Why does ebay charge the sellers final value fees on sales tax the buyer owes and ebay takes directy

[gotstuffguys]

Why does ebay charge the sellers final value fees on sales tax the buyer owes and ebay takes directy from the buyer!  So if i sell a pricy item and the sales tax is $50 ebay is charging me 13.25% on the SALES TAX THE BUYER PAID AND EBAY TOOK IMEDIATLEY...I NEVER TOUCHED IT!  I just came back to selling on ebay but wont be staying long as they are getting CRAZY at this point.  I have a feeling the federal government might step in on this one in the very near future as Ebay is charging SELLERS final value fees on BUYER PAID SALES TAX!  I didnt collect this money...it NEVER was put into my account especially my bank account and they even tell you SALES TAX EBAY COLLECTED FROM BUYER DIRECTLY  so why are we paying a FINAL VALUE FEE on SALES TAX?  RIDICULOUS and this will im sure end up back firing on them as its just plain WRONG to charge me/seller a final value fee on sales tax that was paid directly to ebay from the buyer!  WRONG WRONG WRONG! Will be talking to some folks about this one for sure as this is just plain thievery!  If i sell an item for $100 plus $15 for shipping the final value fee should really be on just the $100 but they started dinging sellers on shipping payments about 10 years ago and now this latest system is charging the SELLER a final value fee based on money the seller never collected or received any part of???  NAAAAHHHHH!  This is crazy and ive been around here for 23 years folks and these people are getting to where they just do as they please when they please but charging me fees for a buyers owed and paid sales tax is NUTS!   This new system in the last couple years is insane!

[kenneth7981]

This is "class action" lawsuit in behalf of both buyers and sellers territory!  Someone with a deep enough pocket needs to talk to a reputable law firm......GOOD LUCK ON FINDING ONE!...........and turn it into a class action if it should be found to have merit.  I myself have very little mobility OR financial resources to get this sort of thing started, but would join such an action.

[kenneth7981]

Sales tax should NOT come under the 12.5% + fee when it is added to the total due.  That's CRIMINAL!

[ryanrobyn]

obviously to sc____ the sellers again and make more money

[monroe67]

Here's what eBay's User Agreement, Section 18, Legal Disputes, says about Class Action Lawsuits, with a few edits of color and size for emphasis:  

"Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief

YOU AND EBAY AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, OR REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND EBAY AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S OR PARTY'S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, CLASS, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY'S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). ANY RELIEF AWARDED CANNOT AFFECT OTHER USERS . . . . "

Of course, there's a lot more to eBay's policies on legal disputes than just that brief quote.  eBay does recognize that sometimes there could be disagreements between itself (a corporation) and users, either sellers or buyers.  For example, per this agreement, eBay will generally not pursue resolution of a legal dispute in a court trial (small claims cases being an exception), but rather by binding arbitration.  That is what "THE ARBITRATOR" in the above quote refers to.  An arbitrator will decide on any dispute, rather than a judge or jury.  This is reasonable, because arbitration normally is less expensive than court trials.  

Anyone can access eBay's User Agreement via a hyperlink at the bottom of any page on eBay's website. 
It's easy to find.  It's just the words User Agreement, which are underlined. 

[monica-sells]

Here is what I find amusing.....

You do realize that to "participate" in a class action lawsuit, you don't just toss your name in a hat....

You need to "prove" your loss....

You know what that means....

bookeeping....detailed sales records...proof of damage...

(got that receipt for the Round-Up you bought 3 years ago?)

Unless you are doing a substantial dollar volume, you might get .43 cents from a "class action" settlement after the attorney and lead plaintiffs get their cut.....

and that is ONLY if you participated by providing the "proof"

and...to top it all off...it will 'probably' not change the policy going forward....

...puh lease

[monroe67]

"Sales tax should NOT come under the 12.5% + fee when it is added to the total due."

Just want to correct something I think you misunderstand.  
Since February 15, 2023, eBay's final value fee (FVF) for the category of your current listings has been:
           13.25% of the total amount paid by your buyer, plus 30 cents per order.  
I would hate to have you figure your fee at 12.5% and then be angry when you find out it's actually 13.25%.

YOU are selling collectible coins, which might not be subject to any sales tax whatsoever.  Taxation of collectible coins varies widely among the states.  And a lot also depends on the eBay category where the seller chooses to list them.   

[monroe67]

"Here is what I find amusing.....

You do realize that to "participate" in a class action lawsuit, you don't just toss your name in a hat....

You need to "prove" your loss....  You know what that means....             ...puh lease"

Don't I know.   I worked just short of a year for a large nationwide law firm whose specialty is class actions . . . . .

[monroe67]

"obviously to sc____ the sellers again and make more money"

People who buy things from my selling ID pay my fees.  

[mtgraves7984]

@gotstuffguys 

The FVFs on sales tax are a bargain compared to what you'd pay an accountant vs. collection and remittance to all.

Off topic... but how do you feel about the hold on new/returning sellers' funds? Is that one understandable?

[hotrod168]

@ms.rodriguez*

It's kind of disingenuous to write it off as a standard industry practice when most CC processing rates on the sales tax portion of a transaction hover around 2.9% (but can easily be lower depending on contracted rates - our inhouse terminal averages 2.6%).

I'm not aware of any one else that charges as much as 12% (and sometimes more, depending on category). That's not industry standard — that's excessive. 

You are right to say there's some value in them handling the tax filing on our behalf, but it's still hard to justify paying 3-4x more than a typical card processor. I'm not sure what the selling environment is like for your market, but we regularly have big orders with LTL shipping (which we also get to pay 9-12% fees on), where the sales tax can easily exceed $150+.  Even if they only charged double the 'industry standard', that would still amount to thousands of dollars more annually we would pay compared to other card processors. 

[insightoutzack]

Saw your thread..just as I was going to "ask " ..How can this be happening!!!! By the time it's all taken out..% on sales tax ..% on shipping ...Minus ..equals..a very low % . How can they take this all out... 

[insightoutzack]

ok..Then 2 wrongs make it right..Is that what you are saying..

[r_lresale]

I'm not sure where people are saying they are selling on another platform where sales tax is not included in fee's (unless a cash sale marketplace).

On M@c@r! for a $22.95 sale, including shipping and taxes buyer paid, the fees they take out of payment equals approximately 11.7%-11.75%. Although they charge 10% fee on the item total, they also charge a seperate percentage on total amount including tax paid. They break it down as selling fee and processing fee while ebay just lumps it together as FVF. 

Also marketplace facilitator laws says 3rd party payment processors has to collect taxes and can charge processing fee on them so...............

[hotrod168]

Just looked up their fee structure. They only charge a 2.9% processing rate on the sales tax portion of the sale, not even close to the often double-digit percentages eBay is currently charging for the same processing service.

I don't understand why so many people on these forums jump to eBay's defense on this one. By forcing everyone to use them as the sole payment processor, they were already poised to make more on each sale (which is fine, good for them). But there is only one reason eBay is scimming more than triple the normal amount off the sales tax compared to every other processor, and it's not because 'everyone else is doing it'.

If that were true, the fees applied to sales tax would *actually* be comparable to the rest of the industry. In reality, it's just another sneaky method for them to squeeze a little bit more out of each transaction, and the complacency is allowing them to get away with it. 

[r_lresale]

@hotrod168  Just because its broken down into 2 different percentages doesn't (necessarily) mean you are paying less in fees. 10% Selling Fee + 2.9% Fee on tax = 12.9% of all monies processed for you; ebay charges 13.2%. This is only a 0.3% difference and by no means significantly higher than industry standards. On that 22.95 sale the selling fee was 1.70+ 0.99 processing fee for total fee of $2.69.  On ebay that same sale would have been a total of 3.02; just a difference of 0.33 cents 

ETA: This is not including the 0.30 fixed fee