Why do Final Value Fees include Sales tax?!?!?

[mlsiler]

I find it incredibly unfair and would go so far as to doubt it is even legal to collect additional fees for FVF on the sales tax that is charged to the BUYER and yet we get hit with approximately 13.25% fees for the taxes. WWTAF?!?!! And yes you may say it's just a few bucks but it adds up and I am betting eBay makes tens of millions of dollars in these fees every year, year after year. We as the consumer of their product feel at the mercy of fleabay and shrug off the extra $3, $5 or $10 but should we? and do we have to? Or can we gather and start a class action suit?

[dbfolks166mt]

I’m so sick of people claiming how greedy corporate America is. People have to realize publicly traded companies are required to maximize value for the shareholders. 

Totally agree and while they are not required to maximize value for the shareholders that is their one and only purpose and those that fail to do so don't last long. 

Instead of complaining about corporate America start putting money in the market. If one invest $100.00 per month in a S&P index fund for 40 years you would have over a million dollars. If you work for a company that matches 50 cents on the dollar you would have over 1.5 million.

Pretty close calculation based on the historical ROI for the S&P the question is what are things going to cost in 40 years? 😀

[topboshig0]

Final Value Fees including sales tax may seem confusing or frustrating. However, it's important to understand the reasoning behind this practice. The inclusion of sales tax in Final Value Fees is typically due to the platform's policy or legal requirements.

Sales tax is a government-mandated fee imposed on certain transactions. In some jurisdictions, online marketplaces or platforms are responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax on behalf of their sellers. To comply with these tax regulations, platforms often calculate their Final Value Fees based on the total amount of the transaction, which includes the sales tax component.

By including sales tax in the Final Value Fees, the platform ensures that the appropriate taxes are collected and remitted to the relevant tax authorities. This helps sellers meet their tax obligations without having to individually calculate and manage sales tax for each transaction.

[soh.maryl]

So your actual complaint is about the shipping cost?

Doesn't your BUYER pay the shipping fee?  

[onlinequalitybrands]

I'm definitely not happy about eBay charging selling fees on sales tax either. I think in the long run they're doing themselves and their customers a disfavor. To compensate for the additional fees, we have just raised our prices for all items sold on eBay. You can make the argument that eBay will then receive a higher selling commision because of the higher price, but they (and we) will not be as competitve on the platform. It's one of the reasons Amazon remains more competive and we sell much more on the platform. 

[slobidder]

I see this comparison over and over. Apples and oranges dude. You cannot compare a financial transaction fee (cc is fronting the money for you, or at minimum facilitating the transfer of money, which is the total amount including any tax) with a COMMISSION. eBay is charging a COMMISSION on tax. Get it? THIS IS WHY PEOPLE SUCH AS MYSELF ARE OUTRAGED, and yes the CAPS ARE INTENTIONAL BECAUSE I AM YELLING!

It is my understanding that eBay IS ALREADY COLLECTING A FEE from the various entities it pays these sales taxes to, which, if correct, means they are DOUBLE DIPPING on this! Corporate greed is always king! That's all this is about! Corporate greed! They just assume most won't even notice (and they would be right) and those who do can't do anything about it, so we just have to suck it up! And then YOU and others come in here with a completely invalid comparison! Makes me think you work for eBay and are just a troll!

[slobidder]

Smart sellers realize that when they raise their prices to try to recover all the fees, buyers look elsewhere for the same item.

[mudville-9]

Just because you can, does it mean you should? A business needs to address its ethics. I now know lots of people who won't sell on ebay. They may find themselves, one day, filing for bankruptcy do to their loss of revenue. 

[brightlightbookseller]

This is an old thread.  Start your own if you have something worth saying.

[frankenhobbit]

If they did NOT collect a FVF on Sales Tax, they'd just increase the FVF for the item itself to compensate.  Just like they changed the FVF when they did Managed Payments, so there was not the additional 2.9% (or whatever it was) transaction fee. They have revenue targets to meet. So ultimately, it isn't actually costing any more, just calculated in a different way.

[ebooksdiva]

Old thread from May of 2023. 🙄

[frankenhobbit]

Ugh. It got me!! 😀

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.