Fees, Fees, Fees

[propagandaworldorg]

It is just crazy. Fees for this, fees for that, fees for this, fees for that.
Who am I working for?

So now I am facing the following situation:

In december I have sold 5 items. For a total amount of 50.5 dollars.
Paypal fees: 12.80 dollar
Ebayfees: 10.15 dolar
Total: 22.95 in fees!!! That is almost 50%.
This is crazy.
It is making it impossible to sell on Ebay.

[dhbookds]

You are in the Netherlands......and the fee structure for both paypal and Ebay may be different than here in the US....... but the paypal seems awfully high.......  are you counting paying for shipping in the PP figure??  Are there cross border charges?

[city*satins]

Those numbers sound way off.   Are you sure they're correct?

The Paypal fees should be 2.9% + 30 cents + whatever exchange rate you're being charged for payments made by buyers using a different currency from you

The eBay fees should be about 10% of the selling price + shipping paid by the buyer

The fees you state are much higher than what I've seen.

[propagandaworldorg]

We'll here's the problem:
I have sold in december 2019 for the total amount of 91,47 dollars including shipping cost.
Ebay is charging me 9,22 euro, that is 10 USD. They say it is 7,62 euro selling fee and 21% VAT maiking it 9,22 (10 USD).
The customers paid me with Paypal. Transaction costs are 12.80 USD.
So total fee on 91,47 dollars is 22.80 dollars. So that is 20% fees.

But this is with shipping costs. I have sold for the amount of 50.50 dollar. Not 91,47.
So let's do a new math without shipping cost. 50.50 dollar is 46.00 euo. Ebay is charging me 9.22 euro. Paypal is charging me 11.00 euro so in total 20.22 euro. Almost 50%.

[propagandaworldorg]

So where it goes wrong is with paying fees on shipping cost with Ebay and Paypal. It just feel like a scam to me. 50%!!
That's just crazy. Beats me why anyone would sell on Ebay. It's just not profitable. I suspect that a lot of people not do the math. They don't know the numbers and keep paying fees, fees, fees. But they are working for Ebay and Paypal instead for themselves.

[therogue-trader]

When I determine whether or not something is worth selling, I always factor in ebay+paypal fees+shipping for the calculations, so I never buy something to resell that I know will lose me money.  Sounds like you just jumped in without a full understanding of how the numbers work.

[propagandaworldorg]

Well, when you jump in and Ebay says it wants a 3% fee and it turns out to be 50% that is a world of differents.  And Ebay is just a very small portion of my sellings since I have my own website and other platforms so I am not unhappy.
But I was just thinking out loud. I don't understand how anybody could make a profit. Basiclly you are working to provide money to Ebay and Paypal. I don't like working for other people. I want to work for myself. And I am not alone in this thought. There are numerous postings about this matter.
Reasonability within Ebay and Paypal is just way off.

[67bird67]

You may want to contact EBay help.  EBay has a set fee schedule which is viewable.  Generally the fees for most categories is around 10%.  PayPal fees are generally 3% rounded.  So why your so high is something I would be discussing with them.

[dhbookds]

As was said........you make a profit by knowing what you are paying up front.  I still think the #'s you quoted on paypal are high, but I don't know why........unless cross border fees are high. 

Selling something for $5, even with a small cost, just isn't going to get you much overall profit.  I don't know where ebay says 3% cost, but certainly doesn't apply here in the US. 

Neither do I know where the VAT is charged.........to you or the buyer........here in the states, our sales tax is charged to the buyer.....and just passes thru our hands,  but if you have to pay it without reimbursement from the buyer, that has to be considered when you chose/price your item. 

People DO make money here......and where you come from; it's a matter of study of what items will sell for how much versus what the costs are of selling....

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

International payments are 4.4%+.30. Then there are exchange rate fees on top of that. Ebay fees can get absurdly high as well with promotional add ons and poor metrics add ons. Easily eclipsing 25% .

For new sellers or the unaware one can easily be duped into nearly 50% fees.