SELLER FEES

[tons_of_sheet]

EVERYONE HAS IT WRONG. EBAY IS CHARGING SELLERS FEES ON TOP OF WHAT THE PRODUCT SELLS FOR. EX, YOU SELL AN ITEM FOR $100.00.. IF TAX TO THAT STATE IS 10% EBAY ADDS THAT COST INTO THE TOTAL VALUE. NOW YOUR ITEM IN THEORY SOLD FOR $110.00. THEN IF YOU ITEM COST FOR SHIPPING IS $10.00, EBAY ADDS THAT INTO THE TOTAL SALE. THUS YOU ARE NOW AT $120.00

SO EBAY IS ARTIFICIALLY INFLATING YOUR SALE PRICE. WHY ARE WE PAYING FEES ON $120.00? WHEN OUR ITEM SOLD FOR $100.00?  BECAUSE ITS EBAYS PLATFORM AND UNTIL THERE IS BETTER COMPETITION WE WILL SUFFER.

ON TOP OF THAT, EBAY NOW CHARGES U A PROMOTIONAL FEE RATE. THAT RATE CAN BE ANYWHERE  FROM 2-20% ON TOP OF THE FEES EBAY ALREADY CHARGES.  

[monroe67]

"I SIMPLY STATED THE FACTS AND IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THEM, TOUGH."

A few of us have responded to your original post with true facts about eBay's fee policies and procedures.  A few of us have actually quoted those policies.  A few of us have posted screenshots from the listing process.  

You appear not to like those facts, policies, procedures, screenshots.  I guess that's tough for you, too.

"AS A PUBLICLY HELD COMPANY WITH A FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY TO ITS SHAREHOLDERS, EBAY MUST DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SHOW A PROFIT EVEN IF ITS AT IT SELLERS DETRIMENT."

I guess that's technically true, as the responsibilities of corporations are to their shareholders.  In my experience and opinion, eBay also tries to make things beneficial for both their sellers and their buyers.  Sure, there are a few things I'm not thrilled about, like showing photos from my competitors to any prospective buyer who looks at listings posted under my selling ID.  But I accept this as What It Is.  It is a Thing I cannot change.  

"ONCE SELLERS LEAVE, ITTT IS DIFFICULT TO GET THEM BACK."

If you stop listing and leave eBay behind, well, happy trails to you.  If enough sellers leave eBay, eBay will simply have to close up their own shop.  The rest of us will have to accept that as well.  

To quote Vincent LaGuardia Gambini, I'm done with this guy.   

[reallynicestamps]

@janet9988   How would ebay even know how much the seller spent on shipping?

Good point.

I use stamps to ship (yes you can still get tracking and use them on parcels) which were purchased often decades ago at a stiff discount.

There may be $20 value in stamps on my package, but DH paid anything from $5 to $15 for them.

Discounted mint postage is sold here on eBay, just avoid the Forever booklets that are usually counterfeits.

[chapeau-noir]

To quote Vincent LaGuardia Gambini, I'm done with this guy.

And to quote Yogi Berra, this thread is like deja vu all over again. 😖

[doc-holmes]

I can't believe how woke these fees have gotten. 

/sarcasm 

[monica-sells]

---

@monroe67 wrote:

To quote Vincent LaGuardia Gambini, I'm done with this guy.   

---

If memory serves me right...

I got 3 days of standing in the corner without my keyboard for that same line a few months ago....

treating me like a yute

LOL

[dbfolks166mt]

Well done. I like how you have it all laid out like that.  Even though I'm coming up with a different selling cost percentage for that transaction than you are, we can both can see that the total selling costs are often significantly greater than the eBay fees. Here's what I'm coming up with using this online calculator below, which is why I was coming up with a 23% overall selling cost for that item.  Either way, we both know that the overall cost percentage is going to be more than the fees percentage.
https://www.ebayfeescalculator.com/usa-ebay-calculator/

     Little bit of a difference because you used 12.35% for the fee's. I actually have the complete model that covers everything I just cut off a bit of it in the first response. I have a more extensive costing model that incorporates Federal and state income taxes as well as the SE taxes. I use that one to determine what to set my starting price at in order to obtain the after tax ROI that I am looking to achieve. 

[dbfolks166mt]

This is not new, just frustrating if you do cost accounting like I do and really look at profit margins.  Add that next year we'll get 1099s, probably based on this 'artificially high' amount and it's not worth it.  Add my CA taxes, ebay fees, ebay sales taxes, shipping, time.  What gets me is that often when I call, the rep will tell me when they sell....?  What?  I'm convinced they no longer have participating employees, or they'd understand that they are breaking the fundamentals of this marketplace. 

     Not sure what you mean by "artificially high amount" or the 1099 statement. I have been getting 1099's since 2021 when Virginia lowered their 1099-K issuance level but I always reported my income even before that. The 1099-K just serves as a sanity check against my own books. 

    I do applaud for taking a big picture view of total selling costs which most people don't. A lot of sellers complain about the eBay fees which are often one of the smaller selling costs. FYI eBay does not have sales tax but they do collect sales tax from the buyer and remit it to the various states. 

They better start branding this as a ridiculous 'green' alternative, where you are getting points (carbon credits?) for saving the earth, even though you're losing money....this is actually a business model: there are places you can 'subscribe' or just pay to get mailers to send in ewaste, etc...people do this?  My city collects everything, much on the curb.   No need to look up my inventory, I ended everything. 

[isaiah53-57]

@baydealz

Good for you man - Another MEMBER so done with smoke and mirror, watered-down rate, sales facilitated with thieves and non-payers, crumbling infrastructure, biased or broken search, cheap china junk, not as described items, etc, etc, etc...

Another one bites the dust - Another one bites the dust - and another one gone, and another one gone - another one bites the dust...

Take a hint and make the place better!

[mam98031]

@tons_of_sheet 

While this info may be new to you, it isn't for most of us.  We have paid FVFs on shipping for over 12 years now.  And on Sales tax since Ebay became our Money Processor.  Before that we paid the fees to PayPal.

I'm unsure as to why you just recently come to these conclusions.  There is simply nothing new here.  Why are you getting so upset about it now, YEARS later????

[joeb5281]

because ebay is losing customers to other companies. they are trying to charge me for an agents mistake of refunding a buyer that returned an item to the wrong address and they sided with him, WITHOUT LOOKING INTO THE MATTER,  and i have proof it went to a wrong address, im not paying for their mistakes, 

[dbfolks166mt]

There are some things you can count on beyond what Ebay tells you.

     In general I am not concerned about what eBay makes they are a for profit company. My concern is what my bottom line ROI is. However, 

The lower the price of your item, the large the total percentage of the sale is likely to go to Ebay.

     Not really, it depends on a couple of factors. Discounting PL the sales tax eBay applies the FVF's to is the only thing that has a direct impact on the effective rate. Otherwise 13.25% on a $10 item is the same as 13.25% on a $100 item from a percentage perspective. 

The heavier your item is to ship, the large the percentage of your product sales price is likely to go to Ebay.

     Smart sellers factor in the eBay fees along with the shipping cost into the item price if they are using free shipping. If they are using calculated shipping and the buyer is paying full retail the difference is generally more than enough to cover the fees. 

The more likely your product is to appeal to buyers in the coastal United States, the larger percentage of your product sale price will go to Ebay.

     Not really sure what you mean by this.

The shorter your gross profit margin is, the more it will be reduced by Ebay fees.

     Adjust your price to obtain the ROI you are looking for. 

There are lots of crudy business plans.

I use a long-tail inventory plan. My products turn slowly. I have high gross margins. I own a lot of inventory. My biggest cost of sales are Ebay fees. I can continue this way as long as I am willing, and I can contribute to the IRS.

     I have found that the eBay fees are one of my smaller overall selling costs. Federal and State taxes are about 40% on the bottom line net followed closely by COGS. 

If you expect to sell huge quantities of short margin products, that strategy might not work on Ebay. Amazon or Walmart unless you are paying the very lowest prices for the products you sell.

And just because your salesman tells you that you are paying the same price as "the big guys" does not mean that you are really paying the same price. Just as when you buy a car for $500 under invoice, it does not mean the dealer is taking a $500 loss.

[soh.maryl]

Yes, everyone else has it wrong.  You are the only one out of all the sellers on eBay who understands how fees are really charged and that we're being ripped off.  

The rest of us who bothered to read the fee schedule are just delusional when we state that the FVF is calculated on the item price, the shipping fee and the state sales tax, if applicable.

[storage-locker-aficionados]

I am not upset. I am simply stating facts. I would like to see fees reduced. eBay could use many other criteria to to assess fees 

[adkhighker]

Oh okay thanks. Looking at your line items again there is hardly any difference between the  $7.70  payout in my example and the $7.55 payout in yours.  After seeing how much further you take it, I'd like to hire you to do my taxes this year!

[meme6253]

We are being eaten alive!