Confused about refund process as seller

[viliam17sk]

So I haven’t sold anything on eBay in a long long time and since I am in hard times went to sell this flight simulator kit I had. I posted the item and eBay asked if I wanted to promote it. Not thinking much about what that entailed I accepted, not being aware of the fees that would be taken out from the total at the very end. A buyer bought the item in full but eBay wants a $200 cut from it which is a lot of money for me. I tried messaging the buyer to see if we can cancel and move the transaction to Venmo or PayPal (no response yet) so I could hopefully get way more out of it and that way he wasn’t paying sales tax. I go to cancel the order but from the total $750 I was selling it for, it says I owe $664. Is this money I have to pay eBay or is it the money that will be taken from being “on hold” from the initial transaction? I don’t want to cancel it if I have to pay $664. I thought eBay would just do a full refund and we’d be on our merry way?

[brightlightbookseller]

What you're doing is called Fee Avoidance and will quickly end your selling career.  Do not do this.  You will likely be charged the fees by eBay anyways once they catch you, and will be potentially banned from the site.

[monica-sells · Accepted solution]

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@viliam17sk wrote:

So I haven’t sold anything on eBay in a long long time and since I am in hard times went to sell this flight simulator kit I had.

I posted the item and eBay asked if I wanted to promote it. Not thinking much about what that entailed I accepted, not being aware of the fees that would be taken out from the total at the very end.

Not being aware of a potential charge? come on.....

A buyer bought the item in full but eBay wants a $200 cut from it which is a lot of money for me. I tried messaging the buyer to see if we can cancel and move the transaction to Venmo or PayPal (no response yet) so I could hopefully get way more out of it and that way he wasn’t paying sales tax. I go to cancel the order but from the total $750 I was selling it for, it says I owe $664. Is this money I have to pay eBay or is it the money that will be taken from being “on hold” from the initial transaction? I don’t want to cancel it if I have to pay $664. I thought eBay would just do a full refund and we’d be on our merry way?

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If you try to "move it" to another payment method....

A. You will lose ANY seller protections you might have

B. Get charged for any fees that would have been incurred had the sale gone through normally

C. Probably lose your ability to sell on ebay forever

D. 90% chance of being scammed (ship it and buyer reverses the payment)

Take the 'hit'....read before you submit, and life will be so much easier......

Are you sure the 'fees' total 664?

Plus, your buyer will probably think your scamming them

[viliam17sk]

Thanks. Live and learn I guess. Just sucks because I was being offered more money elsewhere on places like Facebook marketplace and wouldn’t have to worry about these fees..

[playwithitagaintoys]

You simply can't use the power and reach of ebay to find a buyer and then try to skip out on what you rightfully owe by breaking the agreement you willfully and knowingly signed on to.  You knew the selling fees and promotion fees upfront. If you didn't, that's on you. The buyer is entitled to the item they payed for and you agreed to sell. Stop selling on eBay until you understand how it works. 

[jerseyboymusic]

If you cancel, wouldn't you still owe the promoted item fees, too?

[viliam17sk]

That’s the thing, I didn’t. eBay just asked me if I wanted to do a promoted listing, didn’t tell me that it would cost a lot (and if it did,

my bad). I’ll just be sure to not so promoted listing next time or find another site to sell on that won’t take as much.

[mtgraves7984]

Wowzer. You might want to reconsider leaving your other listing up.

[soh.maryl]

When you find that other site where fees are not so high, do yourself a favor and read about the fees before listing your items.  This should keep you from being surprised as apparently occurred here. 

[janet9988]

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@viliam17sk wrote:

So I haven’t sold anything on eBay in a long long time and since I am in hard times went to sell this flight simulator kit I had. I posted the item and eBay asked if I wanted to promote it. Not thinking much about what that entailed I accepted, not being aware of the fees that would be taken out from the total at the very end. A buyer bought the item in full but eBay wants a $200 cut from it which is a lot of money for me. I tried messaging the buyer to see if we can cancel and move the transaction to Venmo or PayPal (no response yet) so I could hopefully get way more out of it and that way he wasn’t paying sales tax. I go to cancel the order but from the total $750 I was selling it for, it says I owe $664. Is this money I have to pay eBay or is it the money that will be taken from being “on hold” from the initial transaction? I don’t want to cancel it if I have to pay $664. I thought eBay would just do a full refund and we’d be on our merry way?

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Ebay reads messages and the buyer can report you for attempting an off ebay transaction.

You will owe the fees .

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

I guess many people who don't frequent eBay and aren't "in the know" think of eBay as a free service to pair buyers and sellers.