eBay

geekdrop_com · ‎02-21-2024

A couple questions:

Question 1).

My auction, listed to only sell to the U.S. (bottom right) was won and shipped to a U.S. address; however, *I* was still forced to pay almost another $1 because the bidder's listed address is outside the U.S. (highlighted).

Why do *I* have to pay for that?
Shouldn't the BIDDER have to cover that?
And/or shouldn't that be part of the SHIPPING fees? (which also means the bidder would be covering it).

Another thing of note: the regular fees list when looking at the final sale didn't show the "international" fee; I needed to click a "see more details" link below the regular fees list. Why bury it like that? Is Feebay trying to "sneak" fees in? (yes, I know they list the fee on one of their mega-long fees pages only CPA's really read all of and understand fully, but to everyday Laymen sellers, things like this can slip by, and seems like Feebay might be thinking this as well).

Question 2).

In the above screenshot, notice the bidder paid no taxes. But look at the final sale on the same day of an item I won and paid for; I was charged taxes.

What's that all about?

Is that a possible reason (loophole/trick) that maybe the bidder of my item lists his address as out of country, to avoid paying taxes?

Btw, just as a fun aside, in the item I won, which is only about 2 lbs. at most, shipped by USPS Ground (nothing premium or expedited), I had to pay over $17 for shipping, and it's showing me a possible 8 days delivery time from Cali to Illinois................

soh.maryl · ‎02-21-2024

There are many international buyers who use freight forwarding services. eBay even has its own. The item is shipped to the freight forwarder's address in the US and then reshipped to the actual buyer. Many of the addresses of the freight forwarders are in states that do not have a state sales tax, Oregon & Delaware, for instance, which is the reason that buyer paid no state sales tax, but you did on your purchase because you apparently live in a state that imposes a state sales tax.

The fact that there are buyers who use freight forwarders is actually good news from a seller's point of view because, once the item is delivered to the freight forwarder's address, the seller's responsibility is over.

To the best of my knowledge, no "loopholes", just possibly confusion on your part.

deltilogical · ‎02-21-2024

I'm confused, are you asking about a international fee on something you purchased or on something you sold?

Florida sales tax is ~6%. I don't see any sales tax.

Who knows what ebay is doing. It is trustless.

powell-memorabilia · ‎02-21-2024

Sales tax is charged based on where the item is delivered. Your international buyer pays no sales tax because he’s having the item shipped somewhere where US state sales tax does not apply. You pay sales tax because you live in a state that charges sales tax. Some states do, some states don’t. It has nothing to do with where the seller is located.

geekdrop_com · ‎02-22-2024

Thanks everyone, I think I'm clear on the tax thing now. But Still not really getting why I, the seller, needs to pay a charge because the purchaser's address is out of country, though he's shipping within the country, when I specifically marked the item as "sells to the U.S.".

That should be a fee the buyer has to pay. If I wanted to pay any additional fees for international buyers I'd have marked the item as "sells internationally" as well. Ya know?

toysaver · ‎02-22-2024

It's a fee for international currency exchange.

powell-memorabilia · ‎02-22-2024

@toysaver wrote:
It's a fee for international currency exchange.

It is not for currency exchange. That fee applies regardless of whether the buyer uses a US dollar denominated, credit card or a foreign one. The only thing that matters is if the buyer is registered in another country.

bennotbill · ‎02-22-2024

I've always thought that was unfair. A buyer maybe even living in the same city as the seller, but because they are registered in a different country the seller ends up stiffed with extra charges.

dbfolks166mt · ‎02-22-2024

A lot of sellers get surprised by this. There are multiple reasons this happens and it is based on eBay's policy which states the following.

If you're not using eBay International Shipping to ship your item, we charge an international fee if either:

The delivery address for the item (entered by the buyer during checkout) is outside the US, or
The buyer's registered address is outside the US (regardless of the delivery address for the item)

This fee is calculated as 1.65% of the total amount of the sale and is automatically deducted from your sales.

Others already mentioned the freight forwarder situation but this also happens to foreign buyers who happen to be registered outside the US but may be living in the US temporarily or have moved to the US permanently and just not changed their account. It also happens when foreign buyers buy items as presents or gifts for friends or family living in the US.

This is a leftover policy and fee that CC companies originally started but a lot of them have done away with in the face of competition from other CC companies who have eliminated or dropped the fee. A large number of travel type CC companies do not have the international fee and a few have eliminated the fee on currency exchange.

The only way to avoid the fee is to sell through the EIS program or to check the address of every singly buyer before shipping the item and cancel those orders that have a final international destination due to problem with the buyers address.

geekdrop_com · ‎02-23-2024

Thank you, @dbfolks166mt

I had read that as well before my original post, and after the explanation in your last 2 paragraphs it sounds like I'm onto something, since even many CC companies have dropped the fee.

I wonder who's getting that money for the fee; Feebay or the payment processor?

Many (most? Unless we're including the massive influx of drop-shippers) sellers are just everyday people trying to sell small items, trying to get as much as they can for low priced items they have laying around, and for eBay to keep tacking on nickel and dime fees is discouraging to people. Seems like a bad business plan as far as bringing in more sellers of quality (rather than $2 low-quality shipped-from-China junk).

Also, I still don't understand the logic behind making the seller (and not the buyer) pay that fee? If for example, I'm thinking of buying an item located in Spain, on a "Spanish eBay", and it's listed as "sells only to Spain", but I live in the U.S., even if I'm sending it to someone there in Spain, logic would seem to dictate that if I want to go against all that and purchase it anyway, the onus of any extra charges should come out of *my* pocket. Am I totally off base with this thought?

dbfolks166mt · ‎02-23-2024

Thank you, @dbfolks166mt

I had read that as well before my original post, and after the explanation in your last 2 paragraphs it sounds like I'm onto something, since even many CC companies have dropped the fee.

I wonder who's getting that money for the fee; Feebay or the payment processor?

Pretty easy answer. If eBay does not have to pay the fee to the CC company they are obviously keeping it.

Many (most? Unless we're including the massive influx of drop-shippers) sellers are just everyday people trying to sell small items, trying to get as much as they can for low priced items they have laying around, and for eBay to keep tacking on nickel and dime fees is discouraging to people. Seems like a bad business plan as far as bringing in more sellers of quality (rather than $2 low-quality shipped-from-China junk).

Also, I still don't understand the logic behind making the seller (and not the buyer) pay that fee? If for example, I'm thinking of buying an item located in Spain, on a "Spanish eBay", and it's listed as "sells only to Spain", but I live in the U.S., even if I'm sending it to someone there in Spain, logic would seem to dictate that if I want to go against all that and purchase it anyway, the onus of any extra charges should come out of *my* pocket. Am I totally off base with this thought?

It's just the way eBay chose to implement it, unless of course you are using the EIS program where they have dropped the fee. Agree with your assessment on buyer paying the cost and many merchants and service providers do just that. Prior to obtaining a travel card that has no international fees my CC company used to just tack on the international fee as well as any currency exchange fees to my monthly statement.