eBay

prettywoman-2012 · ‎06-02-2020

I had a return a few days ago, because someone did not carefully read the length description. The buyer selected, "Item does not fit," so that, the way I understand, is not the seller's fault when all measurements were provided in the listing text. The item price was 34.99 but as we all know, eBay charges 10% Final value fee (FVF) currently on jewelry (for those not enrolled in Managed Paymore). INCLUDING the 10% of the shipping cost the buyer paid for.

Just checked my eBay account fees and charges. Sure enough, eBay returned to me the item price Final value fee - 3.49 - as a credit - but not the 10% of the shipping cost it also took from me at the time point of the order. In this case, the shipping was 4.00 bucks and I am entitled to the 40 cents eBay confiscated by charging a FVF on the shipping part of the buyer's payment.

This is just one sale and one seller. Multiply the 40 cents (and many items ship for much more than 4.00 dollars, plus many have far more returns than I do) by 1,000,000 (1 million) sellers and you get 400,000 (four hundred thousand!) dollars if the seller does not notice it / or does not care to /or cannot get hold of anyone at eBay. Again, this is just ONE return to ONE seller (me) and most sellers have at least one return now, even the best ones, within the same calendar year, so the actual number must be tens of millions of dollars. I am assuming that returns are more prevalent for sellers who are selling electronic devices or high-end jewelry and appliances.

Interesting way of earning enough to pay their CEO Devin Wenig 57 Million in the severance package. Now I am no longer wondering where they got the money for the exorbitant compensation of their Execs.

PW

luckythewinner · ‎06-02-2020

@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
Now I am no longer wondering where they got the money for the exorbitant compensation of their Execs.

I suspect eBay makes far more money on successful transactions than they do from returns.

vsknkv_0 · ‎06-02-2020

Oh yes but here's the problem...

First we can fight this and after much trial and trifle and tribulation, many hours and communications with managers and supervisors and folks in blue we would probably eventually have them REFUND us that 10% on the shipping you spoke of (instead of taking it from us) but... I am old enough to know when ebay giveth ebay taketh, they will simply reroute that lost source of income to gain from someplace else and we won't have made any real progress.

It would be like you taking a $20 from your left hand and "giving it" to your right.

You will think that is good, they no longer steal that but they will simply steal it from someplace else.

Better yet they may just re-word their user agreements so that it becomes legitimate theft.

Thus you and I, we will simply have wasted a lot of time and effort in making a change happen that in the end changed nothing and we won't be any richer.

Happy selling.

upgradedendmills · ‎06-02-2020

They only have to do this 142,500,000 times and he will be history. I hope they paid him in advance and are not making him wait until it is fully funded.

prettywoman-2012 · ‎06-02-2020

@luckythewinner wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
Now I am no longer wondering where they got the money for the exorbitant compensation of their Execs.
I suspect eBay makes far more money on successful transactions than they do from returns.

I agree, however, the point of my post is not how much more money eBay makes from successful sales, or how much it makes as its total income (you could add eBay's other money-making endeavors to it, also, because their income consists of more than just the eBay marketplace).

The point of my post was to (a) call out an outright fraudulent activity (= keeping a portion of the FVF from returns) and (b) to point out that these activities may very well contribute to eBay's ability to pay the exorbitant salaries it does, to its Execs.

Sorry for spelling it out again - I thought this was quite clear from my original post.

PW🐿

prettywoman-2012 · ‎06-02-2020

@vsknkv_0 wrote:
Oh yes but here's the problem...

First we can fight this and after much trial and trifle and tribulation, many hours and communications with managers and supervisors and folks in blue we would probably eventually have them REFUND us that 10% on the shipping you spoke of (instead of taking it from us) but... I am old enough to know when ebay giveth ebay taketh, they will simply reroute that lost source of income to gain from someplace else and we won't have made any real progress.

It would be like you taking a $20 from your left hand and "giving it" to your right.
You will think that is good, they no longer steal that but they will simply steal it from someplace else.
Better yet they may just re-word their user agreements so that it becomes legitimate theft.
Thus you and I, we will simply have wasted a lot of time and effort in making a change happen that in the end changed nothing and we won't be any richer.

Happy selling.

You got that right... VERY few sellers will pick up the phone and wait 10 minutes (if they are lucky) for somebody to get on the other end of the line and then explain why they are calling - just to have to repeat each sentence 2-3 times because the person from CS does not understand, or pretends not to understand why the seller is calling... and then have to ask for a supervisor and all this - for just 40 cents at a time. Then rinse and repeat when the next return comes in. Must be a nightmare for large volume sellers, unless they let their paid employees do it for them. It would be far more time-effective to offer email support, but then that would leave a written trail so they have eliminated it, for the most part.

No proof - no crime. Nice.

Happy selling to you, too.

PW🐿

cynthealee2 · ‎06-02-2020

If I got enough of em, I'd do em once a month (enough for ME would be 2 in a month but details). I'd have a list of the item numbers and just work my way down the list till I got all the credits. But then again I'm just that **bleep** and stubborn.

I hate photobucket right now... PS Answers given years ago may or may not be current now, please check with current posters to the boards to see if the information is still relevant.

luckythewinner · ‎06-02-2020

@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
Now I am no longer wondering where they got the money for the exorbitant compensation of their Execs.
I suspect eBay makes far more money on successful transactions than they do from returns.
I agree, however, the point of my post is not how much more money eBay makes from successful sales, or how much it makes as its total income (you could add eBay's other money-making endeavors to it, also, because their income consists of more than just the eBay marketplace).
The point of my post was to (a) call out an outright fraudulent activity (= keeping a portion of the FVF from returns) and (b) to point out that these activities may very well contribute to eBay's ability to pay the exorbitant salaries it does, to its Execs.
Sorry for spelling it out again - I thought this was quite clear from my original post.
PW🐿

I was not disagreeing with your main point, I was simply pointing out the absurdity of linking it to the CEO's compensation.

upgradedendmills · ‎06-02-2020

Didn't you post in the last week or so that you are leaving eBay???

bar-29368 · ‎06-02-2020

It's not July (the month of MP) yet.

prettywoman-2012 · ‎06-02-2020

@upgradedendmills wrote:
Didn't you post in the last week or so that you are leaving eBay???

Yes, I certainly did! And have not changed my mind, since then. However, I also posted that this will happen before I am forced to join Managed Nonsense, which I would otherwise have to endure come July. My decision was already made back then, but now I am finding out more and more things that fortify my decision, like this stealing of the FVF from sellers, by eBay. They should return the ENTIRE FVF when a buyer returns an item, since the sale is technically null and void.

And by the way, they have already announced, if you read their announcements carefully, that for sellers in Managed Payment, they MAY only return a portion of the fees, depending on whatever arbitrary rule they deem necessary to be applied. I can look up the exact terminology they used to describe this, if you like.

PW🐿

prettywoman-2012 · ‎06-02-2020

@luckythewinner wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
Now I am no longer wondering where they got the money for the exorbitant compensation of their Execs.
I suspect eBay makes far more money on successful transactions than they do from returns.
I agree, however, the point of my post is not how much more money eBay makes from successful sales, or how much it makes as its total income (you could add eBay's other money-making endeavors to it, also, because their income consists of more than just the eBay marketplace).
The point of my post was to (a) call out an outright fraudulent activity (= keeping a portion of the FVF from returns) and (b) to point out that these activities may very well contribute to eBay's ability to pay the exorbitant salaries it does, to its Execs.
Sorry for spelling it out again - I thought this was quite clear from my original post.
PW🐿
I was not disagreeing with your main point, I was simply pointing out the absurdity of linking it to the CEO's compensation.

Care to explain why it is an absurd idea to link millions of dollars in (undeserved) income to millions of dollars in expenditure?

PW🐿

upgradedendmills · ‎06-02-2020

I am behind you 100% on the Managed Payments issue. However, trying to reinforce or justify a decision about that issue by picking apart small, completely unrelated details as to how eBay conducts business doesn't seem to carry much weight and could be thought of as "sour grapes" from a disgruntled seller.

chapeau-noir · ‎06-02-2020

@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:
Now I am no longer wondering where they got the money for the exorbitant compensation of their Execs.
I suspect eBay makes far more money on successful transactions than they do from returns.
I agree, however, the point of my post is not how much more money eBay makes from successful sales, or how much it makes as its total income (you could add eBay's other money-making endeavors to it, also, because their income consists of more than just the eBay marketplace).
The point of my post was to (a) call out an outright fraudulent activity (= keeping a portion of the FVF from returns) and (b) to point out that these activities may very well contribute to eBay's ability to pay the exorbitant salaries it does, to its Execs.
Sorry for spelling it out again - I thought this was quite clear from my original post.
PW🐿
I was not disagreeing with your main point, I was simply pointing out the absurdity of linking it to the CEO's compensation.

Care to explain why it is an absurd idea to link millions of dollars in (undeserved) income to millions of dollars in expenditure?
PW🐿

I see your connection and it does feel like getting nickle and dimed to death, but unfortunately a company can be failing and a CEO being booted out will still get his (usually) golden parachute because it's part of a sign-up agreement. Humana in around 2014 is a great example of this. The entire system is rigged and a lot of the compensation is previously illegal stock options that are now baked into the system, and CEO compensation has far outstripped real worth. There's no real connection between company revenue and what they pay (and award) their latest rent-a-CEO.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Wherever law ends, tyranny begins" -John Locke