What is the advantage of selling on eBay
I don't understand why people aren't leaving eBay in droves and moving to other selling platforms. The fees are extremely high and they calculate fees even on mailing charges that are coming out of my own pocket. I can't for the life of me figure out how they are calculating the fees using the percentages given cannot get to the fees they charged. And you absolutely can't get an answer through automation and no way to speak to a human. This seems to be ripe for consumer lawsuit.
59 comments
sakic92710
·1 year agoI do not believe there are advantages to selling on eBay. Of all of the sites, I think there is only 1 with advantages & that is on Marketplace. The advantages being local pickups, instant payment via e-transfer if shipping is involved & no fees at all. The disadvantage of FBM is the timewasters & unreliable clowns. When I can post something & it sells by the next day or I get a message at 9AM & the item is picked up by 10AM, I love it!
natoman777
·1 year agoNo other platform compares to eBay. We sell on several others without near the volume of sales or customer service help. The other platforms are like High school sports compared to pro sports (eBay). Most have even higher selling fees. And you get absolutely no way to get help. No true messaging options and definitely no phone options. We cross post on other sites just to keep sales going... We actually have our prices higher on them due to the profit margin being MUCH worse than eBay. Most who complain about eBay haven't tried the others yet (Mercari, Poshmark, Grailed DePop, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, etc...) Leave eBay and try them and if you want to make money you'll come crawling back to eBay
sakic92710
·1 year agoNot true. I sell MUCH MORE on Marketplace than eBay & pay zero fees. When I begin to post more on eBay, it is not because I'm "crawling back." Just trying to use as many venues as possible. Even if I have 1000 listings on eBay, I have no expectations of success here. MILLIONS of buyers but items constantly get, on average, 2-5 views a month? NOT a 'pro league.'
lakefor94
·1 year ago@annsmenagerie wrote:
"I don't understand why people aren't leaving eBay in droves"
It is because a lot of sellers know how to make eBay work for them and make a lot of money here.
Amazon charges higher fees than eBay.
mordecai8614
·1 year agoI don't understand why people aren't leaving eBay in droves and moving to other selling platforms.
The same reason you're still selling on eBay. The other platforms are garbage. I may pay more to sell on eBay than Mercari, but at least my stuff moves on eBay (and for more money too)
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoMy question is why you have 150+ active listings on eBay?
What are the other platforms?
rosemary6525
·1 year agoEbay is only for selling things that you cannot sell anywhere else basically just stuff u wuz gonna throw away.
The fees AKA seller cost 23.6% on $785 I have sold last 3 months. FB marketplace better if you sell in person NO ZERO FEES and no records meaning TAX FREE but some things, at least to me, do not sell on MP
Threshold be $2500 for 2025 for reporting to the IRS
gone.c-33
·1 year agoMy time is money and I have no time to waste answering to 486 people asking Is tHiS stIlL aVaIlaibLe and not showing up all day everyday.
yuzuha
·1 year agoYep. I also used to sell on Craigslist before eBay made doing local pickup easy and this was the #1 problem I encountered there.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoEbay is only for selling things that you cannot sell anywhere else basically just stuff u wuz gonna throw away.
The fees AKA seller cost 23.6% on $785 I have sold last 3 months. FB marketplace better if you sell in person NO ZERO FEES and no records meaning TAX FREE but some things, at least to me, do not sell on MP
Threshold be $2500 for 2025 for reporting to the IRS
Unless you are using promoted listings there is no category in which eBay charges 23.6% final value fees. The IRS issuance threshold or the 2025 tax year may be $2,500 that could change and may also depend on the state you live in. The threshold for a number of states has been well below the Federal requirement for years. It has been $600 in Virginia since 2020.
In reality you should also be reporting your FB marketplace income it is not tax free especially if your buyers are paying you with a third party financial process or like PayPal, Venmo..........
monroe67
·1 year ago"FB marketplace better if you sell in person NO ZERO FEES and no records meaning TAX FREE . . . . ."
Not true. "No records" does not mean "[Income] TAX FREE."
The IRS expects and instructs all U.S. federal income tax payers to list ALL their income on their Form 1040 tax return forms.
just_delightful
·1 year agoThe fees are indeed high, but I've tried different apps and none have the reach that eBay does. I've usually pulled all my items off the other apps/sites without a single sale taking place during my time on them.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI reckon I'm selling here for the same reason you are.
trtcollectibles
·1 year agoThere is another site that is much worse. They force you into a paid ad program after you make a certain amount in sales. They are also using AI to give buyers average shipping estimates on arrival times despite what you have set in your shipment profiles. Basically telling buyers they'll receive something much sooner than what you had listed which is very problematic. If you make an error entering a tracking number you can't change it after 72 hours. This can be a nightmare if you realize after the fact. You can't block buyers from purchasing or messaging. Only from store updates to your shop. They will cancel stores without any reason given and their customer service is terrible. Fortunately I have lots of repeat buyers so that's why I've stuck around here.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoSounds like Etsy. I finally quit selling there, refusing their extortionate ads racket for something I can do myself with no trouble. Ebay really is not that bad.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoExactly what are the fees charged by other similar on line sites??? - don 't say Craigslist List or Face book It is up to the seller to recover them in their selling price plus other selling cost and their desired profit.
eBay clearly informs sellers how there fees are assessed right here in these links - there is other information to help you get started - just search the Help and Contact link at the bottom R H corner of most eBay pages like this one - ya' just gotta read and understand. Start by reading the User Agreement every member agreed too when they signed on plus the embedded links for starters.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/fees-selling-costs-charged?id=5297&st=3&pos=2&query=How%20fees%20and%20selling%20costs%20are%20charged&intent=selling%20%20fees&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1679
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822&st=3&pos=1&query=Selling%20fees&intent=selling%20fees&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1456
slati_2013
·1 year agoIt seems this is now a once a week complaint. I remember many years ago when all this stuff about eBay collecting taxes came up, I said people would never get it or understand. Others said I was wrong. I stand by what I wrote; lots of people in this country do not follow the news and are badly informed. Ten years from now, people will still be writing here complaining about every fees eBay charges. Why shipping? What taxes? Why 25% FVF's?
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI don't understand why people aren't leaving eBay in droves and moving to other selling platforms.
Maybe they know something about those other platforms that you don't.
I can't for the life of me figure out how they are calculating the fees using the percentages given cannot get to the fees they charged.
I do it by multiplying 13.25% to the total amount of the sale, and adding 40 cents to it.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you for your response.
reallynicestamps
·1 year ago@annsmenagerie
I sale on another site where the percentage is based on cost of item sold only.
On that site do you reduce the price of your goods and increase the shipping? That was how many eBay sellers avoided fees- until eBay caught on and changed to policy to charge fees on the customer's entire payment instead.
Oh- "sale" is a noun. The verb you are looking for is "sell".
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoOn that site, there is only one charge for mailing unless the seller goes over so many pounds. So no, from my review of the site, everything sells pretty high. No incentive to do what you explained as shipping is a set price for everyone.
chienoir
·1 year agoSimple: eBay has a virtual monopoly on the marketplace for used and new goods.
If the day ever comes when eBay has a viable competitor, that might change.
"...you absolutely can't get an answer through automation and no way to speak to a human..."
Actually, you can now, as this has changed very recently. It seems eBay has finally learned that they can't run their entire corporation by AI, algorithms and smart phones.
Smart corporations adapt and survive; stupid and stubborn ones fail.
ittybitnot
·1 year agoSimple: eBay has a virtual monopoly on the marketplace for used and new goods.
@chienoir
I am sure that is what eBay would have you believe. Public facing data says differently.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoDo you know how to get out of the circular automated assistant to get to a real person? I would sure appreciate some help.
fern*wood
·1 year agoRather than wasting time trying to reach them, just ask specific questions on this board. The ebay phone reps are frankly not reliable and often can be harmful to your selling account with bad answers. The same goes for shipping questions---this board has experts. My questions are always answered here.
bashort
·1 year agosimple, in the categories I sell in a least no other venue even comes close to ebay.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you for the response. I appreciate the feedback of all of you who have been on here and multiple sites like NikNax and Whatnot.
mr_lincoln
·1 year agoHi @annsmenagerie
Comments in red:
simba6
·1 year agoIt's like reaching the summit of a mountain.
It is a place to sell that has buyers. If you sell at an in person flea-market. You have to haul your merchandise, set up tables and wait for buyers. The whole time it's starting to rain and your standing in a spot that was the sheep judging pen for last weeks county fair.
ittybitnot
·1 year agoIt is a place to sell that has buyers.
@simba6
The INTERNET is a place to sell that has buyers. Historically speaking, eBay sellers are notorious for putting up with every "new, improved, streamlined, you asked, we listened", pile of garbage thrown at them. eBay for decades was the "big dog on the block" and treated sellers like "NOISE" figuring there would be lots of 'new' sellers to take care of the numbers when some sellers just moved on.
Though eBay is still 'coasting' on their past laurels of the 'only game in town' or the 'only place that has buyers', many sellers KNOW BETTER now. Sellers of "quality" will move on, and no longer have to put up with the abusive setting eBay has created.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you for the response. I know of one very large eBay seller who started her own on line selling site which is building pretty quickly.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@annsmenagerie
Sounds like eBay positioned her well to do that.
marnotom!
·1 year agoSome sellers are able to make eBay work for them, some are not. eBay isn't for everyone.
Some of the advantages eBay has over similar sites is that you have one of the largest potential audiences for your items on the internet, and you can offer international shipping for those items at no to very little additional risk, aggravation, or cost.
Like others, I am wondering what you're comparing eBay's fees to if you find them high.
movieman630
·1 year agoThe other question is why is ebay abusing the sellers who have been loyal and chose to stay?
I've been a full time seller on ebay since about 2008. I've always maintained ebay as my PRIMARY selling platform online. I've worked hard to build my store and be a good member of the ebay community.
Last year I made the mistake of clicking on one of the $100 to try offisite ads promo. Well I discovered that if you sell anything related to Police patches and insignia this is a bad idea. Items that have been allowed forever on here were suddenly being flagged by the AI sorting through the listings to promote as in violation of policy. When you appeal and get a human involved the CS reps aren't specialized in categories and have no idea how to handle it. Their decisions are different depending on the rep. There's no uniformity and you find yourself with violation after violation for items that are not truly in violation.
Then the PL... I tried it for a year. All it did was end up costing me an additional $9K in fees for the same amount of sales and work I had for the previous year.
This year I came back from 2 weeks off for the holidays and so far the first two weeks of this year have been down about 50% from what they were in the first two weeks of 2024.
I turned off all PL's knowing full well I'm going to be punished even more for doing so. And I'm right of course. My sales are way off. Today I'm zero so far for the day which is highly unusual.
Basically they're suffocating me. I will probably lose about 50% of my sales and traffic this year because of their algo & AI games.
Unfortunately they don't yet seem to care that cutting my income by 50% is also cutting the fees they make off me by 50%.
I thought we had a good thing going here. I guess I don't matter. My family doesn't matter. My children including a 10 month old can starve for all they care.
That's what loyalty has gotten me.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoEbay's fees are competitive with other high traffic internet marketplaces. The calculations are similar.
The sellers who stay here do so because the buyers for their items come to Ebay.
I have no idea what other marketplace would draw more buyers for what you sell, and some would make it exceptionally difficult for you to list your items.
I left Ebay in 2008 and came back because it was the most hospitable site for my merchandise.
kandf_vintage_finds
·1 year agoI take responsibility for all my listings. I understand what the fee's are and agree to them before I even list an item. It is no secret and the fee's are well published for all to see and decide if they want to jump in and play. I understand what my profit margins are so I am never surprised that eBay (Heaven Forbid) took their fee's off the top. It is possible to make money here if you understand what you are doing. Ripe for a consumer Lawsuit? Lol! I do wish you luck!
monroe67
·1 year ago"The fees are extremely high and they calculate fees even on mailing charges that are coming out of my own pocket."
Why do you say the mailing charges are coming out of your own pocket? The first few items I saw in your 151 current listings do show a shipping ("delivery") charge that your buyers pay. Essentially your buyer is advancing the mailing costs to you, so that you can mail the item to them after they pay.
"I can't for the life of me figure out how they are calculating the fees using the percentages given cannot get to the fees they charged."
The basic Final Value Fee (FVF) is really a very simple calculation.
First, eBay retains a 40-cents fee per order. (If you have a total sale that is less than $10.00, that fee is only 30 cents.)
Second, eBay totals up all the amounts that your buyer pays to arrive at the Total Amount of the Purchase: item price + sales tax + shipping cost as shown in the listing. eBay's FVF is a percentage of that Total Amount of the Purchase. The percentage varies among categories of items, but for most items the percentage is 13.25%.
Example: If I were to buy your $9.00 decorative butterfly kitchen tile, I would pay the following:
$9.00 + .70 (my sales tax) + 8.06 (the shipping price shown to me in your listing) = $17.76.
eBay's fees: $17.76 x 0.1325 = $2.35 + that 40-cents per-order fee = $2.75.
Of course, if you, as the seller, have chosen to participate in eBay's Promoted Listing program, and you have chosen a percentage to pay to eBay for promoting your listings, you will also have to pay that percentage to eBay in addition to those $2.75.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoI still list and sell on eBay mostly because of the size of the buyer base and the EIS international program. I do not find the fees to be excessive unless you are using promoted listings. The fees are not that difficult to figure out and are outlined in the following.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822
All it requires is some basic math skills to estimate what your FVF's are going to be. The actual fees may be a bit off since you don't know in advance what the sales tax or shipping may be. If you are paying the shipping out of your own pocket then that is potentially a flaw in your business strategy.
That being said I diversified long ago across multiple platforms and venues. Some of that divesture was driven/forced by eBay's constantly growing list of prohibited and restricted items as well as the VERO program. EBay used to account for about 90% of my sales by volume, that percentage has dropped to around 20% over the last several years.
As for the fees they charge all you have to do is look at the order details for any item you sold and it will give you a breakdown of the selling costs for an individual item. You have been selling less than 6 months if you don't understand the fees you may want to take a short break until you do. You may also want to look at your no returns policy. That only applies in remorse returns and it does NOT translate to no refunds.
I will have to agree with your assessment of eBay's customer support.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you very much for your response. I think I was just frustrated that the fee is calculated including the postage. I sale on another site where the percentage is based on cost of item sold only. I also only looked at the chart and missed the text for the charge of either an extra $.30 or .40.
As many pointed out, I am new to this site and am learning.
Thanks again.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoEbay started out that way, and sellers sold for a penny and charged huge shipping fees to avoid paying FVF.
Amazon works like Ebay for the same reason.
I have no clue which site is giving away their services, and only charging their fee on the item cost. I somehow doubt they get a lot of sales or it would be motivating some sellers to try them.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you again for your help. Poshmark now allows sales of home items. It charges a percentage of the item only, and has set price negotiated with U.S. post office for shipping. Simpler process.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoPoshmark has seen its growth stall and costs rise. Only time will tell whether they are a survivor.
Their deal with USPS is neat but not relevant for many types of item.
One of my daughters sells on both Poshmark and Ebay. Sold a lot more on Ebay, but is getting more for certain brands of clothes which she lists on Poshmark.
They are nowhere near the revenue of Ebay. And I would have a hard time expecting some of the plates you have listed selling there. But I would think that they might be among the items that do not sell as well as they did 10 or 20 years ago, anywhere on the planet. I know I have some of their friends from back in the factories that I am trying to figure out what to do with.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year ago@annsmenagerie
Thank you very much for your response. I think I was just frustrated that the fee is calculated including the postage. I sale on another site where the percentage is based on cost of item sold only. I also only looked at the chart and missed the text for the charge of either an extra $.30 or .40.
As many pointed out, I am new to this site and am learning.
As long as you are not passing along the discounted shipping rate to your buyers, which from looking at some of your listings it appears you may be, then the buyer is paying full retail for shipping and the difference between what the buyer pays for shipping and what you purchase the label for should more than cover the fees on the shipping and potentially your packing materials.
With the rapidly rising shipping costs and the various carriers and options it is becoming one of the more complex aspects to navigate.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoYes. I still don't know what is going on with shipping. I weigh item and use correct box size, but I think something is off with my shipping. I want the buyers to only pay what shipping actually costs me. I buy shipping label through eBay once it knows where buyer is located, but I'm still not sure shipping is correct. Am I doing something wrong?
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoYes. I still don't know what is going on with shipping. I weigh item and use correct box size, but I think something is off with my shipping. I want the buyers to only pay what shipping actually costs me. I buy shipping label through eBay once it knows where buyer is located, but I'm still not sure shipping is correct. Am I doing something wrong?
janet9988
·1 year agoYou are still selling here. How come you are still here given your complaint?
Final value fees are 13.25% on the total amount the buyer pays in most all categories.
If the buyer pays 100.00 then your fee is $13.25. Not that hard.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoIn your example, $13.25 plus $.40 for a total of $13.65. Thank you for your response.
susanb1872
·1 year agoThe final value fee is based on the total amount of the sales meaning the item price + shipping + sales tax. Most items will have a 13.25% fee of the total sale (also there is a 40 cents per transaction fee). There are situations where the fee % could be different depending on the category and also depending on if you promote the item. Did you pay about $3.00 in fees for the last item you sold?
reallynicestamps
·1 year ago@annsmenagerie
From the beginning, back in 1998 when I started selling here, I used 20% of selling price as the approximate fee.
Since then, listing fees have basically disappeared (no fee for pictures, for example) and selling fees have dropped as a percentage although they now cover more parts of the buyer's payment.
There are some optional fees, like Promoted Listings and Auction Reserve, but no one is required to use them and most sellers don't.
Are you paying out more than 20% of the selling price ?
Are you selling cheap items where the 30-40c service fee is noticeable?
Again from the beginning, I decided it was not worth my while to sell anything under $10. and that service fee was part of the reason.
@youn2240
ebay told me I am not allowed to leave.
You can leave.
If you close your account, it will take a few months because of the Money Back Guarantee. EBay wants to be sure any Claims can be paid from your Managed Payments account.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoTheir fee is based on the total amount the buyer pays.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year ago@annsmenagerie
What other options (platforms) would you suggest are better (less fees) that have the same or better opportunities (buyers) for others to see their goods.?
yuzuha
·1 year agoIt's the second part there that's the kicker. Sure, there are places that have lower fees, but they're almost all ghost towns in terms of buyers.
ittybitnot
·1 year agobut they're almost all ghost towns in terms of buyers.
@yuzuha
Actually, I think that statement falls under the category of "urban legend" or some such. I can assure you, that is not the case. My website, for example, is NO ghost town for buyers. I do not have to SPEND to promote to get sales, that is another "urban legend" as well. When a "commercial marketplace" (i.e. eBay, Etsy, Mercari, etc.) no longer fits with my business plan, then they are dispensed with forthwith.
Sold on eBay for 24 years, always 'saved my best' products for eBay. Found out that the same sold for MORE, more quickly, at a lesser cost to me someplace else. Lead a horse to water and all that....
Good luck to you!
Read, watch, listen, learn.
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you very much for your response. I am new to eBay as you probably can tell other than having bought things for 25+ years. I have been blessed to have already sold some items even though new and there isn't really any promotion.
I have questions and all I can do is get into a circular conversation with the automated assistant, and never get answers. For instance, eBay sent me an email that it had deposited 2.58 to my bank account. I have no idea what this is for and the detail doesn't show a calculation for this amount. It is the most frustrating thing and so I came here with my frustration, but really none of you can help with that, and I can't get to a real person.
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoeBay sent me an email that it had deposited 2.58 to my bank account. I have no idea what this is for
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@annsmenagerie
Seller hub>
Hover on payments>
click on payouts>
click on the desired payout to see what was included>
It will show all things included in that payout.
Click on an "order " # to see the details of an order.
That will show the $ details as to:
what buyer paid
eBay fees
sales tax in and back out
label cost if label purchased through eBay
order earnings
This link may help to get you to the "payouts" page.
Seller Hub | Payouts | eBay
annsmenagerie
OP1 year agoThank you for the response.
sakic92710
·1 year agoWhen I see 3 views on a 30-day listing, it tells me eBay is a ghost town, too. Especially when the same item can get 25x more views, in less time, on Marketplace.
youn2240
·1 year agoebay told me I am not allowed to leave.
hv2drive
·1 year agoBest answer of them all!