eBay

njfleamarket · ‎12-01-2021

Starting the week with a zero balance, I had one item sell in 7 days, it went for $15, plus $9 shipping. I printed the label, shipped the item, the label cost me $8.96. It sold through the global shipping program. After fees, I see ebay sent $2.25 to my bank account.

I've seen a few other sales that didn't add up right, but figured there was maybe some fee that didn't catch up from a past item, but this time it was clear, only one item sold, no balance positive or negative. The customer paid $24, after fees it showed $19, then minus the $9 shipping, it should have been $10.

Regardless of the odd payout, what they don't say in the fees listing is that since they take fees from both the shipping and tax total, the actual percentage in the end is more like 33%. (Buyer bid $15, I shipped for a few pennies less than it quoted, and balance should have been around $10 by my math, but it was somehow $2.25).

On average, the shipping is less than quoted, so shipping isn't the problem, the extra shipping charged should cover what they take. But when the total sales amount for an item minus the shipping actually charged and the final value fee is 2/3rds of what it sold for, that's not 15%. I can't see how if they charged 15% of the $24 the buyer paid, which would leave me $20.40, then minus the $8.96 shipping label, the balance should have been $11.44. On most items I've checked on individually, the total balance after fees that I collect has been closer to 67% or so of the sell price, a few were far less.

One item that comes to mind sold for $380, and I collected $270 after fees and shipping were paid. I didn't lose anything on shipping, so it had to all go to fees. It was the only item sold in a 14 day period and it showed no listing fees when I put the ad up.

The only thing I could figure was that eBay charged the final value fee off of what he paid for global shipping.
I think the buyer total was around $444. I charged only $11 shipping, which is what the calculator came up with for flat rate shipping to Global shipping center.

Do we lose money that way when an item sells globally?

I don't generally list anything under $50, but it was the last one and it hadn't sold so I dropped the price to move it. I'd have almost been better off if I just threw it away.

I see sellers listing low dollar items all the time, there's no way its worth the hassle to sell when you figure the time it takes to pack, print a label and ship each item.

After checking, every time the balance didn't add up, it was a Global sale. Are we paying fees on the added shipping they charge the buyer to ship overseas? Nothing else would explain the amount being charged.

njfleamarket · ‎12-01-2021

I double checked and there was no listing upgrades. I double check before hitting that button every time. I don't make enough here to afford to have any listing fees. I left eBay for years because the fees were eating up too much of the profits back when each relist cost more money. I've got things listed that run 20 weeks before they sell these days. Lowering the price doesn't help, it just takes the right person to find the ad. Making the print bold isn't going to help someone find an obscure 50 year old part to some bicycle.

wastingtime101 · ‎12-01-2021

So what did you find when you checked this page and clicked View under the Details column next to both the transaction in question and the payout in question, @njfleamarket?

GLORIOUS!

njfleamarket · ‎12-01-2021

I finally found the full transaction page,

>Sell Price $15.00

>Shipping $10.16

>Tax .39

Under 'View':

>Fee based on $25.55

>FVF/12.55% -3.21

>Int Fee /1.65% -.43

>FVF per fixed$ - .30

>Total fees $-3.94

> Ttl $21.61

Shpg label -8.65 (the label showed as being $8.65 at time of printing but the charge is $9.96)

> Total $11.65 (This is what shows under the details page accessed through the transaction page)

Before this item posted and paid my Payout total was $0.00. It posts, as $2.47 with a $9.18 fee attached to this transaction in payouts. Not as a separate item, its listed under this item at a later date.

Looking at it now, I also can't figure out why there was sales tax collected on a Global item?

Is Ebay now collecting foreign sales tax?

wastingtime101 · ‎12-02-2021

@njfleamarket wrote:
Before this item posted and paid my Payout total was $0.00. It posts, as $2.47 with a $9.18 fee attached to this transaction in payouts. Not as a separate item, its listed under this item at a later date.

The $9.18 charge should have a separate line item on this page so you can figure out what it's for @njfleamarket.

GLORIOUS!

singular-source · ‎12-02-2021

Haha it was inevitable...I can't deny I was one of those people that circumvented fees.

singular-source · ‎12-02-2021

It happened to me once. Man $4.00 for a bold. The listing I copied must have had it checked. Because, I would never ever pay $4.00 for a bold listing...Are you kidding me? $1.50 would be reasonable. People must be using it and its working in very isolated cases. Ebayer's sort their purchases. They don't blindly pick a bold item.

singular-source · ‎12-02-2021

eBayer's are the most intelligent, informed group of buyers on the planet. I want these people buying my items. Not rando Amazon people.

singular-source · ‎12-02-2021

$100 items are a different story. Most of what I sell is $20 to $30 dollars. You will get hit with 20% fees at that level. Promise. $25 plus $9 shipping. Calculate the fees based on $25 sale price. It's 20%. Sell to a far away area in US and that shipping turns into $13.

singular-source · ‎12-02-2021

18% percent. And, 20%. Do the math. Actual shipping cost and taxes will never be part of the sale for me. Makes zero sense to calculate shipping costs and tax into a "Sale"

njfleamarket · ‎12-02-2021

That's where I found the charge in the first place, on a line right below the original item as if it were an edit.
It wasn't there till the other day, even though the item had already paid and shipped.

wastingtime101 · ‎12-02-2021

@njfleamarket wrote:
That's where I found the charge in the first place, on a line right below the original item as if it were an edit.
It wasn't there till the other day, even though the item had already paid and shipped.

Just because it's chronologically below the item, that doesn't mean it's connected to that item. Did you click view details to see what it's for? Did you check your shipping cost adjustment page here? It could be a shipping adjustment from an older package.

GLORIOUS!

njfleamarket · ‎12-02-2021

The second FedEx charge on the bike rims shows a different tracking number on a different day, associated with the same item and same destination, but at a higher rate. The first label, which I printed and shipped with charged the next morning after I dropped off the package at $18, the charge I just got, almost a week after delivery shows a different tracking number charged at $27. I only printed and attached one FedEx label so far.

Both labels show delivered to the same address and identical tracking along the way, but at a different rate and different service.
The eBay generated label was for Fed Ex Home Delivery, the second tracking number is commercial with an added home delivery charge.

The second label matches the rate i was originally quoted when I listed the item, when I printed the label, the box turned out to be slightly smaller than I had originally quoted for but I entered exact specs when I printed the label. The shipping then showed at $18, which was $9 cheaper than the original quote, and thats what I was billed for after it shipped. A week later, I got the second bill for another $27.15.

It looks as if a new label was printed and affixed after I shipped it at a different rate somehow, the second label shows a lot more weight, 33lbs more than it actually weighed.

I called the FedEx drop center here and got told "That sometimes happens, Call FedEx", I called FedEx, they see it as two packages being shipped. Both labels do not show any scans till they got to a depo almost 100 miles away. One shows first in Philly, the other shows first just west of Philly, and after that they follow identical paths till delivery. Both numbers show the same scans, same times and same delivery.

This isn't a good first impression of using FedEx through eBay. They used to be aces all the way but now they closed up all local depos and they use only drop locations, like the supermarket, a bank, a new car dealer, and a couple of mailbox stores. None of those locations are manned by FedEx employees, none scan in packages, and none secure the packages from public access. The drop at the super market was a pile of misc packages next to the customer service counter, just piled up next to the exit door, one was just a sign in the vestibule of a bank, left open for customers to access an ATM, and the Mailbox store just had them piled up in an isle next to the front door. At least the Mailbox store wrote me a receipt for the time of drop off with the tracking number but the guy refused to sign it. The pile of FedEx packages was 9ft long, 6ft high along the wall and down one isle. They were out of site of the people behind the counter, so in either place, someone could just walk out the door with a box and never be noticed.

Anonymous · ‎03-07-2022

LOL yea.. Lets all increase our prices so that the prices are MORE than what they are at the store down the road... Im sure peopel will LOVE to pay full retail price or more on a 20 year old item with dust all over it... which is what I see allot of now..

Anonymous · ‎03-07-2022

Its a regular occurence now becuase the fact is NO the fee scales are not readily available. Im sure you will deny this however you just stated it yourself, people are complaining more , daily. Would you like to blame it on the people or would you like to maybe get hired on with ebays team of engineers and possible make the website easier to search and locate the fees!