Fees
Well, I've been selling on Ebay for about 3-4 months now. And each month I am shocked at what Ebay takes in selling costs. For the month of November, I sold $397 worth of items. Between taxes/government fees, Ebay fees (final value), account level fees and adjustments, and the real shocker, shipping labels, coming in at a whopping 113.00, I was left with $197.00!! 44% of my total sales went to COSTS! I posted on Mercari two large Christmas dolls, also posted on Ebay, which sold today for $104 for both, including shipping. My net will be approximately $86! I made a decent profit with minimal COST!! Does ANYONE know how to mitigate these outrageous fees? Especially with regard to the labels. For what I've been shelling out for labels I could have bought one of those high-end label printers so many of you suggested I not purchase. I don't know what to do. I've got over 200 new items I'd like to post, but if I'm going to keep getting hit like this, I think Mercari will serve me better.
deltilogical
·3 years agoI'd like to see your line item spreadsheet for this. I think you are confusing your total costs with the actual ebay fees.
laststopgeneralstore
·3 years agoI spend anywhere for $2500-$3000 a month on labels BUT I also charge between $3000-$3500 in shipping TO the buyer.
Really isn't that bad at all, looks like you aren't charging enough and are choosing low quality items as well as possibly over paying for said low quality items.
Fee's are cheap and should be the last thing that you worry about, they're barely 15%.
shipping is cheap as you get discounted rates thru eBay.
Good Luck.
vikkis-vintage1
·3 years agoI just wish to comment on the replies which seem to negate concern over fees by replying "but the buyer pays for shipping" to which I remind sellers that we are also charged final value fees on the SHIPPING. I recently sold an item for $125. My final value fees amounted to `$30 because I was also charged FVF on the $88 it cost to ship the package cross country. Although the buyer pays for shipping, I make zero profit on shipping. Therefore my ebay final value fee on the $125 item was 24% ! (I did not use ebay's shipping label)
aeparts1
·3 years agoIt's always fun when someone revives an old thread like this one.
A thread where the seller says the eBay fee is too high, they are going to sell on other platforms, leave eBay &the fee behind.
Then, months later someone revives the thread & you see the OP still has 67 items listed on eBay, 16 sales in the past 90 days.
What happened???
soh.maryl
·3 years agoOP mentioned "taxes/government fees". I just wanted to know what "government fees" we are paying. And what taxes, for that matter.
But they must have resolved their issues if they didn't pack up and leave 4 months ago.
soh.maryl
·3 years agoSo the fee schedule was not available for you to read when you began selling? Strange.
studiodeflores
·3 years agoEvery time I compare fees for selling in different places, it's always about the same, just sliced and diced differently. I just checked the other site that you sell on and it says the current fees are 10% minimum of the price of item plus 2.9% payment processing fee plus 50 cents. So, basically 13%. The antique store that I have a booth in charges 11% commission but the rent is $200 a month. It seems like everywhere costs around 12%. So you need to build this into your prices and set limits on what you will pay for things if they won't make a good profit. And charge full price for shipping.
The best advice I found on this ebay community board when I first started was, "don't buy anything that you can't sell for at least 4 times what you paid for it". A simple guideline to ensure a good profit overall.
mauinui10
·3 years agoAloha! Im a little late to your post but I have had the same problem. Just about 45% of my sales go to eBay and shipping. The biggest rule to remember is when you are finding something to sell, make sure its under 15oz, so you can use 1st Class. Otherwise, use Flat Rate USPS for heavy items. Last bullet point would be to check out YouTube vids on POLYBAGS or POLY MAILERS. That is the saver, right there. PIRATESHIP website will take the Polybags dimensions and signup is free. Hope this helps and I am not repeating other answers. Good luck and remember that Customer Service and the Small Things you do is Paramount!
gail5176
·3 years agoSome of your shipping costs seem low, especially for the pottery items, can you really ship pottery heavy items for $10.65?
jman0312
·3 years agoWas the box/envelope you use to ship in given to you for free? Did ebay take 13% of shipping, yes & yes, continue to say shipping is a part of your fees..kinda obvious
modernkat
·3 years agoI don't know why you are using labels for shipping? They are expensive and you can print your labels on plain white paper, cut out and tape onto the box. You don't need a "fancy or expensive printer" to do this.
Plus buying your postage thru eBay saves money instead of paying at the post office.
I hope you know to add the shipping cost separately, or as part of the total purchase price in your listings.
comfortbydesign
·3 years agoI've been selling now 18 Years and this is most likely my last - fees are just getting out of hand - with freight costs and fees....and then my vendors are opening up stores on Ebay and I cannot compete with their pricing.....seller metrics are almost impossible to achieve..so we'll see....It was a GREAT RUN and did during the best of times!!! It's time to move on.....
getzappy
·3 years agoThey are increasing the fees on most things once again so I will be increasing the price of all of my items by 3% and having a sale on the other sites I use. Ebay can charge what ever goes they want because all that matters is it sales. Use multiple sites to sell and price your items according to those fees.
Many business have priced themselves out of the game. I'm very curious what those china sellers pay. They should pay more because the USPS supplements items shipped from there to USA. They really pay almost nothing compared to USA sellers to ship here. The government subsidized their mail to USA when china was a poor country to assist them with moving up. This should be revoked along with 5% of ebay fees.
Beyond all of that the traffic is all but gone on ebay, much fewer shoppers. Remember peeps ebay is not the only game in town so play with the others to increase your sells
firesteel_surplus
·3 years ago@pwil-23
Something I forgot to mention last night/early this morning.
Since you have a store...but I think this is only Basic and higher, you get a quarterly $25 coupon (Basic Store...not sure about the others) to use for ebay shipping supplies.
Just go to My Ebay and then Summary and it should show at the top of the screen. Mine shows Redeemed. But there should be something to click on to take you to a page for shipping supplies. And they have a lot. And from what I remember, the $25 will cover the whole purchase on certain items. I usually have to pay a few bucks to make up the difference though.
Thought I'd pass that on.
Mike
Firesteel Surplus
jackdempsey101
·3 years agoYes there is always extra fees on fees on fees on fees on fees.
I had international shipping that was 4-5 x the local shipping so ebay charge 4-5x their fees
Then there was another "international fee"
Then there was the fees on the buyers15% VAT that you had to pay,
then there is the listing fee
then thereis the promotion listing fee
Then their is monthly subscription fee
Then there is the gst
So the final valuation fee advertised at around 10-12% ends up being
30- 40+% of sale
So yes your right If your doing "free shipping" then cost of fees and shipping could be 40-50+%
Ebay Final valuation fees are a "bit" deliberately misleading, but who would sell on ebay if ebay was less deceptive disclosed that full ebay fees are 30-40% of a sale for small store?
Then there are the monkeys
bonjourami
·3 years ago"Yes there is always extra fees on fees on fees on fees on fees.
I had international shipping that was 4-5 x the local shipping so ebay charge 4-5x their fees
Then there was another "international fee"
Then there was the fees on the buyers15% VAT that you had to pay,
then there is the listing fee
then thereis the promotion listing fee
Then their is monthly subscription fee
Then there is the gst
So the final valuation fee advertised at around 10-12% ends up being
30- 40+% of sale"
Very creative bookkeeping I must say.
monroe67
·3 years agoYes there is always extra fees on fees on fees on fees on fees.
That's a bit of an exaggeration.
I had international shipping that was 4-5 x the local shipping so ebay charge 4-5x their fees
eBay sellers are allowed to choose whether they offer shipping outside their own country's boundaries. If you think it's too expensive to send your eBay sales outside Australia, simply tell that to your potential buyers who happen to have delivery addresses outside of Australia. You "tell" that to potential buyers by changing your Selling Preferences to No International Shipping.
Then there was another "international fee"
Yes, eBay does charge what they call an "international fee." You can look it up in Item 5 of eBay's User Agreement. Be sure you're looking at the proper User Agreement for the eBay site you use, whether it's ".com" or ".au"
Then there was the fees on the buyers15% VAT that you had to pay,
If your country charges a "VAT" -- which we in the United States do not have -- and you do not like that "VAT", then maybe you don't have to live in that country any longer?
then there is the listing fee
If you are paying eBay a listing fee, I guess congratulations are in order because you have listed enough stuff to surpass the 250-items-per-month-free-listing allowance.
then thereis the promotion listing fee
Again -- you are not required to promote your listings on eBay. If you pay a promoted listing fee, it is only because you choose to do so. Moreover, you can choose the percentage you want to pay to promote your listings. It generally is kind of - um - unintelligent to complain about something you choose to do.
Then their [sic] is monthly subscription fee
That applies to eBay stores, I believe. My selling ID does not have a store. My selling ID never pays a monthly subscription fee to eBay.
Then there is the gst
Again, I believe that is a tax or charge that is unique to your country and a number of other countries. Unless you mean eBay's Global Shipping Program, or GSP. I don't use that service so I don't know what it costs.
So the final valuation fee advertised at around 10-12% ends up being
30- 40+% of sale
No. Just -- no.
You refer to a "final valuation fee." eBay calls it the Final Value Fee (FVF).
Here's the important word: final. The Final Value is the Total Amount Paid By The Buyer.
By definition, that Total Amount includes (at least for American sellers and buyers) (A) the price of the item + (B) any handling charge that the seller put into the listing + (C) any sales tax required by the US state to which the item will be sent or delivered + (D) the cost of postage or other shipping (such as FedEx) + (E) any other charge that may be required legally, such as a recycling charge that might be required by the buyer's state.
A+B+C+D+E = The Final Value.
eBay's Final Value Fee percentage is calculated on that Final Value. The Final Value. The Total Amount Paid By The Buyer.
Those last words in that quote -- "30- 40+% of sale" -- are just so wrong. There currently are NO FVF percentages charged by eBay that are anywhere close to 30%. I believe the highest FVF percentage is 15%, for jewelry, including costume/ fashion jewelry and watches. Maybe on ebay.au there might be higher FVFs; I sure hope not.
So yes your right If your doing "free shipping" then cost of fees and shipping could be 40-50+%
Again -- No. Incorrect. That is a false statement. I sure hope you are not one of those sellers who think "free shipping" means that the US Postal Service or Federal Express or Australia Post will not want to be paid for delivering Things to your eBay buyers. Of course, those organizations do want and need to be paid.
Ebay Final valuation fees are a "bit" deliberately misleading, but who would sell on ebay if ebay was less deceptive disclosed that full ebay fees are 30-40% of a sale for small store?
eBay's Final Value Fees are only "misleading" if the reader doesn't know the meaning of the words Total Amount Paid By The Buyer, or doesn't take the time to realize that the Final Value is not the same dollar amount as the Listing Price. (Or euro amount or pounds sterling or whatever . . . .)
Now, having said all that, my selling ID, among many other eBay sellers who regularly post here, does recognize and accept that the Listing Price will almost always be less than the Final Value, precisely because the buyer will pay the postage and the buyer will usually have to pay sales tax. Those amounts are unknown to the seller.
At the time any of my listings go "live" I never know if somebody in Los Angeles will buy it, and have to pay 10% sales tax, or if somebody in, say, Iowa will buy it, and have to pay "only" 6% in sales tax. And I don't know if somebody in Texas will buy it; Texan buyers pay sales tax on both the price of the item AND the cost of postage.
What my selling ID has done is look at some of her past sales on which the buyer paid expensive postage and high sales taxes. She then compared the FVF percentage (at that time, 12.9%) to the listing price. Some of those calculations showed that eBay's fees were roughly 18% of the listing price, and some others came closer to 30% of the listing price.
SO !! My selling ID generally assumes that eBay's fees will be approximately 30% of the price she puts in her listings. Approximate. This has to be an approximation because the sales tax percentages and shipping costs paid by the buyers are unknowns. I don't know them. eBay doesn't know them.
My selling ID currently has an item listed for $29.99. For simplicity, let's round it up to $30.00. It is in a category that carries a 13.25% FVF percentage. But I estimate -- in my mind -- that eBay's fees will run around 30% of the listing price. So, 30% of $30.00 is $9.00. $30.00 - 9.00 = $21.00. I estimate I would earn $21.00 if that item sells. If I earn more than $21, so much the better.
Then there are the monkeys
Yeah, OK, whatever.