The number one question about the new sales tax process

[dtexley3]

Why November????

I mean seriously, what site releases what appears to be a significant code change in the middle of the busiest time of the year?  eBay has had an exceedingly poor track record of late with site updates being released prematurely, so there's a potential that this could go south, quickly.

What's the rush?  Why can't this be released after Jan 1? Or at least on Dec 26th??? 

brian@ebay Please raise our concerns up the chain.  Maybe with Jordan Sweetnam, the new Senior Vice President and General Manager, Americas Market at eBay that just posted about how y'all know "how important sellers are to the site"??

[brian@ebay]

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@pink.fish.rule wrote:

Gosh, there's a shock.

So the "no impact to sellers" was a total lie?

Why couldn't ebay just be honest and up front for once? This has nothing to do with buyer complaints, but ebay seeing a way to get out of the processing fees for the ST amounts.

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Hi @pink.fish.rule, I'd definitely love to get this feedback over to the right teams, however I'm not seeing where we've stated there will be no impact to sellers. If you can let me know where you're seeing this then I'll be sure to get that feedback sent along. Thanks!

[pink.fish.rule]

You said - "Because of this, we do not consider it a major change that would cause disruptions to business on the site."

My interpretation of that was "little or no impact"

YMMV

[wastingtime101]

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brian@ebay wrote:

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@pink.fish.rule wrote:

Gosh, there's a shock.

So the "no impact to sellers" was a total lie?

Why couldn't ebay just be honest and up front for once? This has nothing to do with buyer complaints, but ebay seeing a way to get out of the processing fees for the ST amounts.

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Hi @pink.fish.rule, I'd definitely love to get this feedback over to the right teams, however I'm not seeing where we've stated there will be no impact to sellers. If you can let me know where you're seeing this then I'll be sure to get that feedback sent along. Thanks!

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brian@ebay 

"Please note the applicable tax will continue to be paid by the buyer and you do not need to take any action."

That line implies no impact to the seller. In reality it's a fee change and will require action on the seller's part with their accounting and their tax reporting that may not have been applicable with the way it was set up before - depending on the individual state laws. It also may require action on the seller's part to adjust their pricing structure to accommodate the added fees.

[dasarock]

very true words, wasting!

it definitely has an impact on sellers, most definitely a financial impact to sellers!  yet ebay in it's infinite "wisdom?" will not even go the 20-minute extra coding time to provide the information on the extra tax fees and total paid etc, making sellers spend even more time looking up and doing the math and info logging to consolidate the information for when tax time comes around.  

marketplace facilitator my ….; in this situation more like marketplace pass-the-buck and dodger...

I can partly understand sellers paying the fee on tax.  however I don't understand eBay's avoidance of reporting responsibilities and propensity to NEVER help sellers with their new processes and policies.  the ability to code in ALL the information required by sellers is there, as well as ebay already having the data available … it is just avoidance and keep sellers in the dark so we can make more money off of them!

[coffeebean832]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

Here's the big question. Do sellers in Managed Payments pay fees on the sales tax amount? If not then sellers using Paypal should not be charged fees on sales tax.

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While there is no fee on sales tax for Managed Payments sellers- they should still be aware that sales tax will be reflected on their 1099 forms.

"All 1099K forms will have the same standard layout of information which details the total gross sales amount as well as the tax amount withheld."

I agree that sellers using PayPal should not be charged fees on sales tax. It's unfortunate that's not how they're handling it.

[moraz]

As of today, buyers are remitting sales tax to the seller (on which you are charged PayPal fees), and then that amount is being deducted and sent to eBay (for which you receive no credit on the PayPal fees).  So yes, eBay has moved the payment processing fees resulting from their obligation to collect sales tax onto the seller.  **bleep**.

[dtexley3]

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@moraz wrote:

As of today, buyers are remitting sales tax to the seller (on which you are charged PayPal fees), and then that amount is being deducted and sent to eBay (for which you receive no credit on the PayPal fees).  So yes, eBay has moved the payment processing fees resulting from their obligation to collect sales tax onto the seller.  **bleep**.

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Actually the sales tax portion is being remitted to a 3rd party that manages the disbursements to the state agencies.  eBay has pretty much washed its hands of any responsibility for sales tax amounts to the greatest degree possible.

[corvettestainless]

I'm sure the "3rd Party" was hired and is paid by Ebay; they are not doing it for free, and so far, sellers/buyers are not paying for it. So, in essence, it is ebay. 

[garpike28]

THE FUN PART ABOUT ALL THIS IS THIS:

2 new policies went into effect this week for eBay and PayPal that will cost every seller more $:

1) PayPal no longer refunds fees if you do a refund for ANY reason

2) eBay now has sellers collecting sales tax through his/her PayPal account so the seller is charged processing fees

SO.....

A customer buys $1000 item and pays right away.

I only get $870 at best.

Customer changes mind wants refund so I have to give back $1000.

I'm now about $130 worse off.

And all this could happen in a matter of minutes.

Why??

[garpike28]

oops... I meant I would lose $30 dollars on the transaction.

[mrs_pumphrey]

Yes, if you have a prepaid debit card on a pay-per-transaction plan, you were charged the transaction fee twice per purchase. This added $2 per purchase for fees on the plan I used to have.

[mrs_pumphrey]

Paypal is charging a process fee to sellers for sales tax they do not receive.

[myboardid]

It is normal for a merchant - any kind, a retail store, a flea market vendor, a taxi business in a state that taxes services, a hairdresser, any other business that accepts credit cards - to pay the processing fees on the sales tax.