So many sellers are questioning the FVF on sales tax & shipping...let's play this little game....

[ryry-jj]

Lets say eBay gave each of us sellers an opt out of paying the FVF on the sales tax and shipping cost portion of our sales.  We can select to no longer pay the 13% or so fees on those parts of the transaction. 

But....in lieu of doing so...the seller must then collect their own sales tax, forward it each month to each states franchise tax board, and then every quarter file quarterlies in each states, so each jurisdiction gets their proper portion of the tax revenue owed to them by law.    Do you: A) opt out, or B) let eBay do it for the 13% fee on taxes?

With shipping, after you opt out, you get to negotiate with each courier  to get the discounted rates, then subscribe with Pitney Bowes, or some other platform, to print  shipping labels, add tracking numbers or integrate you own shipping system into ebay's platform.   And if you ship internationally, do all your own customs paper work.   Do you: A)  opt out, or B)  let eBay do it for the 13% fee on shipping.

For me, it's easy  B & B.

For others, who knows, you may actually enjoy doing all that other stuff

[buyselljack2016]

Well, the law does not allow eBay too not collect/remit.

Internet sales tax collection/remittance laws were written to not harm small sellers. Sellers such as myself would not be required to collect/remit (with possible exceptions) sales tax to states other than their own.

And to the those that will jump in and  say "the laws would be rewritten", I say revert back to the fact that "the laws were written to not harm small sellers". I don't see those laws being rewritten.

I'm also fine with it just the way it is. My listings are set up to cover fees, and send some $$ my way.

[tsme35]

There will still be daily tax complaints for sure, been explain in hundreds of threads. Tax fee I get and happy except don't think it should be 13%, maybe half. I'm not happy about the fee ebay charges on shipping, I was here a few years before they added it and know why. Ebay could figure a way to set up shipping and not charge a fee, but would almost have to do a with set shipping charge,  ebay deciding what it really costs sellers to ship.

 And honestly ebay gets fee increases(4 this year) from USPS, they don't have to increase fees. Last one I can remember was when they did the store changes a couple years ago, which for me went up like .3% and I got 9000 more free listings.

 SO either way we'd be paying that fee, either shipping or ebay yearly increases.

[inhawaii]

For the complainers...

I like my plan better. My plan has zero options.

If you don't like the way it is ... don't sell here.

[stephenmorgan]

On my own as a seller, I would never meet the minimum sales requirements to be required to withhold or remit Sales Taxes to a state I do not live in.  I have only made one sale in my state in 20 years.  I can easily fill out the document to report and pay the taxes owed.  

Shipping discounts offered by other sellers of shipping services equal or exceed the discounts offered by eBay.  These sellers of shipping services make money on their shipping without adding an additional 13% fee to the cost.

Anyway the fees are what they are and are not likely to change.

[youn2240]

I just do free shipping so I can avoid all those shipping fees. 

[ryry-jj]

As long as you sell on a market place facilitator, small seller or not, you would have nexus in all states.   Your platform and sales would have to be all on your own to not meet nexus status in most states...that is a whole other cost structure

[gator08041971]

What I don't understand about people not getting this part through.....

The 13.25% (or whatever the fee is for a particular category or seller) is a blanket fee for the entire sale.

The tax portion is collected by eBay and then sent by eBay to the appropriate state/country, etc.  While yes, they collect the above % of that tax amount, that doesn't change the amount that goes to the designated place.

The fee they charge is to cover all the expense they incur providing the service, which isn't limited to the following:

• Reduced shipping rates with in-board tools
• Lots of selling tools and features
• Tax fees handled automatically
• Currency conversion handled automatically (yes there is a separate fee for this, but the handling of it is provided)
• Various payment methods accepted and processed
• Bank transfers
• 30 day (and similar) buyer protection costs
• Server farms
• Internet bandwidth
• Office buildings
• Employees
• Multiple locations in several countries
• And countless other things
• AND they have to be profitable

With all that, why is it so hard to understand why the fees are what they are?

[ebooksdiva]

You go right ahead with your "little game" come back in 6 months and let us know how that's going for you. 

[adamcartwright]

@youn2240 

Isn't your price increased to cover shipping?

[isaiah53-57]

Huh....

Did you know that due to state thresholds, a huge portion of the people selling here wouldn't need to collect any state sales tax at all for the vast majority of states?

Did you know a resellers license would exempt you from paying sales tax in many states?

Did you know you can get automated online sales tax software from as little as $10 a month?

But thank God ebay collects it for you out of the kindness of their heart right? - Kindness and 10% to 15% of the tax they collect, plus kickbacks from the states they collect it for...

Here's the skinny... Whether small or large, businesses here could/would keep more money in their coffers with little effort tending their own tax collections -

What does it matter anyway? Its not going to happen...

[isaiah53-57]

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@youn2240 wrote:

I just do free shipping so I can avoid all those shipping fees. 

---

Thats funny...

[mam98031]

@ryry-jj 

FVFs on shipping started in 2011.  One would think by now sellers would be use to it.  It is also normal in the industry too as other similar sites charge it as well.

Ebay started charging fees on Sales tax when they became our money processor in 2020/2021.  Before that they did NOT charge us Any fees on sales tax.  But PayPal because they were our Money processor did.

In regards to your comments about sellers taking over paying sales tax to the respective states.  We can't do that.  Ebay is mandated by LAW to collect and remit sales tax.  So you would need to have each state with a Marketplace Facilitator Law in place to change them, which is highly unlikely because it would be fiscally irresponsible for them to do that for a host of reasons.

As to negotiating with carriers, why would carriers negotiate with millions of sellers instead of the Marketplace.  And why would the carriers even consider giving us any discount at all, it would not be cost effective for them at all.  Humm negotiate rates with one company or 6 million of them????

I like your conclusion.  You clearly understand.

[chapeau-noir]

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@youn2240 wrote:

I just do free shipping so I can avoid all those shipping fees. 

---

If you're bundling the shipping in with the item price rather than paying it out of your own pocket, you're still paying the fee.

[soh.maryl]

There are several scenarios here: You offer free shipping because you roll the shipping fee into the item price.

I, on the other hand, charge separately for shipping.

You sell a widget for $30 with free shipping.  I sell a widget for $25 plus $5 shipping.  Guess what? We both pay exactly the same fee on those transactions.  (Disregarding state sales tax of course.)

And if, for some reason, you are offering FS, but not rolling the shipping price into the item cost, you are ripping yourself off.