these two topics – support availability and FVF discounts for expatriates.

Of course, (offering eBay a graceful escape route here) it may just be that the two different PowerSeller Support Reps in Dublin got things wrong on Friday, and were misreading the policy.  If that’s the case, then perhaps someone from eBay UK would like to post a contradiction of the above, and a clarification as to whether UK-registered, non-resident sellers do or do not qualify for support from the UK, and for the FVF discounts for their sales on the UK sites?

Failure to do so will be construed as admission and confirmation that the above PS Support statements are true.  And with an estimated 100,000 expatriate Brits selling casually or full time on eBay, that could bring a whole new hell down on the heads of the already beleaguered UK staff.

Ed

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UPDATE – For those who like to check such things, the original announcement about the PowerSeller and non-PowerSeller discounts was 29 January 2008.  It stated -

Rewarding great sellers: up to 40% off Final Value Fees
Following your feedback, we’re delighted to introduce a new volume discount scheme, available from February.

If you’re a high volume, business-registered seller providing a good service to your buyers, as measured by your Detailed Seller Ratings, then we’ll recognise your success by giving you a discount of up to 20% off your Final Value Fees.

If you’re an active member of the PowerSeller programme, you can qualify for the highest volume discounts – up to 40% off your Final Value Fees.

There will be a series of Q&A sessions on the Community boards over the coming weeks and as always we look forward to your feedback. Of course, we’ll continue to update you as these changes take effect.

More about the eBay.co.uk discounts
More about the eBay.ie discounts

On the linked “More about the eBay.co.uk discounts” page, the header section states -

We are also delighted to introduce a comprehensive discount scheme of up to 40% off Final Value Fees for high volume sellers who provide good service, as defined by their Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs). Qualification for discounts will initially be set at a ‘good service’ minimum DSR score of 4.6.

These pricing changes will affect Auction-style and Buy It Now formats. Shop Inventory Format pricing will not be changing.

These new prices will take effect on 20th February 2008. Sellers will receive discounts starting with their April 2008 invoice

On the page accessed from the discounts tab, the qualifications for PowerSeller / non-PowerSeller discount are -

Introducing a new volume discount scheme – up to 40% off Final Value Fees

We’re delighted to introduce a new volume discount scheme, available to high volume, business-registered sellers.

If your performance qualifies you for the PowerSeller programme and you provide a good service to your buyers as measured by your Detailed Seller Ratings, then we’ll recognise your success by giving you a discount off your Final Value Fees of up to 20%.

In addition, if you’re an active member of the PowerSeller programme, you can qualify for the highest Final Value Fee discounts – up to 40%!

Qualification for Discounts will initially be set at a ‘good service’ minimum DSR score of 4.6.

Sellers can monitor their DSRs with the new Seller Dashboard tool.

Sellers who qualify for the programme do not need to sign up and will have their discounts automatically calculated and applied against their monthly invoice.

This new scheme will start for the April invoicing cycle.

It will replace eBay Rewards, which was our first step towards rewarding our high volume sellers with discounts. See how we will be closing down the eBay Rewards scheme.

Definitions

PowerSeller Discounts

You will receive PowerSeller Discounts if you meet the following criteria:

• Be registered as a business on eBay
• Be a registered PowerSeller
• Maintain a minimum 30-day Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of 4.6 in all four of your DSR categories (excluding Motors dealers).  Get more information on DSRs.

Seller Discount

You will receive Seller Discounts if you meet the following criteria:

• Be registered as a business on eBay
• Have a volume of sales equivalent to Bronze PowerSeller level or above
• Maintain a minimum 30-day Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of 4.6 in all four of your DSR categories (excluding Motors dealers).  Get more information on DSRs.

None of the above, nor any of the pages linked to from the above, state that a seller or PowerSeller qualifying as above must be resident in the UK. They only state that the seller’s account must be registered on the UK.  In fact the eBay UK User Agreement gives express permission for users to be resident outside of the UK.

The User Agreement in force on 29 January begins with -

These terms and conditions apply to the services available from the domain and sub-domains of http://www.ebay.co.uk (which include, but are not limited to, http://www.ebayexpress.co.uk and http://www.ebaymotors.co.uk), and from all other eBay branded websites provided for U.K. users, (together, the “Site“). If you reside in the U.K. or another country that is a member of the E.U. you are contracting with eBay Europe S.à r.l., 15 rue Notre Dame, L-2240 Luxembourg. If you reside in a country that is not a member of the E.U. (but you do not reside in the U.S.A.), you are contracting with eBay International A.G. located at Helvetiastrasse 15/17, 3005 Bern, Switzerland. If you reside in the U.S.A. you are contracting with eBay Inc., 2145 Hamilton Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, USA.  (Underlining & red font is mine)

And the new agreement , which for then existing users came into force on 13 August 2008 says -

These terms and conditions apply to the services available from the domain and sub-domains of eBay.co.uk (which include, but are not limited to, ebaymotors.co.uk), and from all other eBay-branded websites provided for U.K. users. If you reside in the U.K. or another country that is a member of the E.U., by using the services on the eBay websites (ebay.co.uk, eBay.com and other related websites where this agreement appears) you are agreeing to the following terms, including those available by hyperlink, with eBay Europe S.à r.l., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, and the general principles for the websites of our subsidiaries and international affiliates. If you reside within the United States, you are contracting with eBay, Inc. In all other countries, your contract is with eBay International AG.  (Underlining & red font is mine)

This indicates therefore that eBay UK actively encourages non-resident users, but according to UK PowerSeller Support’s comments, is now actively discriminating against them, and causing them financial disadvantage.

eBay UK have still not issued an official AND public announcement about the changes at the top of this article, despite Mr Ambrose’s forum post being dated 22nd February 2008.

As today is 22nd September, that means that for at least SEVEN months, eBay UK have been knowingly and willingly deceiving non-resident users with regard to their eligibility for the Seller Performance FVF discounts.  None of the publicly available information on the eBay UK site warns overseas users that they will not receive the advertised discounts even if qualifying on all other criteria except place of residence.

Or, could it be a personal campaign against certain sellers by persons unknown within eBay UK?  Hmmm?

As I said above, “thoughts of Advertising Standards Authority and hidden surcharges / false discounts spring to mind”.  Perhaps PESA or a similar body (UK Federation of Small Businesses maybe?) would like to take this issue up through their legal panels?  Certainly someone needs to jerk eBay UK’s chain and make them take better care of their paying customers.

Ed