eBay

but_it_on_sale_hun · ‎06-11-2024

I just recently realized how much EBAY is screaming the sellers. When I began to look at the final value fee charged. I realized that if my item sells for 25.00 and the buyer pays 10.00 for shipping and then pays 5.00 for taxes. EBAY charges the 13% Final Value fee on $40.00 not the actual 25.00 which was the selling price. So that’s a huge difference. Then we pay eBay for shipping costs which they offer a discounted rate. (Insider info eBay gets an exceptionally good deal from all shipping partners and they only pass on a portion of that deal) more money for eBay. Then they also take the tax money back. So they are charging us a fee for taxes and shipping yet keeping that money. It would be to charge the final value fee to me if I received the taxes and shipping charges the customer paid but I don’t! eBay keeps it. To further profit. This is unethical and should be illegal business practices. Anyone else **bleep** off about this?

kensgiftshop · ‎06-11-2024

Yes, their fee's are based on the total amount and it's been that way since you signed up.

Yes, they take the sales tax, but they don't keep it, they send it to the state they collected it for.

Have a great day.

onefootflippers · ‎06-11-2024

Yes, feel free to go sell on one of the other sites who do it differently.

Oh, wait, there aren't any.

5594shelleys · ‎06-11-2024

So not helpful.

dbfolks166mt · ‎06-11-2024

I am always amazed at the number of postings I see like this. First eBay is hiding nothing the fees they charge are fully disclosed. EBay is a business and they exist to make a profit and satisfy the expectations of their shareholders, nothing more.

But more importantly I have never worried about what eBay makes, what the post office charges for shipping or what the government takes out for federal and state income taxes I simply manage it and incorporate those costs into a cost model to assess whether I can list an item on eBay and meet my own profit/ROI expectations and be competitive in the marketplace. If I cannot then I sell the item elsewhere.

As for the shipping costs unless you are passing the discounted rates on to your buyers the difference between what the buyer pays you for the shipping and what you actually pay for the label generally covers the fees on the shipping as well as the materials required to pack it. You choose to purchase you labels through eBay. I have not done so in a long time. I use Pirate Ship which has about the same, sometimes better, discounted shipping rates as eBay. I pay for those labels with a cash back credit card which adds up during the year. You actually DO receive the shipping charges the customer pays, eBay does NOT keep it you use those funds to purchase the label so ultimately the carrier gets the money and you keep the difference.

It has been standard practice for a LONG time for businesses to apply fees to the entire amount of the purchase. CC companies have done this for ages. Granted the CC merchant fees are only 2-3% but it is still applied to the sales tax. FYI if the buyer paid for their item with a CC and there was sales tax on the item then eBay is paying the merchant fee on the sales tax.

When I do my taxes every year the eBay fees are often one of my cheaper expenses. The COGS and Federal and State income taxes are at the top of that list.

kenneth686321 · ‎06-11-2024

@but_it_on_sale_hun wrote:
I just recently realized how much EBAY is screaming the sellers. When I began to look at the final value fee charged. I realized that if my item sells for 25.00 and the buyer pays 10.00 for shipping and then pays 5.00 for taxes. EBAY charges the 13% Final Value fee on $40.00 not the actual 25.00 which was the selling price. So that’s a huge difference. Then we pay eBay for shipping costs which they offer a discounted rate. (Insider info eBay gets an exceptionally good deal from all shipping partners and they only pass on a portion of that deal) more money for eBay. Then they also take the tax money back. So they are charging us a fee for taxes and shipping yet keeping that money. It would be to charge the final value fee to me if I received the taxes and shipping charges the customer paid but I don’t! eBay keeps it. To further profit. This is unethical and should be illegal business practices. Anyone else **bleep** off about this?

Why would I be upset at this? Unlike you, I have clearly read and understood Ebay's terms and conditions which clearly state that FVF fees are calculated on price + shipping + tax. I have also compared the fees, learned to estimate profit margins, buyer demand, time it takes to sell the item on other platforms such as poshmark, mercari, FB marketplace, consignment dealers , pawnshops and other venues and come to the conclusion that I get the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time by selling on Ebay. When that changes, i'm leaving.

If you wanted $25 in your pocket after fees, you should have listed for $30-$32 + $10 shipping + tax. If you didn't want Ebay to profit off of the shipping discount they give you, you can buy your shipping labels from other discount places like pirateship and shippo, who will also profit off of the discount they offer.

onefootflippers · ‎06-11-2024

@5594shelleys wrote:
So not helpful.

Sure it is, I am pointing out that it is the industry norm. The only alternatives are trying to sell them outside of traditional venues, which is very labor intensive and will rarely get you half ebay price.

monroe67 · ‎06-11-2024

"I just recently realized how much EBAY is screaming the sellers. When I began to look at the final value fee charged."

You're quite new, with only eight feedback on that selling ID. Assume you probably have sold more than that, though. There is both a learning curve and an acceptance curve for new eBay sellers. Accept the terms and conditions for selling on eBay or don't. The complaints and rants of one (new) seller won't change eBay's procedures.

"I realized that if my item sells for 25.00 and the buyer pays 10.00 for shipping and then pays 5.00 for taxes. EBAY charges the 13% Final Value fee on $40.00 not the actual 25.00 which was the selling price."

Basically true. Except that the final value fee (FVF) on most categories is 13.25%. Might be more or less; the FVF on jewelry is 15% but on guitars it's "only" 6.35%. That percentage is applied -- of which you've just gained full recognition -- to the full amount paid by your buyer. The buyer pays the price of the Item plus often some postage or other shipping cost plus usually some sales tax. By the way, eBay also charges a small per-order fee of 30 cents when the total amount of the sale is $10.00 or less. That per-order fee goes up to 40 cents when the total amount is $10.01 and more.

"So that’s a huge difference. Then we pay eBay for shipping costs which they offer a discounted rate. (Insider info eBay gets an exceptionally good deal from all shipping partners and they only pass on a portion of that deal) more money for eBay. Then they also take the tax money back."

A slight clarification on that last sentence: eBay is required by law to calculate and collect sales taxes AND is eBay is also required by law to send that tax money on to the treasury of the appropriate states.

"So they are charging us a fee for taxes and shipping yet keeping that money. It would be to charge the final value fee to me if I received the taxes and shipping charges the customer paid but I don’t! eBay keeps it. To further profit. This is unethical and should be illegal business practices."

A couple quick questions for you: Are you selling on eBay to give all your earnings to charity?
Just to keep yourself busy, and then you put your earnings into your religious organization's collection plate?

Or could you possibly be trying to sell on eBay in order to make a -- dare I use the word -- profit for yourself?

How is it unethical or illegal, in the United States' capitalist economy, to make a profit?

"Anyone else **bleep** off about this?"
Lots of people are **bleep** about a lot of things. eBay's policies and procedures are not something I get ruffled about.

toysaver · ‎06-11-2024

EBay is a bargain. Before the internet you'd have to consign items and do a 50/50 split or worse. It's 90% cheaper than paying rent in a B&M store, not to mention utilities and employee wages. You can estimate most fees going into the transaction. There's nothing under the board or deceptive going on.

If the fees seem too high, I recommend using a pricing strategy where the buyer pays all the fees.

onefootflippers · ‎06-11-2024

@toysaver wrote:
EBay is a bargain. Before the internet you'd have to consign items and do a 50/50 split or worse. It's 90% cheaper than paying rent in a B&M store, not to mention utilities and employee wages. You can estimate most fees going into the transaction. There's nothing under the board or deceptive going on.

If the fees seem too high, I recommend using a pricing strategy where the buyer pays all the fees.

I often have enough money left over from not sharing the shipping discount to pay the entire ebay fee.

house*of*paws · ‎06-11-2024

Hi @but_it_on_sale_hun

Would it make you feel better to learn you were totally accurate in your condemnation of eBay's practices ... or to learn that many of your assertions are incorrect?

The money you pay to purchase a shipping label goes to the shipping company for postage. Sellers pay less buying their labels online ... not just from eBay ... than at the post office.
The money the buyer pays in tax goes to the state the buyer had the item shipped to.
The money the seller pays eBay in Final Value fees is used to pay the payment processor AND to stay in business. [I understand it is one of the lowest fees in the business ... if not the lowest.]
eBay's business practices that you find unethical ... and possibly illegal ... turn out to be typical when you check them out.

Paraphrasing someone you know: Dang! You sure blew your load of Negativity! 😉