eBay 100% charity can cost you money if not done correctly!

[tke314]

I was selling a item for a friend (regular sale not auction) for charity and did a 100% donation. After the item sold I had a $25 bill to pay. 

Item Sales Price was $50 with free shipping.

Ebay promotion Fee: $5

Shipping: $20

My expectation is that since the item sold for $50 and I had $25 in fees and shipping costs that the $25 balance would be sent to charity.  This is not the case. The full $50 was sent to charity and I was now $25 negative and had to pay out of pocket. 

While eBay does waive the transaction fees on charity items be aware that if you offer free shipping or price your shipping to low you will have the pay the balance out of pocket and if you promote your items you have to pay for this out of pocket also. 

It was a $25 lesson learned. Next time I do a 100% charity donation I will know not to promote the listing and to make sure to charge the full shipping price. 

[mam98031]

The thing you didn't consider is what happens when you set up the listing with Free Shipping.  Ebay has no way of splitting out how much is for the Charity and how much is for shipping in your $50 price.  

You have learned that for the future do not use Free Shipping as you will need money for shipping, so state it separately on the listing or use Calculated shipping, but don't do Free Shipping.

Not sure why you promoted a listing that is 100% for Charity as they are boosted in search returns without it.   Or why you didn't research this before you listed.  But now you know, it is a very good thing that the cost of learning this wasn't more.

We all make mistakes when learning new things.  I'm glad you figured out exactly what happened and how to avoid it in the future.  That is a very good thing and maybe your experience will help others.  Thank you for sharing this.

[nickelsanddimes2015]

Yes when you choose 100% to charity it means 100% of your sale goes to charity you will owe any difference in fees and shipping.

[wmsakalaucks]

No, EBay sends 100% of the net sale price.  They do not send the ~2% selling fee or the shipping/handling costs.

[mam98031]

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@wmsakalaucks wrote:

No, EBay sends 100% of the net sale price.  They do not send the ~2% selling fee or the shipping/handling costs.

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That is going to depend entirely on how the seller has the listing structured.  If the seller sets up the listing as Free Shipping, Ebay has no way of knowing how much of the product price is to be set aside for shipping.  Which the OP found out the hard way.

As for the selling fee on a listing that is 100% donation, there isn't one.

Community sellers will receive a discount on their final value fees that is equal to the donation percentage for each listing that is equal to the donation percentage of the final sale price. For example, if you choose a 30% donation on your listing, you’ll receive a 30% discount on the final value fees.