Ebay makes ill-gotten profits as USPS increases prices.

[twogood2b4u2]

I am aware that some sellers have taken advantage of postal pricing

in the past so avoid fees. That said, every time the USPS raises its fee

schedule (which is at least once a year), sellers get nailed with additional

fees. It is onerous enough having to absorb the increases from USPS, it

get rubs salt in the wound that ebay makes windfall profits in ADDITION.

Sadly, I cannot offer any solution to this conundrum. When you work with products

that are extremely competitive and have 'small' profit margins, you get hammered.

Sadly, this is the cost of doing business with ebay, aka, 'the money pit'.

[ebooksdiva]

Unfortunately there isnt a way for payment processors to separate shipping from the cost of an item. eBay has been charging fvf on shipping for years. Years ago eBay only charged FVFs on the price of the item , but got tired of sellers circumventing fvf by listing items at $0.99 and charging $100.00 for shipping.

Even credit card companies charge merchants fees based on the total amount a buyer pays. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay started charging FVF on shipping in 2011.  

Since then, they have raised the final value fee percentage rate only a little bit, so I figure they're covering their inflation-related costs via that shipping FVF increase. In my listings I use calculated shipping that charges buyers the retail rate, so that increment is consistently covering the increased shipping FVF too.

[luckythewinner]

Sadly, I cannot offer any solution to this conundrum. When you work with products

that are extremely competitive and have 'small' profit margins, you get hammered

I can offer a resolution.

Stop working with extremely competitive products that have very small profit margins.  

You can't change eBay's fees or the USPS's prices. But you can evolve your inventory. 

[sapphire_studio]

EBay is going to lose a lot of sales as USPS keeps increasing these prices. There is a reason that eBay put in the effort to implement cubic shipping cutting shipping costs across the board. They also are trying to get sellers to charge discounted rates to buyers instead of retail rates. They are bleeding customers because of these high shipping costs and I'm sure they're not happy about this big shipping cost increase that's coming, even if it means they get a little bit more in fees.

[adamcartwright]

@ebooksdivaReal life example of how some people ruin things for the rest of us.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

You seem to be offering free shipping, so if you think you are standing up for the rest of us, you are not.

I and most other business people who sell on Ebay accept the cost structure and follow a strategy to make money within the cost structure.

This is a complaint which is frequently voiced by casual sellers, amateurs and sellers who do not have a business strategy which is appropriate for selling on Ebay, or Amazon or Walmart.

[dbfolks166mt]

     About 1/2 of your 297 listings have free shipping so I am assuming you baked the cost of the shipping into the price. There are a few drawbacks to free shipping for both the buyer and the seller. For the buyer about 1/2 of the states do not charge sales tax on shipping provided it can be clearly identified, which with free shipping it cannot.

     For the seller you have to make adjustments to you pricing each time there is a shipping increase or you eat the increased shipping cost. Since the shipping cost is not separately identifiable with free shipping you are paying FVF's on the shipping regardless of whether the buyer is in a state that would not charge sales taxes on shipping if it was identifiable. 

     I never "absorb" the increases from USPS but I use calculated shipping, which the buyer pays at full retail. The difference between what the buyer pays at full retail and what I pay for the discounted label generally covers the FVF's on the shipping along with my packing materials. So I am not getting "nailed" because of the increases in postage rates. Even if I was "absorbing" the costs a $1,00 increase in shipping translates to somewhere between $.1325 and $.14575 depending on the states sales tax rates, whether you are using free shipping, whether the buyers state charges sales tax on shipping. 

     There is no way you should be decreasing your profits because of a postage increase unless you are not adapting your cost model and adjusting your listings. 

[robbie31415]

Ebay had no control over the USPS.

There is no way to take the fee away from shipping.

Some people offer free shipping where the shipping is combined with the item price so they would end up paying more than those who don't. It would be unfair not to have the fee on the amount paid by the buyer.

What could be a solution but I doubt eBay would give up the money is.

When the seller purchases a shipping label on eBay a fee credit is issued based on the price of the purchased label.

This means sellers can't inflate shipping to fee avoid.

People who offer free shipping will have the fees as people who don't.

Encourages buying labels on eBay.

The only way it would work is if label purchased on eBay so eBay could validate the actual price of shipping.

Yes, anyone not buying labels on eBay would pay a bit more.

To compromise the fee. Credit processors charge on total with fee, so the fee credit could be similar to the TRS free credit (10%) so the actual fee for shipping would be around 3.95% for most categories.

Maybe add this to TRS benefits and see how it goes.

[monroe67]

OP says: "Ebay makes ill-gotten profits . . . ."

". . . rubs salt in the wound that ebay makes windfall profits in ADDITION."

Oh, Please.

On each transaction, eBay will probably retain a few cents more in Final Value Fees (FVFs) based on these USPS postage price increases.  And then only when eBay buyers pay the increased postage prices.  

Remember that the FVF is calculated as a percentage of the total amount paid by the buyer.  

I seriously doubt that, as a result of these USPS increases, eBay would see more than a 50 cent to 75 cent increase in FVFs, on the heaviest packages USPS accepts, going the longest distance.  

I don't consider that to be an "ill-gotten profit" for eBay nor "salt in the wound" for my eBay selling ID. 
As for other eBay sellers, well, we all must make our own decisions all of the time, every day.    

[classictoyspaper]

the USPS increase take effect in july. the 14th i believe. so why has ebay already increased prices on june 30th?!?!? does anyone know. is this an error on ebays part? 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Some rates are changing on July 14, others on July 1. Depends on which USPS service you're using.