eBay drops Nectar – no more redeeming, no more double-dipping on earning

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• jj says:

  9 Jul9 July 08:01

  My use of eBay has fallen back sharply in recent times due to sometimes crazy pricing, poor search algorithms, fake reviews and the high likelihood of receiving unsafe items from countries with little consumer regulation.

  Nectar’s woes show that consumers aren’t much interested in receiving a few % in points that can only be used on groceries. Successful loyalty schemes like Avios appeal to the heart rather than the mind, with promises of exotic foreign locations rather than cut-price baked beans.

  • cin4 says:

    10 Jul10 July 11:25

    Name me a site with better search algorithms? Amazon, temu, aliexpress etc. are much much worse and don’t support basic booleans or filters that make ebay useful.

• Tom says:

  9 Jul9 July 08:12

  I’ve had one of these chancers recently. I sold an Arrow Video Blu-Ray special edition to him (about £25), and I had literally just watched the film and checked the discs. I KNOW it was in perfect condition.

  He messaged me saying the disc was scratched and would not play, and he “was disappointed at that price” and wouldn’t want to sour things by leaving bad feedback etc. etc. Apparently returning it would be a hassle for him, blah blah blah… I NEVER give partial or full refunds without asking the customer to raise a return and send it back for a full refund (the reality is that he wanted the item, so wouldn’t want to do this), and (exact wording) “when I verify that it is the exact item I sent you in the same condition I sent it to you, then I will issue a full refund”.

  He went away after this, but I still reported him to eBay. I blocked him from buying any more of my items. I followed his profile (he was also selling) and noted that he had my Blu-Ray listed for sale a few weeks later in perfect condition, at a lower price!

  • Scott says:

    9 Jul9 July 08:48

    Only had this one.
    Sold a 4k / blu-ray trilogy.
    Buyer came back and said one disc was faulty (was a brand new sealed set from HMV that I’d never got around to watching, and still haven’t, so can’t say as of yet whether it’s legit or not).
    Took him about 3 weeks to send it back for a refund -suspect it gave him plenty of time to watch the films.

    One other electrical item that apparently had a broken connector and a missing cable on arrival. Fine when sent as it was all there and working 2 days earlier.
    Not a massive amount luckily.

    Apart from that, no real issues.

  • cin4 says:

    10 Jul10 July 11:23

    Who on earth is buying a bluray in 2024? You can download the disc image in a minute or two or a perfect 1080p rip in seconds.

    • Tom says:

      10 Jul10 July 14:03

      I’m trimming my own collection right down, but some people do collect the more niche special edition films. Many cult films are not available for streaming or download, and some collectors value special editions with booklets and other physical inserts. There’s actually quite a thriving market for things like Masters of Cinema or Arrow Video Blu-Ray stuff. I’ve had more than double my money back on some things from my collection. I’ve seen an out of print Blu-Ray of an old Kung Fu movie go for more than £150 on eBay!

      Another good reason to buy physical media is that you never know if companies like Disney or Google will start censoring out scenes that they feel are no longer compatible with the sensitivities of “modern audiences”!!

      • Rob says:

        10 Jul10 July 14:52

        I bought a DVD off eBay a couple of months – a well regarded film that is not available anywhere on streaming. Second hand copy delivered to my door for under £5 and ordered in about 60 seconds.

      • cin4 says:

        11 Jul11 July 10:02

        I can guarantee you I can download any cult film you care to name.

      • cin4 says:

        11 Jul11 July 10:03

        And censorship is exactly why I will never stream anything and only download original rips.

• BJ says:

  9 Jul9 July 08:42

  Isn’t it possible you’ve got the wrong end of the stick and it’s Necttar that’s dropping partners? Clubcard has been gradually scaled back over time with little to commend it, perhaps Sainsbury’s and Nectar want to refocus a simpler scheme on their own core businesses. For all your criticism (some of it valid) Nectar has undoubtedly been much more rewarding than Clubcard for many years already. Where else can you buy 125k avios per year for under 0.25p each?

  • Rob says:

    9 Jul9 July 08:56

    Given that the announcement comes a week after eBay dropped Amex to cut costs, I am guessing not.

    • BJ says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:29

      Ah ok.

  • JDB says:

    9 Jul9 July 09:04

    @BJ – where do you get the idea that Clubcard “has been gradually scaled back over time”? It’s actually been going from strength to strength, so while you may not feel it has much to commend it, that isn’t a mainstream view. You are perhaps looking at this through an Avios lens which is likely what Avios hoped would happen when it set up the partnership with Nectar.

    Sainsbury’s thought it had pulled off a great coup in getting the Avios deal, believing it would help grow their grocery market share and revitalise its not very attractive scheme but it has failed on both counts. Amongst other things, Avios greatly misjudged the Sainsbury’s customer profile.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:31

      Avios have devalued the Avios to Nectar conversion rate twice because too many were flowing out its scheme … didn’t it find far too many of its customers were willing to shop at Sainsburys?

      What do you think Avios was expecting from the Sainsbury’s customer?

      • JDB says:

        9 Jul9 July 09:46

        @TGLoyalty – Avios believed that the average Sainsbury’s customer was more upmarket than they actually are and that this would tap into a rich new seam of customers and likewise Sainsbury’s thought they would lure Tesco’s more affluent cohort. Neither was correct! The Avios scheme is seen as aspirational whereas Nectar is perceived as dreary. The fact that Sainsbury’s / Nectar still hand out points like confetti is very telling, but the fact that doesn’t really move the needle is even more telling.

        • Alan says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:12

          Sainsbury’s generally hands out its nectar points in exchange for you using its self scan/self checkout. This has meant it has been able to remove virtually all its checkout staff and save it an absolute fortune in wages. The amount of points they are giving out is be astonished if it were just a mere small percentage of the savings.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          9 Jul9 July 18:23

          When was the last time you went to Sainsbury’s? They don’t have any Instore nectar boosts unless you’re an active user of their app. In which case it’s no different to Tesco and their points for insurance or cards when they had financial products.

          Sainsbury’s is a far better supermarket than Tesco so confused there too. So I’m
          Not sure what you’re saying stacks up here.

          Isn’t it telling that BA customers are cashing out Avios to go shopping in a better supermarket. Or in fact maybe Avios just got it wrong letting people cash out at all!

    • BJ says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:36

      @JDB, my perspective is that of a member. Clubcard points have become massively more difficult to collect in meaningful quantities over the last 10 years while opportunities to redeem have been reduced and devalued. I am certsin this will be the mainstream member view of any long term collectors.

      • JDB says:

        9 Jul9 July 10:05

        @BJ – the thing is you aren’t the average Clubcard customer. The vast majority only care about price and points are a sideshow not the actual aim. The number of active Clubcard customers demonstrates this and Tesco has devalued and deemphasised external rewards from a position of strength. Clubcard is hugely profitable. Tesco lots its mojo a few years ago but is once again trading very well whereas Sainsbury’s is being squeezed all round and Nectar/Avios isn’t their route out of this. It hoped buying Asda would save the day but it hasn’t.

        You should consider also M&S, Aldi/Lidl and others that do well without meaningful loyalty schemes; you don’t need a scheme to be successful. John Lewis / Waitrose are struggling – is a good loyalty scheme the answer to their woes? I doubt it would change much on its own.

        • ken says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:29

          Clubcard has clearly been a brilliant data & marketing scheme but I’d love to see one example to refute the case that it has been scaled back in recent years and has less value to customers.

          You are obliged to use it now, not from a points collection perspective, but the fact that most trolleys will contain some items at so called “Clubcard prices” that save anywhere from 30p to a couple of quid per item.

        • BJ says:

          9 Jul9 July 11:36

          My reply to your comment at 10:24 applies. This is HfP, for the most part we care about flights and hotels and have little interest in what’s good for business or other consumers. Did you sense much sympathy for Creation or IHG in these pages?

        • TooPoorToBeHere says:

          9 Jul9 July 19:33

          Lidl does have a loyalty scheme, in-app, whereas Aldi have nothing.

          The Lidl app does targeted offers and a monthly bonus every month for reaching set spend levels, top target being a 10%-off-up-to-£200 coupon for a £250 spend.

          The sweet spot being to trigger the 10% off by hitting the target at the end of the month, then use it at the beginning of the next, setting you up ready for the next spend target.

          Agree Sainsburys seem to be struggling – blizzard of offers in the post and at the checkout these days. It’s like the good old days of 3V at Tesco with a stack of coupons coming in the post every month.

      • JDB says:

        9 Jul9 July 10:07

        @BJ I meant Sainsbury’s wasn’t allowed to buy Asda.

    • Andrew says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:40

      Clubcard has most certainly been scaled back.

      Bonus offers are a shadow of their former selves. They disappeared for years and have only just come back in a very limited form through their app. I can easily earn 1000 bonus nectar a week. Tesco I might get 300/400 a month at best.

      Redemption rates at clubcard partners have more than halved.

      Tesco direct disappeared (not clubcard related per se but it did remove the ability to earn points on just about anything).

      • Red Flyer says:

        9 Jul9 July 09:56

        But the club card price reductions are worth much more than 1000 nectar points to most folk on a weekly Tesco shop – sometimes you need to view the scheme from another persons bubble. Those cash savings can then be used towards purchasing things that points can too.

        • Scott says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:11

          A lot of these Tesco CC prices are on junk food though.
          At least at Sainsbury, there are Nectar prices in store, on the app, and I can sometimes couple these with my 50 bonus points on a £1 sausage roll or whatever.

          Tesco, it’s pretty much spend £15, get 15 CC points.
          Sainsbury might be 500-1000 Nectar points.

        • Alan says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:18

          Do you really think Clubcard prices is actually discounts! For the most part they are price setting artificially high then giving every ‘member’ a ‘special’ discount. In many cases different sizes of the same product at their standard prices is cheaper!

        • Rob says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:45

          Given that the Government is now investigating ‘Clubcard prices’ and may well ban them, it’s fair to say that the discounts are not real. Which? magazine did a study IIRC showing that the savings were identical to the offers previously available, except now they are restricted.

          It’s a bit like Hilton or IHG trumpeting how amazing their loyalty schemes are because member numbers have shot up. When you tell people they can have a 10% discount but only if they sign up, what do you expect to happen?

        • BJ says:

          9 Jul9 July 13:21

          There are Nectar prices too.

      • JDB says:

        9 Jul9 July 10:15

        @Andrew – I’m afraid it’s just nonsense to say Clubcard has been scaled back. The days of offering huge bonus points are long gone because they didn’t work. Sainsbury’s/Nectar are now going down that dead end. Those points cost money but didn’t drive sales, save inconsequential blips. Tesco shut down most of its international operations, Direct and Wine because they were insufficiently profitable consumed too much cash and time.

        If you read Tesco’s financial statements or independent data you will see just what a good decision Tesco made to go down a different route. Tesco is an incredibly data driven company and has since the 1980’s generally had by far the best management in the sector.

        • Andrew says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:54

          @JDB You seem to be admitting that Clubcard has been scaled back! That Tesco scaled it back for legitimate reasons doesn’t change that fact.

    • kt74 says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:50

      Uhhh, even if you didn’t use it for Avios, Clubcard has been devaluing its partner vouchers from 4x to 3x to 2x. Closing Tesco Direct also cut off large scale earn/burn opportunities, albeit Marketplace is back with a handful of third parties, after an almost 10 year hiatus. It has never had the massive earn bonuses of Nectar from both day-to-day shopping and partners like eBay RIP.

      Basically Clubcard is only good for 2-point-4 children families who live near a big store and don’t use anyone else for their groceries. It is great if you have no choice but use Tesco anyway. Will never convince a partial/secondary shopper into a primary one. Fine if Tesco don’t want to add new customers…

      Here’s hoping Nectar doesn’t go the same way…

      • Alan says:

        9 Jul9 July 10:21

        I think Tesco cut the redemption values as their ‘partners’ were refusing to allow the conversion of points at the inflated rates, you can be sure that they wanted to attract the Tesco customers rather than Tesco attract the partners.

    • Ken says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:56

      Clubcard was once 4 x value with reward partners, then 3 x and from 2023 only 2 x.

      You only get 1 point per 2 litres of fuel (was per (£2).

      There is next to no offers of bonus points on various items (can understand that change).

      There are seemingly less partners to spend vouchers.

      The “Clubcard price” in store offers on products are a blatant scam, so much that Which reported them to CMA).

      The partners you can collect points with are very limited and to most people worthless.

      Hard to reconcile all this with it going from strength to strength from a consumer point of view.

      Still I prefer it to Nectar and that may just prove how ‘sticky’ customers are.

      • JDB says:

        9 Jul9 July 10:24

        @Ken – well Clubcard has record users and Tesco stil has virtually double the market share of the next biggest, Sainsbury’s and that hasn’t changed much in recent times. So, whatever your perception about my “strength to strength” comment, the market share, Clubcard usage and financial statements suggest the customer is happy with the proposition. Tesco has gone back to a customer proposition at the lower/middle/higher end of the market – focussing ruthlessly on price, value and quality and it seems to be working for now.

        • ken says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:40

          You have nicely changed the goalposts.

          Nobody would say that clubcard hasn’t been a brilliant scheme, and still is from a data harvesting & marketing point of view

          However you claimed that clubcard hadn’t been scaled back (“nonsense”).

          Now you seem to be arguing that Tesco has gone back to focussing on price, value & quality (I’d agree).

          Self evidently both statements can’t be true.

          I don’t think Tesco see the threat as being from Sainsburys or Asda, but from ALDI or LIDL, hence the Aldi price matches in store.

        • Tenerife says:

          9 Jul9 July 11:22

          There are several nuances in the Grocery business: Its very rigid market than you can imagine. Its almost like housing tightly controlled by the government, to open a new store in any area. Since Tesco’s already have huge shopping estate its market share wont fall that quickly, hence they can price gauge however they want. The elephant in the room is Aldi/Lidl, they spent enormous effort and money in setting up the stores (It takes 5 to 10 years to open a new store, till then you need to wait patiently after applying).
          Regarding , the age of rewarding loyalty is gone sentiment is non-sense. Even Lidl is having loyalty scheme and Costco (the mother of loyalty/member only scheme) is making huge money. The issue with UK grocery market is, even after all the years of having customer data, Tesco could not compete with the efficiency of Aldi/Lidl/Costco’s and not presenting proper value to its customers or Club card members.

        • BJ says:

          9 Jul9 July 11:23

          I don’t care about Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc but rather about HfP readers and their ability to earn and burn points … or abuse loyalty if you prefer 🙂

        • JDB says:

          9 Jul9 July 11:41

          @Ken – both statements are true! Clubcard has been ramped up, definitively not scaled back, but focussed on principally on Clubcard Prices not random mega points offers, although of course they did try ‘Challenges’ last month. That is not inconsistent with price/value/quality which is or should actually be the fundamental tenet of any grocery chain.

          Tesco sees everyone as a threat! When you are at the top, you have to fight hard to stay there, particularly as it would be seriously tough to grow share meaningfully. There was never any prospect of killing off the discounters, but they have fought back quite effectively.

          Clubcard Prices appeal across the spectrum, they are very focussed on prices generally, including the Aldi price match (and of course Ocado (another sizeable non loyalty scheme player) once again price matches to Tesco). Tesco then focusses on middle range value/quality to appeal to a different set of customers and they have (after a major lull) hugely ramped up more upmarket and expensive offerings for another subset of customers. Nobody else does that well.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          9 Jul9 July 18:28

          @JDB you realise Nectar has Nectar prices too so the scaling up is equal!

          Also they aren’t real extra savings they’re basically just another carrot to wave at you to pick up the stick of giving them your data.

  • Axel says:

    9 Jul9 July 09:08

    Hi Bj,

    Can you run through the 0.25p again? I remember you carried on promoting nectar and sainsbury deals when everyone else on the site was buying lego.

  • Jan M says:

    9 Jul9 July 09:14

    How do you buy 125k Avios for .25p each? Would love to know. 😅

    • Rob says:

      9 Jul9 July 09:25

      You need to abuse the life insurance bonuses in the app.

      • BJ says:

        9 Jul9 July 09:50

        No abuse of T&C is necessary!

        • JDB says:

          9 Jul9 July 10:31

          @BJ – I have no idea whether English is your mother tongue, but you should look up the OED definition of the word ‘abuse’! I suspect also that if Sainsbury’s were a bit less dopey, they also wouldn’t agree with your statement.

        • BJ says:

          9 Jul9 July 11:17

          @JDB And our friends in Westminster clearly have another. I am certain I have been consistent with the T&C so I’m not losing any sleep over it.

        • Mr. AC says:

          9 Jul9 July 13:59

          Say more?…

      • Scott says:

        9 Jul9 July 10:14

        My mother has 7k for pet insurance and 20k for over 50s life insurance at present.
        Not sure of the T&Cs though for the latter one but I’d expect a decent monthly premium…..

        Sure a lot us have had dogs and cats run over 3 months into a policy, coincidently just after the points posted 😉

        • BJ says:

          9 Jul9 July 11:10

          You only get to have points for one dead pet, their sympathy has limits.

  • Neil MacPherson says:

    9 Jul9 July 09:30

    How do you acquire Avios for 0 25p???

• Chris says:

  9 Jul9 July 09:22

  I still don’t understand all the negative comments regarding Nectar.

  Since April (when I exchanged just under 150k Nectar -> Avois) I have earned a further 21k Nectar Points just through doing my weekly shop at Sainsbury’s. Last week, for example, I earned 1365 Nectar Points, the week before 1992 Nectar Points and so on…. I’m not doing anything special apart from using their App and saving all the bonus point offers each week. I earn far more Avois through Sainsbury’s then I ever did through Tesco.

  • BJ says:

    9 Jul9 July 09:52

    Agree Nectar is good but way back then Clubcard was much better than Nectar is now.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      9 Jul9 July 18:27

      Absolutely but Nectar is better than clubcard now and that’s all that matters.

• BJ says:

  9 Jul9 July 09:45

  @Axel Over 50s life insurance, 2 per household per year on the minimum premium. Can be maximised via BAEC HHA and even further through F&F. For those under 50 the same is also possible via Life policies but the cost increases to 0.4- 0.5ppa at best. With those care is needed as the oromo changes and the best premium point is not the same in every promotion.

  • Alan says:

    9 Jul9 July 10:43

    I cannot even see over 50’s life cover under the banking and insurance tab, maybe I’m miss reading it. Just one life insurance and for interested quoted cheapest cover I could find being £3.50 so say pay for minimum 6 months is £21 for 7000 Avios, so 3.33 ppp. Personally I don’t buy things with intention of just cancelling them. I will change companies for a bonus, say car insurance renewal, but that’s me.

    • BJ says:

      9 Jul9 July 11:07

      It comes and goes but around most of the time. It was on my app last week. Be careful though as I think T&C may have changed with the result that it may not always be open to all but only to those receiving email. I believe if it is advertised on website it is open to all. About two weeks aho I got an emsil from Sainsbury’s Bank but did not read it but I think it might have been about Nectar.

• Alan says:

  9 Jul9 July 10:27

  Personally I think the only real change here for most will be the inability to double stack rewards on EBay. But let’s be honest why would any company really want to be paying loyalty in two different ways?

  You can now earn 1% with double points via link from app.

  Surely most here either spend their Nectar in store (same rate as spending via EBay) or convert to Avios?

• Rob H not Rob says:

  9 Jul9 July 10:46

  So do we think PayPal will be pulling Amex next?

  • Rob says:

    9 Jul9 July 10:52

    Amex is optional for PayPal users. They can choose to accept it or not – if they accept it, they pay the fee required.

    Since the merchant pays the fee, PayPal would be stupid to stop giving them the choice of accepting Amex because some will want to take it, especially those with a large US customer base.

• the_real_a says:

  9 Jul9 July 14:45

  Oh well the gravy chain ends it seems. I have been running down my Avios to nectar (to spend on ebay) for the past few years, granted its not as lucrative as it once was after devaluation but i feel its still a great use of points.

  Living outside of London these days, its almost impossible to attain Avios 1p redemption opportunities. Convenience dictates local airports on easyjet/ryanair for short to mid haul. And the ludicrous taxes and fees on long haul mean I can often buy cash fares from said regional airports for not much more. Outside of London is virtually impossible to attain 1p redemption opportunities with all the extra compromises one must consider.

  The Avios to Nectar to eBay was an easy “cash out” which i will miss.

  • Scott says:

    9 Jul9 July 15:11

    I just treat the Nectar points as an additional bonus half the time for things that I might be buying anyway.
    I’ll pop into Sainsbury after work tomorrow, spend under £10 on a few bits and pieces to have in the fridge, and will end up with 400 Nectar points minimum. Things on my offers that I buy anyway such as a bag of spinach or kale for stir frys; avocado (50p at present for a medium one that gave me 60 points yesterday); bread; fruit etc.

    Anything I buy on eBay, such as a 4k disc, gets me 7 or so Nectar points. Next to nothing yes, but at present, it’s something that gets added without having to think about it.

    There are times where I’ve had 40 points on 400g of strawberries, and they’re £3.50 that day. Unless I’m really desperate for strawberries, raspberries at £1.50 work out a better deal at the time, and they might have 40-50 bonus points when the offers refreshing at midnight Thurs/ Fri.
    Not always going to utilise offers if the returns aren’t that great for something I may not really need.

    Shopping wise, I find the app a bit fiddly to use what with it sending you to the Nectar website half the time, and then you have to log in.
    Had a look at Nectar hotels the other day and that refused to let me see anything, so I booked elsewhere.

    I do have an offer of 4k points for car insurance on the app. May take a look at what they’re offering.
    Last time I had them, the following year’s renewal was a good 50% higher, and 2500 Avios wouldn’t sway me.

    • John says:

      10 Jul10 July 03:35

      Sainsburys seems to give me offers on the things that I would be buying anyway, so many of my points are actually free

      • Alex Sm says:

        10 Jul10 July 18:27

        Unfortunately they keep sending offers on the same things over and over again but fewer and fewer points over time. While my partner gets 60 points on avocado, I get 20. He gets 120 on nuts, I get 10… travesty, isn’t it? 🥦

  • Steve says:

    9 Jul9 July 17:09

    This is a digression (sorry) but; I checked the Sainsbury’s link in the Executive Club shopping portal and Sainsbury’s is still there but ONLY for first time delivery or collect customers. After the first time (and it’s still a good bonus 800-900 Avios points) there are NO Avios points for any future delivery/collect orders. You get one big batch of Avios points, then nothing. There’s no reason to use the BA portal again.

    • John says:

      10 Jul10 July 03:37

      Wait 3 months or so then sign up again as a new account. I did it with Ocado new customer offers. I don’t know if it will work in this case but you could also use a different BA account, they can’t blacklist all future residents of your address from ever signing up

    • Petros says:

      10 Jul10 July 11:52

      I’m still getting 80 Avios per delivery.

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