Ebay - Unfair term? Charged £93 for including a contact number in a message!

[nat8808]

Hi all,

 

 I have a strange problem with ebay.

 

I have been charged £93 as an "off-ebay sale fee" after I signed a message with a potential buyer with my number in brackets underneath.

They wanted to talk about the item over the phone.

 

The item was for sale for £980.

I then sold it to another person, yes off ebay, but through an ad on another classified advert.

    Here is the wording of their policy: https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement?id=4259#4. Abusing eBay    Item #5. Fees:

Quote

" If you are a seller, you are liable for transaction fees arising out of all sales made using some or all eBay Services, even if sales terms are finalised or payment is made outside of eBay. In addition, if you are a seller and you offer or reference your contact information or ask for a buyer's contact information, you may be liable to pay a final value fee in consideration for the introduction to a buyer for that item on the eBay site, even if the item does not actually sell. "

  Is this a fair term?

They're charging me £93 as an introduction fee simply because *I* provided contact info. 

The fee is included on my bill for next month.

If I dont pay that bill, I wont be able to use ebay...

and I have lots of things to sell.

So I'd need some way of claiming it back afterward.

   Could anyone offer any advice?

  

[dx100uk]

ignore them

start another account with slightly differing details on ebay.

they are a llaw to themselves and being in luxy, I don't think you'd be able to get anything back should you pay it no.

 

dx

 

[nat8808]

Forgot about the Luxy bit.. 

[nat8808]

In the short term, owing money to ebay will cause me problems

I may have to swallow the fee / fine for now and then leave with an equal-sized debt at a later date.

Not ideal way of working but that's what happens when companies deliberately act outside of your accessible legal framework in order to be a law unto themselves regarding user agreements and contracts.

 

Tit for tat...  and then of course another mark on the credit file that won't be removed for not being just or fair.

Right old stitch-up from big companies..

[dx100uk]

its not a fine and PP debts cannot ever appear on your UK credit file

 

dx

 

[nat8808]

(If I were to argue it in a court) I would say that it is a fine  - one reason it's an unfair term in the User Agreement - because they don't charge you an introduction fee if you exchange details after selling an item, they don't charge you an introduction fee if you give/state your business address and contact details in a listing to a potential buyer (giving your business details is a requirement for business accounts). Yet they *do* charge you a "final value fee" if you send someone a contact number even if you don't sell the item to them, the User Agreement specifically stating that the fee is for introducing you to a potential buyer via their platform.

 So, if they only charge you this introduction fee when they fear they will loose a commision from you, and then describe it as something other than an introduction fee, I think one can show that it's purpose is as a deterent and is therefore a fine.

But yes.. they call it something else.

Thanks for the re-assurance that it won't go on my credit file - I assumed that it would just because it would eventually go to a dca.

Edited May 19, 2019 by nat8808

[dx100uk]

dca's are totally powerless

nothing at all to do with your credit file on any debt.

a credit file is not 'run' by DCA's..

 

its not a FINE, only a UK magistrates court or the police or the council can 'fine' you. [criminal offences]

 

its an unlawful penalty 'civil' court.

but as their T&C's like any others [more so as they are not even in the uk !!] are meaningless, and if you couldn't challenge T&C's they'd have been no PPI reclaiming ...nor CAG at all ..as we came out of the Bank charges era..

[ericsbrother]

you cant claim it back afterwards, you can sue them for breach of contract as they have assumed that the item was sold as a result of being offered on ebay. This is like estate agents being given sole agency.

You might want to argue this point with them and let them know that you will be more than happy to take them to court over this issue.

If you want to send someone your phone number you need to send several "ask member a question" communications of one or two words each so the recipient can untangle the number at their end

so something like

zero is the first

one that

one will send, the other

six will follow for leicester.