eBay is making a massive change in the UK that could be great news if you’re trying to sell some old clothes online.
From today, all second-hand clothes sold over the digital marketplace will be free from buying and selling fees.
That means you will be free to flog your old clothes without having to pay eBay’s 13.22 per cent fees.
The change may help eBay take on its newer rivals, Vinted and Depop, which have both waived seller fees.
Kirsty Keoghan, General Manager of Global Fashion for eBay said: ‘Free fashion selling has come at the right time for a nation sitting on billions of pounds worth of unwanted clothes.’
eBay has now waived buying and selling fees for all second-hand clothing with the exception of sneakers, watches, handbags, and jewellery
eBay has announced that it will waive all extra charges for pre-owned fashion including listing, final value, and the new regulatory fee.
Second-hand clothing includes everything from items that have been worn for years up to pieces of clothing that are new with tags and have never been worn.
This will even apply to items that were listed on eBay before April 8, meaning it will now be much cheaper to buy clothes over the platform.
The only exceptions to the new rules will be for trainers, watches, handbags, and jewellery which will retain the existing fees.
Previously, eBay sellers faced a basic seller charge of 13.22 per cent plus 30p on all items.
While it is free to list up to 1,000 items a month on eBay, there was also an additional 35p charge for any items after this.
However, this change brings eBay in line with its modern rivals Depop and Vinted.
Depop previously charged a 10 per cent fee on the total transaction cost, including the price of shipping, a 2.9 per cent ‘standard transaction fee’ and a 30p charge.
However, Depop dropped all seller fees in March, meaning sellers keep all the profits from any items sold.
Instead, Depop is introducing a UK marketplace fee of up to five per cent of the item price plus a fixed amount up to £1 paid by the buyer from April 15.
Vinted, a second-hand clothing marketplace founded in 2008, doesn’t charge any fees to list or sell items.
According to eBay, the changes are aimed at making it easier to buy and sell second-hand clothes in order to reduce clothing waste.
The changes brings eBay in line with its rival Vinted which also charges zero fees to sell or buy second hand clothing
eBay estimates that the average British consumer has around £400 in clothes they don’t wear.
This means that Britain as a whole is holding on to £16.3 billion of unworn clothes.
Ms Keoghan said: ‘By encouraging more people to buy and sell pre-loved clothing, we’ll keep more clothes out of landfill as we collectively enable a circular economy for fashion.’
According to eBay’s estimates, 1.6 million kg of clothing was saved from landfill by being sold on the platform in 2023 alone.
Each year millions of items of clothing find their way into landfills around the world, particularly in countries like Ghana where much of the US’ unwanted clothes end up.
However, recent studies have shown that choosing to buy second-hand can have big benefits for the environment.
Researchers estimate that selling a pair of jeans to a second-hand store can cut the CO2 emissions per wear by 90 per cent.
eBay says its changes will make it easier for people to avoid waste by buying and selling old clothes rather than throwing them out (file photo)
In addition to waiving fees for second-hand clothes, eBay has also introduced AI-powered listings.
This new feature gives users the option to add an ‘attention-grabbing item description’ with a single press of a button.
eBay says this feature will significantly reduce the time it takes to list items on the site.
Ms Keoghan says: ‘We know selling clothes can sometimes feel like a chore, so free selling and new updates like new AI-powered listings, will help more of us to sell clothes easily – putting more cash in pockets.’
