When fees are charges

[oberrkerr]

I am listing 4 items and Ebay is attempting to charge their fees from my designated account and the items haven’t even sold yet. $477 in charges. This doesn’t seem right. Can someone explain why they are charging before the auction ends?

[heckofagame]

It appears you have a reserves on your listings. That is an upgrade and is charged at the time of listing whether or not the item sells.

[nobody*s_perfect]

As mentioned in the other post, adding a Reserve option to your auction-format listing is an optional upgrade that comes with a nonrefundable fee.  The fee is 7.5% of the reserve price.  Most sellers avoid this fee by just starting the bidding at the lowest price they'd be willing to sell for. This fee should have been shown to you at the bottom of the listing form, before you clicked the button to launch the listing.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section5

You MIGHT be able to persuade Customer Support to give you a credit for these fees if you end the listings, since none of them has reached the reserve yet in spite of getting multiple bids.

[redmodelt]

We can not see the information from your account to be able to say what the charges are for. Only see the current listings which are still running with reserve price. What does any messages or invoices say the charges are for? Are you seeing any messages not received through the eBay messaging system?

[jayjaspersgarage]

$477?  You must have meant $4.77 I hope.

Beyond that you have a feedback of (1) as a seller and you are listing expensive fragile electronics.

Why does reserve pricing even exist?  Reserve pricing is sort of pointless.  Start the biding at the lowest price you are willing to accept and get on with it.

I would pick a sweet price spot and list it fixed price with immediate payment required.

[soh.maryl]

Nah, I think he really did mean $477.  Take a look at his current, mostly high dollar, listings, all with Reserves.  The fee for a Reserve is 7.5% and is due whether or not the item sells.  

And you should have been shown the potential fees before you clicked for your listings to go live.  

[jayjaspersgarage]

"Nah, I think he really did mean $477.  Take a look at his current, mostly high dollar, listings, all with Reserves.  The fee for a Reserve is 7.5% and is due whether or not the item sells.  "

Way out of my wheelhouse but I might do some quick math.  If $477 is correct then reserve pricing is a terrible choice.

[d-k_treasures]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Nah, I think he really did mean $477.  Take a look at his current, mostly high dollar, listings, all with Reserves.  The fee for a Reserve is 7.5% and is due whether or not the item sells.  

And you should have been shown the potential fees before you clicked for your listings to go live.  

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Ouch! Plus the 4 ended on 12/29 without meeting the reserve.

When I was selling, I only used auctions, but these need to be BIN/IPR. These items are not auction fodder.

[itsjustasprain]

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@jayjaspersgarage wrote:

Why does reserve pricing even exist?

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Because years ago part of your listing fee was based on your opening price. The higher your opening price the higher the listing fee. Even opening at $24.99 was cheaper than opening at $25. So it could be cheaper to have a low opening plus a Reserve instead of opening at a higher price without a Reserve.

There is no more link between listing fees and opening price so you dont need a Reserve. Ebay doesnt like Reserves because it can make for a bad buyer experience so they have jacked up the price of the Reserve to discourage its use.  They will probably phase it out all together eventually.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Also, eBay's policy on refunding the Reserve fee has fluctuated.  Originally it wasn't charged if the reserve was met. Then there was a period when it was refunded if the reserve was NOT met. So being charged for the reserve fee was a gamble rather than a foregone conclusion.

[jayjaspersgarage]

Years ago doesn't apply here.

"There is no more link between listing fees and opening price so you dont need a Reserve. Ebay doesnt like Reserves because it can make for a bad buyer experience so they have jacked up the price of the Reserve to discourage its use.  They will probably phase it out all together eventually."

That was the point of my post.  You made my point.

[kensgiftshop]

@oberrkerr 

Sorry, but when you use a reserve, you have to pay the fee for using it, even if the item doesn't sell

[itsjustasprain]

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@jayjaspersgarage wrote:

Years ago doesn't apply here.

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I never said it did. You asked the question about why Reserves even existed so I answered it. You did not give any hint that you knew the answer in advance.

[7606dennis]

By placing a reserve on the items that you have listed you have incurred non-refundable fees which eBay bills according to their normal billing cycle.  Personally, I would advise not placing reserves on items and setting the starting price at the amount that you would have set the reserve at.  However, that is something for the future since you have already incurred the current fees which you will need to pay.

[maxine*j]

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@jayjaspersgarage wrote:

...  reserve pricing is a terrible choice.

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It is a terrible choice and it has been for a long, long time.  There is a big fat fee, charged whether or not the item sells. I really do believe that eBay introduced it originally to discourage reserves on auctions. 

I have no idea why anyone would use a reserve, instead of just setting the opening bid at the minimum amount acceptable for the item.  And the fee is certainly not hidden from the seller at the time of the listing, either, so it is a deliberate choice.

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