Partner fee?

[fattba2009]

I just sold an item and when I noticed they paid more than the price I checked PayPal and it said that they paid an extra $7 for a partner fee?! What is that?

[mam98031]

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@dasarock wrote:

to my way of thinking and logic … if ebay enters a partnership with a 3rd party not ebay nor seller … then ebay should pay the partnership fees … PERIOD

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You have a misunderstanding of the use of Partnership Fee.  It is NOT a fee that Ebay is charging sellers at all.

[dasarock]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@dasarock wrote:

to my way of thinking and logic … if ebay enters a partnership with a 3rd party not ebay nor seller … then ebay should pay the partnership fees … PERIOD

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You have a misunderstanding of the use of Partnership Fee.  It is NOT a fee that Ebay is charging sellers at all.

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… if so it's kind of confusing … which is why I asked brian to answer.

quoting ebay:  "eBay Partner Network, our affiliate program, offers a way for you to make money by referring buyers to eBay without having to sell or ship anything.

All you need is a blog, website, social network or mobile app to apply to the program, where you can earn commissions by sending buyers to eBay."

sounds to me like partner ship affiliates get paid.  also sounds to me like their payment would be a 'partnership fee' with ebay trying to pawn the fee off on sellers like they do everything else.

[autopiacarcare]

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@dasarock wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@dasarock wrote:

to my way of thinking and logic … if ebay enters a partnership with a 3rd party not ebay nor seller … then ebay should pay the partnership fees … PERIOD

---

You have a misunderstanding of the use of Partnership Fee.  It is NOT a fee that Ebay is charging sellers at all.

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… if so it's kind of confusing … which is why I asked brian to answer.

quoting ebay:  "eBay Partner Network, our affiliate program, offers a way for you to make money by referring buyers to eBay without having to sell or ship anything.

All you need is a blog, website, social network or mobile app to apply to the program, where you can earn commissions by sending buyers to eBay."

sounds to me like partner ship affiliates get paid.  also sounds to me like their payment would be a 'partnership fee' with ebay trying to pawn the fee off on sellers like they do everything else.

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@dasarock  My guess is that when this change was made, PayPal just took the easiest programing route and used a label they already had set up in their systems to identify that line item.  The Partner Fee in this case isn't really a "fee", that is just the label assigned to the sales tax amount that is being sent to eBay.  You're not the first person I've seen with concerns about that term and the possible confusion it may create.

If you are talking about the seller having to pay the payment processing fee on the tax amount, that is not broken out as a separate fee. It is included in the PayPal Fee because sales tax is included in the Gross Amount.  I don't like it either, and I don't disagree with your sentiments on the subject, just trying to clarify the terminology.

It appears that PayPal is aware of the confusion being caused by the term Partner Fee and is working on better reporting. This is the note I see when I log in to PayPal and go to download the report.

"Currently sales tax collected by us on your eBay sales appear as Partner Fee. We will be updating our reports to describe tax transactions appropriately. Thank you for your understanding."

[mam98031]

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@dasarock wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

---

@dasarock wrote:

to my way of thinking and logic … if ebay enters a partnership with a 3rd party not ebay nor seller … then ebay should pay the partnership fees … PERIOD

---

You have a misunderstanding of the use of Partnership Fee.  It is NOT a fee that Ebay is charging sellers at all.

---

… if so it's kind of confusing … which is why I asked brian to answer.

quoting ebay:  "eBay Partner Network, our affiliate program, offers a way for you to make money by referring buyers to eBay without having to sell or ship anything.

All you need is a blog, website, social network or mobile app to apply to the program, where you can earn commissions by sending buyers to eBay."

sounds to me like partner ship affiliates get paid.  also sounds to me like their payment would be a 'partnership fee' with ebay trying to pawn the fee off on sellers like they do everything else.

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On the threads that you have posted this on, the Affiliate program was not being discussed.  Sales tax was.  On the PP reports that you can download, the description used when they remove the sales tax amount and give it to Ebay is called a Partner Fee.  I have no idea if Ebay asked PP to call it that or if PP just decided to call it that.  But it isn't an actual fee that sellers are paying to Ebay, it is the sales tax charged to the buyer that is being paid to Ebay.

[wee*threads]

this seems a great time to coordinate for a class-action lawsuit!

[gracieallen01]

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@loveyourimagination49 wrote:
I thought international was 4.4%?

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Ahhh, what's a few cents between 'partners'?

[mam98031]

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@wee*threads wrote:

this seems a great time to coordinate for a class-action lawsuit!

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@wee*threads 

For WHAT exactly???  You want to sue Ebay for adhering to the laws of the various states?  Or for PP charging a fee for services rendered?  Exactly what would be your basis for a lawsuit?

[mam98031]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

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@loveyourimagination49 wrote:
I thought international was 4.4%?

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Ahhh, what's a few cents between 'partners'?

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FYI, PP only used the words "partner fee" for a couple weeks or maybe a little more.  They then changed it in late November / early December to Taxes Collected.

[tooosweeet]

What people SHOULD be **bleep** about is that these taxes count towards your gross receipts, meaning IRS just sees you received the money, you now have to prove to them what it is was for if they decide to  audit you ,and more paperwork during tax times.  

[pjcdn2005]

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never mind...didn't realize the thread was from a little while ago

[mam98031]

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@tooosweeet wrote:

What people SHOULD be **bleep** about is that these taxes count towards your gross receipts, meaning IRS just sees you received the money, you now have to prove to them what it is was for if they decide to  audit you ,and more paperwork during tax times.  

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@tooosweet29 

What?  Gross Receipts is NOT Gross Sales.  Are you saying you pay your income taxes based on your Gross Receipts without taking business deductions?  If so, that would be a you issue, not one of any form or report you receive.  If you are not understanding how to keep your business records and how to track your business expenses, it may be helpful for you to pay a CPA for some advice on how to do this.  It isn't hard, but you do need to keep records.  And for those that don't have a background in tracking this, there is nothing wrong with seeking the help of a professional so that you make sure you do it the right way.

Besides it will save you money.  And that is always a good thing.  

There are other things to be deducted from Gross Receipts other than just sales tax.  

[dasarock]

I've been documenting tax collected amts for ea transaction since they became mandatory for ebay.  extra work but worth it come tax time.  not that ebay makes it easy for sellers.  they initially put a green statement on manage orders pages for each sale, then removed it and you had to go to the downloaded sales reports to find it.  finally put it in the sales record but you have to scroll down to see it.  the sales record is badly formatted, sure.  but now the info is there.

but it would be nice if the put the amount of taxes, discount amounts for marketed sales etc, and the amount of promotion fees ALL ON THE MANAGED ORDERS PAGE ITEMS where that initial statement stating taxes were collected was so that when you copy the information to whatever form of spreadsheet / database etc. that you use …. IT IS ALL AVAILABLE FROM ONE PLACE.  the information is readily available for inclusion after all.  (but ebay rarely does anything to ease paperwork for sellers).

… in reply to "What people SHOULD be **bleep** about is that these taxes count towards your gross receipts, meaning IRS just sees you received the money, you now have to prove to them what it is was for if they decide to  audit you ,and more paperwork during tax times.  " by @tooosweeet