“Order Earnings” (net of tax, fees & shipping) is different than what I got paid

[alito6642]

I just made my first sale on eBay. The item sold for $15. The buyer paid $20.58 (including shipping & taxes). My Order Earnings show $11.87 ($20.58 less sales tax & transaction fees & shipping label). But only $7.32 was actually paid out to me. I cannot find what the additional $4.55 that was not paid to me is for. I see the breakdown for the transaction fees which total $3.13, but I don’t see an explanation/breakdown for the additional $4.55 that was not paid to me. How do I find out what that is? Thanks for any help!

[infoandy]

Did you use eBay Labels to ship your item? What was the cost that eBay charged you for the shipping label? I see  that you also sold another item for $15 plus $4.55 for shipping. Did you receive the correct amount for that sale? To see the breakdown of expenses for your sale, on your Sold page click on See Order Details, on that page under Order Earnings click on See More Details. That page will show you what your shipping cost and fees were. To the far right of shipping or your item click on View. That will show you the breakdown of your shipping cost and fees. It is odd that the difference from what you earned and what you got paid is $4.55 which is the same as the amount the buyer paid for shipping.

You can contact eBay at this link: https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkpid

Click on Have Us Call You during the time period listed.

[alito6642]

Thanks for your response!  1) I haven’t been paid out yet for the 2nd sale of $15, so I’ll have to wait to see.  2) Yes, I looked at the breakdown of expenses. It shows that the buyer paid $20.58. ($15.00 for the item + $4.38 for shipping + $1.20 for sales tax). It shows that I earned $11.87 ($20.58 for the order total - $1.20 for taxes - $3.13 for transaction fees - $4.38 for the shipping label). And then I got paid out $7.32. So it appears that they deducted another $4.55 for shipping but I don’t see where it says anything about that.

I will contact them through the link you sent. I appreciate that you sent that because I couldn’t find a way to contact a “real person” there, only the online assistant. 

[infoandy]

Did you ship out the second item? What did it cost you to ship that. If the earnings on your first item have cleared (payment was released), but your second item has not, then the cost of shipping your second item will be subtracted from the payment of your first item. So when the payment for your second item clears, you will see that the $4.55 will be added back to the total of the 2 payments, assuming that you paid $4.55 for the second shipping label.

[alito6642]

Yes, I shipped out the 2nd item & the shipping was $4.55. I haven’t gotten the funds yet (it says they’ll be released next week).  I knew that the amount deducted from the 1st payout was exactly the same as the shipping from the 2nd, but had no idea they’d deduct it at that time & then even it out when they pay out the 2nd.  Maybe it’s written somewhere on the site but I definitely didn’t see anything that explained that when I was looking. 

Your response & explanation are both VERY much appreciated! 

[infoandy · Accepted solution]

Yes, that's the way payments work. If you only sold 1 item and shipped it, you would see a negative earnings of -$4.55 (or whatever the shipping cost was) until your payment clears. Being a new seller, your hold time for payments to clear could be as much as 30 days. Once you are an established seller, the hold time is only a couple of days.

[alito6642]

Thank you again! I contacted a live person at eBay and your response above was exactly what happened. They held the cost of shipping on the second item out of my first payout. When they released payment for the second item, it was more than the amount showed online due to the fact they had already taken out the cost of the shipping from the payout on the first item. So everything has been squared away now.