ebay charges us the 12.55% fee on the sales tax that they collect

[thegrape]

I sold an item for a friend and was checking the payment I would receive after all the fees and noticed that ebay was computing their final value fee based on the total amount the buyer payed ebay.

the "i" icon yielded this piece of information:

We calculate your fees based on the total amount of the sale, which includes the item price, shipping and handling costs, sales tax, and any other applicable fees.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section2 has all the gory details.

I'm quite a bit outraged that somehow I'm responsible for 12.55% of the sales tax that I never see.

ebay is so far out of line on this fee.

Anyone want to start a petition?

No way customer service will be able to address this.

frustrated,

theGrape in NJ 😠

[jewelsofnature]

Smug comments don't further the conversation..

This is about principle for some, and for others it rubs them wrong as Ebay has made it a point to say "discontinuing the partnership with Paypal will be better for "Sellers" and save them money." For others it's another fee amongst the mountain of fees that chip away at the shrinking profit margins.

Using your example of California:

It's basically another 1% added onto the 12.55%

If you sell $100,000 in CA, without charging 12.55% of the Sales Tax Fee

you would pay approx. ($12,550 EBAY Fees)

With the Sales Tax Fee included ($1129.50 charge just from the Sales Tax!)

Lets say you paid $12,550 in EBAY fees in year one. (no extra charge for sales tax taken)

You sold exactly the same in year two. (12.55% charge on sales tax taken)

You paid $13,679.50 in total EBAY fees in year two.

$1,129.50 (this is a 9% increase in EBAY fees!)

1% of your total sales = 9% increase in total fees!

But there is very little that we can do about it.. Other than Block those states, raise prices or

work harder to make up the difference..

[jewelsofnature]

Credit cards are around a 3% fee, this is a 12.55% fee. 4 times the percentage. There might be a % cap that can be charged in some states. That is just a guess, and have not confirmed if there is a cap.

[mam98031]

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@jewelsofnature wrote:

Credit cards are around a 3% fee, this is a 12.55% fee. 4 times the percentage. There might be a % cap that can be charged in some states. That is just a guess, and have not confirmed if there is a cap.

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There is more in the 12.55% fee than just money processing.

The fees in MP have NOT increased overall fees. The following numbers represent those that do not have a store and the fee rate for most common categories [not all].

Fees BEFORE going into MP
10.20% FVF + 2.9% PP fees = 13.10% plus 30 cent per transaction fee.

In MP the fees are:
10.20% FVF + 2.35% money processing fee paid to MP = 12.55% plus a 30 cent per transaction fee.

Starting August 2nd, PayPal is raising their fees, so they will be as follows:
10.20 Ebay FVF + 3.49 PP Fee = 13.69% plus .49 cent Per Transaction fee

PP is apparently offering different fees to different sellers, likely depending on size. From what I've seen it is between 2.59% and 3.49%.

[mam98031]

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@jewelsofnature wrote:

Smug comments don't further the conversation..

This is about principle for some, and for others it rubs them wrong as Ebay has made it a point to say "discontinuing the partnership with Paypal will be better for "Sellers" and save them money." For others it's another fee amongst the mountain of fees that chip away at the shrinking profit margins.

Using your example of California:

It's basically another 1% added onto the 12.55%

If you sell $100,000 in CA, without charging 12.55% of the Sales Tax Fee

you would pay approx. ($12,550 EBAY Fees)

With the Sales Tax Fee included ($1129.50 charge just from the Sales Tax!)

Lets say you paid $12,550 in EBAY fees in year one. (no extra charge for sales tax taken)

You sold exactly the same in year two. (12.55% charge on sales tax taken)

You paid $13,679.50 in total EBAY fees in year two.

$1,129.50 (this is a 9% increase in EBAY fees!)

1% of your total sales = 9% increase in total fees!

But there is very little that we can do about it.. Other than Block those states, raise prices or

work harder to make up the difference..

---

One would think that sellers selling 100k+ whether world wide or in a specific state would have a store.  And if they have a store, their fees are not as high as those without a store.  Which the 12.55% fee is for those with no store.

Then there are those sales into states that are not a 10% tax rate and that would be the majority of them.  As well as sales into states that have no sales tax.  The FVF on sales into a no sales tax state have a LOWER FVF now than we did before MP.  

If you are looking for the actual impact to any given seller, you can't have a myopic view, you must look at everything to get an accurate picture.  And for most sellers in a months time it is simply a neutral change overall.  They aren't paying more in MP than they did in a month before MP.  I ran this comparison for six months and each month was roughly the same.  My fees are not more in MP and that will hold true for most sellers.

But there are some categories that did get a fee increase.

[silk7455]

It's worth not having to do the paper work to remit the tax collected to every state when you do your taxes.

[maya-designs]

You are comparing apples to oranges. eBay is not a payment processors. eBay is a marketplace that is getting greedy… 

Compare it to Amazon marketplace if you want to go this route. Amazon doesn’t charge their selling fee on taxes they collect. 

[mam98031]

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@maya-designs wrote:

You are comparing apples to oranges. eBay is not a payment processors. eBay is a marketplace that is getting greedy… 

Compare it to Amazon marketplace if you want to go this route. Amazon doesn’t charge their selling fee on taxes they collect. 

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@maya-designs 

You are incorrect.  Ebay is a licensed Money Processor.

https://pages.ebay.com/ebayCommerce/mtl.html

Best to stay current on stuff if you want to accuse others of not knowing what they are talking about.  Ebay has been a licensed money processor for awhile now.

But you are correct about Amazon.  To add to that, neither does Etsy.  But PayPal does charge on the total received without regard as to what it is for.

Beats me why Ebay chose this route, but they have, so we need to deal with it.  

With that said it is important to know what you are paying to Ebay and what actually matters.  For most sellers if they did a comparison of the fees paid before MP and then after MP for a months period of time.  Overall they would likely find that the fees are pretty neutral change.  No real increase or decrease.  

I know it is popular to just look at sales with sales tax on them and the fees associated with that.  But that is a very myopic view to take.  You have to also consider those sales that have no sales tax.  On those, while they don't happen as often, the fees on them are LOWER than we paid pre MP.  That coupled with not every sales tax rate is at the higher end of the scale [only a few are at 10%], many are much lower than that so less fees.

There is a lot to consider, looking at just one thing will NEVER get you the actual and truthful impact to your account.  I ran my comparison for six months.  In each of those months I actually saved a little bit on fees, but the savings was pretty small, so I just call it a neutral change to my overall fees in a month.  Which after all is what really matters, NOT just the cost of some individual transactions.

[pristinemachine1222]

I just noticed this also. I never looked before but this time I did because fees seemed higher and I was right thet are ripping us off it,s bad enough 12.55% now on the sales tax. 

[mam98031]

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@pristinemachine1222 wrote:

I just noticed this also. I never looked before but this time I did because fees seemed higher and I was right thet are ripping us off it,s bad enough 12.55% now on the sales tax. 

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@pristinemachine1222 

This is an OLD thread and it has been explained MANY times.  If you had of read the thread, you'd see you are mistaken.  Ebay isn't "ripping us off".  

The fees in MP have NOT increased overall fees. The following numbers represent those that do not have a store and the fee rate for most common categories [not all].

Fees BEFORE going into MP
10.20% FVF + 2.9% PP fees = 13.10% plus 30 cent per transaction fee.

In MP the fees are:
10.20% FVF + 2.35% money processing fee paid to MP = 12.55% plus a 30 cent per transaction fee.

Starting August 2nd, PayPal is raising their fees, so they will be as follows:
10.20 Ebay FVF + 3.49 PP Fee = 13.69% plus .49 cent Per Transaction fee

PP is apparently offering different fees to different sellers, likely depending on size. From what I've seen it is between 2.59% and 3.49%.

[kevinkr2448]

Does anyone know the buyer tax gets added on our 1099K Hell we pay fees on that but does it get added on out 1099K?

[mam98031]

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@kevinkr2448 wrote:

Does anyone know the buyer tax gets added on our 1099K Hell we pay fees on that but does it get added on out 1099K?

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Did you ever read the Ebay policy page on this?  The answer is there.

[chapeau-noir]

ZOMBIE THREAD in recursive he!!. 

[agentsmithmtx]

Yah, eBay has become blinded with greed.  I don't think they even know that

they have some serious competition. I sold something on eBay and they 

charged the 12.55% on the total, including taxes and other fees.  Then if you

dispute any charges, they have an additional $20.00 penalty for filing a 

dispute. I'M DONE.

I'm pretty much done with eBay; you now have to wait for days to get

paid, which is ridiculous. 

[mam98031]

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@agentsmithmtx wrote:

Yah, eBay has become blinded with greed.  I don't think they even know that

they have some serious competition. I sold something on eBay and they 

charged the 12.55% on the total, including taxes and other fees.  Then if you

dispute any charges, they have an additional $20.00 penalty for filing a 

dispute. I'M DONE.

I'm pretty much done with eBay; you now have to wait for days to get

paid, which is ridiculous. 

---

@agentsmithmtx 

You clearly misunderstand some things.  Hopefully I can give you some information that will help.

First a question.  You stated "I sold something on eBay and they charged the 12.55% on the total, including taxes and other fees."  What is other fees?  I've never had that on anything I've sold.  What does that mean, please provide an example.

"Then if you dispute any charges, they have an additional $20.00 penalty for filing a dispute. "  Ebay has never charged a seller a penalty fee of ANY kind if they dispute a INAD or Chargeback.  I'm assuming that is what you meant.  The only time a $20 fee is charged to a seller is if a Chargeback is filed and the seller loses the Chargeback for any reason.  That is the ONLY situation that the $20 fee applies.

Dispute fee

If you are found responsible for a disputed amount as per eBay policies (e.g., chargeback), we charge a $20.00 dispute fee, excluding sales tax, for each dispute.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section8

[redear1]

There's a few ways to look at it:  if I were eBay and I wanted to appease everyone who has an issue with me charging fees on collected sales tax, I could simply raise my commission rates and drop the sales tax fee.  Either way, you will pay eBay the amount of money their algorithms say they can/should make.  Lastly, I've found that the moment I bought eBay stock, I quit complaining about their fees.  It somehow makes me feel better every time I get a settlement statement.