mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@newlife_tcg wrote:eBay has been charging me 30%+ in total fees which includes me losing money on the shipping as well. They do not calculate correctly. I don't have permission to upload the proof apparently otherwise id show my screenshot.
Ebay has NO category in which they charge any seller a 30% FVF.
Shipping costs are NOT a fee charged by Ebay. Your shipping costs depend on what you are shipping and the particulars of the package.
Are you using the Shipping Calculator? If you are, then it is highly likely that you have some information in the calculator set up incorrectly if it is not calculating the correct price for the shipping. The shipping calculator is only as good as the information you provide it.
If you are stating your own shipping, then you just need to revisit where you are getting your numbers from.
Or you may want to consider the shipping method outlined in the link below. It will likely save you and your buyers money.
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/choosing-a-carrier-and-service/ebay-standard-envelope
"I understand they do not "List" it anywhere on what they actually charge for fees other than the standard graph that shows 13.25% + .30/.40 per transaction."
That is completely untrue. Ebay is extremely transparent about their fees. They don't have hidden fees.
What I was trying to explain to you is your shipping costs are NOT an Ebay fee. What you pay for shipping goes to the carrier, Ebay doesn't keep it.
You can see exactly what you pay for Ebay fees on EVERY sales order you have or on your Payment Summary page, or in a transaction report you can run.
Don't confuse other costs of sales that you can pay for in Ebay to be an Ebay fee. The money you pay to literally ship the item goes to the carrier and is a cost of sale, like your shipping supplies are, what you paid for the item you sold, office supplies, etc. Those are all costs of sale, but NOT Ebay fees.
Ebay doesn't charge us for printing a label unless we print the label with shipping.
I explained about the amount you are charging for shipping in my previous post.
Ebay does have set rates of FVF per category. Because you don't agree with them or maybe misunderstand them a bit, doesn't mean it isn't there.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/frais-pour-les-vendeurs-particuliers?id=4822
Or you can see them here:
https://www.ebay.com/sh/fin/summary
Yes, Ebay charges their FVF of 13.25% in most categories on the total amount the buyer paid. That includes for the product, shipping [if charged separately] and sales tax. That is explained in the link I previously gave you on Seller Fees.
" eBay charges the buyer less for shipping than it does me for the label (My shipping sizes & weights are correct). " Ebay charges the buyer for shipping exactly as you have your listing set up to charge shipping. So if you are not charging enough for shipping, that is not Ebay's fault, it is in how you have it set up. Either by stating how much to charge for shipping when you set up the listing or in the information you put in when you set up the shipping calculator for the listing.
" I am stating they should charge the buyer for the label then allow me to print the label and not have to purchase it after buyer has already paid for it (If that makes sense to you)." The buyer does pay for the shipping, you receive that money. If when the shipping label is created, no one pays for it, how does the carrier get paid? You want the buyer to pay you, but when you create the label you don't want to have to pay for it, how is that going to work for your carriers. You are purchasing the label with money the buyer paid to you. That is how it works. The carrier has to be paid.
So for example, lets say you charged the buyer $5 for shipping and that is what the buyer pays to you. Ebay's FVF on that $5 will be 66cents and lets say the actual cost to purchase the shipping label was $4.31. The buyer paid you $5 and you had costs of 66 cents plus 4.31 = 4.97. So there is 3 cents left over. Your costs were covered by what the buyer paid to you.
How much you charge a buyer for shipping should be enough to cover the purchase of the shipping label and a modest handling fee to cover FVFs and shipping supplies. Or you can add the cost of shipping FVFs and the shipping supplies to the cost of your item you are selling along with your other costs, then calculating how much you need to sell the item for.
"I also am not confusing any "other fees/costs" but simply going off the break down of payout vs sale total." You are by calling all the costs as being Ebay fees when shipping charges you pay to the carrier is not an Ebay fee but a cost of your sales. You would have to pay for shipping whether you sold the item here or on some other similar site. So it is just word choice. You are talking about your Costs, which consist of Ebay FVFs and your shipping costs.
I also wish you nothing but the very best.
@soh.maryl wrote:Your post to me is puzzling because I no longer sell and have not sold for years.
If I somehow gave that impression in a message, I am sorry.
That post was made a couple months ago. If you follow it back through the chain of posts where we were conversing back and forth, it started with your post #39 on the thread.
No need to apologize. The conversation was awhile ago.
@bigheadlulu wrote:I think we all know that it is because they SAY they are charging 12.5% or whatever, but they are also charging fees on the state sales tax AND the shipping. It is disingenuous to pretend it's something that the seller is doing, really. I just sold something for $50 plus shipping and tax and the overall fee was over 20%, so it is strictly a head game being played by Ebay, as usual. After 25 years of selling here, I am here to actually say that they do not give a **bleep** about the people who sell: you/we are just the anchovy ball that feeds the big fish....
Ebay doesn't "pretend" fees are something they are not. It is all spelled out for seller on the Selling Fee policy. Because some members chose not to read and absorb what the policy is doesn't mean that Ebay is doing anything wrong. It is the responsibility of the sellers to understand the seller rules, especially when it comes to the fees we pay.
Some sellers make the choice of not learning policies that impact them and that is their right, however that does not translate to Ebay doing anything wrong. What is "disingenuous" is pushing the blame onto Ebay when it is the seller that hasn't taken the time to understand the fee structure on the site.
And if the seller doesn't understand the fee structure on the site, how do they price their items correctly. Sellers need to know all their costs to accurately price their items or should.
Ebay selling fees are NOT inclusive of the amount you pay to a carrier for the actual shipment. Ebay doesn't keep that money. Ebay fees are exactly what they say they are in the Selling Fee policy. The cost of shipping is determined by the carriers. It is a cost of sale, but it is not an Ebay fee. So your costs of sale may be 20% to include Ebay fees and carrier costs. That is likely, that 20% just isn't all Ebay fees.
Anyone that sells tangible stuff on the internet is going to have to ship the product. So whether you sell here or elsewhere, shipping is a real cost of doing business.
I think we all know that it is because they SAY they are charging 12.5% or whatever, but they are also charging fees on the state sales tax AND the shipping. It is disingenuous to pretend it's something that the seller is doing, really. I just sold something for $50 plus shipping and tax and the overall fee was over 20%, so it is strictly a head game being played by Ebay, as usual. After 25 years of selling here, I am here to actually say that they do not give a **bleep** about the people who sell: you/we are just the anchovy ball that feeds the big fish....
First I will agree with you eBay cares little about the sellers or the buyers for that matter. They are a business and their sole purpose is to maximize their value to their shareholders. As long as they continue to remain profitable and meet shareholder expectations they will do little to revise their policies or costs.
For your recent sale if this is the item and I had made the purchase if I plug the numbers into a simple cost model and assume that you actually paid $24 for the shipping label your effective FVF% is naturally higher than the 13.25% because of the FVF being applied to the shipping and sales tax but it is not 20%.
You may want to update your Per Transaction fee. Not a big difference, but it is now 40 cents.
