eBay Is Charging Sales Tax On Bullion Unnecessarily
Summary: The discussion revolves around concerns about eBay charging sales tax on bullion, which sfartist suggests is unnecessary. Participants, including marnotom!, tobaccocardyahoo, and lacemaker3, contribute to the conversation but details of their responses are not available. The issue has sparked dialogue among several members, reflecting frustration and confusion over the policy. The lack of detailed responses suggests a shared opinion or lack of clarity on the topic.
eBay has all my personal information for my user name including my home state. Yet eBay still charges state sales tax on my bullion purchases. The excuse is that sellers are listing bullion in the wrong category.
1. Why are sellers making this mistake? Even large corporate sellers like BGSAC are listing in the wrong category. I know that they know better. Selling bullion is their business model.
2. Bullion items have an obvious identity. Why isn’t eBay informing the seller they are listing in the wrong category?
3. eBay has a database with the personal information of every user name. Therefore eBay knows the home state of every user. Why charge sales tax on users that live in states without tax on bullion.
I’ve given up on buying bullion on eBay. I live in a state with no tax on bullion but I get over charged by 5.9% on every bullion purchase. That’s an unnecessary $295 charge on a $5000 gold purchase. eBay needs to do better.
sfartist
OP5 months agoListen to your customers to improve your business.
kathiec
·5 months agoBy this time I would have thought you'd figured out that they're not our customers. EBay's not here; no one from eBay will see this.
house*of*paws
·5 months agoHi @sfartist
eBay is essentially a giant computer that uses AI to to do most of its work. It doesn't have experts in different fields that are able to check out each of its 2.7 billion listings for errors. Unlike Amazon and other online venues ... eBay sells nothing itself. ALL listings are done by sellers who have various levels of expertise in the items they are selling.
The most common reason that an item is taxed that seemingly shouldn't be taxed is that it is listed in one of the Collectible categories. That is how a tee shirt with a sport team's logo will be taxed when the buyer's state doesn't typically tax clothing. Buyers need to get the tax money back their state unfortunately ... because eBay sends ALL tax money to individual states ... whether collected rightly or not. [Despite many suspicions to the contrary ... I have not seen any evidence of eBay keeping tax money. If you know of any ... you will be doing many people a favor if you provide it.]
I noticed that this is your third post on this topic since 10/2025. You've made similar points each time, and received similar replies (which you weren't happy with). You mentioned leaving eBay and accused some of the many volunteers who tried to help you of having ulterior motives.
eBay is essentially handling bullion listings in the same way as when you first started posting complaints about it. If receiving an acknowledgement about eBay's shortcomings will be helpful ... then consider it done. eBay has many flaws. It can be maddening dealing with them sometimes. If you can do better buying elsewhere ... then, by all means, go for it ... and the best of luck to you. Nobody here can change eBay for you. 🙁
sfartist
OP5 months agoSigh…..we’re just going around in circles. Clearly bullion coins, rounds, bars are tax exempt under section (a). Bullion coins, bars, rounds obviously are not works of art or jewelry, scrap metal or electronics as described in section (b).
A silver eagles, maples, etc. are not are not works of art or jewelry, scrap metal or electronics. This is clearly defined in that statute.
Is ebay paying you to defend their practices?
monica-sells
·5 months agoTo file a claim for a refund of sales tax collected on bullion erroneously in Wisconsin, you can use the S-220 Form BCR (Buyer's Claim for Refund of Wisconsin Sales Taxes). This form is specifically designed for buyers who want to claim refunds of sales taxes paid in error to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
The form requires detailed information about the refund claim, including the buyer's information and details about the sales tax paid. It must be mailed to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
To obtain the S-220 Form BCR, you can visit the official Wisconsin Department of Revenue website, where you can find downloadable versions of the form in PDF format. Alternatively, you can contact the department directly via phone or email to request a copy of the form.
It is important to gather all necessary documentation, such as proof of purchase and tax payment, before filling out the form. The form must be completed accurately to ensure that the refund is processed correctly.
lacemaker3
·5 months agoSigh ...
https://www.revenue.wi.gov/WisconsinTaxBulletin/225-04-24-WTB.pdf
Here are the links from that page, to access the form you need to submit:
• Form S-211, Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate: Check the box for "other
exemptions provided by law" and enter "Precious Metal Bullion."
• S-211E, Electronic Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate: Check the box for
"Precious Metal Bullion."
monica-sells
·5 months ago@lacemaker3
So it would appear in WI the onus is on the buyer and their responsibility to file exemption papers with the platform (in this case ebay) they are dealing with to qualify for the exemption on sales of exempt products......(similar to sales tax exemption for resellers)....hmmmm....
gurlcat
·5 months agoHere we go. 🙄
lacemaker3
·5 months ago@sfartist
It's not that simple. From one of your recent listings, you are in Wisconsin. There are some restrictions and limitations to the Wisconsin sales tax exemption for bullion, and some bullion does not qualify.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/related/acts/149
In situations like this, when eBay cannot clearly distinguish between items that qualify for an exemption and those that don't, eBay has historically taken the safest route (for them) and collected the tax on all purchases. This protects them from situations where an item might have been described incorrectly so that it appears to qualify for an exemption, but doesn't. In the past, eBay has changed their practice when they have received clear written guidelines from the state to explain how to distinguish items that should be taxed from those that shouldn't.
Purchasers can apply for a refund from either eBay or their state government, if they feel that tax was collected in error.
In this case, Wisconsin has provided instructions that purchasers should provide a sales tax exemption form to vendors in order to claim this exemption. So it appears that eBay is correctly interpreting the Wisconsin law on this, and collecting sales tax appropriately unless you have filed a sales tax exemption form as stated in the page linked below.
https://www.revenue.wi.gov/WisconsinTaxBulletin/225-04-24-WTB.pdf
Edit: here are the links from that page, to access the form you need to submit:
• Form S-211, Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate: Check the box for "other
exemptions provided by law" and enter "Precious Metal Bullion."
• S-211E, Electronic Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate: Check the box for
"Precious Metal Bullion."
sfartist
OP5 months agoYou’re babbling nonsense, smoke and mirrors. My state does not charge sales tax on bullion…period….and neither should eBay. Bullion is easily identified with keywords. So why is eBay still charging sales tax? Your answer makes absolutely no sense.
There is more under the surface to this questionable sales tax practice by eBay. If my state does not require sales tax on bullion what does eBay do with the money it collects? Legally it does not have to turn the money over to the state because it is not required on bullion. Is eBay keeping the money?
I’m not the only eBayer questioning eBay’s practices.
monica-sells
·5 months agoI seriously doubt ebay is keeping the money. The potential criminal and/or civil liability is enormous.
I know it's a pain, but you simply petition the state for a refund. easy-peasy....
The logistics of this platform can't possibly do what you suggest (keywords, etc...)
Sellers will just abuse that too.....
kalyoth
·5 months ago1) Because fraud & deceit exist with intent. ebay is 100% in the hands of buyers & sellers actions. The seller creates the listing. ebay is not the place many use it for collectibles buying. ebay is a flea market for thrift buyers.
2) unless ebay requires receipt of every "bullion" item for appraisal, there is absolutely no chance of knowing if it's correct or not. It could be plastic, cardboard, 3d printed. ebay is not a retailer.
3) because ebay is not required to behave as you ask. ebay is not selling anything. ebay reacts to transactions described by the seller & tax flags based upon that trigger or not.
tobaccocardyahoo
·5 months agoThe tax which is collected, is tax that is covered by the Marketplace Fulfillment Laws in the state. Those laws may not be identical to the actual sales tax laws in the state. Research the Marketplace Fulfillment Law in your state, there may be an answer there. In some states, the Marketplace Fulfillment Law is a simplified version of the sales tax, with fewer rates within the state and other differences.
sfartist
OP5 months ago“What do you mean by "obvious identity"? How do you suggest eBay inform sellers that they could be listing in a more appropriate category?”
silver eagles, gold eagles, gold buffalo, silver and gold Britannia, silver maple leaf, gold maple leaf, etc. are all well known bullion coins, easily distinguished as such. Simply writing code that identifies those key words would automatically put them in the bullion category. Basic programming 101, it ‘s done routinely EVERYWHERE. My doctors office uses keywords in their check-in kiosk. eBay is supposed be a major league corporation.
marnotom!
·5 months agoWe're not mind-readers. Why don't you ask these sellers?
What do you mean by "obvious identity"? How do you suggest eBay inform sellers that they could be listing in a more appropriate category?
Not saying this is true of your situation, but I've found that many posters who come to the eBay discussion boards complaining about inappropriate taxation of coins, bullion, etc. are actually a little underinformed about their state's sales tax laws and that they're actually victims of a loophole or two.
Remember that a human being doesn't clamp their eyeballs on every single listing that comes up on this site. A crawler/spider/bot/AI routine/whatever you want to call it has to go through the listing and help the checkout bot calculate the appropriate taxes for the items listed here. What the checkout bot comes up with is only as good as the information provided by the seller in terms of the item's category and any item specifics the seller cares to add.
sfartist
OP2 months agoWell, guess what? Ebay has stopped charging sales tax on bullion for those states that don’t tax bullion. I was right all along. The buyers home state is part of his profile. A simple database hit would determine if tax should or shouldn’t be charged.