Question why am I paying a fee for taxes and shipping?

[netteee0]

I'm feeling discouraged trying to sell on Ebay anymore I know there are fees but it just feels like it never ends there's a fee for everything and it's not just Ebay, maybe there's a good reason Ebay is charging a fee on taxes and shipping but I'm just not feeling it 😞

[jprokos]

The background information is very helpful. Thanks. Do you think there could have been other ways to handle this... perhaps a set fee for handling sales tax instead of lumping it in as a percentage of the value of the goods - which really has nothing to do with their expenditures for reporting sales tax.

[mam98031]

@jprokos 

I've always found the use of the word "greed or greedy" when referring to money Ebay charges their sellers for various services rather curious.  Afterall Ebay is a for profit corporation.

They invest time and money into developing the site and the various programs provided within.  Then they maintain them and research for even more enhancements in the site, etc. etc.  But somehow some are of the opinion that Ebay should not be paid for any of that or the services rendered.

Another curious thing is that Ebay is often referred to as "greedy" because they want to make a profit, as if that was something bad.  YET every single seller is here to make a profit.  So if that is your definition of "greedy", then we are participants in that.

You want Ebay to lower its fees so they make less and you make more.  Is that "greedy"?

Just food for thought.

[monroe67]

"Here is the only reason Ebay will ever need to justifying the FVF on shipping and tax. You are paying Ebay to give you a forum to sell your trinkets and process payments. For this service Ebay charges a fee. How this fee is determined is up to Ebay NOT you. You do have every right to say this is too high I'm going elsewhere. 

The time to make that decision is BEFORE you list. It is ALWAYS YOUR responsibility to understand which of the many many selling platforms available will give you the most amount of money after all expenses in the least amount of time. For some items Ebay is amazing. For other items there are better selling venues."  AND the rest of this post:

                                                                                BRAVO, Kenneth !!!

[chapeau-noir]

People love capitalism until it does things they don't want it to do...then they call it 'communism' or 'Marxism' or some other poorly understood ideology.  I can paraphrase Samuel Johnson and say "No man but a blockhead ever sold except for money."

[johnrj1226]

Well eBay has been charging a fee on shipping about 7 years before your became an eBay member - so not new.  Currently you have zero items for  sale and only have sold two items since August 2.  Can't sell  from an empty cup.

My SWAG says ya'  need to jist list more stuff vs blaming eBay policy.

[frankenhobbit]

If eBay stopped charging the FVF for Sales Tax in 2024, the FVF for the item would just go up, They are going to make sure they get paid. 

I do find the argument that it is a 'processing fee' like everyone else charges such as Visa, Mastercard etc disingenuous. It's a commission and processing fee combined. No-one else charges a commission on Sales Tax. 

But, it IS how that do their pricing and they are perfectly transparent about it. They don't hide it at all. In the end, just price accordingly. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@johnrj1226 wrote:

Well eBay has been charging a fee on shipping about 7 years before your became an eBay member ....

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OP's ID goes back to 2000, and eBay started charging FVF on shipping in 2011.  But he has only 34 feedback as a seller and most of it is so old that it no longer shows the listing titles.  So there's a lot for him to keep up with.

[murph1727]

@jprokos  wrote "Do you think there could have been other ways to handle this... perhaps a set fee for handling sales tax instead of lumping it in as a percentage of the value of the goods - which really has nothing to do with their expenditures for reporting sales tax." The answer -yes-many different ways to handle it, but ebay chose to do it this way because they are making more money.

[profitweb]

@mam98031 I'm not sure what your statement has to do with eBay providing the service to sellers, while they're complying with the tax law, and charging for that service.  eBay isn't a charity.  We all expect to get paid for additional work.

Since you brought this up, the MLF was passed because the majority of online sellers who SHOULD HAVE been charging and remitting State Sales Tax were not.  It was ridiculously hard for sellers to comply with each State's sales tax laws, and it wasn't being complied with at all.  Now it falls to eBay and online marketplaces which takes a huge, almost impossible, burden off sellers' backs.

[mam98031]

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@profitweb wrote:

@mam98031 I'm not sure what your statement has to do with eBay providing the service to sellers, while they're complying with the tax law, and charging for that service.  eBay isn't a charity.  We all expect to get paid for additional work.

Since you brought this up, the MLF was passed because the majority of online sellers who SHOULD HAVE been charging and remitting State Sales Tax were not.  It was ridiculously hard for sellers to comply with each State's sales tax laws, and it wasn't being complied with at all.  Now it falls to eBay and online marketplaces which takes a huge, almost impossible, burden off sellers' backs.

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Then maybe a little more time with what I posted would help.  Ebay is already paid by the states that they collect and remit taxes for.  Same way all the other Marketplace sites are.  Ebay is the only site that charges their full FVF on sales tax.  

Your reasoning for why MFLs began is incorrect.  States started adopting MFLs in 2019 after the SCOTUS ruling that said they could charge the sales taxes for internet sales.  SCOTUS ruling was in June of 2018.  It took all the states that charge sales tax a little time to get their MFL written and passed through their State's government.  Washington state was the first in 2019 to have it, the others followed over the next year or two.

Most online sellers were not even responsible for paying sales tax in other states other than the one they were shipping from if they shipped to someone inside their own state before SCOTUS's ruling changing the law.

Still after Scotus's decision, most online sellers would not qualify to have to collect and remit sales taxes to all the states that have sales taxes as most would not meet the minimum threshold for reporting.  Sure states could start lowering their minimum thresholds, but then the run up against policing all of that.  Processing all of that.  Millions and millions and millions of online sellers.  It was far more efficient to create MFLs which is the route ALL the states that charge sales taxes went.

[netteee0]

Thankyou, I appreciate the information

[netteee0]

First of all I'm a buyer and a seller and I'm not "

"whining" I asked a question plain and simple...I'm not selling anything on Ebay right now, further more I didn't need to hear your life story, thankyou.

[netteee0]

For your information I removed my items that were for sale, and I asked a question you didn't have the answer, so you should have kept it moving.

[robbie31415]

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@netteee0 wrote:

First of all I'm a buyer and a seller and I'm not "

"whining" I asked a question plain and simple...I'm not selling anything on Ebay right now, further more I didn't need to hear your life story, thankyou.

If you don't want to see honest responses then you shouldn't post on the forums.

If you are looking for an echo chamber you might want to check somewhere else.

[netteee0]

Your answer wasn't honest and it was condesending.