Exorbitant & misleading

[ernest1983]

I wish to lodge my frustration with both the way eBay calculates the fees I pay and the way eBay, in my opinion, misrepresents my earnings.  

As to the fee calculations, I was surprised to learn that I pay a fee on the taxes my buyer's pay and on the shipping costs they pay.  eBay portrays the "shipping discount" offered to sellers as an advantage offered to us sellers but then eats into/eliminates that by charging me a fee of what the buyer paid in shipping costs.  I go out of my way to never make money off shipping charges because I believe it is not fair to the buyers to pad the shipping costs & essentially build in a hidden profit for me but seems like I should in order to pass the fees eBay charges me on to the customer.  But the fairest option would be for eBay to not charge me a fee on the taxes buyers pay to the government because I have no control over that.

As to the way eBay misrepresents the total purchases, as a for instance my platform currently says my 90 day total is $1,183.  But, in reality, my net earnings in the past 90 days are roughly $872...a full 36% less than what is stated.  So more than a third of what eBay says I earned in the last quarter is, in reality, fees, shipping & taxes (and the fees on shipping and taxes).

I understand how calculating the totals the way they do makes for a better "headline" for eBay and the way they calculate the fees generates more money for eBay, but neither seems fair to me the seller.

[solidguitar1961]

It has always been disclosed that they charge the fees on the total amount of the sale , but people don't read it . 

[lakefor94]

Yes, you have a solid grasp on how fees work aside from the taxes the buyer pays being included in what you have to pay income tax on.

When you do your income tax, fees and shipping costs are deductible.

[bonjourami]

Buyers dont pay taxes to the government, those are sales taxes paid to their state. Sellers pay taxes to the government, or they should when they file their income taxes and declare their sales.

[kensgiftshop]

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@ernest1983 wrote:

As to the way eBay misrepresents the total purchases, as a for instance my platform currently says my 90 day total is $1,183.  But, in reality, my net earnings in the past 90 days are roughly $872...a full 36% less than what is stated.  So more than a third of what eBay says I earned in the last quarter is, in reality, fees, shipping & taxes (and the fees on shipping and taxes).

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How did they misrepresent your 90 day total?

That is what you made before fee's and shipping.

[monroe67]

"I understand how calculating the totals the way they do makes for a better "headline" for eBay and the way they calculate the fees generates more money for eBay, but neither seems fair to me the seller."

Well -- everybody has his or her own opinion.
I believe --well, my selling ID -- believes that eBay's fees are fair.  They seem fair to me.  
Maybe I understand them better than you do.  

Also wondering if this is a new outlook for you.  Did you never look at your fees before?  You've been on eBay for 12 years or so and sold 234 items.  My selling ID has sold less than half of that in about the same length of time, and eBay's fee structure still seems reasonable to me.  Maybe I've studied my order totals and fee calculations closer than you have.  

[luckythewinner]

As to the fee calculations, I was surprised to learn that I pay a fee on the taxes my buyer's pay and on the shipping costs they pay

So in other words, you never read the fee schedule. 

 eBay portrays the "shipping discount" offered to sellers as an advantage offered to us sellers

The shipping discount they offer is the USPS commercial rate. 

but then eats into/eliminates that by charging me a fee of what the buyer paid in shipping costs

If you buy shipping elsewhere, you would still pay fees on the shipping amount you collected from the buyer. 

I go out of my way to never make money off shipping charges because I believe it is not fair to the buyers to pad the shipping costs & essentially build in a hidden profit 

Good, because that would be against eBay policy to do so.  ("Only include shipping charges that are actually incurred")

As to the way eBay misrepresents the total purchases

The fact that you do not understand the difference between gross sales and net sales is not misrepresentation by eBay, it is a lack of knowledge on your part. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     You are the 10,0001 poster that has posted the same statement/issue/complaint. Breaking this down into its separate pieces first it's eBay's site, their rules and their policies. As for the FVF on the sales tax. 

     I have always considered the eBay FVF's on sales tax to be the best accounting bargain around. If you sell a $100 item to a buyer in a state with 8% sales tax the FVF on the $8.00 in sales tax amounts to 13.25% * $8.00 or $1.08 if you are promoting at 2% that adds another $.16 so the total FVF on the sales tax is $1.24. 

     For that $1.24 eBay keeps track of the 10,000 various state, county, city, parish, municipality..... sales tax rates, and laws, and applies and collects the proper sales tax from the buyer. The sales tax percentage may also vary depending on the type of items you are selling since some states, counties, cities…. Tax different items differently. Food and clothing for example. EBay then remits those collected funds to the 45 states with sales tax laws on whatever periodic basis is required. There is NO WAY I want to take on that burden as a seller for $1.24 +/- out of a $100 sale. "

     With regards to the FVF's on shipping it is what it is because of some less than kosher historical activities by sellers when eBay did NOT charge FVF's on shipping and sellers would list an item for $1 with a $199 shipping cost to avoid the fees. Your buyer is paying full retail for the shipping and the difference between what your buyer paid for shipping, if you use calculated shipping, and what you actually paid for the label is generally sufficient to cover the FVF's on the shipping and some of your packing materials. The buyer knows what they paid for shipping, if it was calculated, and did not have any issue with it when they purchased the item. If the shipping cost was baked into the selling price with free shipping offered the buyer has no idea what the shipping cost was and your difference between what you factored into the price for free shipping and what you actually paid for the label could vary widely. 

     As for eBay misrepresenting the total purchases I am not sure what you mean by this. Your 90 day total is $1,183 and your eBay net earnings are roughly $872 and your eBay selling costs are about 36%. What is misrepresented? I don't purchase my shipping labels through eBay so my percentages look a LOT different. For the last 90 days my eBay selling costs, which consist entirely of fees have been 13.4%. 

[luckythewinner]

I have always considered the eBay FVF's on sales tax to be the best accounting bargain around

{snip}

For that $1.24 eBay keeps track of the 10,000 various state, county, city, parish, municipality..... sales tax rates, and laws, and applies and collects the proper sales tax from the buyer. 

It's not a bargain for me. I would not have to collect or report any sales tax to anyone. All states have a minimum threshold that I would never reach.

[dbfolks166mt]

I have always considered the eBay FVF's on sales tax to be the best accounting bargain around

{snip}

For that $1.24 eBay keeps track of the 10,000 various state, county, city, parish, municipality..... sales tax rates, and laws, and applies and collects the proper sales tax from the buyer. 

It's not a bargain for me. I would not have to collect or report any sales tax to anyone. All states have a minimum threshold that I would never reach.

     At the moment but the 1099-K issuance threshold used to be at $20K in my state it is now at $600. With the rise in ecommerce I would not be surprised to see some of those state laws regarding sales tax start to change. Remember before Wayfair vs. South Dakota you didn't have to worry about sales tax collection for states where you didn't have an actual presence just your own instate sales. I for one do not want to have to constantly monitor the individual state sales tax laws for any changes. Many states have made changes in the last few years. 

https://www.salestaxinstitute.com/resources/economic-nexus-state-guide 

[mam98031]

@ernest1983 

As to the fee calculations, I was surprised to learn that I pay a fee on the taxes my buyer's pay

Since the day you entered into Managed Payments, you have been paying the FVF on the sales tax.  Before that we paid the fee to PayPal.

and on the shipping costs they pay. 

This we have paid for over 12 years now.

eBay portrays the "shipping discount" offered to sellers as an advantage offered to us sellers but then eats into/eliminates that by charging me a fee of what the buyer paid in shipping costs. 

You are confusing two entirely different things.  The shipping discount is on the amount you are paying the carrier and Ebay is showing you how much you are saving by purchasing and printing your shipping from Ebay.  This has NOTHING to do with how they charge seller fees.  

It is much cheaper to buy your shipping on Ebay than to go directly to the carrier and pay full retail.

I go out of my way to never make money off shipping charges because I believe it is not fair to the buyers to pad the shipping costs & essentially build in a hidden profit for me but seems like I should in order to pass the fees eBay charges me on to the customer. 

I agree with you.  Making a profit off of the shipping is not the right thing for a seller to do.  However there isn't a darn thing wrong with breaking even on it.  Which is why it use to be called S&H = shipping and handling.  If you don't increase the price you charge the buyer for shipping in the shipping charge, then you should be increasing the price of  your product to cover fees on shipping and your shipping supplies.

IDK what you mean by "hidden profit".  If you are referring to Ebay's fees, they don't hide those in any way.  You just haven't been paying attention as they are very transparent in your MP account about what they deduct.  Please there is a policy page called Seller Fees that is very informative and something that you should be very familiar with.

But the fairest option would be for eBay to not charge me a fee on the taxes buyers pay to the government because I have no control over that.

It has nothing to do with if you can control something or not.  

As to the way eBay misrepresents the total purchases, as a for instance my platform currently says my 90 day total is $1,183.  But, in reality, my net earnings in the past 90 days are roughly $872...a full 36% less than what is stated.  So more than a third of what eBay says I earned in the last quarter is, in reality, fees, shipping & taxes (and the fees on shipping and taxes).

Ebay is NOT reporting to you how much you made, they are reporting to you how much your buyers PAID you.  Not the same thing.  From that Gross amount, then the costs get taken away to arrive at your Adjusted gross income.  From that you subtract the costs that Ebay doesn't know about which are ones you handle yourself like your shipping supplies, costs of the product, etc.

Ebay does NOT report Earnings, nor is Ebay "misrepresenting" anything.  You simply haven't done your homework to understand the basic processes for your money and your costs to sell on this site.  Which should have been on the top of your list to learn before starting to sell here.

[goldentreasures88]

Yeah... It's just the way the game goes. I use this eBay calculator that helps.

https://www.ebayfeescalculator.com/usa-ebay-calculator/

[mam98031]

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@goldentreasures88 wrote:

Yeah... It's just the way the game goes. I use this eBay calculator that helps.

https://www.ebayfeescalculator.com/usa-ebay-calculator/

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Game?  The fees are very straight forward.  There shouldn't be any surprises unless you don't learn the policy or see the fees in detail in your Managed Payment Account.  Ebay is extremely transparent about the fees.  

Do you not review your Managed Payment account?

[inhawaii]

Your frustration has officially been lodged.

[soh.maryl]

Any and every seller can and should read the fee schedule, preferably before they begin to list and sell on eBay.