Selling

[goodspublicauctions]

Is it right to charge fees on shipping.

I am being charged !!!15%!!!(14.5%)  for EVERY SINGLE SALE. I do auctions so, sometimes my auctions don't do so good and people get a deal at $5-$9 dollars. I charge shipping and I ship through ebay so ebay knows exactly how much is paid for shipping. So when the total comes out to let's say $7 + $8.45 shipping= $15.45 + buyer pays for the taxes. Let's say 2 dollars ebay CHARGES YOU THE 15% FEES AT $17.45 EVEN THOUGH, ebay immediately takes the taxes back from your sale to their pockets. So at the end of the sale you are left with $3-$4 and the buyer outta pocket paid $17.50.

Another sale of mine and buyer paid $58.25 total and at the end of fees and shipping i got $34. That's nearly 50% 

Is this right? Is this right for both buyer and seller. I'm asking the lawyers and lawmakers. Especially the part where ebay CHARGES sellers fees with taxes even tho they immediately takes those back.

Is this right?

Something is off

Fees are too **bleep** high and secretly exploitative.

Shipping is to **bleep** high and only seems to get higher and higher. 

Taxes are getting higher. 

I'm not sure if there are people with answers but we need change.

Make eBay Great Again.

Make USPS Great Again. And 

Make America Sell Again

[fbusoni]

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@isaiah53-57 wrote:

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@fbusoni wrote:

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@isaiah53-57 wrote:

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@goodspublicauctions wrote:

Yes its there in disclaimer, because they need to have it by law, but there is no doubt in my mind they make it as hard to find as they can for the new and casual sellers - My guess is 90% of the people telling you you should know this, would have or did fall into the same trap in thought or perception that you and other new/casual sellers did before finally questioning the fees...

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A "thought or perception trap"?

😂

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Yes - ONE of the main concepts in advertising - Of course I would have to school you on something as simple as that -

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Nah... sounds more like a symptom that might lead one to continue to participate on the eBay seller forums when he / she no longer sells on eBay.    🤡

[inhawaii]

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@mustang707 wrote:

Ebay has to make a certain amount of money for their stockholders. So they can charge 13.25% on the total sale (sale price+sales tax+shipping) OR they could charge 16-17% (assumption by me) on just the item price. Pick your poison. 

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Very well said!

13.25% on the entire sale = Seller unhappy

17% on just the item price = Seller happy

Makes no sense.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

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@worldcoinauctions wrote:

This is a great example, and for those thinking it's a terrible percentage. I used to have a small grocery selling mostly organic foods. I would have loved to do 28% margins, they were more like 8% not counting spoilage!

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Comparing margins of a grocery store to ebay is comparing apples to oranges. 

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Many Ebay sellers are competing with Mass Market Retailers who regularly operate on 8% margins.

Grocery store margins are not were they were in the days of when supermarkets were new. Gross margins are much higher. Their net profit looks like the old days because the big supermarkets are laden with debt thanks to the many transactions going from public ownership to private equity and back to public ownership.

Those of us who sell items which are used or from other secondary market sources have much higher margins, but anyone who actually has margins which are decent for new items are probably getting hit by the Temu/Shain effect.

And those members of the seller community who are selling liquidations stocks and other b goods are both a strength and a weakness.

[dbfolks166mt]

This is a great example, and for those thinking it's a terrible percentage. I used to have a small grocery selling mostly organic foods. I would have loved to do 28% margins, they were more like 8% not counting spoilage!

     I really don't think the eBay fees are all that bad but I don't use promote listings. What really gets me is the 30-45% the Federal and State governments take in income taxes and that comes straight out of the bottom line net income. 

[gone.c-33]

And there are NO links to click on to find out what’s included in the total amount, it’s RIGHT THERE lol

 

[inhawaii]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

     I really don't think the eBay fees are all that bad but I don't use promote listings. 

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What? 

So how do you sell anything?

I heard ebay hides you listings and will not let you have any sales if you don't promote.

[dbfolks166mt]

@mustang707 wrote:

Ebay has to make a certain amount of money for their stockholders. So they can charge 13.25% on the total sale (sale price+sales tax+shipping) OR they could charge 16-17% (assumption by me) on just the item price. Pick your poison. 

Very well said!

13.25% on the entire sale = Seller unhappy

17% on just the item price = Seller happy

May want to check some math on that one. Lets say you sell an item for $200, take the sales tax and shipping out of the equation. So

17% FVF on just the price of the item

FVF = ($200 * .17) + $.40 = $34.40 in FVF's

Same $200 item with 8% sale tax and $10 shipping and 13.25% FVF

FVF = (($200 * .08) + ($200 + $10 + $.40) * .1325) = $29.99 in FVF's. 

That works out well. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

@mustang707 wrote:

Ebay has to make a certain amount of money for their stockholders. So they can charge 13.25% on the total sale (sale price+sales tax+shipping) OR they could charge 16-17% (assumption by me) on just the item price. Pick your poison. 

Very well said!

13.25% on the entire sale = Seller unhappy

17% on just the item price = Seller happy

May want to check some math on that one. Lets say you sell an item for $200, take the sales tax and shipping out of the equation. So

17% FVF on just the price of the item

FVF = ($200 * .17) + $.40 = $34.40 in FVF's

Same $200 item with 8% sale tax and $10 shipping and 13.25% FVF

FVF = (($200 * .08) + ($200 + $10 + $.40) * .1325) = $29.99 in FVF's. 

That works out well. 

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These posters who complain about ebay charging fees on the item+tax+shipping might want to stop making so much noise. Ebay might listen and add more $$ to themselves! 

[ittybitnot]

 ..the discount eBay gives you on buying the label from them will offset the fees you pay on the shipping end of the transaction.

@mr_lincoln 

That of course is IF you, as a seller, opt out of being auto-enrolled in eBay's program to pass along your shipping discount to the buyer.  eBay at least made an announcement about this.  First, they sort of asked for "volunteers" to charge buyers the same discounted shipping, then they decided to auto-enroll all sellers. 

[janet9988]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

@mustang707 wrote:

Ebay has to make a certain amount of money for their stockholders. So they can charge 13.25% on the total sale (sale price+sales tax+shipping) OR they could charge 16-17% (assumption by me) on just the item price. Pick your poison. 

Very well said!

13.25% on the entire sale = Seller unhappy

17% on just the item price = Seller happy

May want to check some math on that one. Lets say you sell an item for $200, take the sales tax and shipping out of the equation. So

17% FVF on just the price of the item

FVF = ($200 * .17) + $.40 = $34.40 in FVF's

Same $200 item with 8% sale tax and $10 shipping and 13.25% FVF

FVF = (($200 * .08) + ($200 + $10 + $.40) * .1325) = $29.99 in FVF's. 

That works out well. 

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OR  17% on item price

1.00 item price  and 199.00 shipping.

.17 +.35 + .08 = .60

That's the best

[inhawaii]

I think the point @mustang707 was trying to make is ... no matter how you slice the pie, ebay is going to take the cut that they want. Why be concerned if they take a 1/4 slice or 2 1/8 slices?

[dbfolks166mt]

@dbfolks166mt wrote:

     I really don't think the eBay fees are all that bad but I don't use promote listings. 

What? 

So how do you sell anything? Another one of life's great mysteries. 

I heard ebay hides you listings and will not let you have any sales if you don't promote. I have heard that rumor also. 

[dbfolks166mt]

@dbfolks166mt wrote:

@mustang707 wrote:

Ebay has to make a certain amount of money for their stockholders. So they can charge 13.25% on the total sale (sale price+sales tax+shipping) OR they could charge 16-17% (assumption by me) on just the item price. Pick your poison. 

Very well said!

13.25% on the entire sale = Seller unhappy

17% on just the item price = Seller happy

May want to check some math on that one. Lets say you sell an item for $200, take the sales tax and shipping out of the equation. So

17% FVF on just the price of the item

FVF = ($200 * .17) + $.40 = $34.40 in FVF's

Same $200 item with 8% sale tax and $10 shipping and 13.25% FVF

FVF = (($200 * .08) + ($200 + $10 + $.40) * .1325) = $29.99 in FVF's. 

That works out well. 

OR  17% on item price

1.00 item price  and 199.00 shipping.

.17 +.35 + .08 = .60

That's the best

     And that is EXACTLY why eBay charges the FVF on shipping. 

[johnrj1226]

Where do you plug in the  acquisition cost of the item sold, packing materials, label printing costs, etc to get to the  gross profit percentage before income  taxes.

As  a quick and dirty rule of thumb when I was buying any thing to sale on eBay I had to at least sell the items for at least 5 to 6  times of my acquisition cost to achieve my gross profit target.  Would sell it for more if my market place survey said I could.  Shipping & handling were additional charges - never  did "free shipping" always shipped by USPS priority services or First class package (less than 1  lb items) both at a fixed rate.   Shipped only to the 50 states, plus US Protectorates and APO/FPO locations.  Set my target total selling prices at the mid point of  the sold selling range of what the  same or similar items sold for  on eBay (including  s/h).  A bottom feeder  seller I never was.  Shipped from  50 miles east of Atlanta, GA close to I-20.  Shipped 1665 packages (primarily used/preowned items - high end clothing & footwear and more) and achieved an average of 46% GP before taxes = average item & S/H sell price ~$50 over my eBay selling history.  Stopped  selling on eBay  3 years+ ago to spend more time with our Grandson = priceless time - taught him  to roll dice, play pool (his way), shake his booty to Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, took him fishing at 3 y.o. like I did with his Daddy, earn $ (working for me) and save money, walk and discover things in our woods with a dry bed creek running through it - he's 6 now.

[dbfolks166mt]

Where do you plug in the  acquisition cost of the item sold, packing materials, label printing costs, etc to get to the  gross profit percentage before income  taxes.

As  a quick and dirty rule of thumb when I was buying any thing to sale on eBay I had to at least sell the items for at least 5 to 6  times of my acquisition cost to achieve my gross profit target.  Would sell it for more if my market place survey said I could.  Shipping & handling were additional charges - never  did "free shipping" always shipped by USPS priority services or First class package (less than 1  lb items) both at a fixed rate.   Shipped only to the 50 states, plus US Protectorates and APO/FPO locations.  Set my target total selling prices at the mid point of  the sold selling range of what the  same or similar items sold for  on eBay (including  s/h).  A bottom feeder  seller I never was.  Shipped from  50 miles east of Atlanta, GA close to I-20.  Shipped 1665 packages (primarily used/preowned items - high end clothing & footwear and more) and achieved an average of 46% GP before taxes = average item & S/H sell price ~$50 over my eBay selling history.  Stopped  selling on eBay  3 years+ ago to spend more time with our Grandson = priceless time - taught him  to roll dice, play pool (his way), shake his booty to Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, took him fishing at 3 y.o. like I did with his Daddy, earn $ (working for me) and save money, walk and discover things in our woods with a dry bed creek running through it - he's 6 now.

     I actually have a much larger pricing/cost model that I use for my own individual listings before I post an item that factors in all costs including the income taxes. I have posted it once or twice but way too many people seemed to have trouble grasping the completeness of selling costs so I now just use the condensed version to show the eBay selling costs. Expanded model is below. I adjust the RED numbers bor the individual items to get the approximate ROI I am looking to achieve. 

     Like you I am not a big time seller and enjoy other things in life including the precious family moments