EBay fees.
If you have looked at your statements from eBay and you. Sell? An. Item for $25 there's a 13.25% charge fine. But they are also charging that 1313.25% charge against your shipping cost. And the taxes that are collected that they sent to your states which I think is illegal.
74 comments
1funkydude
·3 years agoThere are people enslaved by their victim mentality no matter what evidence or math is presented to them.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoI just paid $14.07 on a $119.84 Sale
11.7%
This was on $127.04 which included $7.20 Sales Tax paid by buyer
11.1%
Parts/Accessories with a Store.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agohttps://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoThere 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.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoWhy wouldn't a seller, using 'Calculated Shipping' add a 'handling fee'?? That amount would be 13% plus shipping materials.
So, a $10 'real shipping cost' would be $13 to the customer.
Then, the 'percentage of the sale' would remain at the same 13%.
stuff4divas
·3 years ago@jkbford very very very old news and obviously not illegal since most online selling platforms do the same thing
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years ago"if you had looked at", let's see what you should have looked at.
If you had looked at eBay's clearly posted details on seller's fees (FVF and other), this would not have surprised you.
If you had looked at the little line at the bottom of the listing draft before you clicked "List it" it talks about applicable fees and how you agree to those.
If you had looked at these and had questions, you could have answered them and avoided any of these unwelcome surprises.
EBay doesn't hide the fact that they do this, they just expect you to read it, like we sellers expect buyers to read and then complain that they don't and get upset. I always feel this is the pot calling the kettle black.
coolections
·3 years ago@ajs_coins_and_alchemy Just to be clear I know the cost and can handle it. It is just that when Ebay advertises 12.5% then puts in small letters at the bottom of the page letting you know it is really not 12.5% is what I disagree with.
hartungcards
·3 years agoeBay doesn't "advertise" 12.5% FVF's because they "advertise" the new 13.25% in most categories.
coolections
·3 years agoCorrect, not only did they gouge by tripling the cost they even went so far to just increase the cost more.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years ago@coolections
Fair enough, don't disagree, especially because my comment had nothing to do with you. LOL!
Didn't read yours or anyones comments, mine is in response to OP's post. It directly quotes him
monica-sells
·3 years agoWhere is any amount/percentage advertised that specifies it is ONLY on the item and not the total selling price?
(source, link, provenance)
Show me that and I will go to my corner with my dunce cap on.......
monroe67
·3 years ago"Where is any amount/percentage advertised that specifies it is ONLY on the item and not the total selling price? (source, link, provenance)
Show me that and I will go to my corner with my dunce cap on......."
May I join you there? I can bring cookies.
monica-sells
·3 years agoI suspect I won't need to locate my dunce cap.....
rustydalmatian
·3 years agoOn a sale of $100, you pay eBay 79 cents for the courtesy of doing the bookkeeping and remitting of your buyers sales tax. You would have to do this for each and every individual sale. And eBay does it for you for less that 8 tenths of a cent on the dollar.
In my opinion, this is one of the few things eBay does right.
My figures assume 6% sales tax.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoThis question/post comes up several times a week and the answers are always the same. Most sellers already know how the fees are applied without having to look at their statements. There is nothing illegal about the charge every CC company charges the merchant their 3-4% processing fee on the entire transaction including the sales tax.
luckythewinner
·3 years agoYou are free to believe things are illegal when they are not. But lawyers and courts apply a more rigorous standard that your opinion.
monroe67
·3 years ago"If you have looked at your statements from eBay and you. Sell? An. Item for $25 there's a 13.25% charge fine. But they are also charging that 1313.25% charge against your shipping cost. And the taxes that are collected that they sent to your states which I think is illegal."
I burst out laughing at this post. My television is on across the room, reporting horrible but unfortunately familiar news today, much of the United States is experiencing devastating storms, and much of the rest of the nation is awaiting news from the legal system in at least two states.
Yes, you are right that eBay's fees are charged to the seller. Those fees are not "fines", which suggest some type of punishment. The toy you sold was listed in a category that is subject to a 13.25% final value fee. The Final Value Fee, as the name suggests, is charged on the total amount paid by the buyer. If you sell jewelry, even costume jewelry, fashion jewelry, the final value fee is 15% of the total amount paid by the buyer.
Experienced sellers try to build that fee percentage into the price they are asking.
The most laughable part was the poorly phrased: " . . . taxes that are collected that they sent to your states which I think is illegal." It was a legal decision by the Supreme Court, South Dakota v Wayfair, that requires eBay to calculate and collect sales taxes from buyers, and then send that money to the buyers' state. And this process has been in effect for at least three, maybe four years now?
OK, maybe OP meant to say (but did not say) that eBay collecting a fee on the sales tax process (calculating, collecting, sending to states) is illegal. Nope. Not at all.
stevemartin60
·3 years agoeBay overcollects on items that are food related that they should know darned well are not taxable in many states. You got to advocate for yourself, as no one else will do it. On the other hand, eBay has plenty of advocates here who will look to excuse any questionable behaviors.
pargran3
·3 years agoNo kidding. Most sellers know what they are doing before they do it. There are no surprises what the fees will be.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoAll of this is old news. Nothing illegal. Just keep raising your prices. The sales tax is SENT to the BUYERS' state. Be grateful that ebay does this for you. Otherwise, you would have to send the taxes owed to EACH individual state. The paperwork alone is a nightmare since the sales tax is different in each county within the state.
coolections
·3 years agoNot illegal but it does hurt that Ebay lies to sellers knowing darn well the cost is more around the 22% range.
monica-sells
·3 years agothis is where I get confused...
How can a mandatory fee of 13-15% on a total sale become 22%....
I have not yet had the honor of paying 22% on a sale
what have I missed out on?
coolections
·3 years agoIt surprises me on how many do not know what they actually pay. Here is a breakdown:
Sell your $55.00 typewriter.
Buyer your ship label $28.00 (buyer paid)
Add buyer's state tax $4.50 (buyer paid)
Add 30 cent processing fee
Ebay will take $11.58 out of your $55.00 item costing you (21.05) % in fees. You in return get $43.42 from your $55 asking price.
hartungcards
·3 years agoUh....in your example above, if the buyer paid the shipping and the sales tax, then eBay took the standard 13.25% or so out of your $55 sale price, not the 21.05% you claim they took from you. It surprises me too how many do not know what they actually pay.
coolections
·3 years ago@hartungcards Wow.. did you even read it or look at the breakdown of the cost? Ebay is kidding you and you believe them. Ebay did not take the standard 13.25%. Actually, I was being lenient because I did not even RAISE THE COST that Ebay just did to you. $11.55 out of $55.00 for the typewriter. Redo your math because what you say is wrong big time.
hartungcards
·3 years agoSorry, but the $11.55 came out of the total transaction, not just the $55.00 for the item. And the buyer paid the shipping and the tax, not you.. So yeah, I did read it and I did look at the breakdown, and eBay is not kidding me, and I don't need to redo the math.
agardencottage
·3 years agoI sell mostly vintage or antiques or pure second hand... and find I pay around 20% give or take no matter where I sell... auctions even more, sometimes 30-40%, plus auctions also get paid by buyer too.
coolections
·3 years agoYou would be pretty accurate at your assumption. The ONLY reason why your fees are a little lower than my example is jewelry is lightweight so Ebay cannot rob you the extra 13.5% on shipping.
monica-sells
·3 years agohuh?
55.00 + 28.00 + 4.40 = 88.50 Sale Price
88.50 X.22 (22%) = 19.47 + .30 = 19.77
so, 19.77 would be 22% and they only charged 11.58 which is 13.08%
please enlighten me
coolections
·3 years agoNOPE, you are absolutely wrong. It was not sold for $88.00 the buyer bought it for $55 and he paid you on another line item so he can sit in his living room and have someone to deliver to his door. Then he paid separately on another line item to the state to have the road fixed so the delivery driver will not get a flat tire. Redo your math.
monica-sells
·3 years ago"...the buyer bought it for $55..."
so, the buyer only paid the seller $55.00?
OK
coolections
·3 years agoYes, that is all the buyer paid the seller. The rest went for taxes and shipping.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agothis is where I get confused...
How can a mandatory fee of 13-15% on a total sale become 22%....
I have not yet had the honor of paying 22% on a sale
what have I missed out on?
That is because there are actually 2 rates. The first is the 13.25% eBay charges you on the entire transaction as it is published in their fee schedule.
The second is what I refer to as the effective rate and that is the fees as a percentage of the gross revenue from the sale. The effective rate will always be a bit higher. Example
You can do the same calculation where it is not free shipping but you have to also factor in the shipping cost the buyer paid and the actual shipping cost the seller paid. This can be either a + or a - difference.
pburn
·3 years agoMath teachers everywhere are shaking their heads at that chart.
coolections
·3 years agoStrange, I had a part time job tutoring math years ago. You are right, some just cannot figure it out as Ebay scrambles the actual fee amount to keep you confused.
hartungcards
·3 years agoWell, at least eBay's alleged tactic of keeping you confused seems to be working.
coolections
·3 years ago@hartungcards Not confused one bit. I know math very well thank you.
pburn
·3 years agoIt's possible you replied to the wrong post. My comment was not directed to you, nor did it make any reference to anything you had posted in any of your responses.
coolections
·3 years agoMath teachers everywhere are shaking their heads at that chart.
I was just agreeing with the statement you wrote about math teachers. They would definitely be shaking their heads knowing many sellers think it only cost 12.5% to sell on Ebay.
coolections
·3 years agoYou sold the item for $150 but you forgot to subtract what you paid for shipping. Do that, then recalculate because shipping is NOT FREE. I hope you do not think it is?
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoYou sold the item for $150 but you forgot to subtract what you paid for shipping. Do that, then recalculate because shipping is NOT FREE. I hope you do not think it is?
Nothing to recalculate with regards to the eBay fees. Shipping is NOT free but on a posting with free shipping the seller should have calculated that into their price of $150. The price the seller paid for the shipping label is NOT an eBay fee it is a selling expense. A lot of posters try to factor the postage cost into the eBay fees and it is not part of the fees. Example using calculated shipping where the shipping cost the buyer paid is EXACTLY the same as what the seller paid for the shipping label which we all know is seldom true.
monroe67
·3 years ago"How can a mandatory fee of 13-15% on a total sale become 22%....
I have not yet had the honor of paying 22% on a sale
what have I missed out on?"
I don't think you have missed out on anything. You understand how the final value fee is calculated. You know that it is calculated on the total amount paid by the buyer.
The types of posts that state that a seller has "paid" 22% on an eBay sale -- are comparing the total of the FVF fees (percentage plus 30 cents) to only the listed price, or auction sale price.
For myself, I generally estimate that my net earnings will be around 70% of my listed prices, estimating therefore that eBay's fees will be around 30%. Those are the numbers I keep in my mind when I am trying to price my listings. If I actually net more than that 70% estimate, so much the better.
To post a statement like "eBay keeps 22% of your sales" or "eBay's fees are really 30% and not really 13.25%" are, in my opinion, wrong because they mislead new sellers.
coolections
·3 years agoIf you have an item worth $55.00 and sell it for $55.00 then THAT is the amount the item sold for. You have to subtract Ebays fees from the $55.00 sold item. Please go back and redo your math, maybe get a tutor?
monroe67
·3 years ago"If you have an item worth $55.00 and sell it for $55.00 then THAT is the amount the item sold for. You have to subtract Ebays fees from the $55.00 sold item. Please go back and redo your math, maybe get a tutor?"
You may be right about me needing a tutor for math. Fifty years ago I was student-teaching in an English as a Second Language program where most of the young-teenage children (12-13-14 years old) were Spanish speakers. They used to say, "Ms. Monroe no sabe matematicas." Which means, of course, "Ms. Monroe does not know mathematics."
I have carefully re-read both of my previous posts in this thread. With the exception of having omitted one "s" to make a single noun plural . . . . . . .
I stand by every word of my two previous posts in this thread.
Here are some facts of eBay: (1) eBay charges final value fees to sellers. (2) Those final value fees include two parts. (a) The first part is $0.30 (thirty cents) which is charged "per order." (b) The second part is a percentage of the Total Amount Paid By The Buyer.
Read those words again: Total. Amount. Paid. By. The. Buyer.
eBay does not lie about their final value fees. If people are confused on how the final value fees are calculated , it is because they are not reading carefully and accurately or they do not know the meanings of those six simple words.
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoNothing to be confused about. Nothing missed.
This creative math (looking at it from another angle) is repeatedly posted.
We all know that once something is posted enough times it becomes truth/fact 🙂
Depending upon the item selling price, and the shipping cost, if looked at from the right angle it can even be much greater than 22%
fees................ costs.................. it's all in how you look at it.
pargran3
·3 years agoNo, it isn't
soh.maryl
·3 years agoCare to show us the figures where you come up with 22% final value fee?
coolections
·3 years ago@soh.maryl Already did.
hartungcards
·3 years agoThat'll learn ya to go looking at your statements from eBay.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoVery transparent and readily available at the bottom of EVERY listing you make:
agardencottage
·3 years agoAs I read @jkbfordcomment collecting the tax is not a problem, but the fee on the tax... now is that right? I suppose they are handling the funds before sending to our state... OK, guess they deserve something for that too...
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoI am happy to see that you have become aware of the fees that have been charged on likely most of your sales in the past several months.
That will allow you to properly adjust your listing prices to aid in covering the fees charged by eBay just as you do to cover the cost of shipping, supplies, time, and COG.
hartungcards
·3 years agoConsidering what you charge for shipping, you should still be making out pretty well.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoYes, most sellers know that. There is a blue underlined area right above the 'LIST' button that you are to click that says 'Final Value Fees will apply'; you click it and it tells you what they charge and what they use in their calculation.
It is NOT illegal. Been done that way since the 1940s.
When you use a credit card at Walmart, the 'Sales Tax' is also included in the Total and then Walmart has to pay the Processor on the TOTAL at the register.
Nothing different here.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·3 years agoWell to be correct Walmart is it's own aggregate card processor now been that way for some years. They grew tired of paying the commissions out to third parties which for an entity as large as they amounts to quite the chunk of change. They also don't get cracked as much in chargebacks and since they are the card processor vs just the merchant they have far far more capability to pursue frauds.
mtgraves7984
·3 years agoIt's not illegal... put your mind at ease.
bonjourami
·3 years agoNothing 'illegal' about collecting sales taxes and remitting them to the proper states, its the law. Ebay charges the fvf on the entire transaction they process, as all web sites do.Paypal does that too, and always has.