WE SELLERS PAY FINAL VALUE FEE'S ON SALES TAX WHY

[Anonymous]

I have been selling on the Ebay platform for 13 years or so. With the new ebay money management system 

we were told that we will save on fees by cutting out Paypal etc. I am a small seller and I have found that I actually pay more fees in the overall total. Ebay actually charges  my account (final value fees) on top of the sales tax that they collect (I am sure all sellers pay final value fees on tax collected by Ebay).

Ebay then forwards collected taxes to the US Taxation Department, normally the taxation department pays a percentage to the collector (Ebay gets the percentage). 

And on top of that percentage,  Ebay is charging us, the sellers, final value fees on the tax collected (percentage varies depending on category and seller).

I contacted Ebay  and after speaking with people in 3 different countries that could not answer my questions, I was forwarded  to a department in  Utah  where the supervisors answer was that the  final fees are calculated on total sale.  I understand, but why charge the fees on taxes and have sellers pay it?  His response was that was the way it was calculated. I asked to speak to the next level up  was told that he was as high as I could go, that I did not understand how the fee's were calculated. I told him that I knew how CEO's and boards work.  Their job is to figure out how to make more money for investors. By charging final value fees on hundreds of thousands and more on taxes collected while also getting the percentage that the taxation department normally gives to collector.

Questions: Do you think this practice is fair or unfair for the seller to pay final value fee's  on sales tax collected by ebay? If unfair what should be done about it? 

Your comments will be greatly appreciated. 

[kenscorner]

Ebay has always been a blood sucking greedy co. They have more employees doing nothing that they have to

pay with our fees. In the first place every auction site charges the buyer on won bid items, and NOT the seller.

Pierre started it this way and it's been wrong forever. Go to a well known auction site and buyer pays up to 20% add on to their bid. If ebay sold cans of beans they would try to charge for passing gas from them !!!

[mrnotlob]

Fair or unfair, it doesn't matter one way or another what sellers think as long as their reason for every fee (sale price, shipping, sales tax) being assessed at the egregious 13+% FVF rate is "BECAUSE WE CAN".

[mrnotlob]

Another dismissive response from a loyal ebay supporter. The problem is SHIPPING COSTS AND SALES TAXES COLLECTED AREN'T FINAL VALUE FEES!!!! PAYPAL and credit card companies don't charge 13% on those amounts....just EBAY!!!! 

[mrnotlob]

I am also free to complain and expose such egregious policies when I find anything to be less than acceptable in my OPINION; nothing requires me to leave just because YOU SAY SO and just as nothing forces you to accept such insulting policy changes without a hint of anything but adoration for this company. You like paying these fees and support them, good for you! 

[mrnotlob]

This isn't a SOLUTION, it is a JOKE!!!! Doesn't matter WHERE the sales tax is sent; ebay is taking 13+% for collecting taxes AS REQUIRED BY LAW OR CLOSE SHOP!!!! When PAYPAL (was allowed) to clear ebay payments that included sales taxes and shipping costs, they charged 2.9-3.1% FOR THE SAME SERVICE!!!! So who was doing it RIGHT and who is in it as a MONEY GRAB???? You get 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count!

[paulhua3]

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@mrnotlob wrote:

 ebay is taking 13+% for collecting taxes AS REQUIRED BY LAW OR CLOSE SHOP!!!! When PAYPAL (was allowed) to clear ebay payments that included sales taxes and shipping costs, they charged 2.9-3.1% FOR THE SAME SERVICE!!!!

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And while PayPal collected 3% or so, eBay was also collecting around 10% FVF, so altogether you paid about 13%, not much different from what we are paying now. For some a little more, for some a little less.  For me, very nearly the same.  You might find it enlightening to calculate your fees for a PayPal transaction from a couple years ago (including eBay FVF) and then fees paid now to eBay on a similar transaction.

[this*old*attic]

@mrnotlob 

Yes…..and you were paying 10% or whatever FVF here.

The problem is that most people didn’t add this up and had no idea what total fees they were paying.

Most folks are saving a tiny bit on MP (like 1/4 of a percent), and meanwhile PayPal has raised its prices.

[mrnotlob]

Amazing the extremes people will go so not to admit the windfall ebay is making at the expense of sellers (their only source for increasing revenues). A year or so ago sellers paid a 10% FVF to ebay for the cost of the item sold and a 3% fee to PAYPAL for clearing the ENTIRE SALE (including sales tax and shipping) and sellers had access to their money the next day. Now ebay takes a 13% "FVF" for the cost of the item sold, sales taxes and shipping cost. By classifying sales tax and shipping costs as "FVF" ebay gets an extra 10% on clearing those costs as compared to the 3% paid but a year ago. PAYPAL fees may have gone up, but how is that important now; ebay sellers can't choose who clears their payments since managed payments has forced us into submission. Hard to deal with die hard ebay supporters who continue to try and hide the real truth about managed payments and why it only serves its master. 

[debk255]

you can write off all ebay fees charged against your earnings

[lesegouts]

Certainly they charge FVF on shipping. In the old days people would sell at $1 with $50 shipping, until the rules changed.

[scottofthesahara]

What does “writing off” fees have to do with the fact that the fees are completely egregious and shouldn’t be in place to start? Why should eBay get a penny (much less 10%) of shipping costs when they don’t participate in shipping the items? Keep those comments coming from loyal eBay supporters and stockholders!!!!

[scottofthesahara]

The simple fact is ebay could have eliminated the sellers who were bypassing FVF; instead they found a way to get what they were entitled to from these sellers and add a 10% fee on honest sellers!!!! Open your eyes folks, don’t be so accepting of these money grabs!!!!

[scottofthesahara]

100% a simple money grab!!!! Congrats, someone who gets it!!!!

[scottofthesahara]

The difference is you pay 13% on clearing your ENTIRE SALE NOW (including shipping and sales tax collected). When PAYPAL was clearing payments, ebay received their 10% FVF and PAYPAL  fees for clearing the entire sale were 3% (and you had access to your money the next day, NOT DAYS LATER); now ebay has “magically” transformed the entire sale into a FVF so you are paying 13% on shipping and sales taxes collected!!!! WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! Again, welcome to all loyal ebay supporters and stockholders who try to convince sellers otherwise!!!!

[scottofthesahara]

Sounds like you should be the one trying to comprehend the FACTS you want other sellers to be “enlightened” by. Before the advent of the “managed payments” scam, ebay was taking 10% FVF and PAYPAL cleared the ENTIRE TRANSACTION (sale price, shipping cost and sales tax) for an additional 3% (and you had access to your money THE NEXT DAY)!!!! TODAY, the ENTIRE TRANSACTION (sale price, shipping cost and sales tax) is calculated ENTIRELY as an ebay FVF and assessed at a rate of 13% (and sellers must wait for up to 5 days to access their funds)!!!! Through “managed payments” ebay has now turned a 3% fee on clearing shipping cost and sales tax into a 13% fee; you don’t need to do any calculations other than 13-3 to see how sellers are being duped (and most of all by ebay supporters trying to discredit those who aren’t too blind to see the truth). Great for eBay to be able to collect 13% on shipping costs and sales tax collected (especially since they must value the sellers who were trying to cheat them out of their FVF more than honest sellers who follow the rules). Now those honest sellers are paying an extra 10% for the sins of others who should have been kicked off the site, NOT EMBRACING THEM!!!! NOT SO GREAT FOR SELLERS; MAYBE YOU ARE NOW “ENLIGHTENED” TO THE REALITY THAT IS MANAGED PAYMENTS?????