eBay

willwork4food69 · ‎12-31-2023

I hope everyone knows when you sell an item eBay totals the price sold for and the shipping and the taxes and then they charge you a fee on all the money. You don’t make any money on the taxes or the shipping but they charge you both. If they take the taxes and charge you a fee on the taxes they are charging you a double fee. They probably make millions by doing this.

soh.maryl · ‎12-31-2023

eBay fee information is available in several places. Smart sellers read all that and price their items accordingly.

Would like to address one of your statements about eBay charging you a double fee. When a buyer pays state sales tax, that money is remitted to the appropriate state by eBay. eBay does not keep the state sales tax that the buyer pays. eBay's final value fee is calculated on the total amount the buyer pays the seller. eBay does keep the final value fee including the portion of it that is charged on the state sales tax. How are they charging you a double fee?

silver7auto · ‎12-31-2023

Ebay has to calculate a fee for the shipping because many sellers where trying to cheat the system by selling an item for 1 cent and charging say $50 for shipping to avoid paying final value fees. Yes, they also include sales taxes in the calculation, but that's understandable, considering that if they let sellers collect and remit sales taxes to the 10,000 different jurisdictions, many sellers just couldn't handle that burden.

monroe67 · ‎12-31-2023

"I hope everyone knows when you sell an item eBay totals the price sold for and the shipping and the taxes and then they charge you a fee on all the money."

True! This is actually a nice, clear, concise description of eBay's policy/procedure on their Final Value Fees (FVFs).
BTW, the FVF has two parts: a percentage of "all the money" paid by your buyer and 30 cents per order.

"You don’t make any money on the taxes or the shipping but they charge you both."

While it's true that eBay sellers don't make any money on the sales taxes that their buyers pay, eBay still does the work of calculating the correct sales tax percentages and sending sales tax money to the appropriate states on those states' timelines. eBay does that work because state Marketplace Facilitator laws require eBay to do so.

Some sellers do "make money" on shipping -- by charging their buyers USPS retail prices, but buying the postage/shipping label through eBay at eBay's reduced price. Some sellers buy their postage through PirateShip or other discount services. OR they do add a "handling" charge to their shipping policies, to cover the cost of bubble-wrap lined envelopes, packing materials, even some of their mileage costs to drive their packages to the post office.

As for whether all of that constitutes "over charging" of fees, you as an eBay seller simply need to decide whether you accept eBay's fee structures or not.

By the way, many eBay sellers take the position that their buyers pay their eBay fees.

monica-sells · ‎12-31-2023

@willwork4food69 wrote:
I hope everyone knows when you sell an item eBay totals the price sold for and the shipping and the taxes and then they charge you a fee on all the money. You don’t make any money on the taxes or the shipping but they charge you both. If they take the taxes and charge you a fee on the taxes they are charging you a double fee. They probably make millions by doing this.

If you are not treating shipping as a profit center and making extra money from it, you are doing something wrong......too many sellers treat it as an afterthought

stainlessenginecovers · ‎12-31-2023

@willwork4food69 wrote:
If they take the taxes and charge you a fee on the taxes they are charging you a double fee.

How do you figure that??

By the way, it's all RIGHT there BEFORE you choose to sell here, so most everyone already knows about how fees are determined.

12345jamesstamps · ‎12-31-2023

Most of us sellers know it. Its the new sellers who don't read the "small print" or can't read.

What if I sell something like a computer for $1.00 + $200.00 shipping?

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎12-31-2023

Whatever the fees to sell on Ebay are, they are public information which should be considered in deciding what you are going to acquire to sell, and how you have to price them in order to profit.

Some Ebay sellers choose to make shipping a profit center, others like myself do not. I seek to break even on shipping charges and the costs of shipping each month, and I do every month - including my packaging materials and Ebay fvf on shipping charges.

Some sellers choose to pay for their shipping totally or partially as part of their product price.

No matter what strategy you choose, the same costs need to be considered.

A tiny seller like you with a few very inexpensive items for sale is probably wasting your time learning all that is required to sell on Ebay. You need to commit enough money on merchandise to justify the amount of time it takes to master how to have a successful Ebay business.

There is no shame in seeking a simpler way to make some money.

mr_lincoln · ‎12-31-2023

@willwork4food69

You just started Selling in October this year ... many Sellers have known this for years but thanks for posting.

Here is a link to one of the eBay Help pages on Selling Fees: Selling fees | eBay

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

soh.maryl · ‎12-31-2023

Still would be interested in hearing more about your double fee theory.

eBay does not "take the taxes". When a buyer whose goods are delivered to a state that has a state sales tax makes a purchase, that buyer is charged the state sales tax. eBay is required by law to charge that buyer the appropriate state sales tax. eBay then remits those funds to the treasury of the appropriate state. eBay does not keep those funds.

When a seller is charged eBay's final value fee on his sale, that fee is based on the item price, the shipping cost and the state sales tax. eBay does keep that money.