eBay Commerce UK Ltd · DRN-6249501

The complaint Mr S complains eBay Commerce UK Ltd (Commerce) withdrew money from his linked bank account following being charged fees of £865.25. What happened Mr S held a private eBay Marketplace (Marketplace) account and between April and May 2025 made a number of sales. Mr S says there was a system error and as a result he was unable to fulfil the orders. Mr S says he asked Marketplace to refund the customer payments as he was unable to fulfil the orders due to the system issue. Marketplace did this but it also blocked his account. Mr S says despite no products being delivered and no funds being received he was charged additional fees from his account. Mr S tried to resolve the issue with Commerce but was unable to find a resolution so he complained. Commerce looked into his complaint, but it didn’t uphold it so he referred his complaint to our service. An investigator looked into things but didn’t think Mr S’s complaint should be upheld. The investigator said they couldn’t look at the actions of Marketplace, as this wasn’t a regulated business. But they could look at what Commerce had done. The investigator had seen the information and was satisfied that Commerce acted fairly when it took the fees from Mr S’s account, so they thought Commerce had acted reasonably. Mr S disagreed, he says while Marketplace may have initiated the fees it was Commerce that executed the payments from his account. And so his complaint was specifically about the execution of those payments. He also felt Commerce shouldn’t be allowed to excuse itself of responsibility in the chain of events. Mr S asked for an ombudsman to review the complaint, so the complaint has been passed to me to make a final decision. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. I’ve carefully read all of the correspondence sent to this Service. That being said, my decision won’t address every point or comment raised. I mean no discourtesy by this, it simply reflects the fact our Service is an informal dispute resolution service, set up as a free alternative to the courts. So, in deciding this complaint I’ve focussed on what I consider to be the heart of the matter, rather than considering every issue in turn. The DISP rules lay out which businesses this service can consider complaints about, and I don’t think the Marketplace is a business I can consider a complaint about.

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This means the issues regarding why the fees were applied or if they were applied appropriately to Mr S’s selling account isn’t something I can consider, so I can’t say whether the Marketplace acted fairly or not, I can’t consider its actions. Whilst I understand the effect the fees may have had on Mr S, I can’t say whether this is fair or not, and I can’t ask the Marketplace to compensate Mr S for any of his losses. What I can consider is Commerce’s actions in debiting the funds from his account and if it acted in line with its terms and conditions. Commerce has provided us the information it was given by Marketplace with regards to why it had charged the fees that Marketplace was charging. So Commerce based this decision on the details of the charges or fees Marketplace applied. To be clear Commerce didn’t carry out the initiation of the fees, that would have been Marketplace who decided that these fees were due under its terms and conditions. I would expect Commerce to consider the information provided by Marketplace to understand the fees and charges being applied. I note Mr S has mentioned he was unable to fulfil the sales due to a system error but there is no evidence provided that the system error was caused by Commerce or Marketplace. So I’m satisfied Commerce acted reasonably in relying on the information provided by Marketplace about the fees being due. I’ve considered if Commerce acted in line with its terms and conditions when debiting the funds from Mr S’s linked account. Under Section 10 (“Collection of Fees and Other Amounts You Owe”) it says: “You authorize us to collect from you any amounts you owe us or our Affiliates (in particular the Affiliate which provides the eBay Services to you)…” and goes on to list what might be typically included under “Owed Amounts” such as fees, refunds etc. Section 10 also sets out how the collection of “Owed Amounts” may be carried out, which includes by • “Retaining such amounts from your current or future disbursements relating to any transactions that you may have in connection with any eBay account owned by you” • Recouping from your Linked Financial Account (and if required, by issuing a direct debit mandate or other similar authorization)” Mr S has been using his Marketplace account to sell, so I’m satisfied he signed up for its managed payments service. In order to do this, Mr S needed to sign up to eBay’s payments terms of use. So, I’m satisfied that Mr S agreed to allow Commerce to collect amounts he owed from his bank account. Mr S has also said Commerce failed to release funds of $229 from sales he’s made but Commerce has explained that these funds were in his Marketplace balance so were held by Marketplace and not Commerce, however even if they were, also under section 10 of the payment terms, it says: “We generally deduct Owed Amounts from your current or future disbursements we process on your behalf. If a stored value account or payment account has been issued to you, we will deduct the Owed Amounts from funds held in the relevant stored value account or payment account before disbursing the funds to you. If your disbursements awaiting payout or funds held are not sufficient to cover these amounts, we will charge your Linked Financial Account

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or another payment method on file.” So, I’m not persuaded that Commerce’s intention is to take funds that it’s not entitled to. I know my answer will be disappointing for Mr S. However, I’m satisfied that Commerce has acted fairly and reasonably, in line with its terms of use. My final decision For the reasons I’ve explained, I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr S to accept or reject my decision before 28 April 2026. Jag Dhuphar Ombudsman

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