Taking fees 12.9% with including sale TAX and shipping cost it is not fair

[nakhtarsyed]

Hello ;

I sold out one item on Ebay when payment is received I got shocked  to receive less  payment from Ebay . The selling fees 12.9 % has deducted  selling from total amount  including tax and shipping cost not from actual selling price of item . The Tax paid amount is not mine it is property of  IRS has to submit  by Ebay  and shipping cost amount also  not mine  has to pay to  courier service company . Due to unfair deduction of Ebay I paid  selling fees 14% to Ebay not 12.9 %  to . Please Ebay management deduct your selling fees from the actual selling price of item not from total amount 

[nakhtarsyed]

Dear Sale tax is not property of seller and also shipping cost  what is reason to take fees 12.9% on that amount by Ebay. It means EBay is taking  not 12.9 %   might be 14% if included amount of sale tax and shipping cost.

[coolections]

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@nakhtarsyed wrote:

Dear Sale tax is not property of seller and also shipping cost  what is reason to take fees 12.9% on that amount by Ebay. It means EBay is taking  not 12.9 %   might be 14% if included amount of sale tax and shipping cost.

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You already said that on your opening post. I am sure most everyone who came here already read it so no need to repeat it.

[plenbart_0]

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@nakhtarsyed wrote:

sales Tax is not coming  in selling pocket as well shipping cost these amounts are not selling so why seller pay fees on these amount.

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Because I can sell item for $1... +$200 shipping.

[plenbart_0]

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@raiderman6u wrote:

Ive been a member since the beginning, and I am not a new seller. Its been a while since Ive sold something, but was shocked also. I am done with Ebay now, as many others will likely leave as well. That is a ridiculous amount to be charged. Facebook is cheaper, and getting bigger, so I see the demise of this coming soon anyway.

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And soon one day the IRS will POWAWOPPA down on old boy Mark too.

[dbfolks166mt]

     You have been on eBay since 2012 but it appears mostly as a buyer. Prior to deciding to sell on eBay you should have read the published eBay fees prior to listing your item and built those fees into your cost model. There should be no "shock" when it comes to the payout. You still paid 12.9% in FVF's it was just applied to the whole transaction. Had it just been applied to the $130 item you sold the FVF's would have been $16.77. Not sure what the total transaction was but if you apply a 12/9% FVF to that total you should find the difference is only in the $2-3 range. 

     As for the shipping as to how much is profit and how much is expense often differs. The priority mail calculated shipping is often overstated to the buyer. Had I bought the item eBay shows a $15.40 shipping cost from Houston to Virginia. I can ship a 16 pound package from Virginia to Houston using any number of USPS methods for around $10-$11. So you are making enough off the shipping overcharge to more than cover the additional FVF's on the total transaction. 

[frugality_inc]

You'll love eBay even more when they begin charging the promoted listing fee (if you have PLs enabled) on the sales tax portion too. That starts on June 1st. Anyone wanna justify how that's the cost of eBay collecting sales tax?

Many will tell you that eBay charging the full FVF just the cost of collecting sales tax. Meanwhile eBay easily profits in the 9 figure amount each year on collecting sales tax. You're welcome to do the 10 minute math based on eBay's 10-K filings. Do you truly think eBay's cost basis for collecting the sales tax a buyer pays is 10%+?

You know who loses in all of this the most? The customer. eBay continues to get away from focusing on the customer experience. Businesses that know their numbers have to account for the fees eBay charges on collecting the sales tax portion. I'm definitely not paying for it, the customer is. Am I happy with that? No, I like to save people money.

I would be happy to pay a reasonable payment processing fee on the sales tax amount like a traditional business does, but a 10%+? Of course there is some other costs such as reporting, accounting, etc. With my business size, I'd pay $1,800 a year for software that's automated, not to mention much of that cost would be reimbursed through state rebates. I would save roughly $12,000 a year versus what eBay charges. This would be for very little work.

We all know eBay's overhead for collecting the sales tax is no higher than 5%. You all are being fleeced and many defend it. This is how eBay gets away with it.

[inhawaii]

You mean ebay charges a percentage of the TAX too?  That's ridiculous!  Thanks for  bringing that to our attention.

[dbfolks166mt]

I would be happy to pay a reasonable payment processing fee on the sales tax amount like a traditional business does, but a 10%+? Of course there is some other costs such as reporting, accounting, etc. With my business size, I'd pay $1,800 a year for software that's automated, not to mention much of that cost would be reimbursed through state rebates. I would save roughly $12,000 a year versus what eBay charges. This would be for very little work.

Care to share the name of the software product that you can use or have used? I can also see some complexity if the seller was collecting and remitting the sales tax. The first being what % are going to put into the posting for sales tax when you have no idea what state, county and or municipality the eventual buyer may be located in?

     If you just use an average for all listings what do you think the reaction is going to be from buyers in states that don't have sales tax? If you bake it into the overall price you gain nothing since you will still be paying FVF's on that as well.

     Even if the buyer was collecting the sales tax the eBay fees indicate the FVF is calculated on the total transaction including the sales tax but it does not differentiate between who is collecting the sales tax so eBay is probably still going to charge you the FVF on the tax but be free from the burden of having to collect and remit it. Good deal for eBay. 

We all know eBay's overhead for collecting the sales tax is no higher than 5%. You all are being fleeced and many defend it. This is how eBay gets away with it.

Curious how you know the percentage care to share the source?

[lepke1979]

.

[jooki22]

Yep, that tax is included in the total that that 12.9% is applied to! And then they still take the full tax out. I have complained to them more than once about this.

[nakhtarsyed]

Really it is fair  because  Ebay is taking more than 14% not 12.0 % . Where you did the complaint ? If Ebay is in USA I can complaint in IRS ,FCC  or BBA

[rugerskick]

If they did it this way, more honest and transparently, they couldn't try to then spin this as being a better deal for the sellers because the percentages wouldn't support their take on it.

[mandisattictoyz]

Can you please forward this to all the credit card companies than too?  I don’t want them to charge their fees on the whole transaction either, just the subtotal please!  You paid 12.9% on the entire transaction, exactly the way it’s supposed to work.  I suggest going on vacation mode and reading business 101

[johnrj1226]

@nakhtarsyed

You have been a member  since 2012 mainly as a buyer and it seems only recently as a seller.  Either way eBay does  post ANNOUNCEMENT on significant changes in the  Seller Overview Page.  These  charges  most recently went to 12.9% +30 cents used to be 12.55% +30 cents for well over  a year.  It pays to stay informed.  eBay fees  have been applied to the  separate shipping charge since Nov. 2011 and in reality when a seller offered "free shipping" and embedded their  shipping cost into the items price sellers were paying a  FVF on shipping before that.

[johnrj1226]

FYI when PayPal was  eBays Money  Processor -  they  collected their fees on the ENTIRE amount the buyer paid  - item price, shipping and state sales tax.  So today yo only  have one total fee per transaction vs two when  sellers  had both  an eBay FVF and PayPal charge - an they were  taken out at different time - now it is pay as you sell.