eBay

brovahkiin · ‎04-29-2021

It doesn't make sense that my fees should increase simply because of the tax paid by the buyer. Some states do not require taxes to be paid, and some do. When the buyer pays taxes to eBay, eBay will then forward those funds to the appropriate state. They do not get to keep the money. So if eBay is not allowed to keep the taxes, why are they profiting from them? It is wrong to charge sellers an increased fee based solely on what the buyer paid in total for the item, including taxes and shipping charges.

To be clear, here is an example: I sell an item for $100.00. The buyer pays another 10% in taxes for the item, meaning they paid $110.00 for the item in total. As a seller, I should be charged 10% of the final price of the ITEM, meaning I would be charged $10.00. However, I am charged $11.00, meaning that eBay is adding the amount of the tax onto my seller fee. It is a difference of only $1.00, but it adds up quickly over the course of many sales. Why are my profits being chiseled away based on what one state charges for their taxes?

Does anyone else feel that this practice is wrong?

whgamer · ‎04-30-2021

So that the Buyer should stop concerning him/herself to have to pay that when the item(s) is entering his/her Country. That amount is only the Buyer to pay, and the amount is NOT going to the Seller. Now it is the Sellers responsibility to mark that amount of taxers as already paid on Letter/Package, when he/she is shipping it.

And as far as I know, the Taxes paid is not going into your Final value fee as a seller. Taxes amount is going directly to Ebay, who in their turn must solve that directly with the Government.

sales_sales_sales_sales · ‎04-30-2021

Sadly I disagree with you. ebay has NO POWER with the USPS or the Gov. amaBOZOn has the power not ebay.

The USPS & Gov treats ebay the same way ebay treats its sellers... LIKE GARBAGE!

sales_sales_sales_sales · ‎04-30-2021

But remember the payment processor fees on the total amount is 2.9% with most credit cards.

Ebay is charging 12-14%.

So they are charging a 12-14% Fee on Sales Tax.

Only ebay charges that high a fee on processing Sales Tax.

sales_sales_sales_sales · ‎04-30-2021

You are correct that a Processor can charge whatever they want.

However in the real world if Stainlessprocessors wanted to charged me 20% I can tell you to kick rocks & find another processor.

On ebay you are FORCED to use Them & them alone as the processor. That could possibly open them to a lawsuit. May not be successful but will be bad publicity for ebay.

ebay does not want to defend charging 12-14% fees on sales tax & sellers have no right to use any other processor.

For those that say its ebays playground. It is but we all know the Gov loves to stick its nose in Private affairs.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎04-30-2021

1st; ebay is a private institute and you are NOT FORCED to even BE HERE.

You are Forced to eat, yet was announced this morning that Groceries prices are INCREASING DRAMATICALLY. Yet, no one will ever sue the grocery store? Why- that IS REQUIRED to eat?? Because there is really, really, really NOTHING anyone can do about it. Get a 2nd job or ??

So, back to what I said- you want to play in my sandbox, this is the price. The price is up front. Fees state you will be charged a percentage of the sale price. The 'sale' price is 'to the customer' means 'everything they paid'.

Not negotiable and not a court in the land would entertain you suing me over my outlandish fees. The court would simply ask; 'why don't you just not do business there anymore?'

Ebay has had thousands of lawsuits and it's hasn't hurt them to date, and still won't.

buyselljack2016 · ‎04-30-2021

@whgamer wrote:
So that the Buyer should stop concerning him/herself to have to pay that when the item(s) is entering his/her Country. That amount is only the Buyer to pay, and the amount is NOT going to the Seller. Now it is the Sellers responsibility to mark that amount of taxers as already paid on Letter/Package, when he/she is shipping it.
And as far as I know, the Taxes paid is not going into your Final value fee as a seller. Taxes amount is going directly to Ebay, who in their turn must solve that directly with the Government.

Sellers in Managed Payments are paying a Final Value Fee on the "sales tax" that is paid by the buyer. That is what this thread is about.

Has nothing to do with import fees/duties for foreign countries.

sales_sales_sales_sales · ‎04-30-2021

1st; ebay is a private institute and you are NOT FORCED to even BE HERE.

Ma Bell & MANY other companies through the years were Private & the Gov broke them up, forced them to change their ways, etc. So just because a PERSON is not FORCED to be on ebay does not mean the GOV cant stick its nose in it.

You are Forced to eat, yet was announced this morning that Groceries prices are INCREASING DRAMATICALLY. Yet, no one will ever sue the grocery store? Why- that IS REQUIRED to eat?? Because there is really, really, really NOTHING anyone can do about it. Get a 2nd job or ??

BABBLE! You dont sue the grocery store. HOWEVER YOU CAN PRICE SHOP & GO TO THE CHEAPEST PLACE! SO I DID just do something about it! Also these weird things called COUPONS come into place.

So, back to what I said- you want to play in my sandbox, this is the price. The price is up front. Fees state you will be charged a percentage of the sale price. The 'sale' price is 'to the customer' means 'everything they paid'.

Until someone comes along & makes a nice stink about PRICE GOUGING. Remember that during the pandemic? How it is ILLEGAL? Remember even ebay pulling listings for that. The Gov issuing fines...... 12-14% Payment Processing on Sales Tax IS Gouging when almost the whole industry charges 2.9%.

Not negotiable and not a court in the land would entertain you suing me over my outlandish fees. The court would simply ask; 'why don't you just not do business there anymore?'

RE The Sales Tax Fees & I would love to be a lawyer on that case. I think its winnable. Even the bad publicity would cause a huge headache to ebay.

Ebay has had thousands of lawsuits and it's hasn't hurt them to date, and still won't.

Most companies have thousands of lawsuits. Most are frivolous so most dont hurt them.

They may have a 99% or Better win percentage.

But it just takes 1 to Hurt You Bad!

slippinjimmy · ‎04-30-2021

@sales_sales_sales_sales wrote:
But remember the payment processor fees on the total amount is 2.9% with most credit cards.

Ebay is charging 12-14%.

So they are charging a 12-14% Fee on Sales Tax.

Only ebay charges that high a fee on processing Sales Tax.

That is all correct but it is also true that eBay didn't take 10% and add 2.9% to it, they combined the two and reduced it from 12.9% to 12.55%, that made sales with tax at or below about 6% cheaper via eBay than via PayPal while sales with a Sales Tax rate higher results in slightly higher fees.

I wonder why nobody thanks eBay for lower fees for sales to FL, OR, NH etc. or most International destinations.

galfamtwo · ‎04-30-2021

As a b&m when I have a customer use a credit card I am charged for the full price ( item + tax, shipping etc) what I object to is I am paying 2.5% which is close to standard . Ebay is charging me 10% and they are also getting a kick back from the states for paying on time ( 2% for me). So they are pocketing quite a bit from every penny of sales tax they collect

galfamtwo · ‎04-30-2021

I get 2% of the money I collect for my state if I pay on time which is like getting paid to collect the taxes .I am sure Ebay gets the same

buyselljack2016 · ‎04-30-2021

@slippinjimmy wrote:
@sales_sales_sales_sales wrote:
But remember the payment processor fees on the total amount is 2.9% with most credit cards.

Ebay is charging 12-14%.

So they are charging a 12-14% Fee on Sales Tax.

Only ebay charges that high a fee on processing Sales Tax.

That is all correct but it is also true that eBay didn't take 10% and add 2.9% to it, they combined the two and reduced it from 12.9% to 12.55%, that made sales with tax at or below about 6% cheaper via eBay than via PayPal while sales with a Sales Tax rate higher results in slightly higher fees.

I wonder why nobody thanks eBay for lower fees for sales to FL, OR, NH etc. or most International destinations.

Those FL sales are helping my bottom line, but OR,NH... well I believe I can count my NH sales on one hand, and have fingers left over. OR ........ not gonna use many fingers there either.

brovahkiin · ‎05-03-2021

Thank you all for your input. It's good to hear from businesses with a brick-and-mortar store and how they differ from selling on eBay. While I understand that there is no real "standard" regarding online buying and selling, I do not understand why there has been no official response from eBay. Instead, I see eBay being represented and/or defended by the very same people whom they charge for doing business on their website.

I created this post because I was unable to find any straightforward answer prior to posting. By "straightforward", I mean an answer from someone with experience either as an employee of eBay or another similar business that can testify as to why this practice is necessary. I am not an expert on Federal law regarding private business practices in the United States.

I was fortunate to have parents who taught me the basics of human ethics and morals. The act of deliberately excluding information for the purpose of personal gain was not included in those lessons. It is slightly disturbing to me that I am not told the entirety of eBay's side to the user agreement. Though in hindsight, the same can be said of every other user agreement I've agreed to.

Regarding the comments about how businesses are charged for offering the use of credit/debit cards as forms of payment: I have yet to see a business without a sign or message that explicitly states that they will charge extra for not using cash. Every single gas station, mom-and-pop store, every local ice cream parlor I have ever been to informs their customers up-front about extra charges they may incur for doing business with them. It is my personal belief that eBay ought to follow that example and clearly list out every single charge that a seller may incur. Instead, they have a webpage with very little wording describing the seller fees, in which they do not even state how much or what percentage is charged.

I have concluded that eBay is able to profit off of charging taxes simply because they can.

theloyalskeptic · ‎05-03-2021

This is directly from eBay's 'Tax Policy' page as of today, May 03, 2021;

"...there will be no charges or fees for eBay automatically calculating, collecting, and remitting sales tax..."

Am I missing something here...?

Please enlighten all of us...

TLS

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theloyalskeptic · ‎05-03-2021

HI,

I just posted this below but wasn't sure if it was visible;

This is an excerpt from eBay's OFFICIAL TAX POLICY page, current as of today:

"...there will be no charges or fees for eBay automatically calculating, collecting, and remitting sales tax..."

It seems pretty clear to me here.

So if they ARE charging or, 'APPLYING' a fee to Sales Tax, then they need to explain why...

And begin a retroactive refund process across the board to thousands of users...ASAP.

Maybe I'm wrong...

- TLS

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dnasilver · ‎05-04-2021

Life is constantly changing - your health, your environment, your government, the laws, business - changes are constant. Some just live with those changes even if it hurts them, others fight against change, but when only "one" leads the pack instead of the pack united - - -well you end up paying for it. Without a seller association of market place business, the "one" can not fight with lobbyist, it takes a untied pack to have the funds to fight big business at the Government level.