Why is ebay charging CA buyers addt'l fees on electronics not required by the state?

[campanaelia]

I just bought a laptop which states "For Parts only" in the title and was in the "For parts not working" category. At checkout ebay added $5 for the electronic waste fee in CA which only is due on New and Refurbished items. If I buy a scrap laptop locally you are not charged the fee. The fee should not be applied to any electronic devices in the Used or For Parts not working categories. I have not paid for my item yet until the fee is removed.

https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/ewfaqsgen.htm

[7606dennis]

I would advise you to contact the seller.  This is a member to member discussion board and as such can only offer opinions.

Not being familiar with these particular state laws in your state, even venturing an opinion is useless from my point of view. 

[campanaelia]

But why doesn't ebay fix the problem on their end? I've let ebay know about the issue and they say they will escalate it to their sales tax team and to ask sellers to create a BIN listing in computer parts for the same amount I won the auction for, which I have done already. I'm not going to pay for a fee that should not be charged, so for now, that is what I will have to do until they fix it.

[7606dennis]

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@campanaelia wrote:

But why doesn't ebay fix the problem on their end? I've let ebay know about the issue and they say they will escalate it to their sales tax team and to ask sellers to create a BIN listing in computer parts for the same amount I won the auction for, which I have done already. I'm not going to pay for a fee that should not be charged, so for now, that is what I will have to do until they fix it.

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Have you reported it to the state's taxing authority?

[campanaelia]

Not yet, I thought ebay was capable of handling this in-house but will report it soon if it is not fixed.

[campanaelia]

The law is pretty cut and dry, don't see why buyers have to waste their time on ebay applying it correctly.

https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/IEDDD080D57A847F68D5FEF2B205BC537?viewType=FullText&origin...)

[7606dennis]

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@campanaelia wrote:

The law is pretty cut and dry, don't see why buyers have to waste their time on ebay applying it correctly.

https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/IEDDD080D57A847F68D5FEF2B205BC537?viewType=FullText&origin...)

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Since you appear to believe that eBay is applying your state's laws incorrectly, I would think that it would make sense to bring it to the proper authority and let them show eBay the error of their ways.  After all, you don't quite have the weight behind you when you bring it to their attention as an individual.

Of course, I'm no attorney and am not familiar with the laws of your state.

[campanaelia]

I ended up buying a second laptop on the 15th in the for parts category and the $5 fee was added again. After communicating with both sellers about the issue with ebay they both cancelled those orders and relisted them in computer parts as per ebay rep in chat stated would be a faster remedy. However the fee is being applied to the wrong categories and I posted this here to let other californians be aware that the fee is only due on New or Refurbished CED'S. I repair laptops and buy these scrap pc's all the time and was only buying locally, but due to the pandemic they became more scarce so I just recently resorted to ebay for now. Another strange thing is the fee does not apply to all of them, so you don't know until checkout time if it will show up

[campanaelia]

So finally after numerous complaints to customer service it looks like ebay will be correcting the CA ewaste fee. Here is part of an email I received today...

"We want to take this opportunity to let you know that you are correct, you should not have been charged for any eWaste recycling fee for the item. I was able to escalate this to our technical team to ensure that it will be corrected.

 Though, we understand that the seller already cancelled the transaction we would like to assure you that we would have refunded the fee that you were incorrectly charged.

 I am confident that this information will help with the eWaste recycling fee charge."

[campanaelia]

So after ebay admitted they were charging the fee incorrectly and escalating the issue to their technical team to correct the eWaste recycling fee charge, here we are 3.5 months later and they are still charging it incorrectly. I haven't bought a laptop since.

[ra_201044]

Ebay's 'escalator' works like one in a mall that has been closed for years with the power off.

[campanaelia]

Jaja, the sad part is, what you say is true, they just tell you what you want to hear and don't follow through. I would probably buy 10 or more laptops a month but I refuse to pay incorrect fees and wait for customer service to refund me, it is just too confusing to deal with. Plus my credit card uses an exchange rate, so I would loose a little on each refund too. And asking the sellers to cancel orders and relist in "laptop parts" category is just too time consuming, and that would probably get old too since I often buy from the same sellers. It frustrates me every time I think about  the stupidity of this issue.

[star.fighter]

I totally agree with your points and feel your frustration.  HOWEVER, if you really need those parts and want to buy from those sellers, you already now know how to avoid the fees.  Instead of buying first, and then fixing the problem... you COULD ask your sellers to relist the items you want to buy in the alternate category that works, and THEN buy.  if the sellers want to sell, they should be willing to relist BEFORE you buy...if the seller is unwilling, then it's their loss.

of course, if you want to stick it to ebay by not buying here, i understand.  but, also consider how you are denying revenue from those sellers you like because of ebay's inaction.

just some food for thought...

[campanaelia]

The problem is I usually buy laptops from bidding in auctions. The sellers don't know ahead of time which laptops I'll be bidding on since I usually bid in the final seconds. It would be impossible to get these sellers to list all their laptops in the parts category. The sellers are listing them correctly, that's why ebay has the different categories, "New" "Refurbished", "Used", and "For parts not working"...The ewaste recycling fees are ONLY required by the state of CA on the "New" and "Refurbished". I wonder if ebay is refunding automatically the fee to other buyers who purchased laptops and paid the fee, if not, where is the money going? The worst part is ebay was acting like they were against the taxes and fees being imposed on internet sales, and now they are collecting fees that are not even required.

[campanaelia]

Finally, it seems ebay has finally fixed the issue. Every BIN I've tested at checkout over the past few days do Not have the fee being added. I even purchased one laptop so far and it did not have the fee. I'm not sure why it took them 1.5 years to fix the issue. Yes, it's been a year and a half, the ewaste recycling tax began being added in 10/2019. That is how long it's been since I stopped purchasing laptops here. I really wonder if they been voluntarily refunding it to buyers who just paid it. It also costs sellers more in fees since ebay and PP charge their fees on the tax collected too. If I didn't keep complaining recently I don't think this would of ever been resolved. I know I've been mostly talking to myself here in this thread but this was a big issue to me