Charging eBay fees on sales tax as a complete rip off
On Reddit you've got everybody sticking up for ebay for charging a 15% fee for sellers on tax. They all say, well they're taking care of the tax. Everybody has to take care of the tax online now. Not just eBay all companies and they don't charge you for it. eBay's only one of the only companies that does it. And this is just another reason why I don't use them anymore. I've gone from 65,000 a year in sales I've got it down to about 500 now. There are many other avenues that I use where I literally don't pay anything. I do not miss eBay much at all anymore
39 comments
deltilogical
·8 months agoYou pay interest on the sales tax for your credit card purchases (typically). Isn't that a scam too? Isn't the Sales Tax ITSELF the scam, not the Ebay fee. I'm sure Ebay would rather not have had to deal with the sales tax requirement imposed on their business.
duffy4444
·8 months ago@nodders-inc :
You may think you're not paying for it when using other venues, but you still are one way or another.
Expand your thinking for a moment and get the big picture...
For a $100 sale to California, for example, where the sales tax is around 9%. That's $9.00. eBay's 13.5% fee on that $9.00 sales tax is only ~$1.22.
Your knickers are in a twist over $1.22 on a $100 sale? That's only 1.22% attributable to sales tax.
OMG! -- The loss of 1.22% for eBay seamlessly taking care of the sales tax disbursement, when you just made a $100 sale. Oh, the tragedy of that kind of theft!
Perspective, my friend.
If you don't use or miss eBay anymore, that's your privilege. But being upset over ~1.22% is really missing the forest ($100.00) for the trees ($1.22). Not to mention that this topic has been beaten to death over the years when understanding the benefits of it is so simple.
SMH...
Cheers, Duffy
kibble-net
·8 months agoWhich explains why you're here today I guess.
Personally, I'm fine having ebay remit sales tax to all 50 states on my behalf. I don't really feel like doing all of that extra paperwork.
redstarrobot_vintage_toys
·8 months agoI assume that OP is just circumventing paying sales tax when it comes to Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Offer up based on direct peer to peer transactions.
johnrj1226
·8 months agoWould you rather distribute the sales tax to all the different agencies to the 45/states yo shipped to every quarter of the year.? Many states have different tax percentage and that can change. Live in GA we have 9 different sales tax rates and one county has two different rates. Think sellers would rather have eBay do it - not a whole lot of $ for the effort.- do the math
redstarrobot_vintage_toys
·8 months agoI would love to hear OP's reputable platforms so I can continue to troll. 😉
redstarrobot_vintage_toys
·8 months agoI am really curious to hear what online platforms are not charging a processing fee on sales tax? Also wondering what online platform is not charging sales tax at all?
soh.maryl
·8 months agoDon't know how many online platforms are not charging a processing fee, but can definitely tell you that any online platform that's not charging state sales tax to buyers in states that have a state sales tax is definitely breaking the law.
redstarrobot_vintage_toys
·8 months agoExactly my point. No reputable online selling platform is breaking US law when it comes to sales tax.
bashort
·8 months agoThat is not always true. If you sell from you own website and have less than 200 sales and less than $100,000 to a single state there is not a requirement to remit sales tax. These requirements vary from state to state.
I have a couple out of state supplier and a few people who I sell direct to that fit into this exemption.
monroe67
·8 months ago"That is not always true. If you sell from you own website . . . . ."
An individual or (very) small business selling from his/her/its own website
is not equivalent to eBay, and its requirements to collect sales tax.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoThank you. Didn't know that. So, in order to avoid having to pay state sales tax on purchases, buyers need to patronize sellers who have their own website. Wonder if the individual states are aware of this loophole?
bashort
·8 months agoI was thinking it would be interesting if someone would keep a running count of the number of discussions about this subject.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoNot enough fingers.
jonathanbrightlight
·8 months agoNot enough fingers and toes.
johnrj1226
·8 months agoGo for it if you are really interested in the "running count".
annadryl
·8 months agoIt's a small percentage (fees) of another small percentage (taxes). It's like one percent?
Some sellers accept that and work it into what the buyers pay. Others just live to complain about it.
Here's a big hug for ya 🤗
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoThis again?
inhawaii
·8 months agoWhen I don't like the food at a restaurant ... I don't eat there.
kabilab
·8 months agoMy compliments to a 50 stater. Your post was concise and logical; it "hit the nail on its head."
christworks
·8 months ago@nodders-inc Are you in need of attention? I mean, you say you don't miss eBay and are selling on other avenues. So why are you hearing taking the time to write such a lengthy post? It reminds of Samantha, the girl on the playground in first grade who would hit me, yell at me, and pinch my arm. She was in love with me but just didn't want to admit it. 😜
onlinecentral
·8 months agoThere have been 1,000 discussions about selling fees being charged on sales tax. Mature seller(s) come along and explain the precedent. Credit card companies have charged selling fees on the total amount, including sales tax, for 60 years. It is normal and customary. You somehow just noticed it, even though you registered on Jan-16-00.
relicpeddler
·8 months agoYes, I kind of feel it's sketchy and yeah there's many other platforms to sell on but none come close to the traffic eBay gets so I just except it.
hotwheelsbum
·8 months agoHow funny, and somewhat ignorant at the same time.
ALL online Sellers are required to collect sales tax for each and every state they sell an item to. You are sitting in Minnesota. You sell one of those Bobbleheads to a Buyer in Florida, YOU are required to collect sales tax on that Bobblehead for the State of Florida. You sell 100 Bobbleheads to 100 Buyers across all 50 States, including your State of Minnesota, YOU are required to collect Sales Tax. Same as if you sell 1000 Bobbleheads across all 50 States, you are required to collect Sales Tax for each and every State for each and every sale.
Now, Some States require you to pay that Sales Tax you collect to the State monthly. Every single month. Some States quarterly. Some States bi-annually, twice a year, or annually, once a year. You sell 200 Bobbleheads to Buyers in 23 different States in one month, you could easily be working on filing paperwork for 12 of those States for the Taxes you collected, then sending 12 Checks out to those States also for the Taxes collected during the month. THEN working on paperwork to file away the Taxes for the other 9 States you'll be sending off checks for at the end of the quarter, middle of the year, end of the year. This could take HOURS just for this one month alone. Now multiply that times 12. You'd almost have to be a part-time Accountant putting in hours and hours a month just to keep up with all the Sales Taxes you'd be paying to multiple states every month. Would you rather be doing that or out sourcing, listing, selling, making money?
OR, you could just shut the lip up and be happy that Ebay is only charging you a small percentage fee to do all this for you every month. Ebay fees are CHEAP compared to the unpaid HOURS you'd put in doing it yourself. The cost of an Accountant to do it for you. If you don't understand what that Fee covers, admit it. We'd rather hear you actually admitting to not understanding it, as we all can clearly see, over this nonsense you're here complaining about. [Removed by Moderator]
nodders-inc
OP8 months ago[Removed by Moderator] eBay charges a sales fee on the sales tax. Nobody else does that. I can sell something anywhere and there is a sales tax collected, but I don't pay an extra fee on top of the sales tax. I'm talking about the state tax. I'm not talking about fees on a credit card machine, yes every state collects the tax but only eBay charges a fee to collect the tax. [Removed by Moderator]
hotwheelsbum
·8 months agoI know exactly what you're talking about. Nowhere in my reply did mention anything, nothing at all about "Credit Card Machines". Not one word.
Yes, ebay is charging a fee to FILE THE TAXES COLLECTED for ALL 50 STATES, errrr, 45 States, (I knew that people, sort of, didn't know exactly how many states DID NOT have a Sales Tax. Just go with me😄) for the Sales you sent to their States. Go back and READ what I said. Would you want to be, as a Busy Seller, be sitting down once a month at a Desk, in front of your Computer, going over ALL your Sales, your Shipping Receipts, and filling out Tax Forms that needed to be filed and taxes paid for each and every Sale you had that month to get the Sales Tax you paid to each and every State you sold to a Buyer in those States?
No, no you do not. Ebay doing all that for you is worth the Fee being charged. In the realm of reality, it is minuscule compared to all the unpaid hours and hours you'd put in every month to do it yourself, or to pay an Accountant to do it for you.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
[Edited by mod - Kindly remain civil and avoid escalation]
sweetpeadngrbtn
·8 months agoIncorrect. There are five U.S. states that don't have sales tax. Delaware, New Hampshire, Montana, Alaska, and Oregon.
Just Sayin', lol.
bonanza125
·8 months agoWhen you sell items online you are required to pay a state sales tax. Ebay processes the tax for you so they charge for that. It helps sellers out cause they don't have to do the accounting work for it. You have every right not to use Ebay anymore but many other sellers are perfectly fine with the policy. How do sellers work around it is by charging the proper amount to cover those fees.
theteamsetguy
·8 months ago@nodders-inc ,
Credit card processors have always charged their 3% to 4% fees on sales tax and shipping since the beginning of the existence of credit cards.
nodders-inc
OP8 months agoNobody's talking about credit card machines. Can anybody read a post anymore? This is about sales tax. Nobody but eBay charges a sales fee on sales tax
theteamsetguy
·8 months ago@nodders-inc ,
Since eBay brought payment processing in house and going away from PayPal, a big chuck of the 13.25% FVF goes to Ayden their credit card processor. Would you prefer eBay increase their FVF to 14% and not charge it the sales tax?
I recall when eBay switched from PayPal to Adyen they decided to have one FVF for the whole transaction instead of a separate one for sale of the items and a lower one on the sales tax to pay the credit card processor on their fees for the sales tax portion for simplicity sake.
On a $50.00 sale with $4.00 sales tax the extra FVF to eBay amounts to about 54 cents which is nothing to get bent out of shape about. I don’t know about the other platforms but I do know Amazon charges their fee on sales tax and shipping for their third party resellers.
nodders-inc
OP8 months agoOnce again, it's about sales tax. Nobody cares about credit card fees. My God. You want to charge a sales fee on sales and shipping, that's fine but you don't do it on sales tax
bonanza125
·8 months ago"You want to charge a sales fee on sales and shipping, that's fine but you don't do it on sales tax"
Yes I would much rather have Ebay charge a fee and take care of the sales tax processing part rather than deal with extra expense and time dealing with it myself. I in return make sure that my item cost covers those fees. If you are unhappy with the Ebay sales tax fee they charge then do not list on Ebay. Sales taxes fees are in the policy which you agreed to by listing your item.
glorybells
·8 months agoThat would be the deal breaker for me. If they said “OK, we’re going to stop charging the fee, but now you have to collect and properly remit the tax to every tax jurisdictionâ€. THAT would make me view eBay through the rear view mirror.
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoThe law would have to change, though. At this time there's a nexus threshold that's higher than just about any of us would achieve.
This is wholly and completely about marketplace tax, because there is no other way states would be able to access this tax revenue.
That's why I chuckle at the constantly repeated argument that somehow sales platforms are taking all this work off our hands. Without a significant change in the tax law, they are not.
ETA: I think the threshold is somewhere between $10k and $100k in state, depending.
monroe67
·8 months ago"Nobody but eBay charges a sales fee on sales tax"
Are you sure about that? Are you positive?
Tell me the name of just one online sales and/or auction site that does not charge its fees on sales tax it collects.
One that is comparable to eBay in its variety of product offerings and worldwide audience.
If you can find one, what is their fee percentage? I would bet their fee percentage is higher than eBay's fee percentage.
eBay is transparent. eBay tells sellers their fee percentage is charged on the total amount paid by the buyer.
That total amount usually includes some sales taxes.
Happy Trails to You.
hotwheelsbum
·8 months agoCorrect.
Both Poshmark and Mercari charges a higher fee on your sales transactions.
Mercari is 10% across the board, but an additional 3-4% as a Payment Processing Fee. I am quite sure that extra 3-4% goes to covering costs to file and pay those Sales Taxes to the States they collect the Sales Tax for.
Poshmark is 20% on EVERYTHING. Pretty sure that part of that 20% covers the expenses for filing and paying the Sales Tax they collect also.
This Guy here clearly has no idea what's all involved in this New Legislation that requires Online Sellers to collect, file, and pay States Sales Taxes for online sales now. My bet, wherever it is he's selling at, probably on his own, or other far far far less reputable online platforms, I'm pretty much sure his Sales Tax Records are not in compliance. A good audit would probably hit him hard. My limited 6 months of experience, and entire 30 sales experience gives me that inkling in itself. 🤣
redstarrobot_vintage_toys
·8 months agoAlso Mercari has a buyer fee of 3.6% on item price and shipping. This would also offset the sales tax remittance they are doing for the seller.
theteamsetguy
·8 months ago@nodders-inc ,
My point I’m trying to make is, if you think it is unfair for eBay to charge their FVF on sales tax then why isn’t unfair for Visa, MC, Amex, and Discover to charge their fees on sales tax which they have been doing since the day credit cards were invented? The other point I’m trying to make is, ever since eBay brought payment processing in house they have at least charge a 3% fee on the sales tax for their payment processor Adyen which then forwards it to payment networks of Visa, MC, Amex, and Discover.