Hi,
I'm selling an item for $36 + $34 for shipping. After the item was purchased the value of the item increased to $51.68 in the fee system. Screenshot: https://prnt.sc/Nsxy7fLOtWXT (insert image works in a broken way).
This is what I found:
- Shipping and handling $7.50
- Import tax $8.18
The end value of the item increased to $51.68. I was surprised a lot. It increases the cost of the item and results in a higher final fee charged by eBay.
I did ask the customer support agent about those fees and how is it related to my sale. The first agent was not able to answer and was avoiding that question (yes, I did ask him 3 times about it). And he was sending me to the page with the fee policy. But guess what? There's not a single word explaining from where the "Import tax" and "Shipping and handling" are coming from (Screenshot #1: https://prnt.sc/JYmXf8wg26fq and #2: https://prnt.sc/TKY8IW5z_WmI). Ended up asking for a supervisor. And found that those are "mandatory fees". So I can't change the final value of the items.
Now:
1) eBay has nothing to do with Import Tax. eBay does not import anything, neither my client nor myself
2) eBay won't handle the shipping and neither my client. I've received a set amount of money to do it on my own
Instead of having just one "service fee" for using eBay, we've got this kind of hidden way of making money on the Seller. Poor way of doing business in my opinion.
Guess what? Other sellers are increasing the cost of the items, dramatically to avoid dealing with eBay. But will leave the cost of the item on their site as normal. So instead of buying the item on eBay, the client will go directly to the seller's page. Free advertising from the side of eBay. EXAMPLE - Screenshot 1: https://prnt.sc/th7YkQrcoTDm Screenshot 2: https://prnt.sc/flgDDv_dNi-F
And I should open my own shop just to sell 1 item? To get 10% off on those magical fees?
@gvrider wrote:Hi,
I'm selling an item for $36 + $34 for shipping. After the item was purchased the value of the item increased to $51.68 in the fee system. Screenshot: https://prnt.sc/Nsxy7fLOtWXT (insert image works in a broken way).
This is what I found:
- Shipping and handling $7.50
- Import tax $8.18
The end value of the item increased to $51.68. I was surprised a lot. It increases the cost of the item and results in a higher final fee charged by eBay.
...
Here is your screenshot. Even though you sold two of them, the screenshot is showing your fees for just one of them, which could be confusing. Since you asked about why eBay used a "total" of $51.68, I'll will explain how they calculated that amount.
You sold two items from that listing, to a single buyer in one order, for $36 each. Since the buyer's shipping address was in New Zealand, they paid $34 shipping for the first one, and $5 for the second one, total of $39 shipping, according to the listing.
https://www.ebay.com/bin/purchaseHistory?item=285482370493
eBay also had to collect the New Zealand Goods and Services tax, which is 15% of the total cost (shipping is a service, so it is also taxable). The buyer had to pay GST on their full amount, but the screenshot is only showing the amount for one item, so the $8.18 is the New Zealand GST.
You listed them on eBay USA (www.ebay.com), so the "Domestic" shipping was for an address in the USA, and it was $15 for one item, and additional items were free. Because this was not shipped "domestically" (i.e. to the USA), it is considered an international sale. For the purposes of calculating your selling fees, only the cost of domestic shipping is included, so instead of using the actual cost of shipping that your buyer paid, eBay only included the cost of domestic shipping, which was $15 for both items. Since the screenshot is showing your fees for just one item, they included half the cost of domestic shipping, or $7.50.
So, for one item, the fees would be calculated based on this amount:
| item price | $ 36.00 |
| cost of domestic shipping (per item) | $ 7.50 |
| New Zealand GST (per item) | $ 8.18 |
| "total payment" (for purposes of fee calculation) | $ 51.68 |
