eBay

max4770 · ‎04-14-2023

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.

dbfolks166mt · ‎04-18-2023

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.

The comparison, while the market plays into the picture, is not really all that relevant when you are looking at the impact of inflation or operating costs and business revenue. The price of bread and milk are not driven as much by the grocery store as they are by what the store pays for the gallon of milk. While food is a need more than a want the shopping habits of consumers are driven by the price elasticity of a product and the guns vs butter tradeoff.

All products and services pricing is based on costs and production is based on a point where marginal revenue = marginal costs. Inflation applies across any of these products or services. The increases is costs due to inflation may vary by product or service but nothing remains static for any extended period of time.

isaiah53-57 · ‎04-18-2023

@soh.maryl wrote:
What category do you sell in? Can you show a screenshot proving that eBay fees are now 18%?

@soh.maryl

@stainlessenginecovers

How hard is it to understand people posting figures like this - The poster @dgg0833 is referring to the TRUE fees you pay to sell on this site - ebay charges you 13.25% up to 15% of the ENTIRE SALE including shipping and sales tax, both of which have NOTHING to do with your profit margin.

13.25% of the ENTIRE SALE which includes shipping and sales tax, equates to close to or even over 20% of the ITEM'S SELLING PRICE - that percentage is the TRUE COST of selling here...

soh.maryl · ‎04-18-2023

There is a difference between eBay's final value fee which is as mentioned, and the true cost to the seller of selling here.

The FVF is calculated on the item price, the shipping fee and the state sales tax, if any.

The true cost to the seller would be the amount he paid plus the cost of maintaining his selling facility, advertising etc and other factors.

isaiah53-57 · ‎04-18-2023

@soh.maryl wrote:
There is a difference between eBay's final value fee which is as mentioned, and the true cost to the seller of selling here.
The FVF is calculated on the item price, the shipping fee and the state sales tax, if any.
The true cost to the seller would be the amount he paid plus the cost of maintaining his selling facility, advertising etc and other factors.

We're talking about fees here - NET after fees - Not Net/Net after all costs of selling have been integrated into the bottom line

stainlessenginecovers · ‎04-19-2023

@isaiah53-57 wrote:
@soh.maryl wrote:
What category do you sell in? Can you show a screenshot proving that eBay fees are now 18%?
@soh.maryl
@stainlessenginecovers
How hard is it to understand people posting figures like this - The poster @dgg0833 is referring to the TRUE fees you pay to sell on this site - ebay charges you 13.25% up to 15% of the ENTIRE SALE including shipping and sales tax, both of which have NOTHING to do with your profit margin.

13.25% of the ENTIRE SALE which includes shipping and sales tax, equates to close to or even over 20% of the ITEM'S SELLING PRICE - that percentage is the TRUE COST of selling here...

It is VERY HARD to understand since this is the incorrect way of doing math (or business).

What about those offering Free Shipping? (7 out of 10 items sold are)

What about those that add 'handling' to cover those 'fees' and all the 'packing materials'?

dbfolks166mt · ‎04-19-2023

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

While the fees are exactly what eBay states in their fee schedule there is what I refer to as an effective rate which factors in the FVF's on the item, shipping and the sales tax. The effective rate is the FVF's/Total gross revenue.

While it is still the 13.25%, for most categories, the effective percentage of your sale is not 13.25%. As an example if you sell a $200 item, buyer is in a state with 6% sales tax, the shipping the buyer paid for was $20 then assuming the shipping cost you pay for the label is the same then.

dbfolks166mt · ‎04-19-2023

It is VERY HARD to understand since this is the incorrect way of doing math (or business).

What about those offering Free Shipping? (7 out of 10 items sold are)

What about those that add 'handling' to cover those 'fees' and all the 'packing materials'?

Fees are fees irrespective of the variables they are calculated the same way. However, the sellers net revenue may vary depending on their cost model. Take two sellers selling a $200 item to a buyer with a 6% sales tax rate. Buyer 1 uses calculated shipping, buyer 2 bakes in $20 to cover worse case scenario shipping (east to west coast), handling cost etc. Actual shipping cost turns out to be $10 based on buyer location.

Seller 1 Seller 2

The expenses related to packing material and other external cost are both deducted by the individual buyers along with all the other external eBay selling costs like COGS, POV, other supplies, Federal and State income taxes........... Buyer 2 has just factored in some or all of these costs in setting their pricing.

isaiah53-57 · ‎04-19-2023

@dbfolks166mt wrote:
It is VERY HARD to understand since this is the incorrect way of doing math (or business).
What about those offering Free Shipping? (7 out of 10 items sold are)
What about those that add 'handling' to cover those 'fees' and all the 'packing materials'?

Fees are fees irrespective of the variables they are calculated the same way. However, the sellers net revenue may vary depending on their cost model. Take two sellers selling a $200 item to a buyer with a 6% sales tax rate. Buyer 1 uses calculated shipping, buyer 2 bakes in $20 to cover worse case scenario shipping (east to west coast), handling cost etc. Actual shipping cost turns out to be $10 based on buyer location.

Seller 1 Seller 2

The expenses related to packing material and other external cost are both deducted by the individual buyers along with all the other external eBay selling costs like COGS, POV, other supplies, Federal and State income taxes........... Buyer 2 has just factored in some or all of these costs in setting their pricing.

Nice example - And considering the "effective rate" has a greater bearing the lower the items selling price, that's why I said "close to 20%" in fees right off the top of the item, because my average sale was approximately $50 and my avg "effective rate" was over 18%(close to 20%) and increasing quite rapidly... Thank you for posting that

clown_car_driver · ‎04-19-2023

The cost of selling is passed on DIRECTLY to the buyer.

IF the buyer determines that it's not in their best interests to buy at that price - so be it.

IF I can't sell enough to make my efforts worth while, I quit selling - so be it.

None of these things are within my control.

Ebay makes money - or they won't do it.

I make money - or I won't do it.

It's really not that difficult.

.

dbfolks166mt · ‎04-19-2023

Nice example - And considering the "effective rate" has a greater bearing the lower the items selling price, that's why I said "close to 20%" in fees right off the top of the item, because my average sale was approximately $50 and my avg "effective rate" was over 18%(close to 20%) and increasing quite rapidly... Thank you for posting that

You are correct the effective rate is a bit higher the lower the price. So for a $50 average item cost.

anasazirose · ‎04-19-2023

I agree, ebay's fees are very high. I waffled for months and sold for a full year before getting a store. During that time, I researched fees. A lot. I knew I'd pay fees on taxes I never touched, fees on shipping fees, and even a 30¢ transaction fee that doesn't get refunded on cancelled orders or returns. Then there was that international fee. Then the Promoted Listing fees. UGH.

I even watched YT videos by searching "I hate ebay, what's wrong with ebay, don't sell on ebay" (lol, and here I am)

Everything I list, I figure ebay gets 15%. If something is heavy, I have to raise the price just because of the added fees on higher shipping, or not list it here and go to FBMP or CL. There are times when ebay and the post office each get a bigger cut on an item than I do.

There are still times I come to this community to have things explained, even though I thought I did thorough research. It seems the most BASIC research when buying something (like a selling service like ebay) would be to know how exactly how much you pay for an item.

I do agree somewhat, that it would be easy for ebay to add at the bottom of the listing page where it says, "List it for free" something like, "You have listed in the camera category, fees range from 12-15% if your item sells", BUT they already have that information in a chart on the site and we as sellers shouldn't need it there if we have done our proper research. They could make the print larger on the line that says "you're charged a FVF if the item sells", but you knew there was a fee.

Sorry you're upset, but the information was all available to you.

anasazirose · ‎04-19-2023

@isaiah53-57 wrote:
@soh.maryl wrote:
What category do you sell in? Can you show a screenshot proving that eBay fees are now 18%?
@soh.maryl
@stainlessenginecovers
How hard is it to understand people posting figures like this - The poster @dgg0833 is referring to the TRUE fees you pay to sell on this site - ebay charges you 13.25% up to 15% of the ENTIRE SALE including shipping and sales tax, both of which have NOTHING to do with your profit margin.

13.25% of the ENTIRE SALE which includes shipping and sales tax, equates to close to or even over 20% of the ITEM'S SELLING PRICE - that percentage is the TRUE COST of selling here...

I remember when ebay charged their fee on the item only. Sellers sold items for $1 and charged $25 shipping to pay fees only on the $1. That's why the fees started on shipping, as I remember it.

It'd be great if ebay would deduct actual shipping from the charged shipping and charge the fee on only the difference, but that would require all shipping labels be purchased through ebay. They aren't going to, though. They constantly look for ways to make more money, as do most companies.

restoreitman · ‎02-15-2024

If you sold it at an in~person auction, the house charges an additional 25% buyer's premium and takes 20%+ from the seller. Ebay is still, hands down, the best vessel for selling due to the exposure your items get.

kh-vince · ‎02-15-2024

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.