EBAY FEES

[suzieq48]

I HAVE BEEN SELLING ON EBAY FOR OVER 15 YEARS. ALTHOUGH IT WAS GREAT FOR MANY OF THOSE YEARS, NOW IT IS ALMOST COMPLETELY INPOSSIBLE TO SELL ANYTHING, SAY I AND EVERY OTHER SELLER I SPEAK TO. EVERY MONTH MY INVOICE CHARGES GET HIGHER   AND NOW EBAY IS CHARGES A FINAL VALUE FEE ON "SHIPPING CHARGES".  SINCE MY BUYERS ARE THE ONES PAYING FOR THE SHIPPING CHARGES, AND I AM THE ONE GOING TO THE POST OFFICE TO MAIL THE PACKAGES, I DO NOT KNOW HOW EBAY CAN VALIDATE THIS CHARGE EXCEPT IT IS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR THEM TO MAKE MORE MONEY THROUGH BUYERS. SINCE THE SEWWLLERSA ARE THE ONES MAKING MON EY FOR THEM BYN LISTING OUR ITEMS I CAN NEVER UN DERSTAND WHY THEY CHARGE US MORE AND MORE AND WHEN A PROBLEM ARISES, THEY HAVE A HABIT OF ALWAYS SIDING WITH  THE SELLERS.  CAN NO ONE AT EBAY EXPLAIN / VALIDATE THE REASON FOR THIS CRAZY FEE???

[klassic*kids]

As a means to eliminate the dishonest sellers who sell an item for 2.00 and charge 20.00 for shipping to avoid paying fvf on the item cost.  I don't like paying shipping fvf's either and still think they should try to find a better way of handling those type of sellers instead of charging all of us these fees. 

[slippinjimmy]

Fees on shipping have been in effect for 4 - 5 years....did you just notice?

There are two reasons.

1 - To prevent fee avoidance, sellers who would list items with very low prices and very high shipping.

2 - To be fair to all sellers, those that charge extra for shipping and those that include the shipping charge in the item price.

#1 is the most frequently quoted reason but #2 is the actual main reason. It made fees fair and equal for all sellers. This was especially relevant because eBay at the time was strongly urging sellers to use shipping included pricing yet penalized those sellers by charging them higher fees than those that charged shipping as an extra.

[d-k_treasures]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

Fees on shipping have been in effect for 4 - 5 years....did you just notice?

There are two reasons.

1 - To prevent fee avoidance, sellers who would list items with very low prices and very high shipping.

2 - To be fair to all sellers, those that charge extra for shipping and those that include the shipping charge in the item price.

#1 is the most frequently quoted reason but #2 is the actual main reason. It made fees fair and equal for all sellers. This was especially relevant because eBay at the time was strongly urging sellers to use shipping included pricing yet penalized those sellers by charging them higher fees than those that charged shipping as an extra.

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Only for those who chose to offer 'free shipping'.

It;s freedom of choice, not feedom of choice.

They could have easily discounted the FVF for sellers offering free shipping instead of punishing us all and basically raising shipping charges here for all buyers.

[*help_no_brakes*]

1.     zzzzzzzzz..........Mafeking has been relieved.........zzzzzzz

2. 'THEY HAVE A HABIT OF ALWAYS SIDING WITH THE SELLERS"..............well now that is news !!!

3. My buyers pay my fees.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Fees are what fees are. When they extended the Final Value Fee calculation they dropped prices for other things. Some categories got lower overall final value fees. Sellers started getting free listings. The prices were cut for pictures. Many people choose to forget those changes but we talked about it on the boards at the time and most sellers came out even.

We would all like lower fees. However I can say with nearly 100% conviction that if Ebay stopped charging FVF on shipping, they would raise the percentage on the item price. Most sellers would end up paying the same. Sellers who use free shipping would be slammed and sellers who practice fee avoidance would once again have a free ride.

Total price is the most fair basis. So a seller who takes in $10 for a sale pays the same as a different seller who takes in $5 sale and $5 shipping.

[slippinjimmy]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

Fees on shipping have been in effect for 4 - 5 years....did you just notice?

There are two reasons.

1 - To prevent fee avoidance, sellers who would list items with very low prices and very high shipping.

2 - To be fair to all sellers, those that charge extra for shipping and those that include the shipping charge in the item price.

#1 is the most frequently quoted reason but #2 is the actual main reason. It made fees fair and equal for all sellers. This was especially relevant because eBay at the time was strongly urging sellers to use shipping included pricing yet penalized those sellers by charging them higher fees than those that charged shipping as an extra.

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Only for those who chose to offer 'free shipping'.

It;s freedom of choice, not feedom of choice.

They could have easily discounted the FVF for sellers offering free shipping instead of punishing us all and basically raising shipping charges here for all buyers.

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They lowered the overall fvf rates in most categories by 3% but some by 5% or more, that compensated nost sellers who charged shipping extra. The collateral damage was to sellers with cheaper items with relatively high cost of shipping and/or Auction only sellers.

eBay's "take rate" (which they provide in their financial statements) hardly moved after the transition indicating that the fee restructuring was close to revenue neutral.

Take Rate = Percentage of total Gross Merchandise Volume collected in fees

[dvgvintage]

I so agree - eBay should target the sellers that abused it and not punish ALL sellers.  Sort of reminds me what my mother did when I was coming up - she knew my sister had did the "deed," yet I was punished.  Years later, I asked her why did she do that knowing that it was not me and she said "I was trying to get her to tell the truth."  😞

[redbud_farm]

Fees are part of selling , you put the cost into your start price.

Even when we sell at live events we adjust prices to include the costs of selling there or take items we have little in that we can sell to cover costs.

eBay is here to make a profit , their fees are lower than most other venues

[mistwomandancing]

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You say you have been selling here for over 15 YEARS and you are just now aware that eBay charges a Final Value Fee on Shipping?  That's been a charge to us for over half a decade.  You never noticed?

[mr_lincoln]

@d-k_treasures I saw what you did there, very clever ...

[dhbookds]

eBay should target the sellers that abused it and not punish ALL sellers.

Easy to say, but I've never yet read a easy way they could determine who was abusing it........a book can weigh 3 oz or 15 #.   If they used the cost we actually pay for the labels to determine it.......sellers would just buy labels elsewhere........

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

I don't see how they were "punishing most sellers" when it was revenue neutral. The people who came out of it the worst were the people selling heavy stuff cross country and the fee avoiders.

Maybe people shouldn't be selling heavy things cross country?

Again, people are focusing on the additional fees and COMPLETELY ignoring the stuff they started getting in compensation.

There was NO punishing. Most sellers came out paying the same amount before and after.

[trew404]

"AND NOW EBAY IS CHARGES A FINAL VALUE FEE ON "SHIPPING CHARGES".

You can't make money because you're not taking your business seriously. If you were, you wouldn't have paid that fee for five years without noticing.

[zcmi11]

Wow. You seriously just realized there is a Final Value Fee on shipping?