Ebay is charging 50% final fees! How is that fair?

[denisemb2001]

I’ve read all the prior kumbaya responses justifying Ebay charging the final fee based on sale price plus shipping, but let’s just tell it like it is.  At first Ebay’s auto listing was putting things I list with a suggested starting auction of $.99.  Well after a couple of things sold at that amount I found myself in a negative position but wasn’t sure why.  I’m not a dealer, just an older person trying to sell off a few collectibles so I don’t have to throw them away or donate somewhere where they will be destroyed.  I raised all of my minimums to $5.00 and am still wondering why I end up with so little.  To charge a final value fee based on shipping is like usary and I do not know why there hasn’t been some sort of action or complaint.  I am buying the label from Ebay so it is not like I have hyper inflated the shipping cost in some sort of covert way.  And this **bleep** that it is to encourage people to offer free shipping doesn’t fly.  12% of the total is still 12% of the total whether it is inflated to hide the shipping cost or is the actual item price plus shipping.  I read lots of people defending Ebay because people were inflating shipping costs etc, but I have used Ebay for purchases for many years and never bought anything with high shipping - that’s on the seller to know what things cost to ship.  This is just a money grab from Ebay.  Tell it like it is - for small items, or heavy items YOU ARE CHARGING A 50%+ FINAL VALUE FEE.  Shame shame shame on Ebay.  I wasn’t selling here for some sort of get rich quick scheme.  I just thought I could recover some of the cost of the items I am selling - most of which were originally purchased on Ebay in the past - Well now they have definately double+ dipped into my pocket.

[denisemb2001]

Thanks. I’m not a ‘seller’ just getting rid of stuff I have accumulated. Don’t care what I make. However it’s upsetting that I am being charged a fee based on a pass through (shipping).  Charging selling fees on the shipping is ridiculous and I don’t understand why EBay sellers are accepting that

[mam98031]

@denisemb2001 

Sellers don't inflate the cost of shipping very much anymore.  There just is no purpose for it.  FVFs are charge on the entire amount that a buyer pays.  So if a buyer pays $10 for the product and $5 for shipping or pays $15 for an item with free shipping, the fees are the same.  There is ZERO difference.

Ebay does not charge 50% FVF in any category.  I think you may be calculating that incorrectly.  If you are considering your costs for shipping labels, that is NOT an Ebay fee.  That money goes to the carrier, not Ebay.

Ebay does charge their FVF on the shipping amount you charged your seller which is 13.25% in most categories.

[yuzuha]

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@denisemb2001 wrote:

I guess you proved my point. I am not upset about owing money to EBay on the foolish $.99 transactions. What does concern me is the idea that selling a $5 nets only 50% or less. 

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It doesn't. Here was my net on a $4.95 sale from the other day:

Your problem is that you are selling inexpensive items with expensive shipping, which will always be a losing proposition.

[denisemb2001]

I guess you are just a better person than I am.   I am hobby selling and not looking for a big profit.  My point is that this is wrong  - shipping is a pass through- why would you want to pay an additional fee on it that cuts into your profit?  Again everyone is just justifying it like it’s a good thing. That makes no sense to me but you go do you and pay foolish fees!

[mam98031]

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@denisemb2001 wrote:

I guess you proved my point. I am not upset about owing money to EBay on the foolish $.99 transactions. What does concern me is the idea that selling a $5 nets only 50% or less.  Ex: item $5, shipping $10, EBay charges 12+% of 15.00 plus some additional fee. I am not benefiting from what the seller pays for shipping but yet I have a fee charged against it. It ends up being almost 50% fee taken from the seller.  Sure if you are selling something for $100 and have $10 shipping it’s not relevant.  Also I had a typo in my post- I meant that it’s on the ‘buyer’ to know what things should cost for shipping. I see some listings for $70 shipping for something that weights under 5 lbs!   Anyway it still sounds like everyone is defending EBay. I checked Etsy and it appears they do not charge their fees on the shipping only the cost of goods.  

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99 cent transaction are rarely a good idea because your buyer will be paying you barely enough to cover FVFs to Ebay.

10.00  Product sale

 5.00 Shipping

 1.20 Sales tax @ 8% on $15.00

16.20  Total

16.20 X 13.25% Ebay FVF = 2.15 + .30 per transaction fee = 2.45 total Ebay fees.

That is no where near 50%.

IDK what you mean by "some additional fee".  You'd need to explain that.  Are you using Promoted Listings and if so did you choose to pay a really high percentage?

The cost of shipping is NOT an Ebay fee.  It is an expense paid to the carrier.  Ebay doesn't get to keep that, you just pay the carrier through Ebay.  You can also choose not to do that and purchase your labels from some other site and there are lots to choose from.

I am not "defending" Ebay I'm stating facts.  Have you ever taken a look a the policy on Seller Fees?

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/frais-pour-les-vendeurs-particuliers?id=4822

[mam98031]

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@denisemb2001 wrote:

I guess you are just a better person than I am.   I am hobby selling and not looking for a big profit.  My point is that this is wrong  - shipping is a pass through- why would you want to pay an additional fee on it that cuts into your profit?  Again everyone is just justifying it like it’s a good thing. That makes no sense to me but you go do you and pay foolish fees!

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I think you really misunderstand.  The $5 you had your buyer pay you for shipping is for the shipping.  So if you paid $4.00 shipping to the carrier through Ebay's shipping program, that is $5 - $4 = $1.00 left over for you to cover fees [$5.00 x 13.25% = 66 cents].

The money you have your buyers pay you for shipping is suppose to cover your shipping costs, it isn't something you should be profiting on and it isn't something Ebay gets to keep.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@denisemb2001 wrote:

Thanks. I’m not a ‘seller’ just getting rid of stuff I have accumulated. Don’t care what I make. However it’s upsetting that I am being charged a fee based on a pass through (shipping).  Charging selling fees on the shipping is ridiculous and I don’t understand why EBay sellers are accepting that

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If you are accepting money in exchange for goods, you are indeed a seller. And the IRS will expect their due on your profits, so you should invest a little more time into understanding what selling on eBay amounts to. You may not care now what those profits are, but come tax day your outlook may be altered.

As to why i accept the fee structure here? Two reasons:  1)  It makes no difference to me that eBay charges a percentage on the shipping. I calculate my costs prior to listing to ensure my total expenses are covered by the price the buyer pays. And 2) If i want to use eBay’s venue, i accept their policies. So i keep up-to-date on what those policies are. If i cannot live with them, then i would not list here. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

I can see why it seemed that way on those .99 sales.

The smaller the selling price the bigger "chunk" that .30 transaction fee takes. On a .99 cent sale that transaction fee is already 30% of the selling price, then there's the actual FVF on top of that.

On a $50 transaction the .30 cents isn't even a blip of your selling costs.

It's all a matter of perception.

I have some stuff that I sell for less than $5 and am lucky to make .50 on after the FVF and that .30 fee, but I'd rather sell them to someone who wants them than throw them in the trash and I don't sell them with free shipping obviously.

[iamalwaysright]

FifTY, or fifTEEN? Sometimes when hearing the numbers verbally, it's easy to confuse the two.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Probably 50% given the items they sold initially were for .99 when you take into account the .30 transaction fee is a 1/3rd of the selling price, right there.

[luckythewinner]

What does concern me is the idea that selling a $5 nets only 50% or less.  Ex: item $5, shipping $10, EBay charges 12+% of 15.00 plus some additional fee. 

When calculated as a share of the item price alone, low-priced and heavy items have been at a "fee disadvantage" on eBay for decades. IMHO that will never change.

Forget shipping - eBay Managed Payments has a 30 cent fixed fee, and PayPal had a 30 cent fee since the beginning. That 30 cent fixed fee is 6% of a $5 sale all by itself.

I checked Etsy and it appears they do not charge their fees on the shipping only the cost of goods.

I checked Etsy and on the Etsy website I found this:

"When you make a sale through Etsy.com, you will be charged a transaction fee of 6.5% of the price you display for each listing plus the amount you charge for shipping and gift wrapping."

https://www.etsy.com/legal/fees/

[likori0]

So if I enter a handling fee amount in the box when initially listing an item, do you know why it does not not show up on the packing slip so I get paid the handling fee amount?

Thank you!

[soh.maryl]

The packing slip does not determine what you are paid.  Your handling fee is not part of the shipping cost.  That's probably why it would not show up on the label.

When you make a sale and see what the buyer pays you, in addition to the item price, the shipping and the state sales tax, does it show that your buyer paid a handling fee?  

[broto_64]

The advantage for free shipping from a buyer's perspective is they can see the total price upfront, all too often with calculated shipping the buyer only sees the price of the item on the results page (especially if they're searching from google).

[5594shelleys]

Usury. No matter how one spells it. Yes, indeed. Usury.