eBay tax fee explanation?
The question is the legality of charging 15% to collect the tax by lumping it into the FVF, most payment processors charge 2.5%, why is eBay charging 15%?
Payment processors' fees for tax collection and remittance can vary depending on the processor, services, and merchant agreements. Here are some average fee ranges for popular payment processors:
1. PayPal:
- Tax collection and remittance fee: 1.5% to 2.5% of the transaction amount
2. Stripe:
- Tax collection and remittance fee: 0.5% to 1.5% of the transaction amount
3. Square:
- Tax collection and remittance fee: 1% to 2% of the transaction amount
5. CyberSource:
- Tax collection and remittance fee: 0.75% to 1.5% of the transaction amount
68 comments
bbcardzman
·1 year agoWhy does eBay charge so much?? Because they can!
mam98031
·1 year ago@bbcardzman
What are you comparing them to?
christinlittl_6
·1 year agoEtsy charges a 6.5% transaction fee plus a 3% processing fee + $.25 = 9.5% + $.25
eBay's fees are like 14%. Basically it ends up being HALF of your sale. after adding materials and advertising.
So with PayPal and Square, those are not selling platforms. Those are specific CC processing platforms.
So because eBay is "hosting" your item" , Consider it rent for a cubicle. You don't go to PayPal to shop. You go to eBay to shop and use PayPal to pay. You don't use eBay to pay for items you are purchasing. Make Sense?
mam98031
·1 year ago@christinlittl_6
Etsy charges a 6.5% transaction fee plus a 3% processing fee + $.25 = 9.5% + $.25
Plus if you have a listing with a multiple quantity there is a 20 cent fee per item to relist.
eBay's fees are like 14%. Basically it ends up being HALF of your sale. after adding materials and advertising.
This one you are going to need to show how your math works. How does 14% = 50%??? That doesn't add up. If you are blaming it on Promoted Listings, SELLERS CHOOSE what the additional fees they are willing to pay for a sale, that is NOT Ebay's fault, the seller make the choice. If a seller is CHOOSING a 36% Promotional fee [14 + 36 = 50], that is the seller's fault. That is just ridiculous. Most sellers don't even use Promoted Listings.
So with PayPal and Square, those are not selling platforms. Those are specific CC processing platforms.
Those are NOT selling sites, so they don't charge any selling fees. They are simply Money Processors and you can't compare them to Ebay. Not the same thing at all.
So because eBay is "hosting" your item" , Consider it rent for a cubicle. You don't go to PayPal to shop. You go to eBay to shop and use PayPal to pay. You don't use eBay to pay for items you are purchasing. Make Sense?
Ebay is a VENUE like all the other similar sites. If you are a seller, you can use money in your account to purchase on Ebay with if you want.
christinlittl_6
·1 year agoEtsy charges a 6.5% transaction fee plus a 3% processing fee + $.25 = 9.5% + $.25
Plus if you have a listing with a multiple quantity there is a 20 cent fee per item to relist.
yes. That’s called listing fee. You can either create an all together new listing for .20 cents or each time an item sells, and it has variations, it’s .20 to resist.
the only difference is a single item listing you are charged upfront. Ten single items = $2.00 right out of the gate.
a listing with 10 variations, you are charged .20 cents up front and then you only get charged .20 each time a variation sells.
ALL of the platforms will get their $ one way or another.
eBays fees are not as transparent and easy to calculate. Get and excel spreadsheet. I enter the listing price of the item. eBay’s fees have been about 14% + .40 cents of the list price. I did not give and exact previously. I believe I said about. And if course your category may be different than mine hence your “ridiculousness†is actually explained by your lack of mentally including possible factors.
So with PayPal and Square, those are not selling platforms. Those are specific CC processing platforms.
Those are NOT selling sites, so they don't charge any selling fees. They are simply Money Processors and you can't compare them to Ebay. Not the same thing at all.
you just reiterated what I said in your own words.
I WAS VERY VERY CLEAR when I said the CC sites were different than selling platforms.
I believe the original post is comparing selling platforms to cc processing sites.
have I mansplained enough?
So because eBay is "hosting" your item" , Consider it rent for a cubicle. You don't go to PayPal to shop. You go to eBay to shop and use PayPal to pay. You don't use eBay to pay for items you are purchasing. Make Sense?
Ebay is a VENUE like all the other similar sites. If you are a seller, you can use money in your account to purchase on Ebay with if you want.
this has nothing to do with the topic or what we were talking about.
Maybe read a paragraph out loud to yourself before your next embarrassing rant.
mam98031
·1 year agoEbay's fees are very transparent, but it does require looking at them. They are visible on the Order form after the buyer pays. It is visible on your Summary Screen in the Seller hub and a few other places.
If a seller says they don't know what the FVFs are on Ebay, it is because they don't look.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years agoClosing discussion since some are trying to be the heroes of any post....
ten_o_nine
OP2 years agoWhen eBay collects $100 million in taxes, they remit the entire amount, without deducting any fees, the fees of $15 million are charged to the sellers, other payment processors will charge 250K - 350K for the same and lumping it to the FVF as an excuse for "ease of processing" is fee gouging.
I would understand if eBay lowered their category FVF to account for the 15% on tax, but they didn't.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoWhen eBay collects $100 million in taxes, they remit the entire amount, without deducting any fees, the fees of $15 million are charged to the sellers, other payment processors will charge 250K - 350K for the same and lumping it to the FVF as an excuse for "ease of processing" is fee gouging.
I would understand if eBay lowered their category FVF to account for the 15% on tax, but they didn't.
Now we're trolling. EBay remits the sales tax to the individual states based on the individual state tax laws but it's usually monthly. If eBay ever collected $100 million in sales tax taking a high average sales tax rate of 10% that would mean they have had transactions totaling almost $10 billion.
You should also realize that the FVF's applied and collected by eBay is part of their gross revenue and after the expenses are deducted they pay Federal and State income taxes on the net revenue. NOBODY on this forum has any idea what the bottom line after tax revenue is on those collected fees. Some sellers may call it gouging but the net is not what everyone is claiming.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@dbfolks166mt
Don't get so excited, I didn't ask you. trolling what???
dbfolks166mt
·2 years ago@dbfolks166mt
Don't get so excited, I didn't ask you. trolling what???
I'm a bit too old to get that excited about much these days. It's an open forum anyone is free to respond to any post. Trolling is putting posts or replies out there to try an elicit a response. Usually the posts are inaccurate or contain incorrect information.
The other post about the eBay tax fee explanation drug out for so long and the responses became inappropriate in some instances and the mods shut the post down.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@dbfolks166mt
Sure, when you have some good info to add to discussion.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoSure, when you have some good info to add to discussion.
Which is exactly what I added.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@dbfolks166mt
I started the discussion. Just don't understand your nonsense.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@mam98031
Charging a $150 fee for processing $1000 in taxes is "FEE Gauging" and can be illegal.
fee gouging
noun: the charging of excessive fees especially for professional services
luckythewinner
·2 years agoIf someone actually got that argument into court, I suspect eBay would simply give examples to demonstrate that their total fees are similar or lower than an equivalent transaction on Amazon, Sotheby's, etc.
But more to the point, I wonder why people who think eBay's fees are excessive do not simply use a low-fee site like Mercari or eCrater or eBid or Bonanza instead? I suspect the reason is simple - eBay offers something of value that those other sites do not have ... traffic. Which means eBay provides a different service, making fee comparisons a bit of apples to oranges.
mam98031
·2 years ago@luckythewinner
It is unlikely that they would use that argument as it would be quickly be dismissed as a defense since it isn't true. At least if they compared to Amazon or Etzy. Neither site charges any fees on sales tax. Not a penny.
I absolutely agree with you about TRAFFIC.
gone.c-33
·2 years agoBut you don’t know that they are actually charging $150 to process $1000 in tax.
Using round numbers for argument’s sake, let’s say you sell a $1000 item with free shipping and 10% sales tax with selling fees of 15%. The total order is $1100. Maybe eBay is charging 3% ($33) of the total order for payment processing fees which is in line with most payment processors and 14.2% of the total order minus sales tax ($142) in advertising/platforming/selling fees.
I think that because the two used to be very obviously separated with PayPal, people have a hard time understanding that it’s an all in thing now. I’m sure they have it all mapped out internally and would have no difficulty proving they aren’t overcharging for *money processing* in court.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoBut you don’t know that they are actually charging $150 to process $1000 in tax.
You do if you bring up the order details and know how to do some basic math. The one thing the seller may not know is if eBay is in fact applying the correct sales tax % to the item that was sold. There are over 10,000 sales tax laws that can vary by state, county, city, parish...... as well as the sales tax rate charged, or not charged, on items like clothing, food, bullion..............
Using round numbers for argument’s sake, let’s say you sell a $1000 item with free shipping and 10% sales tax with selling fees of 15%. The total order is $1100. Maybe eBay is charging 3% ($33) of the total order for payment processing fees which is in line with most payment processors and 14.2% of the total order minus sales tax ($142) in advertising/platforming/selling fees.
I think that because the two used to be very obviously separated with PayPal, people have a hard time understanding that it’s an all in thing now. I’m sure they have it all mapped out internally and would have no difficulty proving they aren’t overcharging for *money processing* in court
I would agree that a LOT of sellers have a hard time doing the math and figuring out the numbers.
mam98031
·2 years agoThe highlighted statement is a good one. I completely agree. I don't understand why, but I agree. I see it all the time on threads.
Many sellers confuse themselves as they don't keep Ebay FVF separate from other costs they have on the item and often try to lump them all together and claim Ebay is charging them this huge fee, when they aren't. It can be hard to get some members to understand the break down of costs on an item and how that actually affects them as well as how to calculate Ebay fees.
Agree with it or not. Ebay's simplified fee is really simple to figure but many sellers confuse themselves by adding in stuff that shouldn't be, then they can't justify the fees to themselves.
I hope that makes sense. I'm trying. I had some dental surgery done and I'm still on meds. LOL
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@gone.c-33
But you don’t know that they are actually charging $150 to process $1000 in tax.
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Yes, I do, I pay 15% in FVF for my watches, and now the tax amount is added at 15%, so it is 15%.
gone.c-33
·2 years agoBut not the entire 15% of the final value fee goes towards payment processing and tax collection and remittance.
When eBay switched to managed payments, they could have said, now were charging 2.6% of the entire transaction amount for payment processing, 1.05% of the sales tax amount for tax collection and remittance, 5% of the shipping and handling amount for maintenance between all the available postage APIs and 15% of the item price for selling fees. But instead came up with a SIMPLIFIED flat fee that encompasses everything. We just don’t know the breakdown.
But in their books, I’m pretty sure the portion of the FVF that goes in the payment processing GL line is somewhere between 2 and 3%.
kosmosattik
·2 years ago@ten_o_nine I thought others explained this well but I guess it is not sinking in. Or is this some kind of joke? 15% IS NOT a tax processing fee, OBVIOUSLY. It is the sum of all fees. We don't know what portion of a selling fee goes toward coving the cost of tax processing. There are huge costs in operating this platform and running this company that sales must cover. As a stock company the financials are publicly available if you're interested in seeing how many, many billions in costs are incurred annually. Of course this is for-profit company, and not an especially profitable one at that, and those profits come from fees.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@kosmosattik
I thought others explained this well but I guess it is not sinking in. Or is this some kind of joke?
*************************************************************************************
I believe this response is a joke.
mam98031
·2 years agoI did not know there was a law called "fee gauging". I mean that sincerely, would you please provide a link to the law.
Ebay's fees are very transparent. I'm unsure as to why this is coming up for you now? It also does not appear that most of your sales are in categories that charge 15% and you have a store, so it would be slightly less that that due to having a store even in categories that it is the proper fee.
That $1,000 in taxes would be accompanied by around $13,000 in sales, using 8% as the tax rate since that is the about the average across the Nation.
kalyoth
·2 years agoDon't like it? - Sell elsewhere. You accept terms registering & using. You are not forced to use the platform. Finding out afterwards, when you should have read the small print & policies first, is no excuse for your responsibility.
mam98031
·2 years ago@kalyoth
What "small print"? Be specific. I'm not aware that any of the policies or rules are issued in "small print", so I'm concerned I missed something.
Ebay is very transparent about the fees they charge. I'm just trying to understand your post and to make sure I'm not missing something important with the rules.
kalyoth
·2 years agoThe small print is the user agreement. 80% or more just blast past it & then complain afterwards about "WHY!? they didn't tell me!"
mam98031
·2 years ago"Small Print" has a real meaning and the User Agreement is NOT written in small print.
bgt_masters_of_tiki_d
·2 years agoI understand the premise behind this statement and it is nonetheless true to an extent. However. When I began listing on ebay the rules were much different, from return time, to how I get paid, to the percentage of fees. Over time many of these have greatly changed from when I first made the decision to start selling on ebay.
Ebay would have to get pretty bad for me to leave, not because I am unwilling to leave but because of the thousands of hours I wouldn't get back that I have invested into ebay. Taking pictures and spending time creating all of the listings. I am sure they know this and they can change the rules at will. Ebay now is not the ebay I signed up for and the original rules I agreed to when I made the decision to invest all of my time and money into running a business here. Everyone has a breaking point sooner or later as its all a juggling act with ebay between their bottom dollar, keeping buyer's around/happy and the sellers. In that order.
To tell people they knew the rules when they signed up and if they don't like it leave is only a half truth at best. Just a different perspective on things.
mam98031
·2 years agoMost everything changes as time passed. It is no different with any internet type site like this one. Over the years, things cost more and therefore they charge more.
The same with the User Agreement. We all still have to comply with it as it changes if we stay active on Ebay.
mam98031
·2 years ago@ten_o_nine
I'm not sure about the rest, but PayPals fees were higher than that back in 2015, and I know they raised their rates that summer. I belief it is 2.99% - 3.49% and a 49 cent per transaction fee.
You are partially correct, but it is NOT illegal. Different yes, illegal no.
In August of 2020, Ebay adopted a Simplified fee for the selling fees and money processing fees. This way they just had one fee. At that time we paid Paypal 2.9% and a 30 cent per transaction fee and the Ebay FVF was 10.2% in most categories. So with the adoption of the Simplified fee program they added the two fees together. 2.9% + 10.2% = 13.10%. Ebay added just a little more and made most categories have a 13.25% FVF.
So yes, we are the only site that I'm aware of that the selling fees are also charged on the Sales Tax portion of the sale. Esty nor Amazon do this. But Ebay does. This is the only thing that is different, the percentage on the Sales tax. So on the sales tax portion of a sale ONLY is being charged the full fee instead of just the money processing fee.
The product and shipping on all three sites is the full selling fee and money processing fee.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoCharging 13.5% on the entire transaction is how eBay is able to bolster revenue. There is no other reason.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoCharging 13.5% on the entire transaction is how eBay is able to bolster revenue. There is no other reason.
And there is nothing wrong with that. Their sole purpose as a publically traded company is to maximize their value to their shareholders.
mam98031
·2 years agoActually, while Ebay can and does charge their selling fees on the sales tax, IDK if they are the only ones that do that, but Etsy and Amazon do not do that. Neither site charges any fees on sales tax. Paypal did when they were are money processor, but then Ebay charged the selling fee only on the product and shipping, no fees were charged at that time on sales tax.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoActually, while Ebay can and does charge their selling fees on the sales tax, IDK if they are the only ones that do that, but Etsy and Amazon do not do that. Neither site charges any fees on sales tax. Paypal did when they were are money processor, but then Ebay charged the selling fee only on the product and shipping, no fees were charged at that time on sales tax.
At least eBay is open about it. I believe Etsy has reverted to the buyer paying the fees so not sure how that is working out. Amazon is in a category of its own and without insight into their account methods who know they may be burying the merchant fees they pay into the price. The same applies to the shipping cost when Amazon declares it as free. Nothing is free so odds are the fees and shipping are either being recovered through prime membership or are imbedded into the price, or both.
mam98031
·2 years agoEtsy has never had the buyers paying fees that I'm aware of, so nothing to "revert". I sell on Etsy and have for years, but not since the beginning. I should say I'm not aware of any years that they charged the buyers fees.
It was Mercari that earlier this year [late March] they started charging buyer directly for selling fees and not the sellers.
I sell on Amazon too. I don't think if Amazon is selling the item that they would be charging themselves a selling fee, so no need to "bury" it in the pricing. But who knows, strange things happen all the time. As a 3rd party seller on their site, I am NOT charged any fees on sales tax paid by the buyer.
Free shipping is a Marketing program originally dreamed up by the Marketing team for Target many years ago. We all know that no carrier gives anyone a free pass on shipping stuff, there is always a fee to ship as there are costs to the carrier for the service. So even as big as Amazon is, they pay for shipping too. These costs have to be rolled into the pricing of the item. Certainly the size Amazon is, shipping from their own warehouses, they get a very good discount on the shipping, but 3rd party sellers don't have that kind of buying power.
The structure on items being sold directly by Amazon are different than the structure for 3rd party sellers. And then there are 3rd party sellers that keep their inventory in FBA, and their costs are different than the 3rd party sellers that ship their own stuff. But bringing it back to the subject at hand, Amazon does not charge their fees to 3rd party sellers on sales tax.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoObviously, but there tend to be a lot of explanations here that dance around something that can be answered in one word: "Profit".
mam98031
·2 years agoI agree, but too many member seem to think that the FVFs we pay are pure profit to Ebay, which they are not. But some don't recognize or consider that it actually costs real money to manage a site this size.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@mam98031
But some don't recognize or consider that it actually costs real money to manage a site this size.
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I do, I worked for a high-tech company for over 35 years.
You get the mandate, and you have a deadline to meet before penalties apply.
Managing the site is BAU, they did it before the tax was implemented.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoFollowing is my second canned answer.
First eBay is hiding nothing, the fees they charge are fully disclosed. EBay is a business and they exist to make a profit and satisfy the expectations of their shareholders, nothing more.
But more importantly I have never worried about what eBay makes, what the post office charges for shipping or what the government takes out for federal and state income taxes I simply manage it and incorporate those costs into a cost model to assess whether I can list an item on eBay and meet my own profit/ROI expectations and be competitive in the marketplace. If I cannot then I sell the item elsewhere.
It has been standard practice for a LONG time for businesses to apply fees to the entire amount of the purchase. CC companies have done this for ages. Granted the CC merchant fees are only 2-3% but it is still applied to the sales tax. FYI if the buyer paid for their item with a CC and there was sales tax on the item then eBay is paying the merchant fee on the sales tax.
When I do my taxes every year the eBay fees are often one of my cheaper expenses. The COGS and Federal and State income taxes are at the top of that list.
isaiah53-57
·1 year agoWe on the other hand are very concerned about the fees here - They continue to drive up the cost to sell online - it does not just affect those who sell on this site - We used the ebay site as a tool when they were reasonable - When we thought they started abusing the give and take relationship, we created alternatives for ourselves, but more importantly, we took a stance and made a statement against high fees and utterly ridiculous policies - If more people did what we did, we wouldn't have the problems we do today, with absolutely no end in sight, I might add...
mam98031
·1 year agoWhy are you still concerned? How does it affect you anymore?
Ebay hasn't raised their FVF in quite a while. The did raise the per transaction fee not to long ago from 30 cents to 40 cents on transactions above $10.
isaiah53-57
·1 year agoOnce again, you ask a question that was answered in the post you responded to - unbelievable - Not sure if reading comprehension is a problem for you or what...
I stated in the post you responded to: "
"We on the other hand are very concerned about the fees here - They continue to drive up the cost to sell online - it does not just affect those who sell on this site"
CLEARLY that makes your query ALREADY ANSWERED - For most venues, fees for selling online are determined by the going rate of bigger and more established venues(notice I didnt say better)- The higher the fees go here and other places, the higher the tide rises across the board... My opinion is, the fees here are TOO HIGH and they MOST CERTAINLY do not deserve what they are asking - especially when they are putting forth maximum effort to get you to pay them 25% to 50% of the items selling price in fees with their reprehensible Promoted Listings program...
janet9988
·1 year agoJust go sell your items in person, at a physical location.
No online fees.
mam98031
·1 year agoI sell on multiple sites. On some I sell what I sell here on Ebay. The fees here are less and I have to sell the items for more on another site because it costs more to sell there.
So while that may be a reason on things you sell, it isn't necessarily true for others.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoThe question is the legality of charging 15% to collect the tax by lumping it into the FVF, most payment processors charge 2.5%, why is eBay charging 15%?
Because there are no current federal laws that prohibit them from doing so. One thing to remember is out of that, 13.25% in most cases, that eBay is applying to the sales tax they are paying the merchant fee of 2-3% to the bank or CC company. So for the rest I will use my canned response.
I have always considered the eBay FVF's on sales tax to be the best accounting bargain around. If you sell a $100 item to a buyer in a state with 8% sales tax the FVF on the $8.00 in sales tax amounts to 13.25% * $8.00 or $1.08 if you are promoting at 2% that adds another $.16 so the total FVF on the sales tax is $1.24.
For that $1.24 eBay keeps track of the 10,000 various state, county, city, parish, municipality..... sales tax rates, and laws, and applies and collects the proper sales tax from the buyer. The sales tax percentage may also vary depending on the type of items you are selling since some states, counties, cities…. Tax different items differently. Food and clothing for example. EBay then remits those collected funds to the 45 states with sales tax laws on whatever periodic basis is required. There is NO WAY I want to take on that burden as a seller for $1.24 +/- out of a $100 sale. "
For those sellers that are so focused on this issue simply raise your price by $1-$1.50 per every $100 of the sale price. In some cases you will come out ahead, some cases you will cover the fees on the tax and in some cases you will come up a bit short but it should average out. If you want to get more finite remember you will pay income taxes on that added revenue so based on your income tax bracket you may want to add a bit more into your price. ðŸ˜
luckythewinner
·2 years agoThe question is the legality of charging 15% to collect the tax by lumping it into the FVF, most payment processors charge 2.5%, why is eBay charging 15%?
It is legal. eBay can base its fee calculation on pretty much anything it wants to. It could base it on the month of the year, the phase of the moon, the color of the item, the item category, the seller's rating, the seller's service metrics, the seller's store subscription type, the country where the buyer is registered, or the location that it is shipped to.
Here's a hint - of the 9 things I listed that eBay could use in its fee calculation, they are already using 6 of them.
Was just comparing to other payment processors I see eBay charging 600% more, why?
You were not just comparing it to other processors. In the very first sentence, you clearly state that you are also questioning the legality of it.
That aside ...
I suspect eBay does it because it is several years after that amount was included in the fee calculation, and there are still 20 million sellers here with a total of 1.5 billion items. The sellers have clearly voted with their wallets.
monroe67
·2 years ago"The question is the legality of charging 15% to collect the tax by lumping it into the FVF, most payment processors charge 2.5%, why is eBay charging 15%?"
I took a look at some of your listings.
If you sell that purple-faced watch, eBay's Final Value Fee (FVF) will be 15% of the total amount paid by your buyer.
I think your various plates, clothing, and sports team license plates are all subject to a 13.25% FVF.
As for the legality -- I'm worn out from today's earlier exercise in futility.
In your list of payment processors:
Do you question WHY "Stripe" charges only 0.5% to 1.5% of the transaction amount while "Square" charges 1% to 2% ??
WHY does McDonald's offer Coca-Cola products while Kentucky Fried Chicken offers Pepsi-Cola products ??
WHY does Costco continue to sell a hot dog with a refillable drink for only $1.50 ??
Just think of all the money they could make if they just raised that price to $1.60 !!
1funkydude
·2 years agoBecause it’s easier. They can state and collect one fee for the whole amount processed and get the revenue they want.
They could charge a final fee of somewhere in the 12-12.5% range plus a 2% processing fee for a total 14-14.5%, then have a separate line for the 2% on the tax. You’d pay the same.
gone.c-33
·2 years agoThe final value fees are all included, we don’t get/need the breakdown of how much goes to what.
For all we know, maybe 2-3% of the final price goes towards payment processing, 1-2% towards marketing, 5% towards site maintenance, etc but who needs to know all that?
safan80
·2 years agomam98031
·2 years agoWell I bet you are happy that problem went away in July of 2020 when Ebay started onboarding seller to MP. Most were in MP in the coming months, but it did take until the end of 2021 to complete the onboarding.
I never had the issue you describe, but it sure would have been annoying. Anytime you want to see the details now, all you need to do is go to the summary page. All kinds of info on this page and in the left rail.
https://www.ebay.com/sh/fin/summary
gone.c-33
·2 years agoOf course, one should always make sure they were charged the right fees, mistakes happen, that’s what I check all my bills monthly. But as long as the phone company charges me exactly what is stipulated in my contract and no more, I don’t care what part of my bill goes towards what.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoStill don't get the 'legality' part. This site can charge 5% of the 'item sold' 10% of the shipping charged, and 340% of the Tax Paid- Legally....
as long as that information is transparent, this being a 'private' company, they can do what they want.
Heck, a Big Mac can cost $149 and if McD's can get it, good for them. If everyone thinks it's 'too high' then Nobody will buy it.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years agoWas just comparing to other payment processors I see eBay charging 600% more, why?
mam98031
·2 years agoYour math is off.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoWell, not really- you questioned the 'legality' of it.
If you just want to know why...
Because they can and have since Adyen took over and they still manage to get Millions of new listings listed and sold EVERY day. The 'Few' that this makes unhappy- maybe .00001% are actually selling something that a buyer cannot get here, so it just doesn't matter.
Business is all about numbers. "What can I get away with and not affect the bottom line more than the costs"
mam98031
·2 years agoYou are partially correct. Adyen is processing the actual money, but Ebay IS a legal Money Processor. Ebay manages Managed payments
Ebay started charging fees on sales tax received from buyers the moment any seller was onboarded to Managed Payments.
Before that, we paid fees on sales tax to PayPal for money processing. I think there bank is Bancorp that actually does the money processing like Adyen does it for Ebay.
I still don't know with where the OP came up with 600%.
ten_o_nine
OP2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers
Well, not really- you questioned the 'legality' of it.
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I am still questioning the legality of it, not the fee, but the 15% to administer.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoI am still questioning the legality of it, not the fee, but the 15% to administer.
Other than a few exceptions there are no current laws that inhibit private industry from maximizing their profits. One thing to remember is when you pay for an item eBay is hit with the merchant fees from the CC company or third party financial processor so that 15% is immediately reduced by 2-3%. So it's now down to 13%.
Neither nor anyone else on this forum has insights into the amount of effort and the expenditures required to manage the application of the sales tax, keeping up with the constantly changing sales tax laws, making the code adjustments to adapt to those changes and remitting those taxes to the proper state in a timely manner. A lot of sellers like to guess and speculate but none of them have factual data.
EBay is probably utilizing somebody's software to handle a lot of the processing as far as the application and recording of the taxes applied and collected but eBay still has to remit the taxes although they may be paying Adyen to do that. Who knows.
janet9988
·2 years agoThe legality of it is that ebay CAN charge that much as it is in their policies.
Ebay is not a payment processor.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoStill don't get the 'legality' part. This site can charge 5% of the 'item sold' 10% of the shipping charged, and 340% of the Tax Paid- Legally....
as long as that information is transparent, this being a 'private' company, they can do what they want.
Heck, a Big Mac can cost $149 and if McD's can get it, good for them. If everyone thinks it's 'too high' then Nobody will buy it.
Tend to agree and the seller and or buyer agreed to that when they accepted the eBay terms which is in essence a contract. I always laugh when I see sellers post that an eBay practice is illegal but cannot provide any proof of what law is being violated.
There have been a number of class action law suits filed against eBay, some of which they have lost, that did in fact challenge the legality of the user agreement. Some of those had precedence some did not. One of the current eBay policies could probably be challenged in court and that is the practice of holding funds. While the holding of funds is probably legal from a contractual perspective the fact that eBay does not pay interest on those held funds is questionable and there is precedence for the law suit. There are a number of states where banks and mortgage companies are required to pay interest on escrow accounts. The infinite hold on funds and ultimate release of those funds to a state are also probably questionable but nobody has made a move to initiate the class action. Yet.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoOne of the current eBay policies could probably be challenged in court and that is the practice of holding funds. While the holding of funds is probably legal from a contractual perspective the fact that eBay does not pay interest on those held funds is questionable and there is precedence for the law suit.
Anything could probably be challenged it court. But not successfully.
I believe the practice of PayPal holds and the lack of interest on them were unsuccessfully challenged in Campbell vs. eBay (~2013).
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoOne of the current eBay policies could probably be challenged in court and that is the practice of holding funds. While the holding of funds is probably legal from a contractual perspective the fact that eBay does not pay interest on those held funds is questionable and there is precedence for the law suit.
Anything could probably be challenged it court. But not successfully.
I believe the practice of PayPal holds and the lack of interest on them were unsuccessfully challenged in Campbell vs. eBay (~2013).
That case had a number of different items rolled into it including the following two items.
(5) PayPal's failure to deliver payments immediately from an eBay buyer to a seller, instead making use of the funds during the delay period while the funds are in the possession and control of PayPal.
(9) sellers subject to account holds by Defendants cannot obtain shipping insurance because a recommended third party insurance provider only accepts payment through PayPal.
Both of these translated into a breach of fiduciary duty. If you read through the entire case the plaintiff and her lawyers, if she had any, failed to provide enough evidence or recommendations regarding the suit and the case was dismissed. The plaintiff had about a month to revise the suit and resubmit but not sure if they followed through on the submission.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoIf you read through the entire case, you would know that Campbell had two lawyers representing her because they are named right at the top of cover page of the court filings. (They were Franklin & Franklin in CA and Anthony Ferrigno in TN)
That aside ..
Campbell vs. eBay was a class action lawsuit on behalf of sellers in CA, and as you note one of the allegations was that eBay/PayPal had been holding seller money unfairly. Yet her lawyers failed to present a seller to the court whose money was held by eBay/PayPal.
I can infer only one thing from that ... they failed to name a seller because they knew continuing the case was pointless because they were going to lose.