25% fee on sale is complete **bleep**, Ebay are thieves.

[blake_arius]

I sold a $20 item that unfortunately required $14.50 in postage costs. I never noticed this issue on things sent by envelope.. but of the high postage to item cost I was essentially charged 25% fee instead of 15% normal. Ebay states this is stop people putting items up for a dollar and paying almost no fee. But this policy means you get extra screwed just for selling a cheap item with a high postage cost.
Honestly its just greed, it's not much money but its the principle and surely there is better solution.

In future if this happens I am simple going to charge people separately for postage, ebay policy be damned.

[buyselljack2016]

Recent?  Seem it happened in 2011 ? (if not earlier)

[dbfolks166mt]

It doesn't matter if you make it free or not. Your paying a fee because you have extra postage expenses. This is recent change and its **bleep**. People should be speaking up.

     There are hundred's if not thousand's of postings on this forum about the FVF's being charged on shipping when it is separate, not really relevant if you offer free shipping. As a seller it is incumbent on your to factor that into your pricing if you are offering free shipping or utilize the calculated shipping. Not sure if eBay gets you a discounted postage rate as it does in the US but in the US the difference between the full shipping cost the buyer pays for and the actual cost the seller pays for the label will generally cover the FVF's on the shipping if it is broken out separately in the listing. 

     Looking at your listing I see a shipping cost of $18.44 from Australia to my location in Virginia (USA). Can you actually ship the item to me for that? Is it actually costing you that for the label when you got to purchase it or is it less? Not familiar with your postal system and the rates. You can always add on a handling fee to cover the FVF's that will be charged on the shipping. EBay's policies are what they are as a seller you need to manage within them when listing your items and calculating your profit. 

[blake_arius]

Yeh the policy changes I think came in a year ago, but only been selling again recently. All i know is the ACCC that regulates consumer law are fine with the policy. Still its "live in the garden and eat crap, or leave the garden" seeing this everywhere now, seen it happen to blizzard, it basically defines apple. Consumers I think in general have lost alot of power with the size these companies are now.

[dbfolks166mt]

What is wrong with complaining, I couldn't find a way to complain directly and it's worth complaint.. It's deceptive because people wont notice this on bigger sales. It's greedy and lazy because in an effort to combat $1 listings the average seller is collateral and yeh maybe some people will find a way to recycle but most aren't going to bother, so its a net loss for the environment.

 I'm just constantly astounded what people will let companies get away with.

     I fully understand the eBay policies and fee structures and have listed several items for $.99 with calculated shipping to keep the items from the landfill. Most of those items have sold and while I make virtually nothing on the sale the shipping and the FVF's associated with it are paid by the buyer when they make the purchase. 

[buyselljack2016]

Selling low value items which have high shipping costs does not seem to be a good "business model" for selling anywhere online.

Costs need to be examined (and understood) before proceeding in any venture.

Items that I cannot sell online with expectations of seeing a worthwhile return are in a yard sale, or given away.

[dbfolks166mt]

I didn't know.. because its a recent change and this fee is unnoticeable on bigger listing. Even so it doesn't change the fact its a bad policy worth complaining about! Its bad for the seller because it destroys any profit margins on small items that are bought to be sold and its bad for ebay because yeh in future I'll never sell such an item and ebay gets no money. LOSE LOSE.

But yeh keep up your parade of corporate defending and elitist "don't like it, leave" mentality which achieves nothing.

     Not sure about the Australia site but this is NOT a recent change. The FVF's have been applied to the total amount of the sale for a long time. 

[blake_arius]

Stop basing your opinion off the auction I got running. I am prepared to eat the shipping costs because it'll sell for hundreds. For smaller items It's either a couple dollars for a letter or $11 for the smallest package and ebay quoted the post office price. All I'm saying is the system is just unfair if shipping is like 75% the cost of the item sold.

[blake_arius]

It seems it came in 5-7 years back in America, and became policy in Australia about a year ago. Seems like that's an ongoing trend for australia😆.. along with Halloween, black friday and political extremism.

[stainlessenginecovers]

You are supposed to add a 'handling fee' to your shipping cost if you are using 'calculated shipping'. If you 'know' the price to ship, add 15% to cover the 'fee'. 

This way, you pay only the 'fee' for the item itself (and a few pennies for tax). 

[dbfolks166mt]

Stop basing your opinion off the auction I got running. I am prepared to eat the shipping costs because it'll sell for hundreds. For smaller items It's either a couple dollars for a letter or $11 for the smallest package and ebay quoted the post office price. All I'm saying is the system is just unfair if shipping is like 75% the cost of the item sold.

     Not so much an opinion as it is based on eBay policy and facts. The rest is just an assumption. As I noted this is the US seller forum and you are in Australia. Not many sellers on this forum are familiar with your postal system, the rates, whether you get discounts.............  The response is based solely on the limited information you provided. I sell a LOT of things were the postage is more than the cost of the item. 

[obob501]

I just sold an item that was out of stock for a long time and I did not raise price on item or postage so look at t

the sale.

$ 14.49 item.

     5.49 s+h

    21.48 total.

   $4.44 ebay fees.Some say Feebay but its looking more like Greed Bay

   $4.19 shipping label.

  $11.00 cost of item.

  $0.36 net profit.

 Now I realize why so many sellers are leaving the site.After 25 years it looks like  I may follow.

I must say in all fairness it was a great place to sell all your throw aways but not if you have to purchase items to sell and they are making more on a item than you are.Figure it out for yourself.

[lakefor94]

---

@obob501 wrote:

I just sold an item that was out of stock for a long time and I did not raise price on item or postage so look at t

the sale.

$ 14.49 item.

     5.49 s+h

    21.48 total.

   $4.44 ebay fees.Some say Feebay but its looking more like Greed Bay

   $4.19 shipping label.

  $11.00 cost of item.

  $0.36 net profit.

 Now I realize why so many sellers are leaving the site.After 25 years it looks like  I may follow.

I must say in all fairness it was a great place to sell all your throw aways but not if you have to purchase items to sell and they are making more on a item than you are.Figure it out for yourself.

---

If you are buying product for $11.00 and selling it for $14.49  that is an instant loser here or any venue with a payment processor. 

Scratch off lotto tickets would be a better chance.....

[fern*wood]

---

@obob501 wrote:

I just sold an item that was out of stock for a long time and I did not raise price on item or postage so look at t

the sale.

$ 14.49 item.

     5.49 s+h

    21.48 total.

   $4.44 ebay fees.Some say Feebay but its looking more like Greed Bay

   $4.19 shipping label.

  $11.00 cost of item.

  $0.36 net profit.

 Now I realize why so many sellers are leaving the site.After 25 years it looks like  I may follow.

I must say in all fairness it was a great place to sell all your throw aways but not if you have to purchase items to sell and they are making more on a item than you are.Figure it out for yourself.

---

It's a good thing you made a little on the postage or you would have owed ebay money.  There is no way I would pay $11. for something and hope to make a profit by selling it for only $14.49.