issues with ebay's policy in reference to including shipping fees in the total sale??????
I sold a monitor for $30. The buyer chose shipping that cost him $72 for a total cost of $102.
Ebay is taking their percentage not only on the sale for $30 but they included the shipping.
Ebay took $18.43 and gave me $11.57
Does this make sense to anyone and has this ever happened to anyone else????
There are at least 25 other sites to use that do not include shipping costs paid by the buyer in the sale price for their total commission.
65 comments
inhawaii
·1 year agoYou are more than welcome to have issues with ebay's policy.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoNo doubt you’ll get some folks on here trying to make you feel bad that you didn’t know the fees beforehand, but your question is fine. You don’t know, so you come here for help – that’s the way it should be.
The truth is that eBay does it this way for a few reasons. First, back when they didn’t, there’d be a lot of sellers that would jack up the shipping and handling to a really high price, and artificially lower the item price. I was one of them. It worked very well. Second, eBay does it this way as to not punish sellers that include shipping and handling into the item price. Some buyers prefer this, so eBay encourages it, but it doesn’t make sense to do it if eBay is only going to charge fees on the item price. Third, eBay can – they probably make more money that way.
slippinjimmy
·1 year ago@powell-collectibles
I've been waiting for someone to CLEARLY explain the "free shipping" rationale. It is often forgotten/ignored when it comes to this subject, everyone seems obsessed with the low Item price plus excessively shipping issues, certainly that was a problem (still is for those sellers who don't understand that shipping is part of the base for FVF's).
One other thing that is rarely mentioned, when eBay started to include the shipping amount in the fee base they also LOWERED the standard FVF rates buy a modest amount to compensate. Some sellers actually had lower overall fees, some had an increase and for many/most it was a wash (or close).
soh.maryl
·1 year agoAs you may notice here, it makes sense to those of us who made ourselves acquainted with the fee structure before starting to sell here.
relicpeddler
·1 year agoI had this large old WANG Printer stored away for over 20 years I wanted to get rid of it but couldn't just throw it in the trash because it weighed over 50 pounds. So I listed it for $75 and it lingered for about a month but then finally sold with a 10% off offer and for what ever freakish reason the buyer paid $205.00 for 1 day FedEx shipping. I think eBay made more then I did on that sale but I didn't care I was happy to get rid of it.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoOld tech is a strange, wonderful world (I've sold a lot of it).
johnrj1226
·1 year agoeBay has collect FVF on shipping since 2011 and if you do 'free shipping" and the item price included your shipping handling charge - you are paying it too... Sellers used sell 1 buck for and item but a very large shipping and handling charge to avoid eBay fees. Can you imagine that a seller would do that - those scoundrels??
short_circuit.lineman61
·1 year agoitems like that are just not feasible to sell on ebay.
they take up a lot of space, total fees are very high, profits are very low and a return is a killer.
Next time either give it away locally of drop it off at electronics recycling
gator08041971
·1 year agoAll I can say here is...
If you are going to sell an item that is expensive to ship, AND that item isn't worth much, DON'T.
I have items I could list that in themselves aren't worth much, but because they are large/and or heavy, its not worth it to list them. I would have to sell them for more than they are worth, just to eat up the difference when the sale total is calculated.
You just have to find that balance where cost/reward is good enough to make a transaction worth it on the whole. Good luck.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI went in the supermarket to buy a loaf of bread.
The price was $3.85.
They charged me $3.85.
I have an issue with that.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoDo you plan to file a "suite"? Or contact the Feds or Better Business Bureau?
inhawaii
·1 year agoEbay says what they are going to do and do exactly that.
You agree to this when you sell here.
Now, what is your issue?
lonebuck-books
·1 year agoYes, it makes sense. eBay many many years ago used to not do this. What happened is everyone would sell stuff for a few cents with enormous shipping charges to skirt around the final value fee. eBay finally had enough of this and changed the policy so the FVF is on the entire sale including shipping. It's been this way for as long as I have been on the site and I started in 2008. It's nothing new and honestly, if I owned eBay I would do the same thing.
As for those 'other sites' that don't do this, most of them set the shipping charge to the buyer and don't allow the sellers to set it themselves. None of them get the eyeball traffic that eBay does other than Amazon.
sltom6
·1 year agoStill waiting for him to name two, much less twenty five.
theteamsetguy
·1 year ago@sltom6 ,
I'd be shocked if the OP comes back. I'm willing to bet my dollars to your donuts.
bonjourami
·1 year ago"I'd be shocked if the OP comes back. I'm willing to bet my dollars to your donuts."
Maybe op is still looking for those '25 sites' that dont charge their fee on shipping.
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoSome post and go. Never knowing how they got here, where they were, or how to get back🤣
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoYes, it makes sense and it's happened on every item you've sold.
bennotbill
·1 year agoThis is why when comes to larger electrical items, I take them to a local CashConverter type shop (a shop that buys and sells electrical/tools/bikes etc).
If I take the fees and postal costs into consideration I am often better off this way. And no risk of postal damage, not as described, with the cash there and then in my hand.
robbie31415
·1 year agoI wouldn't sell things that cost more to ship than they cost.
Also opens the door to possibly giving away free items.
All that person would have to do is say the item is not as described. You'd have to refund the original shipping and if you want it back pay for return shipping.
Id suspect you'd refund them without return to avoid dumping more money for the $30 monitor.
Now that's like negative 80 bucks and no monitor.
pastimpressions
·1 year ago@chapeau-noir wrote: "...and another charge if you sneeze in their store."
🤣🤣🤣
mam98031
·1 year ago@stevesapps1954
It makes perfect sense to me as it is EXACTLY how the policy reads. I think you may end up being surprised about paying fees on shipping on other sites. It is pretty normal stuff. But I do understand how it can be a bit unnerving when you don't take the time to learn about the site and the basic policies BEFORE you start selling. But selling fees is such a basic thing to understand so you can better price your stuff. As you can see, winging it can cause you issues.
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
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoIf the OP @stevesapps1954 is a new seller, I would say that shipping can be one of the toughest things to nail down. I know I've had the same struggle when it comes to large items even after I had had some experience. In my case, it was a car top bike rack that I shipped UPS...and found out that they have a rural charge...and another charge if there's the least irregularity in the box...and another charge if you sneeze in their store. I think I made about $10 on the sale.
No one knows everything coming into this.
ryry-jj
·1 year agoYep, we are all in the shipping business...we need to know that part inside and out, but many of us treat it as a slot machine...maybe we hit it, maybe we don't, & more often than not, we dont. And for those of us that think we know it, we still not cover the money 100%
mam98031
·1 year agoIf you are looking for 100% guarantees or protection, internet selling is not the place for you no matter what site you may use.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agobut many of us treat it as a slot machine...maybe we hit it, maybe we don't, & more often than not, we dont.
If this is really a problem, average out your hits and misses over a reasonable period of time (six months or 100 sales perhaps) then add a Handling Charge to your Calculated Shipping fee.
I suspect we remember our failures better than our wins.
You can't do this on a few transactions, it has to be the long haul.
I f you are using Flat Rate and are losing money over all, raise your Flat Rate (or your selling price.)
Free Shipping is a Flat Rate.
Use Calculated Shipping to give the buyer the rate to their doorstep. If you are still losing money, either you are not giving the right dimensions and weight or you need a shipper who is more reliable.
whitepen
·1 year ago...and another charge if you sneeze in their store. I think I made about $10 on the sale. You're Superstar. 🤣ðŸ˜
bonjourami
·1 year agoDrop shipping doesnt pay much to the seller.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year ago@stevesapps1954
The buyer didn't "choose" shipping that cost $72. YOU chose the shipping method (ground advantage) when you listed the monitor.
As shown below, there's no other shipping option and your listing shows the price. (If you had a buyer in California, it would have cost $153 to ship by GA based on your listing.
ryry-jj
·1 year agoAs sellers we all need to know what the total cost of the sale will be. Price your listing to cover all your cost, otherwise you are just liquidating, and in some cases that is fine as long as you understand your costs. The monitor costs money and the shipping costs money, you don't want to give either away without marking up the total cost of that money.
As said, selling cheaper items that cost a lot to ship is not a great recipe for success
gurlcat
·1 year agoEspecially on a venue where "no returns" is a delusion, and INAD returns mean seller pays for return shipping, and original shipping included in the refund.
monroe67
·1 year ago"I sold a monitor for $30. The buyer chose shipping that cost him $72 for a total cost of $102.
Ebay is taking their percentage not only on the sale for $30 but they included the shipping."
Yes; that's precisely the way eBay's User Agreement defines how the Final Value Fee (FVF) percentage is applied.
eBay's system works.
"Does this make sense to anyone . . . ."
Yes; it makes sense to me because it is the way eBay has decided to operate their business.
I want to sell on eBay, so I accept eBay's policies and procedures.
" . . . and has this ever happened to anyone else????"
Happened to my selling ID just this afternoon. eBay charged their final value fee (13.6%) on the total paid by my buyer.
And I am thrilled about it, because it's my first sale in about 99 days. My earnings will be $9.24.
whitepen
·1 year agoFor an item I sold, eBay charged a final value fee (18.53%) on the total amount the buyer paid. you are lucky 😀
monroe67
·1 year ago"For an item I sold, eBay charged a final value fee (18.53%) on the total amount the buyer paid. You are lucky."
Was that item sold on ebay.com? That's the US site.
IF you were truly charged -- by eBay, on ebay.com -- a fee of 18.53%, that percentage was NOT the FVF percentage.
That 18.53% was NOT derived by comparing the FVF amount to -- copying and pasting your words here:
"the total amount the buyer paid."
On the US site, ebay.com, there is NO current Final Value Fee (FVF) percentage of 18.53%.
The highest FVF percentage on ebay.com is 15.3%.
You may have agreed to a Promoted Listing fee ("ad"), which adds Your Chosen Ad Percentage to the published FVF percentage for the specific category of your item. When the sale transaction is complete, an "Ad fee" is shown separately from "Transaction fees."
Or perhaps you simply do not understand these English-language words: "Total Amount the Buyer Paid."
Which would not be terribly surprising for an eBay seller who lists the location of his items as "US, United States."
Where are your items located, really? Where are you, really? What time zone are you in?
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoJust like every other payment processor since Diner's Club introduced the credit card over 75 years ago, fees are charged on the entire payment.
Whether that payment includes taxes, shipping fee, insurance, registration, handling charges, packaging or tips to the waitstaff.
It has been Standard Practice in all that time.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoThat happens to everyone else (except those offering Free Shipping of course). Ebay takes a percentage of the buyer payment. That is how it works.
@stevesapps1954 : 'at least' TWENTY FIVE? Please enumerate them.
itsjustasprain
·1 year ago@stevesapps1954 - So there really are not 25 other sites that do as you describe?
gurlcat
·1 year ago@stevesapps1954 Can you even name 5?
soh.maryl
·1 year agoPersonally, still waiting for that list of 25.
pastimpressions
·1 year agoThis is where you need to do your due diligence as a seller.
1. Whether you agree or not with the platform model for assessing commissions, it is codified.
2. By selling on the site, you consent to the terms as well as tacitly confirming you have reviewed & are acquainted with all the platform rules, policies, et al. We all sometimes "learn as we go" but that in no way exempts us all from sometime learning the hard way, nor is the platform required to go easy on us while we get the hang of it.
3. As the fees are comprised of "total transaction sales revenue" as opposed to "item cost sales revenue"
you need to crunch your numbers. This may mean some items get sold on eBay, and others don't. This may mean some items are offered with more or less shipping options. Etc. et al.
4. If the shipping meets or exceeds the items retail cost, you quickly discovered that your boat takes on water in short order. On that ratio scale of product cost vs. actual shipping cost, the more disparity (in favor of the item) the better. The FVF is the same % regardless of whether or not the revenue being counted is a credit or a debit.
You need to take a pause. Review item costs as well as shipping options.
Determine what level of net profit % is acceptable for your needs and then plot your course accordingly.
Flesh out fee scenarios so you are prepared and not in any way surprised.
Best of luck with shop & sales.
hartungcards
·1 year ago"Does this make sense to anyone?"
Yes, this makes sense to anyone who has read the Final Value Fee information before selling something on eBay.
"Has this ever happened to anyone else?"
Yes, this is how it works for everyone.
"Ebay is taking their percentage not only on the sale for $30 but they included the shipping."
They included a percentage of the sales tax your buyer paid as well.
"There are at least 25 other sites to use that do not include shipping costs paid by the buyer in the sale price for their total commission."
Name two.
youn2240
·1 year agoYeah makes sense because the second they stop doing that I'm changing all my prices to 1 cent and raising my shipping way up.
gurlcat
·1 year ago@stevesapps1954 THIS^ is exactly how it used to be, when they charged fees on only the item price. Do you get it now, or does it take more explaining?
pastimpressions
·1 year agoToo true, but in the OP's scenario artificially weighting or altering shipping costs wouldn't even be too cute by 1/2.
From what they are saying the actual customer shipping cost was $72.00 (not a fictitious # to artificially reduce the item cost)
Even if the seller marketed a retail rate & paid reduced eBay rate, the FVF put that transaction underwater.
gurlcat
·1 year agoI read this^ 3 times and I cannot understand what you're saying. 🤣
pastimpressions
·1 year agoI've been told this before.
I'm working on it 😉
chapeau-noir
·1 year ago"Fees were too high."
ETA: It's why I don't sell heavy cheap items any longer.
gurlcat
·1 year agoThank you. Now I get it!
But also, @stevesapps1954 you mentioned the shipping that the buyer chose. This transaction is probably a good lesson in not giving buyers options that will only gobble up your profit. For example I would not offer any kind of overnight/express options on anything that doesn't need to breathe oxygen. 😆
soh.maryl
·1 year agoIf what you are saying or implying is that it's possible to escalate the shipping cost in order to reduce the item cost, like $50 shipping and $5 for the item, then pay the FVF on only $5, that's not been possible for many years. The basis of the OP's complaint is, as I understand it, is that eBay's FVF is calculated on the total payment, no matter how it's apportioned. The seller pays the same FVF on an item for $5 with $50 shipping that he pays for a $50 item with $5 shipping.
relicpeddler
·1 year agoThat is the reason eBay starting taking fee's on shipping because millions of sellers were doing the 1 cent items with high shipping cost to avoid paying fee's. So basically we are paying for the sins of others.
bonjourami
·1 year agoEven Paypal, in the old days, charged a fee on the total sale, including shipping.
dolcetreasures
·1 year agoThat really is pretty horrible. It’s a perfect example of how awful this policy is.
ed8108
·1 year agoeBay will most probably inform you that this is and has been their policy over a long period of time.
hartungcards
·1 year ago"eBay will most probably inform you that this is and has been their policy over a long period of time."
I dunno. eBay didn't even bother to tell us they screwed up the payout schedule this week.
ed8108
·1 year agoTransparency
On the other hand, eBay does seem to take pride in disclosing their manny sources of revenue
mam98031
·1 year agoTheir financial statements are public knowledge. You can find this out with a simple internet search.
mam98031
·1 year agoWere you harmed in any way @hartungcards ? If so, what did this brief issue cause you? It was on the Technical board. Certainly not the same as an announcement, but there were other discussions. It also wasn't site wide and fixed rather quickly.
hartungcards
·1 year ago"Were you harmed in any way @hartungcards ? If so, what did this brief issue cause you?"
I'll let you know when I'm in the mood to answer personal questions. Just because this issue "was on the Technical board" is no excuse for eBay not informing its sellers what was up with the payouts this week. Not everybody spends their entire life on these boards like you do.
mam98031
·1 year agoBut they don't and they haven't for years. It was a short lived issue that was resolved within hours. It harmed no one. FYI, I did not ask you a "personal question". Not sure why you took it that way.
"Not everybody spends their entire life on these boards like you do." For you to have any validity in that statement, you would have to spend your entire life it in order to follow me. This is just something to throw out there in an effort to sling mud at me because you didn't like the question I asked. Very Petty!
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year ago@mam98031 how can you POSSIBLY say that??
I could see it effecting 1000's of people that have loans, utilities etc to pay and have NO CLUE there is a 'forum' or an 'announcement' board, even if there was something posted.
A typical mortgage can be paid by the 16th before 'penalty' and this could have/would have easily 'hurt' many.
mam98031
·1 year agoYou do realize the money was sent to the seller's bank account, right? Are you just trying to find some reason to disagree or are you being serious. Some sellers got some of their money earlier than expected. Not later, not held up, but actually sent to them early. How that would negatively impact their ability to pay their bills would only happen if the seller spent the money on something else.
hartungcards
·1 year ago"It was a short lived issue that was resolved within hours. It harmed no one."
It was an issue which lasted until some people figured out they hadn't gotten their payout, and then figured out they could only get it by doing a seller initiated payout. eBay didn't "resolve" this issue for about 48 hours, and for you to assume "it harmed no one" is just ridiculous, if not outright condescending. This wasn't like some glitch with the listing tool, this was about money that some people count on when it's supposed to be there. eBay screwed up big time here, and not a word from them. But of course, eBay can do no wrong in your eyes. Stick to posting your Library o' Links.
mam98031
·1 year agoWAIT !!! WHAT??? That is different than the issue I'm aware of. My apologies, I did not ready anything about what you are explaining here.
The issue I personally experienced and I also read about was that some sellers received a payout BEFORE it was due to be sent.
Again slinging mud in an effort to discredit what I've said "But of course, eBay can do no wrong in your eyes." This is certainly not true and you are aware of that. I do however see how it may seem that way to you since you often post negative things about the site. Sometimes I agree and other times I don't.
To my knowledge, this was the issue this week that has been discussed on a few various threads and on the Technical Board with an Alert being assigned which has since been removed.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/issues-with-ebay-s-policy-in-reference-to-including-shipping/m-p/35180015#M2589731
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoSheesh! You'd think ebay was the only site that inconvenienced its users.
Every site has various issues and glitches and sites don't always know there's a problem until their users notify them.
These are just a few examples.
October 2024 - Bank of America glitch, massive outage
Amazon outages - https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/outages/a-history-of-aws-cloud-and-data-center-outages
May 2025 - Etsy glitch: https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Is-Etsy-down/td-p/148543234
IRS issues - https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/known-issues-and-solutions
Verizon: https://community.verizon.com/t5/Prepaid/Lots-of-Issues-with-Verizon-Website-amp-App/td-p/1788993
AT&T: https://www.today.com/video/at-t-software-glitch-causes-service-outage-for-millions-218135621691
hartungcards
·1 year ago"Sheesh! You'd think ebay was the only site that inconvenienced its users."
Not getting a scheduled payout goes beyond an "inconvenience."
"Every site has various issues and glitches and sites don't always know there's a problem until their users notify them."
Maybe eBay should be paying more attention to stuff that actually matters, instead of waiting for their customers to give them a heads up. Or maybe they were just busy sending out more emails urging us to consider their wonderful world of promoted listings.