Is Selling on eBay worth it in 2023? Here Are 5 Things People Love & Hate About eBay

There’s no doubt that selling items on a free platform is amazing. But, selling on eBay comes with some problems of its own. 

Starting with the least amount of poll responses, here are the top 5 things that eBay sellers hate about selling on eBay (according to responses collected by Ralli Roots).

5. The Verified Rights Owner Program (VERO)

What is eBay’s VERO program?

Getting “VERO’d” is when you list something that you’re not supposed to (because a brand requested it or due to trademarks) that gets automatically unlisted. If you get enough items unlisted then you get penalized and can even get your seller account suspended.

A common example of a VERO is when you list a product that the brand does not want to have re-sold on the secondary market. Sometimes it’s a large brand that will want to protect its product from being re-sold, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Basically, any sized company can sign up for eBay’s VERO program and kick-off listings made on eBay.

Another example of when a VERO can occur is when you use a certain trademarked word in your title – In the case of Ralli Roots, they mentioned getting a VERO after using the “velcro” to describe a listing.

Why getting your eBay listings unlisted by VERO is frustrating sellers

eBay sellers are frustrated about VEROs because it’s not always clear what brands and words you can and can’t use in your listing. Also, you won’t get any eBay notifications or warning messages before listing an item included in the VERO program. Instead, what happens is that you list an item and it simply gets taken down, giving your seller’s account a strike. The stakes are high too, as the eBay seller accounts can be penalized and even suspended if they get enough listings kicked off due to a VERO.

4. The Time It Takes To List Items

Sellers believe the time it takes for you to list an item for sale on eBay’s platform is outdated and slow.

Compared to listing items for sale on another app-based platform, like Mercari and Poshmark, it can be a difference of up to 5 minutes to 20 minutes just to list an item.

“…I would say my, my quickest, and I consider myself a pretty proficient lister on eBay. The fastest I list on eBay, almost any other company, any other app I can list five times faster.” – Ryan Roots, eBay Seller & YouTuber

The most time-consuming part of listing an item, besides deciding on a competitive market price for your product, is a portion called item specifics. It’s where you tell eBay specifically what type or category the item belongs to. The issue? There are literally hundreds of different categories to choose from. 

It’s a crucial part of listing because eBay has designed this to be a major way your items get found in the eBay marketplace. 

3. eBay Fees

The number of fees that eBay keeps as the price to sell on eBay.

It’s a tale as old as time – eBay’s seller fees. While it’s true that eBay fees can eat into your profit margin, you might be surprised eBay doesn’t have the highest fees compared to other marketplaces. For example, Poshmark has fees as high as 20%, compared to eBay’s 12% seller fees.

However, the fees that eBay sellers are complaining about aren’t just the 12% seller fees. It’s the additional fees that are on top of the seller fees, which may include promoted listing fees, which can add an extra 4% to 8% on top of your 12% final value fee. 

“Yeah, it feels like a money grab, which is what it is. But I do understand when they’re saying, hey, you have more money than the next person, you can promote your item and make less because you’re better off than these other people and screw all the little guys. That’s how it feels.” – Alli Roots, eBay Seller & YouTuber

2. Dealing With Product Returns

When your buyer decides to return the item they purchased for a refund.

Returns on eBay are expected, but it sucks when eBay sellers have to offer returns in order to get more sales. You can always create a listing where you don’t accept returns, but customers can still return their item for a refund if the reason is “item not as described.” With this said, listing items that don’t accept returns is just hurting your store’s visibility, which will decrease the number of sales you’ll have.

Compared to other re-selling apps, like Whatnot, an app where you can sell items by streaming live to an audience, returns don’t really exist. Additionally, other platforms deal with returns much better.

1. Buyers Who Don’t Pay

When you sell something and the buyer doesn’t pay for it immediately.

By a landslide, the number one complaint about eBay is about customers who buy an item and do not pay. Wait, huh? That’s right, as an eBay seller, you may sell an item where the buyer doesn’t pay immediately (or ever) because eBay doesn’t require buyers to pay automatically when they click “Buy Now.”

This is extremely frustrating for eBay sellers because your listing gets removed when a customer “buys” your products. However, what really happens is that you receive a notification that your item has sold and that you’re not awaiting payment. In the case that you’re dealing with a non-paying customer, your listing isn’t live, unless you manually re-list it again, and you miss the opportunity to sell the item to a customer who would actually pay immediately.

Whether you sell an item through an auction or accept the best offer, customers are not required to pay immediately. 

Sellers who sell items on Mercari or Poshmark don’t have this problem. If you purchase an item from one of these respective platforms, your card automatically gets charged the amount of your purchase. There’s no intermediary step. It’s a win-win for both the buyer and seller. Yet, eBay, one of the world’s largest marketplaces, has not implemented this change yet.