Seller fees ripoff
Can someone explain to me why when I sell a 200 dollar item, eBay charges the buyer tax and shipping of 243$ , then charges final value fees of 32.79 on the entire amount, then subtracts that amount from the 200$ it sold for. So I basically pay almost 17% on a 200 $ sale. Shouldn't they subtract the fvf from the total.. they basically charged me for the shipping and fvf fee from the 200$ sale price. So I receive 167$ from a 200$ sale.
32 comments
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoAs a few others have already mentioned your gross revenue from the sale was $243, what the buyer paid you. You didn't provide all the information so it's impossible to plug this into a cost model to see what your effective FVF % was. Missing information would include what you actually paid for the shipping label and what the buyer paid in sales tax.
If your item was in a category where the FVF was 13.25%, which most are, then the FVF on the $243 you received would have been $32.1975 and the FVF on the sales tax portion would have been $.5925. Difficult to tell what the sales tax % was without knowing where the buyer was located and whether the buyers state charges sales tax on the shipping portion but not all that important. Your total eBay selling costs for this item were $76 which is indeed high on a $243 item at about 31% but the eBay fees were only about 13.49% of your total gross revenue. The shipping cost was 17.79% of your total gross revenue.
If you subtract the FVF from the $243 you received that leaves you with $210.25. Out of that you would have had to pay for the shipping label which if you only received $167 means you paid $43.25 for the actual shipping label. You shipped this priority mail and it appears as though you may be either paying full retail for your shipping labels or you are passing along the eBay discounted shipping rate to the buyer. Neither of those are the best alternative.
If you want to provide the dims of the package and the weight and what state/city the buyer is located in a number of sellers on this forum can provide you with discounted shipping rates and shipping class alternatives.
monica-sells
·2 years agoYour analogy is what I was thinking, but I could not phrase it as well as you just did. Here's hoping the OP can disseminate your statement and apply the foresight going forward......
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoYour analogy is what I was thinking, but I could not phrase it as well as you just did. Here's hoping the OP can disseminate your statement and apply the foresight going forward......
Agreed. Seller should also be aware that depending on what happens with the 1099-K threshold or what the threshold is in their current state the $243 is what will be included in the revenue on the 1099-K and part of what they need to report as the gross receipts on their taxes. Then all the deductions start to come off of that.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoSmall correction: If part of that $243 was sales tax (to the buyer's state), the sale tax amount won't be inclused on the 1099K.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoSmall correction: If part of that $243 was sales tax (to the buyer's state), the sale tax amount won't be inclused on the 1099K.
Agreed and understood but from everything I could see from her post and my calculations the $243 was/is her gross revenue without the sales tax.
baydealz
·2 years agoThat's what they do. Good job on doing accounting to find 17% commission, that's about right. I monitor(ed) each one (no more listings) with most variability based on shipping. The theory had been that 'that prevents greedy sellers from overcharging for shipping)....whatever, the marketplace adjusts, they just want their margin regardless of how you list it. I'm not criticizing that move as, once understood, it does normalize the marketplace. I suspect AirBNB will do this also as 'sellers' there followed a similar path of lowball listing and adding egregious cleaning fees. If not, they actually need to do that.
Yep, I see you sell pretty random things like I used to. Those days for listings are over (ebay focus, fraud and consumer). Ebay's target audience is high volume, known entities and seeing 15% marketplace commission as fair. Those folks can also absorb the 2-30%(?) chargebacks they will get (in addition to up to 50% ebay complaints resulting in lost revenue).
You're at risk, brother.
Best thing is to list with exact shipping weight and dimensions in advance (so you don't get burned there also) and just assume about 15% commission to ebay (on shipping also, so you may need to compensate, or just not list - sometimes the market requires a low price to sell to compete, but you can't fulfill for that). Competitors also have better shipping deals than some of us.
Ebay had an opportunity to keep us as 'the best part of ebay' as they touted for years, but now it is Amazon, on it's way to becoming Temu.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoThe eBay fee amount is calculated as a percentage against the total amount of the sale, just as eBay's fee schedule states that it is.
So yes - if you then calculate the same fee amount and apply it to the wrong number, you will get the wrong percentage.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoIf an item sold for $200 and THEN EBAY charges $243 for tax/shipping- then that total would be $443...
so were you really saying they charged a TOTAL of $243 (which would mean ebay changes $43 for xyz and NOT $243?
monroe67
·2 years ago"Can someone explain to me why when I sell a 200 dollar item, eBay charges the buyer tax and shipping of 243$ , then charges final value fees of 32.79 on the entire amount, then subtracts that amount from the 200$ it sold for. So I basically pay almost 17% on a 200 $ sale. Shouldn't they subtract the fvf from the total.. they basically charged me for the shipping and fvf fee from the 200$ sale price. So I receive 167$ from a 200$ sale."
So much there to unpack.
It might help you to understand eBay's Final Value Fees. As with many things, the answer is partly in the question. eBay charges a Fee on the Final Value. OK. So, how does eBay define the Final Value?
Simply put, the Final Value means the total amount paid by your buyer. In the OP's case, when he sold his drone for $200.00, the buyer also paid $43.00 which was the total of the calculated shipping price and the sales tax (to the state of delivery). Thus, the buyer paid $243.00.
Most categories of items sold on eBay carry a 13.25% FVF percentage. Some are less, like guitars at 6.35%, and some are more, like jewelry and watches at 15%.
In addition to the fee that is a percentage of the total amount paid by the buyer, eBay also charges a per-order fee of 40 cents when that total amount is $10.01 or more. If that total amount is $10.00 or less, the per-order fee is 30 cents.
laserpartshq2
·2 years agoBecause they can...............................
meme6253
·2 years agoNo matter how everyone wants to slice & dice this for you with answers, Your title line is still correct, Seller fees have gotten insane!
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoTechnically that is misleading. The title "Re: Seller fees ripoff" implies that someone is being cheated. Everyone including yourself understands (or at least signed up for) what to expect with fees and can make there own decision on not to play in Ebay's sandbox. I think most would agree that fees in general (Platform, shipping, cost of goods) are higher than most would like. YMMV
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoNo matter how everyone wants to slice & dice this for you with answers, Your title line is still correct, Seller fees have gotten insane!
While I don't have the total history I know that the seller fees have not increased that much, percentage wise, in quite some time. Sure aggregate costs from a dollar perspective have increased but most of those were the result of the increases in postage costs and the application/collection of sales tax which of course eBay applies the FVF percentage to. However, savvy sellers are not paying those anyway the buyer is. If your ROI or profit margin is not meeting your goals adjust your cost model and pricing.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoNo matter how everyone wants to slice & dice this for you with answers, Your title line is still correct, Seller fees have gotten insane!
Compare a sale of $100 with $10 shipping and 8% sales tax between 2014 and today:
2014: 30 cents + 12.9% of $120 = $15.78
2024: 40 cents + 13.25% of $129.60 = $17.12
For this example, eBay fees have gone from 15.78% of the selling price to 17.12%.
I'm not sure if that fee increase (8.5% over a decade) qualifies as "gotten insane", but that is subjective I guess.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoNo matter how everyone wants to slice & dice this for you with answers, Your title line is still correct, Seller fees have gotten insane!
Compare a sale of $100 with $10 shipping and 8% sales tax between 2014 and today:
2014: 30 cents + 12.9% of $120 = $15.78
2024: 40 cents + 13.25% of $129.60 = $17.12
For this example, eBay fees have gone from 15.78% of the selling price to 17.12%.
I'm not sure if that fee increase (8.5% over a decade) qualifies as "gotten insane", but that is subjective I guess.
A couple of small corrections. In 2014 unless the sale was intrastate there was no sales tax. For your example assuming the buyer is in a state that has sales tax and the sales tax is also applied to shipping which is a pretty big assumption then.
2014: 30 cents + 12.9% of $110 = $14.49 = $14.49/$110 = 13.17% effective fee
2024: 40 cents + 13.25% of $118.80 = $16.41 = $16.41/$118.80 = 13.58% effective fee
For this example, eBay fees have gone from 13.17% of the Total sale price to 13.58%.
I'm not sure if that fee increase (.41% over a decade) qualifies as "gotten insane", but that is subjective I guess.
doc-holmes
·2 years agoIf you want an explanation, it's because that's the way eBay wants to do it. Full stop.
mustang707
·2 years agoI disagree with @albertabrightalberta . We don't sell tax or shipping. The OP sold an item for $200 and that is their gross revenue. But to the OP, yes you netted $167 because of the way ebay computes their fees.
monica-sells
·2 years agoIf you don't sell shipping, you are leaving money on the table......
blueduece58
·2 years ago@mustang707
You might disagree but that really doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is how eBay figures the fees.
eBay fees are based on the total of the sale, which includes Item price $200 + shipping and any state taxes paid by the buyer $43.
Once all the deductions are accounted for it leaves a net total of $167
albertabrightalberta
·2 years ago???
My point is that ebay includes the shipping and tax payment as part of the proceeds from which they charge FVF.
No one said we "sell tax or shipping." But our accounts do collect it from buyers before those funds are used for the intended purposes.
mustang707
·2 years ago@albertabrightalberta My point was that you said they had a $243 sale but payments are different than sales. When you buy a $100 item at Walmart and pay $8 tax, the sale is $100 but the payment is $108.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years ago@matmo26
If the buyer's full payment was $243 (including shipping and sales tax), ebay's fees are based on that full payment.
ETA:
"So I receive 167$ from a 200$ sale."
It's not a $200 sale. As you stated, it was a $243 sale - the total amount of buyer's payment.
monica-sells
·2 years agohere's one explanation (from the policy/help pages)
Final value fees
We charge one final value fee when your item sells, and you don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus a per order fee. For orders $10.00 or less the per order fee is $0.30, for orders over $10.00 the per order fee is $0.40.
The total amount of the sale includes the item price, any handling charges, any shipping costs collected from the buyer (some exceptions apply), sales tax, and any other applicable fees.
matmo26
OP2 years agoYah not worth it any more due to ebays incredible greed. Will be closing my decades old account soon...
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoBye. We don't find eBay to be any more greedy than most other companies, and in fact, they're only doing what corporations with shareholders are required to do: make profit. They provide a service, we pay them for that service via fees on our sold listings, everyone should be happy unless they fail to understand how it works.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoSo why did you list it when it was VERY clear what you would pay in fees to even USE this site??
NOT knowing how things are charged is only the fault of the user as it is 100% transparent BEFORE you even click the 'LIST IT' button.
dryophelia
·2 years ago@matmo26
Why continue to pay eBay these fees? End the listings and never give eBay another cent.
When you compare the fee of today (13.5%) to the fees when eBay charged 10% and PayPal had ~2.5%, what are your results?
The fee structure is clearly laid out. By the time a few items have been sold, it should come clear what it costs to sell in the platform.
Pushing 200 sold items over a span of years, nothing should come as a surprise.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoDon't forget to end those current listings before they sell and before you're charged fees on them!
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoInstead of trying to explain it, the link below describes what seller fees are and how they are calculated on Ebay. The link is to Ebay so it's good to know what you are up against. You have sold a good amount and have been a user for over two decades so if you take a break from selling, it is good to check what changes might have been implemented since your last transaction(s).
Selling Fees Ebay
matmo26
OP2 years agoOh let's not forget how eBay makes it impossible to talk to a human..
ckimodog
·2 years ago@matmo26
You may be better off. Given eBay's poor at best customer service feature, you are much better off posting your issues or questions here on this forum. Lots of well-trained seasoned veteran sellers who know more about the selling & all that goes with it on eBay than most. Just a suggestion.
Happy Selling