Been A while since i've sold items. Fees are crazy
Don't understand how you can include the tax and shipping in addition to the item and then charge a fee for it all. Greedy. I will not be selling anymore.
And then there was a few items that shipping was more at the time of printing the label.
When I listed the item, I had weight and dimensions in there. Buyer pays, then i go to print label the cost was way more.
15 comments
lakefor94
·3 years agoIf a seller is losing money on shipping, that loss is completely on the seller.
Fees have not changed much at all in my categories over the recent years.
FVF on sales tax in standard everywhere.
AMZ charges me at least 2-3 % higher across the board. Not doing PL on either platform.
inhawaii
·3 years agoYou have every right to feel the way you do about ebay fees.
The charging fees on shipping and tax is a common thing and is not illegal.
Most sellers make up for it by adjusting their prices so that the buyers are the ones paying the fees.
Good luck to you wherever you go.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoBecause with Paypal fees were split, with PP taking their 29c+ 2.9% cut* of the ENTIRE PAYMENT** at the time of payment, while eBay took theirs monthly, many sellers were almost unaware of how much fees actually were.
It was there if we looked, but we didn't look.
We are billed at the point of sale for the selling price, the domestic shipping price***, and the buyer's payment of sales tax****.
We are also charged an international fee if the buyer uses a non-US credit card. And fees for certain options like Auction Reserve and Promoted Listings, which are options and not required to be used.
And of course, some categories are cheaper than others. Books are charged at 15%. Heavy equipment and NFTs at 3%.
And sellers with Defects have a surcharge on fees.
You may find this useful, both to reconcile your bookkeeping and to help you choose what categories you want to sell in.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822
* This has risen to (I think ) 3.25% +30c
** Because that is the industry standard and has been to my personal knowledge since the late 70s and I understand from history since the late 40s and the invention of the credit card
*** If we are selling internationally, the shipping is still based on the domestic shipping price, which is meant to encourage international selling.
**** The buyer pays the tax through the eBay invoice and we are charged fees on the tax, but not the tax itself. Many buyers make that mistake. Most buyers are not happy about the fee on the tax.
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoNot sure what caused your shipping cost issue.
Mine have always been "spot on".
Approximate/expected fees are worked into the cost of my items.
monroe67
·3 years ago"Don't understand how you can include the tax and shipping in addition to the item and then charge a fee for it all. Greedy. I will not be selling anymore.
And then there was a few items that shipping was more at the time of printing the label.
When I listed the item, I had weight and dimensions in there. Buyer pays, then i go to print label the cost was way more."
So -- eBay is greedy when they want to show profits to their shareholders, which is What Corporations Do.
What adjective would you use for yourself, "quadmx72", when you complain that eBay kept more than you thought they should? You can't possibly be, oh, I don't know -- greedy, could you?
I keep getting disappointed when I see sellers post that they are quitting due to high fees or being afraid that snakes might be delivered to their mailboxes. It's never one of my competitors who is quitting. It would help me so much if a few of them would quit.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoSo -- eBay is greedy when they want to show profits to their shareholders, which is What Corporations Do.
What adjective would you use for yourself, "quadmx72", when you complain that eBay kept more than you thought they should? You can't possibly be, oh, I don't know -- greedy, could you?
I have to agree with you on this one. I wonder how many of these sellers would be willing to put into their description that they are making 20, 30, 40.. % gross revenue from the sale of the item.
I keep getting disappointed when I see sellers post that they are quitting due to high fees or being afraid that snakes might be delivered to their mailboxes. It's never one of my competitors who is quitting. It would help me so much if a few of them would quit.
Over the years I have found that the eBay fees are often the smallest percentage of my total selling costs. Often the USPS percentage is higher on it's own than what the eBay fees are.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoObviously been quite awhile if you were not aware of the changes in the application of the FVF. I just posted the following in response to the same question/statement made by another seller.
There have been 100's of postings on this subject and the reason eBay charges a FVF on shipping is because at one the FVF was not applied to shipping and sellers were listing items for $1 with $100 for shipping. If eBay removed the FVF on the shipping a couple of things would happen. First most sellers would no longer offer free shipping and secondly sellers would potentially revert to their old habits. Following is an example of what would happen if the FVF was removed from shipping. The first shot is the fees under the current policy the second is with the FVF removed on shipping. The sellers gross revenue is the same in both cases but notice the sellers net revenue, the eBay fees and the effective rate.
quadmx72
OP3 years agoTotally makes sense, I forgot that i used to see a lot of this.
Thanks for the refresher..
stevemartin60
·3 years agoI thought we were all supposed to be above standard. If the platform isn't, why the emphasis on sellers being so?
hartungcards
·3 years agoSo, let me see if I have your logic right. You think eBay should just ignore basic payment processing practices? And if they did, where exactly do you think they'd make up the difference in their bottom line?
coolections
·3 years agoThat is an easy one. Since they increased the fees by around 30% they could have easily just lowered the fees from the 13% range back down to 10%.
stuff4divas
·3 years ago@quadmx72 yea, pretty common now a days, and pretty old news, welcome to the new days.
yellow-snapdragon
·3 years agoeBay started charging fees on shipping because some sellers ruined it for the rest of us and listed items at .99 plus $19 shipping to avoid paying much in fees altogether. As far as charging fees on taxes, I don't agree with it either but not much we can do.
hartungcards
·3 years agoYou don't agree with industry-standard payment processing practices?
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoeBay started charging fees on shipping because some sellers ruined it for the rest of us and listed items at .99 plus $19 shipping to avoid paying much in fees altogether. As far as charging fees on taxes, I don't agree with it either but not much we can do.
I actually consider the FVF on the taxes to be the cheapest accounting work around. For every $100 of a sale amount and a state with a 7% tax rate that amounts to 93 cents in FVF charges. I am more than happy to have eBay collect that amount and process and submit the paperwork and money to each and every state that has sales tax on how ever often a basis it has to be done.