eBay

4everctr · ‎06-21-2018

The new sales tax on all of our items will hurt us big time. It increases the price of the item and we get to pay Paypal fees on the sales tax portion. We might also have to pay ebay fees on the sales tax portion. Time to sell locally!

birdsflowersanddogs · ‎06-21-2018

I am not disagreeing, but where to sell locally? Every time I list on Craigslist I get a ton of scam messages and flakey buyers. I don’t like that the Facebook marketplace is linked to your Facebook account so that people can see who the seller is.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎06-21-2018

I can't see them excluding Facebook sales. Facebook is facilitating sales just like other marketplaces.

couldabeenworse · ‎06-21-2018

Even if the sales tax was 10%, the paypal fee would only increase by 30 cents on every 100 dollars you sold. Hopefully that's not enough to sink a whole lotta businesses.

agent006140 · ‎06-21-2018

@couldabeenworse wrote:
Even if the sales tax was 10%, the paypal fee would only increase by 30 cents on every 100 dollars you sold. Hopefully that's not enough to sink a whole lotta businesses.

and small sellers get to keep the sales tax proceeds until end of the year to remit to the state.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎06-21-2018

They keep them right now. However if the processors take over collecting and remitting the marketplace tax payments the seller will never handle the money.

dugoldstuff · ‎06-21-2018

I am not disagreeing, but where to sell locally? Every time I list on Craigslist I get a ton of scam messages and flakey buyers.

Move to Lancaster, PA. We have good, honest, Christian Mennonite auction houses that will take on consignment or do entire collections and even farms. Some aucitons are so full of stuff, the auctions take two days and have two or more auctioneers selling at a time. Alot of items bring good money when sold to local collectors. People make fun of the Plain, but they will have the last laugh.

Know well the condition of your flocks

And pay attention to your herds,

For riches do not last forever

And does a crown endureth for all generations?

birdsflowersanddogs · ‎06-21-2018

I don’t really have the option to move too far from where I am now. DH and I think that before long the Amish and mennonites will be the smartest people in the country. They can still do math and solve problems without a YouTube video, which is more than a lot of DH’s students.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎06-21-2018

Given that the payment processor will collect and remit the sales tax it makes sense to me that they may not have fees on the sales tax portion.

I didn't get the impression from my cursory read of Etsy sales tax in WA State that the sellers were paying higher fees because of the taxes.

internetnowshop · ‎06-21-2018

I had a successful sale last week on Craigslist. I think if I put more time in locally, it could pay dividends. Less time on ebay.

livadia · ‎06-21-2018

@4everctr wrote:
The new sales tax on all of our items will hurt us big time. It increases the price of the item and we get to pay Paypal fees on the sales tax portion. We might also have to pay ebay fees on the sales tax portion. Time to sell locally!

Don't think that will happen, @4everctr, but who knows?

However, I just pulled an old invoice from an Etsy sale to a customer in Washington State (WA put their own Internet Sales Tax in effect at the beginning of this year and unlike eBay, Etsy has been collecting sales taxes on behalf of their sellers since then to comply).

The sales tax amount charged to my buyer was on the total amount of the order (item cost + cost of shipping). Washington state has several sales taxes -- Etsy calculated it properly (applying both the state and local/city sales tax) to arrive at the total amount due (Cost of item + Shipping + All Sales Taxes) which the buyer paid.

My FVFs were based on the cost of the item only NOT the item cost + sales tax. My PayPal fees were based on the total cost of the transaction which included the sales tax as how Etsy handles it is that the seller gets paid for the full amount of the transaction, then Etsy deducts the sales tax portion from your Etsy payment account and forwards it to the taxing authority.

I realize eBay can do (or not do) anything they want to, but I thought it might be useful for others to know how it is being done on a similar platform that also is currently using the same payment processor (Adyen) which eBay will be switching to later this year.

How Etsy is handling it certainly does not seem to be an issue when using Adyen so one would think it also shouldn't be one for eBay either at least from that respect if they were to start collecting sales taxes on behalf of their sellers...

HTH

tyler@ebay · ‎06-21-2018

@4everctr wrote:

The new sales tax on all of our items will hurt us big time. It increases the price of the item and we get to pay Paypal fees on the sales tax portion. We might also have to pay ebay fees on the sales tax portion. Time to sell locally!

Hi @4everctr - we have a statement about today's decision here.

The Court’s decision is focused on large retailers who engage in a significant quantity of business in a state, and the retailers involved in the case are large, national companies. In other words, it remains to be seen what today’s ruling may mean for small businesses.

As a next step, we are calling on Congress to step in and provide clear tax rules, with a strong small business exemption, to help small businesses take advantage of the Internet to grow and create local jobs.

We expect to have more information and will provide updates as the legal landscape from this becomes clearer. Thanks!

Tyler,

mongoose26 · ‎06-21-2018

tyler@ebay wrote:
@4everctr wrote:
The new sales tax on all of our items will hurt us big time. It increases the price of the item and we get to pay Paypal fees on the sales tax portion. We might also have to pay ebay fees on the sales tax portion. Time to sell locally!
Hi @4everctr - we have a statement about today's decision here.

The Court’s decision is focused on large retailers who engage in a significant quantity of business in a state, and the retailers involved in the case are large, national companies. In other words, it remains to be seen what today’s ruling may mean for small businesses.

As a next step, we are calling on Congress to step in and provide clear tax rules, with a strong small business exemption, to help small businesses take advantage of the Internet to grow and create local jobs.

We expect to have more information and will provide updates as the legal landscape from this becomes clearer. Thanks!

When ebay becomes the merchant of record when they take over payments, state governments will see you as another Amazon (that will make Wenig happy) and they will come after ebay, not the sellers, for the taxes owed.

livadia · ‎06-21-2018

@4everctr wrote:
The new sales tax on all of our items will hurt us big time. It increases the price of the item...

@4everctr, not trying to play devil's advocate here, but another site I also sell on has been collecting sales taxes for purchases by consumers located in WA and PA as a result of new laws that impose an Internet Sales Tax on all purchases made via marketplace sites (like Amazon, Etsy, etc) by any consumer located in those respective states since the first of this year.

I have a few friends and customers in both of those places, so I have asked what they think of having to pay sales tax on Internet purchases and if it had affected their buying habits. The answer was almost unanimously "no." The reason most often cited was: "If I buy something locally, I pay sales tax. I'm used having to pay it so I never give it a second thought."

My guess is that type of response will be pretty typical. If I have any concerns about how today's SCOTUS ruling will effect those who sell on Internet marketplace sites like eBay, it has to do with how the taxes will collected/remitted.

If eBay follows Etsy's and Amazon's lead, then it's no big deal -- the marketplace/platform does all the work. If eBay shoves that responsibility off on individual sellers, I agree -- it will be a nightmare.

However, a lot will depend on how any subsequent laws are written. If they're written like the one in Washington, it states that online *marketplaces* (not individual sellers) are responsible for collecting/submitting the applicable sales tax.

For the sake of small sellers selling here, let's hope that's how things will go...