Selling Fees

[max4770]

Haven't sold on ebay in over a year.   Have been selling on other local social media sites.  Had a Nikon camera for sell and decided to try eBay.  Sold the camera only to discover that eBay now charges a 13.25% selling fee.  Sold the camera for $450.  EBay charged a $67 selling fee.  What is worse, they charged the 13.25% on shipping and sales tax.  What a rip-off.  I know they have a link to disclose their cheesy selling fee tactics, but they should at least show those selling fees BEFORE you list an item and give the seller a choice if they want to proceed with the listing.  Had they done so, I would not have listed on eBay and gone with another selling site.  Which is why they don't reveal these fees any more than they have to.    Will NEVER sell another item on eBay.  Plenty of other sites to choose from - Facebook, Next Door, Offer Up, etc.   Shame on you eBay for not being more transparent with what the true costs are going to be to a seller once they sell an item.  Never again.  

[isaiah53-57]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

Back when final value fees were in that 7% range; Every listing cost to list. No store owner freebies. No non store owner freebies. 

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Final Value fees in 2003-2005 were 1.9 to 2.9% when they didnt have free listing offers, not 7%  The sell through rate was also about 85%, so who cared about a 25 cent listing fee?

When the fees went to the rates you are referring to, I got 2 to 4 offers a month of anywhere from 100 to 1000 free listings and my sell through rate was still 80%.

Keep in mind, this was also with NONEXISTANT BUYER FRAUD

But hey, I see your point, why wouldnt we want to be paying upwards of 20% of our items selling price with a 30% sell through and the idea that you sale does not stand for 6 months until you pass through all the firey rings of buyer fraud... Yeahhhhh

[dbfolks166mt]

Wow - You basically proved my point in your statement - Actually I disproved it. 

The avg price of gas in 2005-2009 was approximately $2.30 to $3.30 a gallon, - The average across those 5 years was actually $2.62. now its $3.40 Close enough so that equates to a 29% increase

The price of milk is now $2.60 a gallon - Between 2005-2009 the average price of a gallon of milk was $3.31 it's now $4.29 (I just came from the store). That equates to about a 30% increase. 

to continue, the est avg cost of airfare in 2005 was about $350, now its about $400 - .About a 14% increase

Most prices have not increased exorbitantly during that time frame - while ebay fees have increased approximately 8 FOLD! - That would mean that in 2005 the combined eBay and PayPal fees at that time were 1.65% and have increased to 13.25% or an approximate  700% increase. While I cannot remember what they were in 2005 I am speculative that they were that low. 

Applying that increase to a gallon of gas, would put gas at $24 a gallon - and "frankly you are surprised ebay has not increased its fees more than they have"? - Well I'm surprised also, since it appears their only source of revenue generation IS an unhealthy and constant raising of fees in a reactive response to the reduction in market share from about 12% in 2010 to about 3.5% in 2022...which is also meant as a counter to your "EBay exists for one reason and one reason only and that is to maximize the profit of their shareholders. If they fail to do that they fail as a publically traded company." statement...Good thing this isn't a debate...

     A lot of things have contributed to their market share reduction competition being the #1 reason probably closely followed by the leveling of buyer costs between ecommerce and B&M stores. Despite their market share decline, which is only one measurement that shareholders look at their dividend history has remained pretty constant. I am not a fan of the high fees either but I do understand the concept of business operations, expenses and profit. 

     If you look at eBay's financial disclosure statements while revenues from fees are a major portion of their gross revenue it is not the "only" source. I will have to hand it to some of the thinkers at eBay who have come up with some creative ways to increase revenue without applying across the board fee increases to increase revenues. Promote Listings being the biggest one. Spendable funds being another. 

[dbfolks166mt]

@dbfolks166mt

I guess I would ask that same question back to you? In looking at your prices, its easy to see the results of your statement "my shipping costs and or the added handling charge are generally enough to cover the FVF's on the shipping. So like the shipping costs the buyer is the one paying those fees, not me." It does not appear that plan is working all that well for you considering what you have sold over the last 6 months. In relation to the time involved in selling-listing-managing-shipping-communicating-sourcing, It would appear you will need to raise your prices more to keep your head above water....hmmm kinda like a certain company we know...

     Actually it is working quite well and what you see is only what sells on eBay and you do not have any insight into my business costs, profit or ROI. I end a LOT of auctions on eBay before the auction completes, provided there are no bids on the items, because I have sold the item on another venue. These days eBay comprises less than 20% of my sales mostly because I can list on other venues and forums at a lower price because the fees are lower, or there are no fees. Some of those are local so the buyer also does not have to pay shipping and neither of us has to worry about shipping damage or losses.

     Those other platforms also allow me to sell larger and heavy items that would be cost prohibitive to ship. So yes the plan is working well. 

[isaiah53-57]

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@isaiah53-57wrote: the price of milk is now $2.60 a gallon -

@dbfolks166mt wrote: Between 2005-2009 the average price of a gallon of milk was $3.31 it's now $4.29 (I just came from the store). That equates to about a 30% increase. 

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Lets make this about milk and I will Win - haha - I cant imagine where you live where milk is $4.29 a gal - has to be Hawaii. Considering that the 2 stores nearest me, Walmart and Market Basket, both have milk under $2.60 a gal and we are not even in the top 10 lowest milk price states I cannot believe the AVERAGE price of milk is $4.29 a gal.

[dbfolks166mt]

Lets make this about milk and I will Win - haha - I cant imagine where you live where milk is $4.29 a gal - has to be Hawaii. Considering that the 2 stores nearest me, Walmart and Market Basket, both have milk under $2.60 a gal and we are not even in the top 10 lowest milk price states I cannot believe the AVERAGE price of milk is $4.29 a gal.

     I am in Annandale, Virginia. We are talking nationwide average. Following is without tax. Hawaiians pay on average $5.94 a gallon. 

[isaiah53-57]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

@dbfolks166mt

I guess I would ask that same question back to you? In looking at your prices, its easy to see the results of your statement "my shipping costs and or the added handling charge are generally enough to cover the FVF's on the shipping. So like the shipping costs the buyer is the one paying those fees, not me." It does not appear that plan is working all that well for you considering what you have sold over the last 6 months. In relation to the time involved in selling-listing-managing-shipping-communicating-sourcing, It would appear you will need to raise your prices more to keep your head above water....hmmm kinda like a certain company we know...

     Actually it is working quite well and what you see is only what sells on eBay and you do not have any insight into my business costs, profit or ROI. I end a LOT of auctions on eBay before the auction completes, provided there are no bids on the items, because I have sold the item on another venue. These days eBay comprises less than 20% of my sales mostly because I can list on other venues and forums at a lower price because the fees are lower, or there are no fees. Some of those are local so the buyer also does not have to pay shipping and neither of us has to worry about shipping damage or losses.

     Those other platforms also allow me to sell larger and heavy items that would be cost prohibitive to ship. So yes the plan is working well. 

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Hey @dbfolks166mt I'm going to have to agree to disagree on the milk thing since I do not believe those numbers are at all accurate - I found other numbers that seem much more accurate but not worth continuing that line of conversation....

Why I am responding again is you never answered my question - I didnt ask you why you sell on other venues - I asked you why you continue to sell on ebay?  It seems to me, when you compare your meager amount of sales over the last 6 months to the amount of listings you have,  taking into consideration the time involved in selling-listing-managing-shipping-communicating-sourcing-etc and ALL the related costs of performing these tasks, it would appear that even if you owned your items free and clear, you would be paying yourself nothing but a couple dollars an hour after all things considered to sell on this site - So again, I ask why do you continue?

[deepsleep83]

ebay fees are approx now 18% 

[umoraski]

The problem with the Neighborhood sites and Marketplace , is the viewing of your items is very small and lets face it, especially Yard Sales,  You would never get $450 for a camera.   No one has cash.   It's just a Nightmare.   Everyone wants a deal and I mean "a Super Cheap Deal".

[dbfolks166mt]

Why I am responding again is you never answered my question - I didnt ask you why you sell on other venues - I asked you why you continue to sell on ebay?  It seems to me, when you compare your meager amount of sales over the last 6 months to the amount of listings you have,  taking into consideration the time involved in selling-listing-managing-shipping-communicating-sourcing-etc and ALL the related costs of performing these tasks, it would appear that even if you owned your items free and clear, you would be paying yourself nothing but a couple dollars an hour after all things considered to sell on this site - So again, I ask why do you continue?

     People sell on eBay for a variety of reasons. I am retired and don't do this for a living but more as a side gig to keep me busy at times. As far as time or how much I earn it has never been a concern but I do track it and I do make a profit, earn a decent ROI and a fair labor rate which is 100% above what I make for spending time on this discussion board which is $0. 

     I continue simply because it is a viable platform to sell on at the moment. Again you don't have insight into my finances or my life style but one of the reasons for the "meager" sales in the last 90 days was because I was on an extended vacation for almost a month to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland during which time obviously I had nothing posted. I shutdown 2 weeks prior to departure and did not start relisting till 2 weeks after I returned so the items I have sold only actually cover about a 45 day active period. 

[ms.rodriguez*]

The fees have ALWAYS been available. It's not Ebay 's fault that you took a break from selling and when you return, you did not see the new fees?  You were charged the commission on the sales tax that the buyer paid. AND let's not forget the 30 cents added to EACH sale.  Also if you get more than 600.oo in online payments, you will automatically get a 1099 sent to you and to the IRS.  So start documenting your fees/expenses.

[soh.maryl]

"The fees and tax on shipping . . ."

To clarify, there is no "tax on shipping".  Did you perhaps mean to say "on tax and shipping"?

Yes, the final value fee is calculated on (1) the item price;  (2) the shipping fee; and (3) the state sales tax, if any.  

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@deepsleep83 wrote:

ebay fees are approx now 18% 

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Nowhere near that number; some categories are 15%; the rest are about 13%. 

[lakefor94]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

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@deepsleep83 wrote:

ebay fees are approx now 18% 

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Nowhere near that number; some categories are 15%; the rest are about 13%. 

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True

[chapeau-noir]

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@isaiah53-57 wrote:

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@isaiah53-57wrote: the price of milk is now $2.60 a gallon -

@dbfolks166mt wrote: Between 2005-2009 the average price of a gallon of milk was $3.31 it's now $4.29 (I just came from the store). That equates to about a 30% increase. 

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Lets make this about milk and I will Win - haha - I cant imagine where you live where milk is $4.29 a gal - has to be Hawaii. Considering that the 2 stores nearest me, Walmart and Market Basket, both have milk under $2.60 a gal and we are not even in the top 10 lowest milk price states I cannot believe the AVERAGE price of milk is $4.29 a gal.

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The milk and bread argument is contradicted by the fact that you (collectively) are comparing a static market (offline) to an incredibly dynamic market (online). It's not that bread or milk is more expensive - grocery stores are still grocery stores, and shopping habits pretty much remain the same. Online retail, however, has exploded between 2005 and now and advanced many generations insofar as number and type of sites, advancements in technology, search, and an entire second generation of participants.

I'm not crazy about fees, either, and I remember the good old days (which are now almost voting age, I believe), but this comparison doesn't really hold - it's like comparing apples and suitcases.  eBay is the only site forum where I read so much resistance to change, and I think it's because this is kind of an 'oldster' site and how it used to be still remains in memory.

[soh.maryl]

What category do you sell in? Can you show a screenshot proving that eBay fees are now 18%?