eBay

goodcatch2 · ‎07-24-2018

I just was made aware that ebay's fees include the postage. If that isn't robbery what is. Postage is paid to the us government and Ebay should not be making money off the postage amount.

Buyers need to start speaking up until they start to be fair.

kensgiftshop · ‎07-26-2018

@sonoranboutique wrote:
I get that back in 2011 it was a way to get sellers to use the Free Shipping option. But nowadays they should be able to write their code so that sellers get charged the same Final Value Fee whether or not they use Free Shipping. (Just deduct the actual label cost from the total price.)

We are charged the same, 10%, it doesn't make any difference if we charge shipping or not, we are still charged 10% of the order total.

Have a great day

oz_in_ohio · ‎07-26-2018

You can always ride a bike, that way no gas is used

oz_in_ohio · ‎07-26-2018

Buy stamps to put on your packages at a discounted price at a local stamp show...
That way it wont matter about the 10%

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎07-26-2018

Thank you @muttlymob exactly what I was trying to say.

emerald40 · ‎07-26-2018

@sakic92710 wrote:
I guess we should start paying eBay 10% of the money we use to buy gas then? Since we pay them 10% of the money we give to the PO, it only makes as much sense to give 10% of what we buy the oil companies. This is exactly the kind of argument you are making. Shipping $ is revenue?? Maybe take a glance at the definition of revenue. I'm not wasting my time commenting on this anymore. Charging 10% of shipping is a scam! Period! To anyone who says I should leave if I don't like it. Believe me - SERIOUS thought towards it this year. 5-8 sales a week is pathetic & easily made elsewhere w/o any fees.

_________________________________________

I have seen plenty of sellers foolish enough to put that in their TOS that tape is not cheap, boxes are not free, neither is gas or their time.

These are business expenses. If you want to pad your shipping and handling to include everything including the kitchen sink, don't be surprised if all you hear is crickets.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎07-26-2018

BTW shipping and handling IS revenue. Postage is the expense you are thinking of.

muttlymob · ‎07-26-2018

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
Thank you @muttlymob exactly what I was trying to say.

Yup.

Sometimes repetition works.

Or not.

argy_eyes · ‎07-26-2018

@goodcatch2 wrote:
I just was made aware that ebay's fees include the postage. If that isn't robbery what is. Postage is paid to the us government and Ebay should not be making money off the postage amount.

@goodcatch2

As folks have mentioned, this is an old policy, but it's never too late to right a wrong. EBay is starting to realize it has to treat sellers better. Changing this would generate huge goodwill.

The problem started "back in the day" when the FVF was based on the value of the item. Sellers figured out that you could scam eBay by charging a token amount for the item and putting everything else in a hugely inflated shipping fee. You can see why eBay then changed to charging FVF on shipping too.

To me (maybe there's a reason this won't work) there is a pretty simple solution to the original problem. If the seller uses the eBay mailing utility, subtract the amount actually paid for shipping from the sum used to calculate the FVF. This way there's no way to charge an inflated shipping fee and pocket most of it without paying FVF on the difference.

Mike

ryanrobyn · ‎07-26-2018

Just wait until they handle the financial transaction part too then there will be 3 fees and if you still want the final transaction to go through paypal you will be paying 4 fees. Notice Ebay does NOT mention a fee structure for handling your money so who knows how large it will be. I do know that Ebay offers nothing for free. Ex: the so called free shipping supplies for store owners. They are reallly advertising items and Ebay gets to write them off as a tax deduction. Nothing for free.

thatsallfolks · ‎07-26-2018

@argy_eyes wrote:
EBay is starting to realize it has to treat sellers better.

They are?

kensgiftshop · ‎07-26-2018

@goodcatch2 wrote:
I purchase the postage through ebay and printing off my shipping label so there is no faking the shipping there. This should not apply in this situation.

Just because you use Ebay shipping, doesn't mean you can't fake the shipping.

You sale an item for $1.00 with $75.00 shipping.

You go buy your shipping label, and actual shipping is $15.00.

You just made an extra $50 on that $1.00 sale, but Ebay would only be paid for the $1.00 sale.

That is the reason they charge you a fee on the shipping.

Have a great day

thatsallfolks · ‎07-26-2018

@kensgiftshop wrote:
@goodcatch2 wrote:
I purchase the postage through ebay and printing off my shipping label so there is no faking the shipping there. This should not apply in this situation.
Just because you use Ebay shipping, doesn't mean you can't fake the shipping.
You sale an item for $1.00 with $75.00 shipping.
You go buy your shipping label, and actual shipping is $15.00.
You just made an extra $50 on that $1.00 sale, but Ebay would only be paid for the $1.00 sale.
That is the reason they charge you a fee on the shipping.

How would you fake that if you're using eBay shipping, i.e. when they know how much you paid for postage?

kensgiftshop · ‎07-26-2018

@harleyman49-us wrote:
The best suggestion is to work the actual shipping cost plus fees into your selling price and offer free shipping.

It doesn't matter if buyer pays shipping, or you add the shipping price to the item, you will be paying the same amount of fees.

You sell an item for $10 plus $5.00 shipping, or sell the item for $15.00 and free shipping, your FVF will be the same.

Have a great day

alcoforever · ‎07-26-2018

@sakic92710 wrote:
My point is this - eBay has NOTHING to do with the shipping so, why should they get 10% of the money? I agree with paying fees for use of their site. No problem. I do not make any money on shipping & most times, I pay into shipping so, why should I give out another 10% to them??! What do they do to earn that fee? Don't go into the making a profit nonsense. Selling something for more than what you paid for it doesn't factor into shipping unless you are offering free shipping or pay a huge % of it. Paying a third party for shipping fees, who do NOTHING to earn it, is ridiculous. How many businesses do you think would survive with that kind of policy? Judging by the difficulty of having decent sales on here, eBay isn't booming with that policy, either.

Ebay has nothing to do with sourcing your inventory, taking photos and writing a good listing, yet they take 10% of your sales. Why should shipping be any different.

That fee is all about leveling the playing field for sellers that offer free shipping and discouraging those sellers that inflated shipping to avoid FVF's.

You are tilting at windmills and trying to pick a fight you cannot win. Get used to it and adjust your shipping charges accordingly.

sakic92710 · ‎07-26-2018

The first part of your reply makes no sense. I use their site to sell the item so, yes, they are entitled to a fee for my sales. They are not entitled to taking money that I use to ship those items. Once the sale is completed, their service is done & I move on to shipping the sold item(s). This is only in place because less than 1% of the sellers tried to rip off eBay with low prices & high S/H fees. Now the other 99%+ have to pay the price!