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Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

I thought they normally charge 10%. My last sale had a 12.9% Fee plus 30¢. For an item that sold for $30 the total Fees amounted to $4.48 or nearly 15%. (Actually 14.9%).

Message 1 of 85
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84 REPLIES 84

Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

Not to quibble, but it sold for $32.50 plus probably state sales tax, although you did offer free shipping.

And it has not been 10% (plus 2.9% to Paypal) for several years, equaling 12.9% total.

In most categories now, it's 12.9% which is calculated on the item price, shipping fee and state sales tax, if any. 

 

Message 16 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

Item at $32.50, with F/S, but possibly state sales tax.  

Message 17 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

@mam98031 

This example is actually just a little higher than 15% but typically it average out to be 15%.

 

Sell an item for $48.00

Shipping cost $11.55

State tax $2.40

$0.30 transaction fee

 

Total fees $8.03

 

$8.03 fees for an item that sold for $48.00   I will let you do your own math.

Message 18 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?


@coolections wrote:

@mam98031 

This example is actually just a little higher than 15% but typically it average out to be 15%.

 

Sell an item for $48.00

Shipping cost $11.55

State tax $2.40

$0.30 transaction fee

 

Total fees $8.03

 

$8.03 fees for an item that sold for $48.00   I will let you do your own math.


I suppose if you are insistent upon changing around the numbers.  

 

But 15% of $48 = $7.20,   So if you think your above numbers is an example of some specific fee, it isn't.

 

Your example is:

48.00  Product purchase

11.55     Shipping

  2.50   Sales Tax

62.35  Total

 

62.35 X 12.9% = 8.04 + .30 per transaction fee = 8.34 total Ebay fees.

 

8.34 / 62.35 = 13.34%

 

However the per transaction fee doesn't belong in the calculation as to the FVFs charged by Ebay as that fee is a constant whether the purchase is for $1.00 or $10,000.  It is a 30 cent per transaction fee.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

Message 19 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

You need to mark up at least 30% to be profitable selling on eBay.
Regardless eBay claims 15% or 12.99% FVF, eBay has many hidden fees (eg, "item not as describe" penalty) to charge sellers into eBay's profit.
Focus on FVF is just pointless.

 

30% mark up will ensure a broad coverage to expend your business on eBay, promoting listings, buyer remorse return, penalties ... etc.
Anything sell on eBay with less than 30% margin is doomed.

 

Other revenues such as AMAZON charges less.

Message 20 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

That's all well and good but please understand that some sellers such as myself see their "fee" as what it cost to sell the item, in the above example seller of the $48 product paid roughly 17.5% of the sale price in "fees"

 

$48 x 17.5% = $8.40, and yes the .30 transaction fee is part of the cost (it's called a fee)

 

I don't care how they divy  up the money

 

I'm not selling sales tax

 

I'm not selling shipping

 

I look at simply what I paid to sell my product

Message 21 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

You are wrong in so many ways I will leave it at that. Believe what you want but $8.03 fee for an item that sold for $48. Drink more Kool-Aid.

Message 22 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?


@rumby_mimi wrote:

You need to mark up at least 30% to be profitable selling on eBay.
Regardless eBay claims 15% or 12.99% FVF, eBay has many hidden fees (eg, "item not as describe" penalty) to charge sellers into eBay's profit.
Focus on FVF is just pointless.

 

30% mark up will ensure a broad coverage to expend your business on eBay, promoting listings, buyer remorse return, penalties ... etc.
Anything sell on eBay with less than 30% margin is doomed.

 

Other revenues such as AMAZON charges less.


@rumby_mimi 

 

I sell there too and their fees are a lot higher than they are on this site.  At least for what I sell.

 


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

Message 23 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?


@zero29zero wrote:

That's all well and good but please understand that some sellers such as myself see their "fee" as what it cost to sell the item, in the above example seller of the $48 product paid roughly 17.5% of the sale price in "fees"

 

$48 x 17.5% = $8.40, and yes the .30 transaction fee is part of the cost (it's called a fee)

 

I don't care how they divy  up the money

 

I'm not selling sales tax

 

I'm not selling shipping

 

I look at simply what I paid to sell my product


Then I would just say @zero29zero that you are looking at it wrong.  The cost you pay for the carrier is NOT an fee.  The cost of the product you sell is not a fee either.  What you are looking is the percentage of COST you have for whatever you are selling.  Your total costs and the fees you pay to Ebay are NOT the same thing.  And Ebay has no control over anything but the FVFs they charge you.

 

This isn't about figuring out your profit.  That is a different thing all together than just figuring the fees that Ebay charges.  


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

Message 24 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?


@coolections wrote:

You are wrong in so many ways I will leave it at that. Believe what you want but $8.03 fee for an item that sold for $48. Drink more Kool-Aid.


This conversation we were having was easily explain via some simple math.  Because you don't like it doesn't make it any less true.  My previous post speaks for itself.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

Message 25 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?


@pf9000 wrote:

I thought they normally charge 10%. My last sale had a 12.9% Fee plus 30¢. For an item that sold for $30 the total Fees amounted to $4.48 or nearly 15%. (Actually 14.9%).


I'm seeing the sale of Make Your Own Tube Testers for $32.50 with free shipping.

 

12.9% + $.30 = $4.49 (or per your post, $4.48)

albertabrightalberta | Volunteer Community Mentor
"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you."

Message 26 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

That is where you are wrong again. I never said I do not like the fees. I actually think they are reasonable. I just want sellers to know when they figure the cost it is an average of 15% , not the 12.9% that you want people to believe. I even showed you proof.

Message 27 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?


@coolections wrote:

That is where you are wrong again. I never said I do not like the fees. I actually think they are reasonable. I just want sellers to know when they figure the cost it is an average of 15% , not the 12.9% that you want people to believe. I even showed you proof.


@coolections 

 

No need to change the subject, that isn't what I said nor was it what we were discussing.  You gave me an example of what was sold and that you felt it was a 15% fee on that sale.  I posted the numbers that would have actually been used to calculate the Ebay FVF in post 19 that using YOUR example in the previous post it did not carry a 15% FVF.

 

Ebay's FVF only changes between some categories and if a seller has a store level of Basic and above.  For most categories it is 12.9% and that is a fact.  Ebay does charge a 30 cent per transaction fee on each transaction whether it is a $1 sale or $1,000.  It does not fluctuate.  But 30 cents of $1 is 30% while 30 cents of $1000 is 0.03%.  Paypal use to charge this per transaction fee to us too.  However now I think they charge something like 49 cents.  I could be wrong on that.  They did raise it but I'm not sure of the actual fee currently.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

Message 28 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

     A lot of sellers distort the application of the FVF' to the price the item sold for. What the item sold for is what the buyer actually paid for the item (item cost + shipping + sales tax) which is also what eBay calculates the FVF on. That is generally 12.9% ignoring the 30 cents.  Of course distorting the FVF % by only applying the eBay actual calculated FVF's to just the cost of the item is going to yield a different percentage for about anything you sell. 

     Put yourself in the buyers shoes for a moment. If you purchase something from a store for $100 and there is a $25 delivery fee and you live in a state with 6% sales tax did you pay $100 for the item or did you pay $132.50?

Message 29 of 85
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Re: Nearly 15% in Fee's. Is that correct?

@pf9000  OP, pay no attention to the others replying. You are correct, figure 15%. If you expect to receive a payout of $30,  when you list your item add your shipping cost and approximate cost of state tax + 30 cents. Add that to your asking price and that will cover the 15% it takes to sell here and still receive a final payout of $30.

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