Selling fees are ridiculous

[longhornbs94]

Regardless of whether it is legal to charge a non-business seller 12.9% of the total sale including taxes and shipping fees, it is wrong.  I've been on eBay for over 21 years and I have decided this is a monopoly, they know it, and they are taking every advantage of it.  It seems they only want sellers who are running a business on the site instead of what they were founded for, which was a platform for individuals to sell items they no longer need to someone who has a use for it.  Very sad!  After 21 years, I'm done!  

[ms.rodriguez*]

If you open a store, the expenses are much higher than ebay's. If you can't make a profit on an item that you are selling, throw it out or donate it.  If you are just getting rid of unwanted stuff, you will rarely make a profit.  Be happy with what is left over from that sale. If not enough $$, then list it higher.   Goodbye.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Charging on the total sale has NOTHING to do with whether a seller is a large business, small business or joe homeowner cleaning out the closet. 

The fee is straight across the board and like many States which charge Sales Tax on the Total (Item PLUS shipping) and soon to be, all states will be doing it; Brick/Mortar stores have been being charged on the TOTAL SALE at the register since the advent of the credit card. 

Since it is quite easy to figure out what the total 'fee' will be, a person can easily determine the selling price (and choose the shipping price if they want to) and then list the item as such. A person can also search for the same item and checkmark the 'sold' on the left to see what others are selling a thing for. 

[scrapaholic57]

I have to agree with what you are saying. Despite e-bay seller fees which as you said includes fees on tax and shipping.....with the rising cost of shipping it is almost impossible to sell anything and make a little bit of extra money while also trying to compete with larger sellers.  I have been buying and selling on e-bay for over 20+ years also. I questioned e-bay fees on taxes but my daughter (who is a CPA) enlightened me that e-bay is doing all the collecting and reporting.  So it makes sense that they would charge a small fee. With USPS costs going up again (6.7% for first class mail) on January 23rd and the fees e-bay is charging on top of that I'm starting to question Is it worth it??  I can no longer include free shipping in my listings.  I'm changing everything over to charge shipping before the 23rd on items I have listed.  I opened a basic store about 4 years ago to increase the quantity of items I can list/relist but the discounts I receive don't add up to much.  Now with the IRS 1099K  imposed for 2023....Really? Not e-bays fault but this is not the same platform it was for us as individuals.  Just my opinion ~ Happy New Year everyone!   

[monica-sells]

Just being pragmatic here....shipping HAS to be included due to abuses by those same individuals...as far as the sales tax, just taking your last order as a guideline, you paid approximately $2.97 'extra' to process that Sales Tax from the sale of the receiver. For that $2.97 (which you could have simply added $3.00 to the sale price to cover) ebay calculated, collected, filed, remitted the proper amount to the proper taxing authority to satisfy a tax law requiring the platform to collect sales tax. 

I have to ask if that is worth $2.97 to you?

Note: I am not saying I like it, but I do adjust to it and certainly do not want the responsibility of collecting sales tax for the multitude of tax districts in our great country.....

[ebooksdiva]

Apparently you didn't do your research by learning all there is to know about selling before jumping in.

The seller fee policy is posted in the Help& Contact section of eBay and is written in plain English. 

 Selling fees | eBay

It matters not that you are a novice seller or a business. You list on ebay you pay the fees to when your item sells.

Listing on eBay is free, selling on ebay is not. 

[scrapaholic57]

Sorry, my mistake First class increase is  7.8% on January 22, 2023 

[janet9988]

You priced your items high.

Ebay was meant  as the place  where buyers come for a good cheap deal.

[kabilab]

longhorn,

Alexandre Dumas pere wrote of The Three Musketeers. Today, I suggest reading this thread through The Three Female Posteteers: Rodriguez, Diva & Monica. All were concise, candid and correct.

[beautyandthebeads]

Ah, no...where did you ever read that?  This site started as a collectibles platform.   "Good deals" only came later.  This is still a place to sell very high end items to collectors and such.

[beautyandthebeads]

The fees are ridiculous, but if you are a high volume seller (haven't looked at your site) it makes much more sense to open like a basic/premium store.    I have saved a lot in listing fees.  One of the only good deals here actually.

[pargran3]

Wrong or right is not the issue. It is what has to be done. 

Monopoly? Hardly. Not to mention how many sites have come and gone thinking of giving eBay a run for the money.

If you are selling online you are a business. Individual maybe. But still a business.

[laserpartshq2]

I would venture to say, every State would say it is illegal to charge a fee for collecting sale tax, but EBAY seems to get away with it.

[714ricki]

Regardless of size, the ebay fees & policies are for all sellers on the platform. The fees are quite fare since this is ebay's platform, they bring in all the buyer traffic, they patchwork maintain the site, and try their best to keep all buyers & sellers & investors & the lawyers happy. Imagine all the costs involved at a brick & mortar....lease & other operational costs, insurance, security, financial institutions, lawyers, suppliers, employees, & customers. When you think from that perspective, ebay fees actually aren't that bad. The other online platforms have higher fees. 

If you have tossed in the towel, then we thank you for your time on the platform & good luck to you. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

---

@laserpartshq2 wrote:

I would venture to say, every State would say it is illegal to charge a fee for collecting sale tax, but EBAY seems to get away with it.

---

Then your 'venture' would be 100% incorrect as All Processors have charged All Brick/Mortar Stores on the TOTAL at the cash register of every store in every state since the advent of processors/credit cards in the 1940s'.