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.
