eBay

gammaraydigital · ‎07-26-2021

I just started selling again on ebay after quite a while, and I'm shocked at the selling costs. I feel like they used to be *much* lower than that, even just a few years ago when I was casually selling stuff from time to time.

Net of $56.07 on an $79.74 sale is ridiculous - I'm trying to recoup costs on equipment we bought in the past and never used. This particular item just got me back less than half of what I paid for it, yet it's basically brand new.

How is anyone making any money here if they're not selling cheap garbage at outrageous markups? It's making me rethink selling anything here at all - these fees are like 27% of the price. Is this normal, or are the fees higher because I'm using a new account with no history and it's just higher at first? If that's the case, at what point do the fees drop? I'll sell cheap stuff until then so I don't lose my shirt.

gammaraydigital · ‎07-26-2021

@slippinjimmy wrote:
If you think your fees are 27% then you probably are not running the numbers correctly. As a generalization fees should be in the 14 - 15% range MAX.

Yes - see my post above. Item sold for (rounding here) $65. Shipping was $14, this made it $79. I got $56. When you factor in the sales tax, the ebay fee looks like 27%. But this is only because they're including shipping in the total sale which increases the price from the sale price to the sale price + shipping, which I don't think they used to do. If I recall correctly it used to be a separate thing.

Anyway, it wasn't until I looked back at the actual auction (i had been looking at the sales summary) that I remembered I accepted a lower offer on that. The original sale price was $79, which is why I was confused at first glance.

Bottom line, the fee is basically what people are saying, once you factor out the shipping.

View Best Answer in original post

fab_finds4u · ‎07-26-2021

For years the fee was 10% and PayPal was 2.9% plus .30 per transaction.

The fees on average are now 12.35% with no PayPal fee.

caldreamer · ‎07-26-2021

Selling fees based on (purchase price + shipping costs + sales tax) plus 30 cent handling charge.

I just noticed that you are not enrolled in MANAGED PAYMENTS (how are you getting paid)? All sellers are required to enroll in MANAGED PAYMENTS or you can no longer sell on EBAY. EBAY no longer uses PayPal for their money management (no money goes into your PayPal account anymore).

To enroll in MANAGED PAYMENTS you must provide checking account (9-digit routing# only) and social security# (for tax purposes). Name on your checking account, social security card and EBAY profile page must be EXACT MATCH (or your application may be denied).

With MANAGED PAYMENTS Ebay deducts (FVF fees and shipping cost) UPFRONT (balance is deposited into your checking account). Ebay "holds shipping money you do use" when printing labels. When printing label (go to bottom of page) and click "use pending funds".

gammaraydigital · ‎07-26-2021

On the item above, they're calling the total sale the actual sale price, plus the cost of shipping, which the buyer is paying. So it makes it look like the total fees are way higher, even though from my perspective, I could care less what the buyer is paying for shipping because they're paying for it.

ebay continues to amaze me in the ways they can overcomplicate things and shoot themselves in the foot. My actual fee is more in line with what you're saying, once you factor out that shipping cost. Why they'd do it this way is beyond me, because it makes it look like a seller is paying much more than they really are.

downunder-61 · ‎07-26-2021

Can you name anything, anything at all, that has not increased in price within the last 2 to 3 years ?

********************************************************************
I have been imported from Australia and this is my posting ID

donsdetour · ‎07-26-2021

You must calculate your fees on the total amount.

Item: shipping and tax....

It is that shipping that can eat up your profit now days:

it was cheaper for shipping back in the good old day but not any more...

Also be aware of size of container in shipping cost now days also. Size of box....can increase cost over weight of item...

varebelrose · ‎07-26-2021

"All sellers are required to enroll in MANAGED PAYMENTS or you can no longer sell on EBAY. EBAY no longer uses PayPal for their money management "

I may be mistaken, but not *all sellers" are required to be in MP (yet). No way to know for sure what the numbers are, but a significant number of people have not been switched over yet.

lacemaker3 · ‎07-26-2021

@gammaraydigital,

The default eBay fees, for those who don't pay a monthly fee for a store, used to be 10% of the buyer's payment including purchase price plus shipping. On top of that, you also paid PayPal fees of 2.9% on the total payment (purchase price plus shipping & sales tax if any) plus $0.30 per transaction. So for most sellers, that would total 12.9% (purchase price plus shipping) plus $0.30.

Now, for most sellers who are not in managed payments yet, the eBay fees are 10.2% of the buyers total payment (purchase price plus shipping & sales tax if any), and the PayPal fees are (still) 2.9% of the total payment plus $0.30 per transaction. eBay collects sales tax for most US states, so the total payment has increased by the amount of sales tax; probably an average of about 6%.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4364

So for you, that would be a slight increase, to 13.1% (of the total payment) plus $0.30 per transaction, on a payment amount that has increased on average about 6%. (Beginning Aug 1, 2021, PayPal fees will increase to 3.49% plus $0.49, which will increase your fees to 14.1% plus $0.49, if you're still with PayPal.)

eBay is now enrolling the last of the remaining sellers on eBay USA into managed payments. The transition was more than 80% complete as of Q1 2021. The fees are different with MP. Once you are enrolled in managed payments, the fees (for most categories and sellers) will be 12.55% (of the total payment) plus $0.30 per order. You don't pay PayPal fees anymore.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section2

So once you are in managed payments, your fees will go down slightly compared to what you used to pay, and compared to what are paying now. The savings will be even more once the PayPal fees go up in August.

gammaraydigital · ‎07-26-2021

Funny you should ask about managed payments: I'm working on that. This is a long story but they completely effed up this account. Basically, I set up the new account 2 weeks ago and as part of the process I was required to set up managed payments. I put in the company tax ID, linked to the company bank account, and all was good. Listed three items and within a couple hours ebay shut down my account and delisted everything for reasons they wouldn't explain, other than that they didn't "agree with my business practices" (clearly a canned response. All I listed where three pieces of used networking gear we no longer need).

Anway, I spent two days on Kafkaesque chats with utterly useless "support" people, who all told me there was no chance of appeal, have a nice day. I contacted Ebay support via twitter, where they have US-based support people who aren't just given scripts to follow, and after explaining that I've had another account in good standing for 22 years, and so **bleep**? ...they fixed it. My account was reinstated later that day, and I've been good since. Except for managed payments.

When listing the items, the only option I have is paypal:

And I'm getting the notices I was getting on my other account about setting up managed payments before they cut off my ability to sell. But in true ebay style, when I click on the button to set up managed payments it asks for my Canadian business or personal tax id.

I'm in the US.

Twitter help says to contact their chatbots, who tell me I'll be sent an invite email in 24-48 hours (because there must be a shortage of carrier pigeons due to covid and/or they have to manually type it and have it transcribed into an email) that will take me through the process. Odds are it'll ask about my Canadian tax ID again, and I'll be back where I am today, a few days from now. We shall see.

Because if nothing else, ebay is certainly consistent in their ability to muck up anything simple. Always have been, always will be, it seems.

gammaraydigital · ‎07-26-2021

Can you name anything, anything at all, that has not increased in price within the last 2 to 3 years ?

Sure. The fees we, as a business, pay our credit card processor. They've gone down, in fact. (i'm talking about our regular business, off ebay). We're paying almost 1% per transaction less now than we were a couple years ago.

Unfortunately, there is no real competition for ebay, on the same scale, so there's no incentive for them to not overcharge.

soh.maryl · ‎07-26-2021

The Final Value Fee is charged on the sale price, the shipping and the state sales tax, if applicable.

Using that information as a guide, what do you come up with as the total the buyer paid you and the appropriate FVF for that transaction?

slippinjimmy · ‎07-26-2021

I feel like they used to be *much* lower than that, even just a few years ago when I was casually selling stuff from time to time.

It's been almost 10 years since there was a fee change of any substance, there have been some small tweaks for specific Categories (both up and down).

If you think your fees are 27% then you probably are not running the numbers correctly. As a generalization fees should be in the 14 - 15% range MAX.

lacemaker3 · ‎07-26-2021

@varebelrose wrote:
"All sellers are required to enroll in MANAGED PAYMENTS or you can no longer sell on EBAY. EBAY no longer uses PayPal for their money management "

I may be mistaken, but not *all sellers" are required to be in MP (yet). No way to know for sure what the numbers are, but a significant number of people have not been switched over yet.

@varebelrose, you're correct, not all sellers have been enrolled or activated in managed payments yet.

However, eBay has shared that the transition to MP was more than 80% complete in the USA, as of the end of Q1 2021 (Apr 30, 2021). This is from the Q1 earnings report. Probably, the last sellers to be transitioned will be the ones who have not been selling actively, like the OP.

donsdetour · ‎07-26-2021

@gammaraydigital wrote:
Funny you should ask about managed payments: I'm working on that. This is a long story but they completely effed up this account. Basically, I set up the new account 2 weeks ago and as part of the process I was required to set up managed payments. I put in the company tax ID, linked to the company bank account, and all was good. Listed three items and within a couple hours ebay shut down my account and delisted everything for reasons they wouldn't explain, other than that they didn't "agree with my business practices" (clearly a canned response. All I listed where three pieces of used networking gear we no longer need).

Anway, I spent two days on Kafkaesque chats with utterly useless "support" people, who all told me there was no chance of appeal, have a nice day. I contacted Ebay support via twitter, where they have US-based support people who aren't just given scripts to follow, and after explaining that I've had another account in good standing for 22 years, and so **bleep**? ...they fixed it. My account was reinstated later that day, and I've been good since. Except for managed payments.

When listing the items, the only option I have is paypal:

And I'm getting the notices I was getting on my other account about setting up managed payments before they cut off my ability to sell. But in true ebay style, when I click on the button to set up managed payments it asks for my Canadian business or personal tax id.

I'm in the US.

Twitter help says to contact their chatbots, who tell me I'll be sent an invite email in 24-48 hours (because there must be a shortage of carrier pigeons due to covid and/or they have to manually type it and have it transcribed into an email) that will take me through the process. Odds are it'll ask about my Canadian tax ID again, and I'll be back where I am today, a few days from now. We shall see.

Because if nothing else, ebay is certainly consistent in their ability to muck up anything simple. Always have been, always will be, it seems.