Selling used items

[phrier]

Can someone please help me understand why Ebay is charging sales tax on items that are not new.  In other words the sales tax was paid on the item when it was sold new.  I am reselling used items.

I recently learned that Ebay is calculating their fees AFTER adding sales tax to an item that seemingly should not be taxed (again).  Is there a way to set your seller account so that the fees are based on the selling price & shipping alone without boosting Ebay's portion by adding the sales tax to the math prior to calculating the fees portion?

[jda05121]

Because that is how the sales tax laws work. Tax on the transaction, not the item.

[maxine*j]

Sales tax is not a tax on merchandise.  It is a type of consumption tax.  It will be charged to the "consumer" each time the item is "consumed."   Have you never bought a used vehicle, or shopped in a thrift store? 

As for the fee on the total sale, which eBay is assessing, all payment processors do that.  They collect their fee on the total amount the buyer paid for merchandise, handling, shipping, surcharges, sundry costs, taxes.  PayPal did, too, in case you never noticed;

=

[katzrul15]

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@phrier wrote:

Can someone please help me understand why Ebay is charging sales tax on items that are not new.  In other words the sales tax was paid on the item when it was sold new.  I am reselling used items.

I recently learned that Ebay is calculating their fees AFTER adding sales tax to an item that seemingly should not be taxed (again).  Is there a way to set your seller account so that the fees are based on the selling price & shipping alone without boosting Ebay's portion by adding the sales tax to the math prior to calculating the fees portion?

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There is no setting to change the e-Bay platform selling dynamic for what e-Bay defines is a "transaction":

Item sold + any applicable sales tax + shipping + any additional taxes that may apply = transaction total

FVFs apply to the "transaction total"

[luckythewinner]

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@phrier wrote:

Can someone please help me understand why Ebay is charging sales tax on items that are not new.  In other words the sales tax was paid on the item when it was sold new.  I am reselling used items.

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What makes you think that used items are not taxable?

[donsdetour]

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@phrier wrote:

Can someone please help me understand why Ebay is charging sales tax on items that are not new.  In other words the sales tax was paid on the item when it was sold new.  I am reselling used items.

I recently learned that Ebay is calculating their fees AFTER adding sales tax to an item that seemingly should not be taxed (again).  Is there a way to set your seller account so that the fees are based on the selling price & shipping alone without boosting Ebay's portion by adding the sales tax to the math prior to calculating the fees portion?

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The item is not what is being taxed;

The transaction is what is being taxed. 

In other words you pay more to purchase the item due to that transaction (sales) tax.

[sakic92710]

Governments was to reach into your pockets & tear out the lining so all of the money falls out.  Tax after tax after tax on the same items over & over.  Unless you are rich.  Then there are loopholes or you donate to political campaigns.

[simba6]

It's not a tax on the item itself. The tax if for the act of selling it.   Way back when it all got started, it was a business tax. Since they did not want to pay it, it  was passed along to the consumer to pay.  It's the same with the 1/10 of a penny gasoline pricing as that was a federal tax on gasoline passed along.

That is why it's silly to tax businesses. It only gets passed on to you anyway.

[theteamsetguy]

The last time I checked the “rich” pay just as much sales tax on a bottle of Blanton’s that I did recently.

Sales taxes are consumption tax that are designed to affect the wealthy since they consume more than poor people.

[yuzuha]

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@theteamsetguy wrote:

Sales taxes are consumption tax that are designed to affect the wealthy since they consume more than poor people.

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Which is exactly why there are NO/much lower sales taxes on certain necessities.