Thanks for the update @community_team but I have to say this is highly disappointing.
Anyone else remember that eBay actually tried to launch COGS back in August 2024 as part of the Summer Seller Update that year and then had to pull it because it experienced different data accuracy "system errors"?
So now here we are over a year later, relaunched to great fanfare as this is one of the most frequently requested seller tools and....it's still not ready for primetime.
We want to share an update about a recently discovered issue with the new “Your cost†field, currently rolling out to some sellers. This optional field allows you to enter your item acquisition cost for your bookkeeping purposes. It is private, visible only to you, and never shown to buyers.
Due to a system error, some values were mistakenly generated for some sellers. While these incorrect values may have appeared when viewing offers or orders, they were not buyer-facing, and your earnings and payouts were not impacted.
For now we have rolled back the feature, and will provide updates once it’s ready to relaunch. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Just to follow up - one of the UK blues has acknowledged this issue saying eBay has been able to replicate it and they're working on getting it resolved.
I sho hope they fixin' something important right now, because I NEVER seen Thursday night wonkiness this bad. Aint NOTHIN' working, and I mean even just browsing as a buyer. One minute the photos won't advance, the next I can't get the 'favorite' heart to work, I went to take a second look at a lot listing that had a bunch of jewelry brands listed in a column in the seller's description, but this time it was cut off after the first 2. There's more stuff too but you get the point, just chaos. -Firefox and Safari, BTW.
I feel sorry for any sellers with auctions ending tonight, unless at least bidding still works.
Here's another example from Reddit - COGS shown on the order was $40 for QTY 2 ($20 each), seller did not enter that amount on the listing and had no idea about the new COGS feature.
@devon@ebay@kyle@ebay@elizabeth@ebay - can you get more info on this for us please?
Is there an open ticket for Cost Of Goods Sold / Acquisition Cost showing incorrectly with data the seller has not actually filled in themselves?
Is eBay copying this information over if you "sell similar" from a different seller's listing and they had filled that field in and if so, is that working as intended or a bug?
@devon@ebay@kyle@ebay@elizabeth@ebay - can you get more info on this for us please?
Is there an open ticket for Cost Of Goods Sold / Acquisition Cost showing incorrectly with data the seller has not actually filled in themselves?
Is eBay copying this information over if you "sell similar" from a different seller's listing and they had filled that field in and if so, is that working as intended or a bug?
Thanks!
Hey @valueaddedresource! As of now there is not any open tickets on this. If this is an issue for multiple sellers please have them reach out to customer support to open a ticket or if using the mobile app, shake the phone to then report the issue.
Thanks @devon@ebay but could you also check with the team responsible for this COGS feature on the second question please?
Is eBay copying this information over if you "sell similar" from a different seller's listing and they had filled that field in and if so, is that working as intended or a bug?
@simply-the-best-for-you yeah I never dreamed it would be pre-filled and I should make it clear that in the screenshots I posted, I manually entered both the $50 for selling price and $5 for Your Cost.
So at least for accounts where the option is actually available it seems that it does not pre-fill or copy anything over and (as far as I can tell any way with the very small sample set we have) these reports of odd amounts appear to be from people who don't actually have the option available in their listing form - which to me would seem to bolster your idea of it maybe being test data that was not intended for production.
They're probably running different variable tests simultaneously. It's smart science if you can do it, and you can do it when you have millions of guinea pigs who gave prior consent (TOS).
@valueaddedresource Thanks Liz, I'll try to look at that Reddit thread later tonight.
@simply-the-best-for-you I don't have any particular reason to think this except just spit balling for ideas, but it also occurred to me that if it wasn't copied over from another seller's listing, maybe somehow the median sold price info that eBay sometimes displays in the listing form was somehow used for that field?
That could possibly make sense for the reddit example any way, though probably not for the $3 ones.
@valueaddedresource Thanks Liz, I'll try to look at that Reddit thread later tonight.
@simply-the-best-for-you I don't have any particular reason to think this except just spit balling for ideas, but it also occurred to me that if it wasn't copied over from another seller's listing, maybe somehow the median sold price info that eBay sometimes displays in the listing form was somehow used for that field?
That could possibly make sense for the reddit example any way, though probably not for the $3 ones.
@valueaddedresource LOL, well none of us were involved in the implementation, so we're all just looking for logical possibilites. I certainly never dreamed that the field would have pre-filled data, so it's pretty tough to figure out what they were thinking. I think anything is possible. The $3 seems a far more logical assumption, but COGS will vary wildly depending on what one sells. Also, for anyone just selling personal items, COGS doesn't really matter much except possibly to prove to the IRS that you didn't make money. But there's better ways to do that.
@valueaddedresource Putting on my techie/programmer hat, I wonder if the amt that's being shown is simply test data that got accidentally put into production? Of course we have no way of knowing, but obviously in Testing, that field will have data in it, in order to test the feature. Particularly with @modulok! mentioning that they see the field but checked & still see nowhere to enter the data. Seems like a logical explanation. Is it right, who knows?
Seller's COGS will be wildly different from seller to seller, so I can't see eBay putting a default value into that field.
@valueaddedresource Putting on my techie/programmer hat, I wonder if the amt that's being shown is simply test data that got accidentally put into production? Of course we have no way of knowing, but obviously in Testing, that field will have data in it, in order to test the feature. Particularly with @modulok! mentioning that they see the field but checked & still see nowhere to enter the data. Seems like a logical explanation. Is it right, who knows?
Seller's COGS will be wildly different from seller to seller, so I can't see eBay putting a default value into that field.
@simply-the-best-for-you I would agree with the idea it could be test data (and may still be for those seeing $3), but I also found this post on Reddit which would indicate that even if the support rep was wrong and it's not being copied over from another seller's listing, this amount of $39.99 had to come from somewhere and it clearly was not this seller.
That whole Reddit post is worth a read, but here's the screenshot they shared just for reference.
That screenshot is NOT from a buyer offer . That screenshot is from order details.
@bumbleebuck yes, I understand that. I included it because it's all part of the same issue which is that eBay is showing incorrect COGS information in all of the various places that COGS is supposed to show.
As others here have pointed out, COGS is a feature many have been asking for and when eBay announced it, they made it clear they were integrating it into multiple places such as Order Detail pages and Payments and financial reporting.
They actually didn't explicitly say they were going to put it on the seller facing Offers screens (to my knowledge) but it's clear from screenshots provided by you and others that is what they are doing - and honestly I think that would be a positive thing, if it was only showing information that the seller had intentionally entered themselves.
Since it's clear the problem here is that eBay is showing incorrect/not seller provided data in that COGS field for some listings, it may be helpful for the eBay community reps to see multiple examples of where this error is occuring so they can report it to the correct department.
OK, now this is a terrifying thought - this user on Reddit shows that their item had a COGS of $39.99 when they had not actually entered that information, and when they contacted support they were told it was because it was copied over from using another seller's listing and doing Sell Now. 👀
"Issue resolved, a live agent through eBay was super helpful. A field was filled out automatically when posted. Since I posted the item from a similar item that was being sold. The field is what the item cost to the seller but it's not viewable to the buyers."
To be clear, my gut instinct is that is likely just another example of customer service trying to get people off the phone as quickly as possible with little regard to whether or not the information they are providing is accurate.
And just as an experiment, I found all the items that OP here has at the price point shown in their screenshot, did "Sell One" to start a draft from my account which does have the COGS option on the listing form and it did notcopy anything over into that field.
So I have not been able to confirm that is what is happening and am still leaning toward it being more likely wrong info provided by support but if it is happening then that is absolutely insane that eBay would expose a seller's COGS to a competing seller in that way.
Maybe it only transfers to a Sell Now listing if the original seller manually entered a COGS, not when it's a place-holder one plopped in by eBay.
I would be curious to know how the CSR came to know it was a Sell Now listing. -Did the seller mention it or did the CSR specificially ask it? If the former, then the CSR was probably just latching onto that as a "best guess" but stating it as fact, whereas if it was the latter, it could be legit and something they've already been trained on to field calls.
Well by "legit" I don't mean "a good thing," just a true observation. Surely they don't intend to permanently have that transfer like IS's and descriptions.
Looks like it's also showing the $3 as cost for offers to UK sellers too - which makes it even more confusing because apparently it is shown as US Dollars instead of Pounds.
Also, here's what it should look like on the listing form for those who have it:
You may need to select the See Pricing Options menu to toggle it on.
And once it is on, it adds an extra box below Item Price to fill in Your Cost.
Very concerning if eBay is using some kind of default for sellers who don't enter it themselves - even if it's not shown to buyers and doesn't impact the fees or anything else directly, there's just no good reason for eBay to assume anything about it or have a default value of any kind.
Giving eBay your COGS absolutely makes no sense from a business standpoint. That information needs to stay a mystery to them.
@pennpicker personal items do not get a COGS. They are assigned a cost basis. At tax time you back out your personal sales from your business sales. You do not apply any of the expenses associated with them. You cannot take a loss on personal sales. In other words, you cannot use them to reduce the gains on your business items you sold. You also do not pay taxes on that income, unless you actually sold the item for more than what you paid for it. In that case, you treat it as a capital gain.
Sorry but not following this thread carefully. Never said anything about whatever that reply concerning expenses is. Reason I posted what I did has nothing to do with how users do their taxes as business or otherwise. More curious now why eBay is entering an arbitrary $3, even if a test. They should warn people when they are messing around with things.
People were posting they had no idea why that cost entry was there. Felt that the entry would be useful at tax time for sellers of personal goods. That is all.
I agree, we don't know what is going on here. We will likely find out the truth of it in the coming days.
However I want to strongly caution anyone that thinks this is a useful tool at tax time. Entering a number as your COGS for an item into Ebay or any system is NOT something that can be used when creating your Federal Tax returns. You still need receipts where possible and/or support for how you value personal items being sold.
I believe you when you say that you did NOT enter $3.00 on the listing form, because at this time there is NOT a place to enter this information. Listen, I am severely OCD (works out great for me) especially when entering anything on the listing form. I am paranoid about ebay checking a box or opting me into something when listing, so I look everything over very closely. As you can see from my screenshot from the order details page of an item I listed and sold last Thursday, it shows the same $3.00 at the bottom under Order Earnings After Acquisition Costs. This doesn't appear on anything I sold before or after this particular sale, just this one. I chalked it up to Thursday night maintenance strangeness. Oh, I also would like to mention that I checked this particular sale's details on the Payments page, and this $3.00 is NOT deducted from my earning or in the fees section, so it is not because of add ons or anything else, it is Ebay simply inserting a random number (seems to be $3.00) as your acquisition cost...strange but true and soooo ebay.
Fascinating. I don't see that for any of my recent sales. So it probably is a gradual rollout and they're applying the same dollar amount to all the test accounts. Oh lort, I don't even want to imagine those CS phone calls. Also this thread is sure to be the first of many like it, here.
Just to add more confirmation to this, eBay did a presentation which included mock ups of the COGS feature at Open and while they didn't show what it would look like on the offer page, they did show what it would look like on the Order Details page and it is exactly like what @modulok! shows in their screenshot in "earnings after acquisition costs".
So yes, it would appear that at least in some instances either intentionally or inadvertently/ a glitch, eBay is choosing a random default amount of $3 to enter as COGS if the seller has not entered that data themselves.
@gurlcat@mam98031 I didn't realize it was a buyer facing screen. No, they will not be showing it to a buyer. I don't use that kind of offer & I never allow counteroffers, so I didn't realize the buyer saw that screen. My bad, I guess. The title of the field looked like COGS to me & I know it's coming imminently.
I don't understand why the automatic reduction would show in a field that says "your cost"? That makes no sense to me. If this is buyer facing, then honestly, I have no idea what it is.
That was a seller facing screen. Thats the screen I see when someone sends me an offer. It shows me my buy it now. It shows me my soft ( I have no idea what that means some of you are saying its my COGS but have failed to show me where I told ebay its my COGS) and last it shows me the offer that was sent to me from the buyer.
That was a seller facing screen. Thats the screen I see when someone sends me an offer. It shows me my buy it now. It shows me my soft ( I have no idea what that means some of you are saying its my COGS but have failed to show me where I told ebay its my COGS) and last it shows me the offer that was sent to me from the buyer.
We have no idea what it means, either. We're just trying to help you solve the mystery, that's all. We've only speculated that it could be your COGS because we know that feature is being rolled out imminently. And it's not at all that far-fetched that eBay could (intentionally or unintentionally) pre-fill that field for you with an arbitrary default value during the rollout, even if that field is hidden or inaccessible to you at this early stage.
That was a seller facing screen. Thats the screen I see when someone sends me an offer. It shows me my buy it now. It shows me my soft ( I have no idea what that means some of you are saying its my COGS but have failed to show me where I told ebay its my COGS) and last it shows me the offer that was sent to me from the buyer.
We have no idea what it means, either. We're just trying to help you solve the mystery, that's all. We've only speculated that it could be your COGS because we know that feature is being rolled out imminently. And it's not at all that far-fetched that eBay could (intentionally or unintentionally) pre-fill that field for you with an arbitrary default value during the rollout, even if that field is hidden or inaccessible to you at this early stage.
@hardrhymer76 Exactly. My guess just from a techie/programmer standpoint is that the $3 is actually testing data that accidentally made it into production. That makes more sense to me than an arbitrary default, however, it could well be that. Obviously when testing the feature, they would need to populate the field. To some extent, we're all just guessing, other than we know this was announced at Open & was imminent.
That was a seller facing screen. Thats the screen I see when someone sends me an offer. It shows me my buy it now. It shows me my soft ( I have no idea what that means some of you are saying its my COGS but have failed to show me where I told ebay its my COGS) and last it shows me the offer that was sent to me from the buyer.
@bumbleebuck That's what I thought it was, yes. I didn't fail to show you, I did offer a hypothesis for how it got there, which was that you had entered it somewhere & forgot. It sounds like you didn't do that, but from a diagnostics standpoint as a techie of 30 years, it's one of the first possibilities any techie will think of. It's also the possibility that I'm never able to confirm on the boards b/c I'm not in anyone's office or living room to watch their entries, so it was simply a hypothesis. With the further info that @valueaddedresource has added, seems like you did NOT accidentally enter it. I don't recall seeing the screens that she posted, but I may not have seen the same presentation as her.
It makes sense that it would be on your offer screen b/c that's one of the places that sellers want it, so they know how much of an offer to make. Of course, they should know that anyway since they paid for it lol. Seems like it is what I originally thought & they're simply showing it to sellers & not buyers.
Is there any chance that "your cost" refers to your listing costs -= listing fee, bold face up-charge, sub-title if any, promo fees, 2nd category. etc ????
No, because I didn't do any bold face on the listing. The only thing I did was promote at 9% like I always do. I have no idea where ebay is getting this 3.00 from.
Is there any chance that "your cost" refers to your listing costs -= listing fee, bold face up-charge, sub-title if any, promo fees, 2nd category. etc ????
That's not a bad theory. The OP replied that they didn't use bold but I know there are actually a whole list of "upgrades" and I can't remember them all.
The item in question appears to be one of the Leatherman tools on page 8 of the OP's items (sorted highest-to-lowest). There are a few different ones, but all currently $89.32 in price. -See any premium features? Do they charge a fee for coupon codes now? Maybe for AI descriptions? 😆
Excellent point about those hidden listing costs! As someone just setting up my book store, I really appreciate experienced sellers like you breaking down the real cost factors. That Ayn Rand quote hits different when you're actually building something from scratch. The marketplace truly rewards individual effort and smart decisions. Thanks for the wisdom - learning from pros like you is invaluable!
Why would anyone want to tell ebay your actual item costs? That's the sort of information that ebay could use to justify raising promotion fees, or any other fee.
Betting this COGS entry is useful for personal items at tax time.
You are likely right that some would feel that way. Receipts however are still important to keep to prove what the seller is saying is their COGS.
No one is suggesting that receipts should get thrown away after being recorded as COGS.
But once the receipt amount is entered, the receipt can be filed away and never consulted again (unless unlucky and get audited).
@luckythewinner
Then you missed reading one or more posts completely. Earlier in the thread it was suggested this would help them at tax time for their COGS. Which is why I posted what I did. You simply missed the post.
Why would anyone want to tell ebay your actual item costs? That's the sort of information that ebay could use to justify raising promotion fees, or any other fee.
Sellers have been asking for it for well over a decade. I see both sides, but it allows you to see your (almost) true figures on the Orders page & on the cost of selling graphs. I mean we obviously already have it ourselves for our own taxes.
I have it on all my listings b/c it helps me determine offer amts, but not in a way that eBay would know it. I've been wrestling with the pluses & minuses myself, but for me, I think I'll use it b/c it will free up space in my Custom field where I have it anyway.
So you think it's COGS ? But you have failed to show me where I told ebay my COGS were 3.00 and I have provided all the screenshots of the actual listing. No where did I ever have an option for my COGS nor did I tell ebay my COGS were 3.00 ?
No, ebay doesn't "plug in an amount".........up to the seller to decided if he wants to use it..... it's for help in responding to offers.....to see the original cost of the item.......
@gurlcat We haven't been given the details of how it will be implemented although clearly it will be used on a per item level, the Orders page & also on all the reports for selling costs & the graphs, etc. Sellers have been asking for many, many years, so I'm thrilled that they're finally doing it! It was INCREDIBLY well received at Open, since sellers have been asking for decades.
I doubt they will plug in any old number, I would expect it to be 0 if the user doesn't fill it in. As for why OP doesn't know, I really can't say, but users do things ALL THE TIME, that they forget they've done, so I would assume they plugged in the $3.00 & forgot, but that's logical conjecture on my part.
The OP has made 20 posts & is clearly an experienced user, so I see no reason to think they won't be back.
I have not seen the field yet, but I don't use eBay to list & I also haven't updated my listing software to the newest release. It may very well be there. The rollout was imminent in eBay terms.
That is your COGS, Cost of Goods Sold & @caldreamer must not have realized that this new feature was announced at Open. I don't remember the exact start date, but it was going to be fairly quickly, before year end for sure, so it seems they have started implementing it. Sounds like the rollout has started.
eBay of course will not know the info, unless you fill it in when listing. I'd love to see a screen shot of it on the listing tool if that's there already, but they indicated it would be used in reports & various screens to help you figure out actual costs, IF YOU populate it.
So does eBay just plug in a random $ amount if the seller doesn't complete it? Seems like the OP would remember if they typed $3.00 somewhere on the listing, considering how recently they must have created it, to have the new feature applied.
This would what the Seller paid to acquire the item (your "cost of goods"). EBAY would not know this information so you must have indicated that somewhere on your listing.
So let me see if I understand this properly, This is just seller information, to know what the sellers original cost of their item was??
@meme6253 Yes. It's going to be provided to us, once we enter the data, on a variety of screens, reports, graphs, etc. From the announcement I watched, sounded like it would be pretty well integrated. Sellers have wanted it so they can have that info handy when making decisions about an item, but also so that the cost of sales reports & graphs will be (more) accurate than they currently are.
Of course they are still not completely accurate, as eBay will still not account for your business overhead, but on a per item level, this should provide sellers a clearer picture. I'm with @mam98031 though, that for tax purposes, you should be using your own numbers. I mean, you already are LOL. If you file taxes, you've always had to provide this in aggregate. But I'm sure there are people out there who just use the eBay reports to file their taxes.
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoThanks for the update @community_team but I have to say this is highly disappointing.
Anyone else remember that eBay actually tried to launch COGS back in August 2024 as part of the Summer Seller Update that year and then had to pull it because it experienced different data accuracy "system errors"?
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/A-simplified-consolidated-view-of-your-eBay-earnings-is-here/td-p/34603363/highlight/true
So now here we are over a year later, relaunched to great fanfare as this is one of the most frequently requested seller tools and....it's still not ready for primetime.
What are we even doing here? 🤦â€
community_team
We want to share an update about a recently discovered issue with the new “Your cost†field, currently rolling out to some sellers. This optional field allows you to enter your item acquisition cost for your bookkeeping purposes. It is private, visible only to you, and never shown to buyers.
Due to a system error, some values were mistakenly generated for some sellers. While these incorrect values may have appeared when viewing offers or orders, they were not buyer-facing, and your earnings and payouts were not impacted.
For now we have rolled back the feature, and will provide updates once it’s ready to relaunch. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
happyin2012
·9 months agoDo we know when this would be relaunched again? This is something that would really help me out on my end. Thank you.
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoJust to follow up - one of the UK blues has acknowledged this issue saying eBay has been able to replicate it and they're working on getting it resolved.
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/Ebay-charge-for-free-listing-query/m-p/7933715#M757194
gurlcat
·10 months agoI sho hope they fixin' something important right now, because I NEVER seen Thursday night wonkiness this bad. Aint NOTHIN' working, and I mean even just browsing as a buyer. One minute the photos won't advance, the next I can't get the 'favorite' heart to work, I went to take a second look at a lot listing that had a bunch of jewelry brands listed in a column in the seller's description, but this time it was cut off after the first 2. There's more stuff too but you get the point, just chaos. -Firefox and Safari, BTW.
I feel sorry for any sellers with auctions ending tonight, unless at least bidding still works.
valueaddedresource
·10 months ago@us_precious_metal_exchange do you have the COGS option available to you in the listing form?
See screenshots here if you aren't sure where to look.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Buyer-offer-shows-Your-cost-now-What-does-this-mean/m-p/35277573/highlight/true#M2615072
Just trying to get an idea if whether or not an account has had the option rolled out to them yet is a factor in this issue - thanks!
us_precious_metal_exchange
·10 months agoI've had the $3 show up in a buyer offer today, so it's not just the OP.
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoAnd here's another report from the UK with it showing COGS as $39.99 USD on an offer.
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Seller-Central/Ebay-charge-for-free-listing-query/m-p/7931487
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoHere's another example from Reddit - COGS shown on the order was $40 for QTY 2 ($20 each), seller did not enter that amount on the listing and had no idea about the new COGS feature.
https://www.reddit.com/r/eBaySellerAdvice/comments/1nn8fqr/what_is_this_40_acquisition_cost/
valueaddedresource
·10 months ago@devon@ebay @kyle@ebay @elizabeth@ebay - can you get more info on this for us please?
Is there an open ticket for Cost Of Goods Sold / Acquisition Cost showing incorrectly with data the seller has not actually filled in themselves?
Is eBay copying this information over if you "sell similar" from a different seller's listing and they had filled that field in and if so, is that working as intended or a bug?
Thanks!
devon@ebay
Hey @valueaddedresource! As of now there is not any open tickets on this. If this is an issue for multiple sellers please have them reach out to customer support to open a ticket or if using the mobile app, shake the phone to then report the issue.
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoThanks @devon@ebay but could you also check with the team responsible for this COGS feature on the second question please?
Is eBay copying this information over if you "sell similar" from a different seller's listing and they had filled that field in and if so, is that working as intended or a bug?
valueaddedresource
·10 months ago@simply-the-best-for-you yeah I never dreamed it would be pre-filled and I should make it clear that in the screenshots I posted, I manually entered both the $50 for selling price and $5 for Your Cost.
So at least for accounts where the option is actually available it seems that it does not pre-fill or copy anything over and (as far as I can tell any way with the very small sample set we have) these reports of odd amounts appear to be from people who don't actually have the option available in their listing form - which to me would seem to bolster your idea of it maybe being test data that was not intended for production.
gurlcat
·10 months agoThey're probably running different variable tests simultaneously. It's smart science if you can do it, and you can do it when you have millions of guinea pigs who gave prior consent (TOS).
meme6253
·10 months agoWho are you calling pigs??, I'm a little sloppy but I am not a pig.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@valueaddedresource Thanks Liz, I'll try to look at that Reddit thread later tonight.
valueaddedresource
·10 months ago@simply-the-best-for-you I don't have any particular reason to think this except just spit balling for ideas, but it also occurred to me that if it wasn't copied over from another seller's listing, maybe somehow the median sold price info that eBay sometimes displays in the listing form was somehow used for that field?
That could possibly make sense for the reddit example any way, though probably not for the $3 ones.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@valueaddedresource LOL, well none of us were involved in the implementation, so we're all just looking for logical possibilites. I certainly never dreamed that the field would have pre-filled data, so it's pretty tough to figure out what they were thinking. I think anything is possible. The $3 seems a far more logical assumption, but COGS will vary wildly depending on what one sells. Also, for anyone just selling personal items, COGS doesn't really matter much except possibly to prove to the IRS that you didn't make money. But there's better ways to do that.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@valueaddedresource Putting on my techie/programmer hat, I wonder if the amt that's being shown is simply test data that got accidentally put into production? Of course we have no way of knowing, but obviously in Testing, that field will have data in it, in order to test the feature. Particularly with @modulok! mentioning that they see the field but checked & still see nowhere to enter the data. Seems like a logical explanation. Is it right, who knows?
Seller's COGS will be wildly different from seller to seller, so I can't see eBay putting a default value into that field.
valueaddedresource
·10 months ago@simply-the-best-for-you I would agree with the idea it could be test data (and may still be for those seeing $3), but I also found this post on Reddit which would indicate that even if the support rep was wrong and it's not being copied over from another seller's listing, this amount of $39.99 had to come from somewhere and it clearly was not this seller.
That whole Reddit post is worth a read, but here's the screenshot they shared just for reference.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1nmqg19/help_explain_this_financial_stuff/
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoThat screenshot is NOT from a buyer offer . That screenshot is from order details.
valueaddedresource
·10 months ago@bumbleebuck yes, I understand that. I included it because it's all part of the same issue which is that eBay is showing incorrect COGS information in all of the various places that COGS is supposed to show.
As others here have pointed out, COGS is a feature many have been asking for and when eBay announced it, they made it clear they were integrating it into multiple places such as Order Detail pages and Payments and financial reporting.
They actually didn't explicitly say they were going to put it on the seller facing Offers screens (to my knowledge) but it's clear from screenshots provided by you and others that is what they are doing - and honestly I think that would be a positive thing, if it was only showing information that the seller had intentionally entered themselves.
Since it's clear the problem here is that eBay is showing incorrect/not seller provided data in that COGS field for some listings, it may be helpful for the eBay community reps to see multiple examples of where this error is occuring so they can report it to the correct department.
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoOK, now this is a terrifying thought - this user on Reddit shows that their item had a COGS of $39.99 when they had not actually entered that information, and when they contacted support they were told it was because it was copied over from using another seller's listing and doing Sell Now. 👀
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1nmqg19/help_explain_this_financial_stuff/
"Issue resolved, a live agent through eBay was super helpful. A field was filled out automatically when posted. Since I posted the item from a similar item that was being sold. The field is what the item cost to the seller but it's not viewable to the buyers."
To be clear, my gut instinct is that is likely just another example of customer service trying to get people off the phone as quickly as possible with little regard to whether or not the information they are providing is accurate.
And just as an experiment, I found all the items that OP here has at the price point shown in their screenshot, did "Sell One" to start a draft from my account which does have the COGS option on the listing form and it did not copy anything over into that field.
So I have not been able to confirm that is what is happening and am still leaning toward it being more likely wrong info provided by support but if it is happening then that is absolutely insane that eBay would expose a seller's COGS to a competing seller in that way.
gurlcat
·10 months agoMaybe it only transfers to a Sell Now listing if the original seller manually entered a COGS, not when it's a place-holder one plopped in by eBay.
I would be curious to know how the CSR came to know it was a Sell Now listing. -Did the seller mention it or did the CSR specificially ask it? If the former, then the CSR was probably just latching onto that as a "best guess" but stating it as fact, whereas if it was the latter, it could be legit and something they've already been trained on to field calls.
Well by "legit" I don't mean "a good thing," just a true observation. Surely they don't intend to permanently have that transfer like IS's and descriptions.
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoLooks like it's also showing the $3 as cost for offers to UK sellers too - which makes it even more confusing because apparently it is shown as US Dollars instead of Pounds.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ebayuk/comments/1nmt0ga/random_us_fee_for_selling/
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoAlso, here's what it should look like on the listing form for those who have it:
You may need to select the See Pricing Options menu to toggle it on.
And once it is on, it adds an extra box below Item Price to fill in Your Cost.
Very concerning if eBay is using some kind of default for sellers who don't enter it themselves - even if it's not shown to buyers and doesn't impact the fees or anything else directly, there's just no good reason for eBay to assume anything about it or have a default value of any kind.
stainlessenginecovers
·10 months agoAs @monica-sells stated as shown on a youtube video it is 'coming to a theatre near you'. (see post #24)
But, much more important, so we all can determine if you just forgot you inputted something in that 'options' screen..
@bumbleebuck is the $3.00 correct as your cost??
christworks
·10 months agoGiving eBay your COGS absolutely makes no sense from a business standpoint. That information needs to stay a mystery to them.
@pennpicker personal items do not get a COGS. They are assigned a cost basis. At tax time you back out your personal sales from your business sales. You do not apply any of the expenses associated with them. You cannot take a loss on personal sales. In other words, you cannot use them to reduce the gains on your business items you sold. You also do not pay taxes on that income, unless you actually sold the item for more than what you paid for it. In that case, you treat it as a capital gain.
pennpicker
·10 months agoSorry but not following this thread carefully. Never said anything about whatever that reply concerning expenses is. Reason I posted what I did has nothing to do with how users do their taxes as business or otherwise. More curious now why eBay is entering an arbitrary $3, even if a test. They should warn people when they are messing around with things.
People were posting they had no idea why that cost entry was there. Felt that the entry would be useful at tax time for sellers of personal goods. That is all.
mam98031
·10 months agoI agree, we don't know what is going on here. We will likely find out the truth of it in the coming days.
However I want to strongly caution anyone that thinks this is a useful tool at tax time. Entering a number as your COGS for an item into Ebay or any system is NOT something that can be used when creating your Federal Tax returns. You still need receipts where possible and/or support for how you value personal items being sold.
modulok!
·10 months agoHey @bumbleebuck
I believe you when you say that you did NOT enter $3.00 on the listing form, because at this time there is NOT a place to enter this information. Listen, I am severely OCD (works out great for me) especially when entering anything on the listing form. I am paranoid about ebay checking a box or opting me into something when listing, so I look everything over very closely. As you can see from my screenshot from the order details page of an item I listed and sold last Thursday, it shows the same $3.00 at the bottom under Order Earnings After Acquisition Costs. This doesn't appear on anything I sold before or after this particular sale, just this one. I chalked it up to Thursday night maintenance strangeness. Oh, I also would li
ke to mention that I checked this particular sale's details on the Payments page, and this $3.00 is NOT deducted from my earning or in the fees section, so it is not because of add ons or anything else, it is Ebay simply inserting a random number (seems to be $3.00) as your acquisition cost...strange but true and soooo ebay.
gurlcat
·10 months agoFascinating. I don't see that for any of my recent sales. So it probably is a gradual rollout and they're applying the same dollar amount to all the test accounts. Oh lort, I don't even want to imagine those CS phone calls. Also this thread is sure to be the first of many like it, here.
fern*wood
·10 months agoAt least it's better than seeing them roll out $3.00 as "Your profit" for every item we sell.
gurlcat
·10 months agoI hope you knocked on some wood before you hit that Reply button! 🤣
With eBay roll-outs it aint over til it's over!
valueaddedresource
·10 months agoJust to add more confirmation to this, eBay did a presentation which included mock ups of the COGS feature at Open and while they didn't show what it would look like on the offer page, they did show what it would look like on the Order Details page and it is exactly like what @modulok! shows in their screenshot in "earnings after acquisition costs".
https://youtu.be/HuIMWiEA_-Q?si=CgCsP6sePPtaTA9a&t=367
So yes, it would appear that at least in some instances either intentionally or inadvertently/ a glitch, eBay is choosing a random default amount of $3 to enter as COGS if the seller has not entered that data themselves.
ryry-jj
·10 months ago....and buyers cant see it
monica-sells
·10 months agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQpOs3u5qcs
It appears under the pricing options (optional)
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@gurlcat @mam98031 I didn't realize it was a buyer facing screen. No, they will not be showing it to a buyer. I don't use that kind of offer & I never allow counteroffers, so I didn't realize the buyer saw that screen. My bad, I guess. The title of the field looked like COGS to me & I know it's coming imminently.
I don't understand why the automatic reduction would show in a field that says "your cost"? That makes no sense to me. If this is buyer facing, then honestly, I have no idea what it is.
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoThat was a seller facing screen. Thats the screen I see when someone sends me an offer. It shows me my buy it now. It shows me my soft ( I have no idea what that means some of you are saying its my COGS but have failed to show me where I told ebay its my COGS) and last it shows me the offer that was sent to me from the buyer.
hardrhymer76
·10 months agoWe have no idea what it means, either. We're just trying to help you solve the mystery, that's all. We've only speculated that it could be your COGS because we know that feature is being rolled out imminently. And it's not at all that far-fetched that eBay could (intentionally or unintentionally) pre-fill that field for you with an arbitrary default value during the rollout, even if that field is hidden or inaccessible to you at this early stage.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@hardrhymer76 Exactly. My guess just from a techie/programmer standpoint is that the $3 is actually testing data that accidentally made it into production. That makes more sense to me than an arbitrary default, however, it could well be that. Obviously when testing the feature, they would need to populate the field. To some extent, we're all just guessing, other than we know this was announced at Open & was imminent.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@bumbleebuck That's what I thought it was, yes. I didn't fail to show you, I did offer a hypothesis for how it got there, which was that you had entered it somewhere & forgot. It sounds like you didn't do that, but from a diagnostics standpoint as a techie of 30 years, it's one of the first possibilities any techie will think of. It's also the possibility that I'm never able to confirm on the boards b/c I'm not in anyone's office or living room to watch their entries, so it was simply a hypothesis. With the further info that @valueaddedresource has added, seems like you did NOT accidentally enter it. I don't recall seeing the screens that she posted, but I may not have seen the same presentation as her.
It makes sense that it would be on your offer screen b/c that's one of the places that sellers want it, so they know how much of an offer to make. Of course, they should know that anyway since they paid for it lol. Seems like it is what I originally thought & they're simply showing it to sellers & not buyers.
richard1rst
·10 months agoIs there any chance that "your cost" refers to your listing costs -= listing fee, bold face up-charge, sub-title if any, promo fees, 2nd category. etc ????
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoNo, because I didn't do any bold face on the listing. The only thing I did was promote at 9% like I always do. I have no idea where ebay is getting this 3.00 from.
gurlcat
·10 months agoThat's not a bad theory. The OP replied that they didn't use bold but I know there are actually a whole list of "upgrades" and I can't remember them all.
The item in question appears to be one of the Leatherman tools on page 8 of the OP's items (sorted highest-to-lowest). There are a few different ones, but all currently $89.32 in price. -See any premium features? Do they charge a fee for coupon codes now? Maybe for AI descriptions? 😆
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_ssn=bumbleebuck&_sop=16&_pgn=8&rt=nc
bookempirepk
·10 months agoExcellent point about those hidden listing costs! As someone just setting up my book store, I really appreciate experienced sellers like you breaking down the real cost factors. That Ayn Rand quote hits different when you're actually building something from scratch. The marketplace truly rewards individual effort and smart decisions. Thanks for the wisdom - learning from pros like you is invaluable!
bennotbill
·10 months agoWhy would anyone want to tell ebay your actual item costs? That's the sort of information that ebay could use to justify raising promotion fees, or any other fee.
pennpicker
·10 months agoBetting this COGS entry is useful for personal items at tax time.
mam98031
·10 months agoYou are likely right that some would feel that way. Receipts however are still important to keep to prove what the seller is saying is their COGS.
luckythewinner
·10 months agoNo one is suggesting that receipts should get thrown away after being recorded as COGS.
But once the receipt amount is entered, the receipt can be filed away and never consulted again (unless unlucky and get audited).
mam98031
·10 months ago@luckythewinner
Then you missed reading one or more posts completely. Earlier in the thread it was suggested this would help them at tax time for their COGS. Which is why I posted what I did. You simply missed the post.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months agoSellers have been asking for it for well over a decade. I see both sides, but it allows you to see your (almost) true figures on the Orders page & on the cost of selling graphs. I mean we obviously already have it ourselves for our own taxes.
I have it on all my listings b/c it helps me determine offer amts, but not in a way that eBay would know it. I've been wrestling with the pluses & minuses myself, but for me, I think I'll use it b/c it will free up space in my Custom field where I have it anyway.
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoSo you think it's COGS ? But you have failed to show me where I told ebay my COGS were 3.00 and I have provided all the screenshots of the actual listing. No where did I ever have an option for my COGS nor did I tell ebay my COGS were 3.00 ?
powell-collectibles
·10 months agoNice profit margin 🙂
hardrhymer76
·10 months agoDoes clicking the "See pricing options" button reveal any COGS options?
dhbookds
·10 months agoNo, ebay doesn't "plug in an amount".........up to the seller to decided if he wants to use it..... it's for help in responding to offers.....to see the original cost of the item.......
gurlcat
·10 months agoThen I just can't understand why the OP doesn't recognize it. They'll probably be another one of these who posts and disappears.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@gurlcat We haven't been given the details of how it will be implemented although clearly it will be used on a per item level, the Orders page & also on all the reports for selling costs & the graphs, etc. Sellers have been asking for many, many years, so I'm thrilled that they're finally doing it! It was INCREDIBLY well received at Open, since sellers have been asking for decades.
I doubt they will plug in any old number, I would expect it to be 0 if the user doesn't fill it in. As for why OP doesn't know, I really can't say, but users do things ALL THE TIME, that they forget they've done, so I would assume they plugged in the $3.00 & forgot, but that's logical conjecture on my part.
The OP has made 20 posts & is clearly an experienced user, so I see no reason to think they won't be back.
I have not seen the field yet, but I don't use eBay to list & I also haven't updated my listing software to the newest release. It may very well be there. The rollout was imminent in eBay terms.
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months agoThat is your COGS, Cost of Goods Sold & @caldreamer must not have realized that this new feature was announced at Open. I don't remember the exact start date, but it was going to be fairly quickly, before year end for sure, so it seems they have started implementing it. Sounds like the rollout has started.
eBay of course will not know the info, unless you fill it in when listing. I'd love to see a screen shot of it on the listing tool if that's there already, but they indicated it would be used in reports & various screens to help you figure out actual costs, IF YOU populate it.
gurlcat
·10 months agoSo does eBay just plug in a random $ amount if the seller doesn't complete it? Seems like the OP would remember if they typed $3.00 somewhere on the listing, considering how recently they must have created it, to have the new feature applied.
And what the heck is it for anyway???
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoI never gave eBay my cogs in the listing.
gurlcat
·10 months ago@simply-the-best-for-you Looks like it's something else, not COGs.
bumbleebuck
OP10 months ago nope doesn’t say $3.00 there either.
mam98031
·10 months ago@simply-the-best-for-you
Why would Ebay show buyers how much our COGS are? I knew this option was coming, but not that they would share that info with the buyer.
@elizabeth@ebay.com
@kyle@ebay.com
@devon@ebay.com
Can we get some clarity on this. I think we are all confused.
mantle1951
·10 months agoThe 3.00 is not being shown to the buyer!! It is shown to the seller.
caldreamer
·10 months agoThis would what the Seller paid to acquire the item (your "cost of goods"). EBAY would not know this information so you must have indicated that somewhere on your listing.
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoCan you show me in my listing where I told ebay that my COGS are 3.00 ?
bumbleebuck
OP10 months agoCan you show me in my listing where I told ebay that my COGS are 3.00 ?
meme6253
·10 months agoSo let me see if I understand this properly, This is just seller information, to know what the sellers original cost of their item was??
simply-the-best-for-you
·10 months ago@meme6253 Yes. It's going to be provided to us, once we enter the data, on a variety of screens, reports, graphs, etc. From the announcement I watched, sounded like it would be pretty well integrated. Sellers have wanted it so they can have that info handy when making decisions about an item, but also so that the cost of sales reports & graphs will be (more) accurate than they currently are.
Of course they are still not completely accurate, as eBay will still not account for your business overhead, but on a per item level, this should provide sellers a clearer picture. I'm with @mam98031 though, that for tax purposes, you should be using your own numbers. I mean, you already are LOL. If you file taxes, you've always had to provide this in aggregate. But I'm sure there are people out there who just use the eBay reports to file their taxes.
meme6253
·10 months agoGreat, thank you for clarifying that, I appreciate it!