eBay

traditonalproducts · ‎06-08-2023

"After my fees etc. I have a loss or Ebay is taking 30% out for everything". These posts are killing me. I guess I need another drink.

Get real, did they account for the shipping cost to ship an item if its free shipping? Did they account for the deduction of shipping supplies, mileage to and from a shipping center? What about the Ebay fees? My suggestion is to read up on business deductions or talk to your CPA.

The so called 30% is really not 30% once the deductions are claimed.

The final net sales are not final until you file your quarterly or year-end tax return thus providing a final net percentage.

ms.rodriguez* · ‎06-08-2023

That's the problem, they don't read. It's amazing how many actually believe that Ebay picks up the shipping tab. That one still makes me laugh.

coolections · ‎06-08-2023

To be fair I do not think most think shipping is free as that is your assumption. What they are saying is if you sell an item worth $20.00, USPS takes $8 of it, Ebay takes $2.50 of it, the COG was $5.00, leaving you $4.50 for your trouble. And before you reply, NO, you cannot ask $28 for it as buyers will never buy a $20 item for $28.

dhbookds · ‎06-08-2023

The basic misunderstandings/lack of knowledge are myriad.......and frightening.

bobwhitesoftheglen · ‎06-08-2023

I'm an accountant in public. The amount of business people I have come accross in my 30 year career who know NOTHING about running a business is staggering.

ga_open_box_llc · ‎06-08-2023

I believe it. I had a lady last week complain about me having to raise our dig bin prices because my accountant informed me that we were spending more then what we were actually making. He suggested we make adjustments, and we did. Lady kept saying " but that's a bussiness expense, you can write that off". Sure, we can but why would I make the decision to keep taking a loss? Some people have no clue how expensive it can get just to have a legitimate business and be profitable at the same time.

monica-sells · ‎06-08-2023

"....NO, you cannot ask $28 for it as buyers will never buy a $20 item for $28..."

wrong.....period

monroe67 · ‎06-08-2023

"How Many Times Do We See This"?
Way too often, although this type of post seems to come along a little less frequently.

The fact is that the percentage part of eBay's Final Value Fee (FVF) is charged on the total amount paid by the buyer. (There is also a FVF charge of $0.30 per order.) The current highest FVF percentage on eBay's American site is 15%.

So it is completely inaccurate -- let's say Just Plain Wrong -- to post here that eBay Takes 30% Out Of Everything.
(Often accompanied by between 6 and 15 exclamation points. But that's a different post for a different day.)

I can completely understand why and how some people look at only the price of the item and try to figure out eBay's fee percentage. But the price of the item is only one of five possible parts of the total amount paid by the buyer:
item price + postage/shipping + sales tax at the current rate for the delivery address + any handling charge added by the seller + any other charge that might be required by the buyer's state, such as California's electronics recycling fees.

These posts just confuse too many other people. Still, they persist.
They seem to be an unfortunate fact of life on the eBay Community Boards.

dbfolks166mt · ‎06-08-2023

A lot of it may have something to do with the way eBay displays the sales information in the seller hub and some people fail to interpret the data correctly. What eBay shows the sellers is the selling costs over a given period of time. It is NOT just the eBay fees it's the total of the eBay selling costs which includes the shipping if the seller is purchasing their labels through eBay.

I could not agree more that a seller does not fully know their total selling costs and actual net income until the taxes are done at the end of the year. Smart sellers however have a pretty good idea what those will be if they have solid cost/expense models.

isaiah53-57 · ‎06-08-2023

I'm reading this post and I see many people posting about what a riot it is that people who post high fee percentages think ebay "picks up the shipping tab" - Wrong - Its actually the people who love to show watered down rates to try to soften the blow that try to add the shipping cost into the item's valuation.

Shipping is revenue because ebay reports it as such - Shipping is NOT part of the valuation of the item - When I account for profit and how much of it ebay took, I dont need to add shipping in to just turn around and subtract it back out. I certainly dont account for profit using shipping as part of the VALUATION of the item - thats EXACTLY the watered down rate ebay presents when they show their fees and exactly the way people posting here try to soften the true fee rate as related to the item price alone.

If you offer free shipping, shipping is ALWAYS a wash - If you overcharge on shipping, then you undercharged on the item price - you can't have it both ways - there is no way to make money on shipping - Just the time you spend in performing the job of packing and shipping the item alone will eat up any overcharge you might add - Shipping is ALWAYS either a wash or a loss and its in no way, shape, or form part of the valuation of the item - If you come here to sell a $50 item with a $10 shipping cost, YOU HAVE SOLD A $50 ITEM.

I also see "the price of the item is only one of five possible parts" - Are you kidding me?? - Who cares what the other 4 parts are - The price of your item is the only profit bearing part of the transaction - Any other numbers considered just water down the rate.

Wow - I'm definitely reading some mathematically suspect stuff here on this post... What I wrote above is correct - debate it all you want - don't agree with it all you want - It doesn't matter - nothing you say or think will stop it from being correct

coolections · ‎06-08-2023

LOL. I got a $20 bill for you. Please pay me $28 for it and I will gladly sell it to you. Right.... period.

coolections · ‎06-08-2023

Wrong. Ebay takes on average (depending on the weight of the item ) 23%.

isaiah53-57 · ‎06-08-2023

@coolections wrote:
Wrong. Ebay takes on average (depending on the weight of the item ) 23%.

I agree with the point of your post by all means - My fees averaged about 18.5% of the items selling price - Thats a big chunk right off the top - Way too high...

clown_car_driver · ‎06-08-2023

And before you reply, NO, you cannot ask $28 for it as buyers will never buy a $20 item for $28.

I price using a 'market comparison' approach.

Not what an item is OFFERED FOR, but what it actually SELLS for.

Fair Market Value (fmv)

I will take an 'active' listing into consideration, but really ... I wanna know what it sells for.

If that item sells for $20 - and I can make at least 40% markup on it after all expenses, I sell it.

If I can't sell it for that then eventually it ends up in landfill.

I never, ever discount below cost ... or even close to it.

----------

I have two stores. They sell the same exact thing with a few exceptions. Each has about 1000 items in them.

I just took #1 down to remodel it about two weeks ago. I did a LOT of bad things when I first created this store. Biggest mistake was that I used a black background for the pix's. Yea ... I know. Some of the prices were way off (FMV of $15, got it listed for $40).

I have about half of all the pix's redone and will begin appraisal and listing soon.

Here's a test I'm going to run:

Store #2 policy is price at FMV and ship for $6.95 -- that's a little high, and I've had some comments about that, but, cost is cost and if they're gonna pay it that's what it costs. I've suggested to a few that they 'Go online and figure out what it costs to ship 4oz from SF to NY, and price the cost of the shipping materials and how much to pay labor."

I'm thinking that store #2 policy will be to determine FMV, add $7 to it and offer 'free shipping'.

Same type of inventory ...

I wonder what the difference in stats will be ...

I will let you know.

I should have #1 up by month's end ... interesting test.

iamalwaysright · ‎06-08-2023

@coolections wrote:
NO, you cannot ask $28 for it as buyers will never buy a $20 item for $28.

You most definitely can and buyers most definitely will. If a buyer is unable to get the $20 item where they live and it costs you $8 to ship it to them, a buyer will very likely pay you $28 for it.