Why take my selling fees BEFORE you release my funds?

[dikeosp]

I recently sold 2 expensive items on eBay, averaging about $2,000 each. 

I am a "casual user" of eBay.

I used eBay to print the shipping labels for both item, and tracking worked flawlessly. 

The buyers received their items and I received positive feedback. 

EBay is not releasing my funds for 21 days, but yet, they took their selling fees out of my account PRIOR to paying me for said items. 

This feels like the movie rundown, were Christopher Walken plays the oppressive town operator, taking advantage of people on both the supply AND demand side of that business. In this case, eBay is acting this way and I resent it. 

Now, I may get someone to say "it's the rules of eBay, and if you don't like it, leave". And ultimately, that may be what I do.  

As an entrepreneur and owner of multiple businesses, this practice of prepaying the middle man (eBay) before the transaction is complete, is simply not acceptable. I am not even sure it is legal. 

Ebay, next time I wish to sell something, I will look into the multitude of alternatives out there. You had a good product, and you were a monopoly for a while, but you are acting like a monopoly in an open market. 

Good riddance. 

[bonjourami]

Why wouldnt Ebay take their fees immediately. They consider you as a new seller, since you havent sold anything for a long time, you have no recent selling history.They provided you a service, and deserved to get paid immediately for that service. As for the twenty one day hold, they want to make sure if there is a problem with your item, and the buyer complains, the refund will come out of your pocket, not theirs.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Ebay has taken the selling fee immediately upon the sale since...day one (as far as I know), for all sellers.  If it were illegal, I'm sure it would have been challenged and changed sometime in the past 25 or so years that Ebay has been around.

New sellers have had holds for a very long time. I'm sure if it were illegal it would have been challenged and changed by now.

[corvettestainless]

@southern*sweet*tea Ebay has taken the selling fee immediately upon the sale since.

Are you referring to 'new sellers' only? Typically, you get an invoice for all seller fees at the end of the month (15th or 30th- varies for each seller). So, they DON'T take their fees until then. Paypal fees- immediate. Managed Payments, I have no clue..yet. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@corvettestainless wrote:

@southern*sweet*tea Ebay has taken the selling fee immediately upon the sale since.

Are you referring to 'new sellers' only? Typically, you get an invoice for all seller fees at the end of the month (15th or 30th- varies for each seller). So, they DON'T take their fees until then. Paypal fees- immediate. Managed Payments, I have no clue..yet. 

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Yes, you get an invoice, but the fee is assessed as soon as the auction ends or as soon as a buyer clicks the pay now button, regardless if the seller actually gets paid. So the fees are taken immediately. You just don't pay them immediately.

It's not like some places where the fee is taken when the item is actually paid for.

[ittybitnot]

EBay is not releasing my funds for 21 days, but yet, they took their selling fees out of my account PRIOR to paying me for said items. 

The final value fee is assessed when your item ends with a winning bidder or buyer.  It has nothing to do with if the said 'winners' have paid or not.   So your ebay "account" has been charged, and has little to do with the money in your PayPal account. 

When a seller becomes enrolled in the new Managed Payments, ebay will extract all their fees first, and send what is left of the money to your bank account. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@dikeosp wrote:

I recently sold 2 expensive items on eBay, averaging about $2,000 each. 

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For items that sell for $1000.00 or more, they started holding the funds for the full 21 days and they started this earlier this year.

[corvettestainless]

ok; but fyi- "invoicing" and 'taking' are 2 completely different things.

Why would anyone even complain about a fee being 'assessed' on an 'invoice'? The way the OP tells it, they TOOK (charged) his cc, bank acct. etc. the seller fees and he still has not been paid. Unless the invoice comes in and is due and you're still waiting while they 'auto pay' your fees, then technically they 'TOOK' their fees BEFORE you've been paid? 

[m60driver]

Not sure about other folks, but my Ebay fees are invoiced monthly and taken out of my Paypal account.  They are not deducted before that.  Only my USPS shipping label fees are deducted immediately from sales.

[pjcdn2005]

eBay doesn't usually take the fees out until after they send you an invoice although it's possible that there are exceptions. But I'm wondering if the fees you are talking about are actually Paypal fees as they do take the fees

out right away. PP fees for domestic sales are 2.9% + a .30 transaction fee.

[myboardid]

Seems to me, if the payment is being held for 21 days, that the invoice certainly could come due before the seller gets his money.  BTW, with Managed Payments, eBay takes the fees out before they send the payout to your bank, but of course you have been paid at that point.