eBay please stop including Shipping Fees in Seller 'Order Earnings'... it is misleading

[thefisherqueen]

Why is eBay doing this?  On the Order Details page, for the Order Earnings, they leave the shipping included in the total, to make it look like a higher amount.  This feels intentional, in an attempt to 'soften the blow' of seeing what we actually earned, after high shipping costs and high seller fees are deducted.  

I would like to see this stopped.  Shipping Fees are NOT EARNINGS. 

They deduct the eBay fees out of the Order Earnings, so they can certainly deduct the shipping fees, so the Order Earnings are honest and accurate.

So tired of all the games eBay plays.

[hartungcards]

Shipping fees most certainly are earnings.  And then they become deductible costs when you buy shipping labels or go to the post office.

[luckythewinner]

eBay please stop including Shipping Fees in Seller 'Order Earnings'... it is misleading

Perhaps because people who offer free shipping would still see their shipping fees in 'order earnings'.

And perhaps because changing it now would render any comparison to your historical numbers misleading.

[ebooksdiva]

How is it misleading? When you look at order details you see what the buyer has paid (your earnings) 

Below that you see what you’ve earned after selling fees are deducted and you purchased a label the end result is order earnings. (What you’ll receive in your payout.) 

[dhbookds]

Don't understand what you mean...........

They deduct the eBay fees out of the Order Earnings, so they can certainly deduct the shipping fees, so the Order Earnings are honest and accurate.

On order earnings......they deduct the actual cost of the shipping label.......which may or may not correspond to what the buyer paid.......

[dbfolks166mt]

     While they are not "earnings" the shipping paid by the buyer is part of gross income. It is money you received from the buyer. In your case you appear to be using calculated shipping and the buyer is paying full retail USPS postage. So you receive for example on the following item $7.15 in shipping had I been the one to purchase the item. Because of the shipping discounts through eBay or other shipping label services the actual shipping, guessing the item is about 12 ounces, may only cost you $5.93 so there is a surplus of funds you received that amounts to $1.22. Just like the fees the actual shipping cost you paid for the label is a tax deduction while the $1.22 is taxable net income. 

     For those  that bake the shipping cost into the price of their item the shipping is kind of irrelevant since it is not broken out separate but it is still part of the gross revenue they receive. 

[kensgiftshop]

The buyer pays you to ship it, so it is earnings.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

It has been a long term policy implemented because Ebay sellers were inflating shipping charges when they were not subject to the FVF.

It is not new, it is not unique to Ebay and it was a natural reaction to seller misconduct.

It will not change, nor will sellers change.

[worldcoinauctions]

If you were selling from your own website you would collect shipping from your customers and that would be reported as income on your taxes, you would report the actual cost of postage, packaging, labels, etc as costs. That offsets your shipping income... don't do it and you are actually breaking the law.

[monroe67]

"Why is eBay doing this?  On the Order Details page, for the Order Earnings, they leave the shipping included in the total, to make it look like a higher amount.  This feels intentional, in an attempt to 'soften the blow' of seeing what we actually earned, after high shipping costs and high seller fees are deducted."

Why on Earth does eBay list all the components of each sale in long-addition form so that even a 10-year-old can understand them ?!?

My question is -- why do so many grown-ups get confused by elementary adding and subtracting ??

[hartungcards]

Because nobody said there would be math on this test.

[readabouthorses]

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@hartungcards wrote:

Because nobody said there would be math on this test.

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I will forever be grateful to my mother for making me take bookkeeping and accounting in high school. I never had problems finding a job with this skill.

It does make me wonder how sellers can even know if they are making any money without some basic accounting?

[hartungcards]

Because that sounds like more work than just letting the profits roll in.

[12345jamesstamps]

Someone will sell something very cheap with a high shipping fee(meaning it is a higher shipping fee than it should be for the cost of shipping it)...thus a profit to the seller.

And item sold because it was so cheap.

So the seller made a profit if item cost $20. listed for shipping but only cost $5. to actually ship it.