Ebay is stealing money from its sellers Deceptive and Dishonest
first its awful to charge commission on shipping ,second they steal seller fees on return items any chance they can get what a **bleep**ty destructive way to ruin your business Nice Work
36 comments
paxilill
·1 year agoDon't worry there will be a class action in the future where you'll recieve a $25.00 eBay credit, but only after you download the spyware app and use it for no less than six months. However the credit can only be used on purchases of $299.99 or more when financed with Klarna
topnotchgiftshop
OP1 year agoI have received my refund Im Satisfied with the csr but i had to sty on them to give it to me .. it was for a returned item
topnotchgiftshop
OP1 year agoI have received my refund Im Satisfied with the csr but i had to stay on them for 2 wks and several times calling to give it to me .. it was for a returned item glad they worked it out
fbusoni
·1 year ago@topnotchgiftshop
I get all those pesky little fees covered by my buyers. Is not that what everyone does?
a_c_green
·1 year agoI'm not sure I follow your logic there. If I ship to State A, which has a high sales tax, the buyer pays more than if I ship to State B, which, let's say, has little or no sales tax. I thus have a (slightly) higher Final Value Fee for State A than for State B, and my resulting net income is lower by the same amount. That's not something that the buyer is covering; it's just a side-effect of the sales tax that he's paying.
That said, we're really talking about pennies of difference here, and I am perfectly happy to pay eBay those pennies to handle the sales tax filings for me.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoThe buyer would be covering it, if the seller figures the sale tax in when they price their items.
I always figure in 10% for sales tax so I know about what the fees will be.
inhawaii
·1 year agoThat's what I do.
Great minds think alike. 😉
a_c_green
·1 year agoWell, yeah; I mean, we're all setting our prices in anticipation of the fees to be incurred by the sale. I'm just saying that a sale to one state may total a little bit higher than the same sale to another state on the basis of the sales tax applied in each case.
The buyer in the pricier state isn't really "covering" it; in fact he's costing you a few cents of profit on the basis of his sales tax being a little higher than some other state, resulting in a Final Value Fee some teeny bit higher than if he lived elsewhere.
But again, this distinction is not something that's going to keep me up at night. I'm happy to just keep on selling regardless of the destination.
krazzykats
·1 year agoA.C seems to be the only one who understands.
I purchase items online in the U.S.; I do not pay sales tax. Consequently, the seller of the item I buy incurs lower eBay fees on the total amount.
To the rest, before I give this up:
I am paying a sales tax fee on all the eBay sales I make out of state. I understand it is a small fee to cover the processing of taxes collected and distributed to all states.
Once again, this is only about the fees on sales tax and not about sales tax.
If this explanation is still unclear, I will simply let it rest, as I should be at this hour.
Cat needs a nap.
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bonjourami
·1 year ago"Once again, this is only about the fees on sales tax and not about sales tax.If this explanation is still unclear, I will simply let it rest, as I should be at this hour."
Its because you said this that may be causing some confusion as to what you are taking about;
"Why do I pay eBay fees on a sales tax which does not benefit Oregon?
Because that's what I do to sell here."
mam98031
·1 year ago@krazzykats
I completely understand what you are saying. Ebay's structure for the fees on sales tax is the only site that does it how they do. But I think what may have confused some is your comment about the sales taxes not benefiting the state you are in but you still pay fees on it. I know you are aware. Sales tax is charged by the location the buyer has the item shipped to, not where the seller is located.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoThat's why I figure 10% on the sales tax, it pretty much covers it all.
Same here, a little extra on the fee's isn't going to stop me from selling.
mam98031
·1 year agoExcept that is the high end. The average sales tax across the country is likely closer to 8%.
mam98031
·1 year agoDid you happen to take time to read any of the policies BEFORE you started selling. None of this is hidden from a seller. Because you didn't take the time to learn the rules doesn't mean Ebay has been doing anything wrong. Ebay is very transparent about the fees they charge.
Here are some important links to areas you should really take the time to learn about as a new seller.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/selling?id=4081
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/get-started/seller-fees.html
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/service-and-payments/funds-availability.html
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/pending-payments?id=4155
https://www.ebay.com/help/listings/creating-managing-listings/creating-listing?id=4105
And make sure you know this policy extremely well.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210
hartungcards
·1 year agoYou lost me at, "first its awful to charge commission on shipping."
bonjourami
·1 year ago"second they steal seller fees on return items any chance they can get"
So you had cases opened against you which you didnt respond to, so Ebay kept the seller fees, correct? Figures.
inhawaii
·1 year agoEbay is stealing money from its sellers
No, they are not.
krazzykats
·1 year agoI live in Oregon, where there is NO sales tax.
I pay an eBay commission on sales tax and the shipping for all other states with a sales tax when I resell.
Why do I pay eBay fees on a sales tax which does not benefit Oregon?
Because that's what I do to sell here.
á“šá˜á—¢
bonjourami
·1 year ago"I live in Oregon, where there is NO sales tax.
Why do I pay eBay fees on a sales tax which does not benefit Oregon? "
Why should any sales taxes that buyers pay benefit your state of Oregon which doesnt charge any sales tax? If thats the case,then let Oregon charge their own sales tax.
krazzykats
·1 year agoThat's not what I was getting at.
Why am I paying "fees" charged for other state sales taxes.
I am only talking about the "fees", the "fees" on sales tax for states .
Personally, the fee is going to neither break nor make me, it's very insignificant.
Fees, if you please. 😀 And I do pay them because it is what it is.
á“šá˜á—¢
bonjourami
·1 year agoEbay charges a very small fee for collecting state sales tax, and dispurses them to the proper state.Perhaps you'd like to collect and distribute those fees to most of the fifty states yourself?Dont forget that many states have a different tax stucture and payment to different counties within that state.
monroe67
·1 year ago"I live in Oregon, where there is NO sales tax.
I pay an eBay commission on sales tax and the shipping for all other states with a sales tax when I resell.
Why do I pay eBay fees on a sales tax which does not benefit Oregon?
Because that's what I do to sell here."
Why do you pay eBay fees?
Because you're a person who listed stuff for sale on eBay, and some of that stuff sold on eBay.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoI thought that's what @krazzykats just said. 🤔
mam98031
·1 year agoIt is because Ebay is our Money Processor now. So we pay fees on the entire amount that the buyer pays.
Before we paid PayPal a fee on the entire amount that the buyer paid when they were our money processor. And we paid Ebay fees just on the product and shipping.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoBecause the state sales tax that is charged to the buyer (not the seller) is based on the delivery address of the BUYER not on the seller's address.
And the seller pays a final fee based on the item cost, the shipping fee and the state sales tax, if applicable.
ryry-jj
·1 year agoSales tax goes to the jurisdiction the sale goes to, and all their applicable assessments on that tax.
A crazy fact...when we sell to a city/county that has a extra % added to their sales tax for a professional sports stadium, part of our cost we pay is based on that stadium bill...albeit very small, but it's there
mam98031
·1 year agoThat depends. Sales tax has many aspects to it for all the different jurisdictions across the US. Each zip code for any given state has its own breakdown of what is state sales tax, city tax and county tax, rolled together to become the Sales tax charged within that area.
This is why it is important for buyers to use they full 9 digit zip code because it is more accurate and can sometimes save the buyer a little money if the sales tax for their specific location may be a little lower than other areas around them. I live in an area that has a little lower of a sales tax than other cities just a few miles from us.
When a buyer doesn't use their full 9 digit zip code, then the state sets the rate for that 5 digit zip code that Ebay is required to charge the buyer. Likely an average, or it could the the highest rate within that zip code, I honestly don't know how they decide on what the rate will be.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoI believe the 40c service fee on each payment is not refunded.
Nor are fees on Reserves on auctions.
I may be out of date.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year ago@reallynicestamps
Yeah, they changed it so the $0.30/$0.40 fee is refunded as well when you issue a refund voluntarily. I think that's been about a year?
Reserves and other listing upgrades are not refundable, though, you're correct on that.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoThat PayPal non refundable Money Processing fee was in effect on January 2010 when I sold my first item on eBay. That practice simply rolled over to eBay when the became the Money Processor about 5+ years ago.
Read this snippet
"....eBay's primary payment processor is Adyen...... eBay also manages payments internally through their system called eBay Managed Payments.".
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year ago@johnrj1226 Except the whole point of my comment is that it is refunded.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoThose non refundable items you refer to are "clearly" stated in black and white - if one reads the terms = not stealing. Of course, it is knew news to folks that don't read. For example every Money Processor has a small non refundable fee - PayPal did when they were hooked up with eBay at 30 cents and still does but at 40 cents (last I looked).
Auctions are fading away but likewise the reserve is stated - one dose their own poison - if they read.
There are lots of people that don't know what a speed limit sign or a red light means.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoI've never had eBay steal any fees from me, return or not.
And I understand the fee structure before anything gets listed.
kensgiftshop
·1 year ago@topnotchgiftshop
I handle all my returns and always get the fee's refunded.
Why did they keep the fee's you paid?
tex-421
·1 year agoSellers have been ranting and raving about fees since Meg Whitman. John Donahue cancelled eBay Live events because of sellers yelling at him about their outrage over fees. Guess what… eBay’s stock price just keeps going up.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoNot illegal, or immoral - eBay has been doing that since 2011 (Nov ? me thinks) on listings with a separate shipping & hand fee and on every listing that offered "free shipping" and the seller embedded the s/h costs into the item price) (some uninformed sellers thought that it meant they didn't have to pay for a shipping label.
There might be some other surprises you might want read up on before you might have another awakening.
Lots of experienced sellers are quit successful and profitable selling there wares on the eBay site and work within their guidelines. There are other venues with less rules than eBay - like Craig's List, Facebook, local flea markets, yard/garage sales, local auction houses etc - but have limitations you might want to check
out.
FYI - Mar 5, 2025 · eBay had 17.6 million active sellers on the platform in 2024,