r/ebayuk

Just as US-EU trade tensions seemed to be cooling, a new flashpoint has arrived.

Trump has threatened a 100% tariff on any country imposing a digital services tax on American companies, and made clear it would supersede any existing trade agreements. This comes less than two weeks after the EU approved a deal designed to cut tariffs on US goods.

The tactic has worked before. Canada repealed its 3% digital services tax after a similar ultimatum to keep trade negotiations alive.

But the EU is a different beast. France already has a DST in place and has previously said it won't bow to US pressure. Germany and Belgium are planning their own versions. The core disagreement, whether large American tech companies pay enough tax on European revenue, has been running for years with no resolution in sight.

For ecommerce sellers operating across borders, this isn't abstract. A 100% tariff on goods from major EU trading partners means higher sourcing costs, more expensive imports, and consumers on both sides paying more for everything.

A few things worth discussing:

Do you think EU countries will back down the way Canada did, or is this a different situation entirely? If these tariffs do go into effect, which product categories do you think get hit hardest?

Want more ecommerce news like this? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at https://ecomwatchnews.substack.com/ where we cover everything you need to stay ahead in the ecommerce space.

To cut a long story short I’ve just sold one of my watches on eBay, since eBay brought in the authentication system I’ve sold maybe 4/5 watches, never had a problem always been authenticated no issues, always had positive feedback. Had a this account for more than a decade and I’m sat on 100% positive feedback.

This time, granted it’s pretty much double any previous sale, I’ve had nothing but issues. I used Malca Amit to ship the watch to ensure it was full insured whilst in transit. Previously I’ve used Royal Mail and Sercurus but switched after finding out Sercurus don’t actually insurance parcels to third parties.

Anyway Malca Amit picked up my parcel last Thursday (16/07), and from Friday (17/07) onwards it showed as delivered on Malca Amit and eBay’s tracking, but took ages to show as arrived at hub, little known to me the eBay hub had actually rejected the parcel on the Friday and subsequently the Monday (20/07) too, because they said the EVTN number wasn’t on the label (it was, and always was just written on there but in pen not on the label text). Because I didn’t know eBay hadn’t actually taken delivery of it I contacted their customer services and asked if it had been delivered and was told about it being rejected at around 12:30 on Monday. I then managed to sort out the EVTN issue and Malca Amit delivered the watch on the Tuesday (21/07), this was then authenticated and has since been received by the buyer who was really pleased and left really good feedback.

Then on Tuesday after the item was authenticated but before it was delivered I had two emails (in the attached images) one saying my account had been temporarily restricted and one saying my payouts had been paused. I think understandably, I’m quite pissed off that eBay are now holding my £16k for at least five business days. The only action I was given was to upload tracking for items sold in the last 30 days, that had already been done and I always upload tracking for both mine and the buyers peace of mind. So I replied directly to the email and let them know I had already provided the tracking number and always do.

I’ve called eBay numerous times and had numerous different answers I was told yesterday that my funds would be released between 24 and 48 hours, today I was told I had to reply to the message directly in the app and couldn’t reply by email (the email literally says reply by email and it’ll be received) and that I couldn’t possibly speak to the appeals team as their an ‘offline team’. Then finally I was told by somebody else that the appeals team would contact me by tomorrow at the latest, and that the funds would automatically be released to me after five business days, which makes you wonder what needs to be investigated if the funds get released after five days regardless. The last guy I spoke to tried to help but he just kept going round in circles and couldn’t really answer anything and I’m not massively hopeful I’ll get my payout on Tuesday.

Has anybody else had a similar experience? I’ve been told the tracking is no longer an issue as the buyer already has the item and has left positive feedback, but the funds have been held as it’s a spike in average selling price, again I completely get that and completely get anti money laundering checks or identity checks or whatever but I haven’t been asked to prove my ID or my original purchase for the watch or anything. From reading other users experiences I have a feeling my account is going to be permanently banned, for no reason, and I’m going to be sat waiting on a pretty substantial amount of money for up to 190 days. Really not impressed and it’s the last time I’ll be using eBay to sell anything remotely valuable.

Does anyone have experience rejecting a refund on eBay? Will it reflect badly? These were brand new, not even tried on as my son outgrew them (they were gifted) before getting a chance to wear them and the buyer has had them for a week. I feel like they've worn them on holiday or something and now want their money back. What would you advise?

4 photos for you to get through.

You see the sealed case.

Buyer has opened it and has sent a photo of a damaged pop.

Surely out of my hands in the first place right?

As for ebay. This was handed within about 5 mins of him opening a case, so he gets to keep item and his money back. Yes, I wont receive the item back, I wont lose money but I think thats besides the point here don't you? Am I wrong in thinking this just creates a whole level of fraud? So I could buy say a ps5 physical game, put a few creases on the cover and say its no good, would I then keep the item which works and get my money back? This must be turning sellers off. Im disgusted with it, I honestly feel for anyone whos lost money and the item.

The buyer bought the item, I dispatched it straight away and told them when it would be delivered and that it would need a signature, they did not reply to me. They’ve missed delivery twice now. I’ve messaged them again to tell them they need to be in as this is the final delivery attempt. If they aren’t in, I assume my item will come back to me and I’ve lost the £20 as obviously they’ll want a refund. I shipped this privately through UPS. Frustrated as I don’t wanna lose this money but also the packaging will be probably quite beaten up after being back-and-forth so the item might be less easy to sell or I’ll have to reduce the price.

I’ve only sold a few things on eBay - this being my third. I’ve never had this so not sure what to do.

I sold a Jellycat on eBay, after trying on Facebook groups I thought eBay would be safer in the end.

It sold fairly quickly for £90.

Problem is they are now saying it was damaged in transit (the tag apparently got a crease).

However the person who bought mine is the husband of someone I was speaking to on Facebook. This person commented on another post she’d bought the jellycat for a significant amount cheaper than mine via another platform.

I have screenshots of them wanting to buy, iso posts which say they’re looking for it on the 14th, saying they’d found one on the 15th and mine sold on the 16th. I also have a screenshot of her profile tagged with his profile, this also shows she lives in the same area. It’s not hard to piece together what she’s doing.

However eBay have put the transaction on hold. I’ve also got this message (photo). I’ve not got the option to respond or do anything.

Do I wait it out? Do I ring eBay today? Do I stick to the facts that mine was perfect when I sent it? Will I still get my money?

I sold a iPhone 17 pro for £999 and I’ve sent out the item. I get a email at midnight informing me the account is a scam and they’ve deleted the account and cancelled the sale.

However I’ve already sent the item out and Royal Mail can’t do anything.

What now does eBay refund me? The reason I ask is eBay once said no to a refund and then went yes a few days later.

Any one get experience on this?

Hi all, I'm a new seller on ebay based in india and I

make and sell leather goods, I listed my 14 products on

ebay and made my first sale 3 days ago and I wanted some insights on my products Pricing ,

Is my products pricing is competitive enough or too low or high ? Will people buy my products are they looking good?

Please share you feedback I shared one of listing

https://ebay.io/m/QwBtTS