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!

[gotstuffguys]

So here is a perfect example where they took a chunk out based on the taxes...

Item price$830.00

Quantity1

Fees based on

$913.75

Rate for $0.00 - $7,500.00$913.75x13.25% =-$121.07

Final Value FeeVariable percentage · Collectibles category		-$121.07
Rate for $0.00 - $7,500.00	$913.75x13.25% =-$121.07

Fixed amount-$0.30

Final Value FeePer order fixed amount		-$0.30
Fixed amount	-$0.30
	Fees	-$121.37

[gotstuffguys]

$830 was item sale price plus $20 for insured shipping for item total of $850...plus THEY DIRECTLY collected another $63.75 in taxes and then charged me final value fee on $913.75 instead of the $850!  They mugged me for $121.30 in final value fees on the $913.75 instead of $112.62 so they mugged me for an EXTRA $8.68 and when you times that buy thousands/tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands of items being sold daily/weekly/monthly they are raking in millions yearly on just this improper final value fee on the sales tax THEY COLLECTED DIRECTLY FROM THE BUYER AND NEVER SAW MY HANDS NOR WAS IT REQUIRED BY ME.  I get it...they states are making them charge sales tax but there is no law or even any proper or ethical business practice that would be considered remotely proper charging a final value fee on sales tax they collect from the buyer.   The only moneys i should be charged final value fees on is the moneys my item sold for!!!!!!  Gonna be chatting with some folks up in Salem Oregon about this crud!  Unfair at best and ive been around here for 23 years!!!!  This is getting unfathomable...and they are making us use this system! I cant even pay for shipping labels the way i would like to as well!  Not worth it...decent place to buy...not so much selling anymore unless they give you the "big seller deals"!

[lakefor94]

Any venue that uses a payment processor charges the FVF on the total sale, including sales tax.

Same as any store you walk into. If you use a credit card, the merchant is charged a fee on the total price of the sale. All these fees are figured into the price of the item and the buyer is actually paying the fees. 

There is not any room for surprise or argument for that matter. This is internet sales in the 2020's.

[brazztazz]

That's Feebay. They figured sellers were paying paypal those fees so why change when they took over the payment processing. LOL. At least they are not keeping the 3% paypal charge for payment processing that paypal charge and would not refund when a customer would pay and cancel the sale before you even shipped it. I called it instant cancel.

[monica-sells]

"...The only moneys i should be charged final value fees on is the moneys my item sold for!!!!!!..."

So, if you sold your item for 750 and charged 120 for shipping you should only be charged a Final Value Fee on 750? 

As far as charging a fee for the money they process for you to pay state sales tax for you....

I am glad I don't have to deal with it, so that fee is "somewhat" OK for me.....

i do think the fee should be "capped", (because sales tax filing, remitting etc....costs the same for a $20 order as it does for a $2000.00 order) but it is clearly stated upfront...so that's what we deal with.

"...Gonna be chatting with some folks up in Salem Oregon about this crud! ..."

I know someone in Salem too...wonder what she can do?

[fab_finds4u]

"They figured sellers were charging PayPal those fees so why change."

That's whack and not the reason you're charged fees on the total.

If you were processing a payment and had to put the payment money  in different accounts like you would do that for free??

[nanniestreasurechest]

gotstuffguys wrote:

"I NEVER TOUCHED IT!"

And this is the reason you pay fees on it.  Would you rather set up an account with every state you sell to and remit those taxes yourself?  Keep in mind that most states require you to file reports each month or quarter once you have an account set up with them even if you don't have any sales.  The small fee you pay for eBay to handle this for you is definitely worth not having the hassle of doing it yourself.   Before I retired, the job I had was set up to pay taxes in 4 different states other than our own.   Just keeping up with those taxes for those 4 states was time consuming and sometimes a headache because their were times when the states would send an auditor in to audit the taxes we paid to them.  I can't imagine having to deal with that with every state in the U.S. 

[soh.maryl]

Why are you going to be "chatting with some folks up in Salem Oregon about this crud"?

Is that your state capital? What do you think that state government can do about eBay fees? 

[ms.rodriguez*]

Nearly every day a seller post this question.  This is an industry practice.   Why should Macy's pay a fee on the sales tax that you pay when you buy something in Macys and use your Visa card?  Macys has to pay a fee on the entire total to Macys.   Sure I know that the Visa fees are less than the Ebay fees so I don't want to hear it from anyone.

Ebay fees are clear.  It's every sellers' responsibility to price their item so that enough is left over after paying the fees.  If you are not making money on your item, you are doing it wrong.  Might as well toss everything in the trash or donate it.

Also, it's ebay that submits the tax to each county in each of the 47 or 48 (I forgot exactly) states that charge a sales tax.  Can you imagine having to do that burden yourself for each sale that you made to a buyer in one of those states?  No thank you.

[gotstuffguys]

The buyer is not paying the fees...they are paying the sales tax but i as the seller am being charged 13.25% on ALL moneys including the sales tax ebay takes directly from the buyer.  It clips out another bite of what profit is left in the item.  Not sure how you can say the buyer is paying the fee when im being charged a final value fee on moneys i dont receive or touch at all?  It would be different if this were an OPTION but its not it is forced on us all! 

[gotstuffguys]

PP never charged me/us anything on buyer paid sales tax as WE NEVER RECEIVED the sales tax into our account and PP only charges on what you RECEIVE.  Next.....

[kensgiftshop]

I don't think the federal government is to worried about them collecting fees on the sales tax they collect, since they get a cut when they report the fee's on their income taxes.

If you've been around 23 years, surely you remember Pay Pal collecting fee's on the sales tax also?

[gotstuffguys]

You might be surprised what "SHE" could do up in Salem as our state is pretty protective when it comes to this type of thing.  If we received the sales tax and had it in our accounts and then paid them end of the month or what have you i could see being charged a final value fee on the taxes but we never touch them receive them at all as they are taken directly from the buyer.  If it was an option to use ebays service that would be one thing but if i was using paypal i wouldnt be charged on the sales tax as i never had money transferred into my account.   To be charged on a sales tax out of another state when we dont touch the money is not proper at all.

[gotstuffguys]

you didnt make any sense...if i still used PP i would not be charged the fee on sales tax as PP only charges you the percentage on the moneys you receive.  Again, if we had a choice it would be one thing but they have taken ALL forms of collecting payment and stopped them and we have to go with ebays new management system.    When you are forcing someone to use your system and then charge fees for moneys we never touch is not solid biz practice and ill bet in the not so distant future we will be reading how this was found by the feds to me improper etc etc.