eBay fees - now and then.My case (same items),how do fees VASTLY differ.Feels like eBay's ROBBING me

[zrenjanin-srb]

So,I could not understand eBay fees now,since they are robbing me (I have no other word) of 20% now with fees!

I wrote about that here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Is-eBay-now-taking-20-fee-for-payout-That-s-almost-insane/m-p/...

There,most of the people were convincing me that the fees (and taxes and everything eBay is taking from us/the sellers) were the same almost "since forever" (for years back now).Well,I'll show you my case.

These are some of the sales of my items (sticker albums) from this summer (June/July),before I went to my vacation.Meaning half a year ago.

Example number 1:

Cost (what buyer pays): 49.99

Fees: 2.5 (roughly 5%)

Payout: 47.49 (roughly 95%)

Example number 2:

Cost (that buyer pays): 89.9

Fee: 4.26 (roughly 4.7%)

Payout: 85.64 (roughly 95.3%)

And so on (there are numerous examples like this).

All from the more-less same category.

And NOW (my latest transaction,where eBay is robbing me):

(details of those fees and all are in previous thread)

All in all.

It's same type of items (sticker albums),all sales are international sales (buyer is out of my country,each time),but the eBay is taking now not 5-10% (like before),but 20%!

And some people here are saying that everything (fees,tax and rest) is like before.

Well then,explain me how's then this?

From 5% fee to 20% fee - that is theft!

[downunder-61]

From 5% fee to 20% fee - that is theft!

As this is really just rehashing the last thread, I will let the other seller's re-expalin the difference between Paypal and MP and I will just sit back and watch the trainwreck 😎

[zrenjanin-srb]

(I forgot to add)

I don't have eBay store (and never had),I don't buy some "extras" from eBay (shipping labels and what not),I don't use any other additional service from eBay or anything similar.

Just to clarify that EVERYTHING is the same as before (as of this summer,for example) from my side.

There is nothing extra that I have added meanwhile,so that eBay would charge me more.

Just selling as usual (as always),but this time eBay's grabbing much more from my profit.

[dhbookds]

Note that the last example shows total fees......INCLUDING VAT............I believe there was a change in how the vat tax was handled in the last year........you need to do some research to be sure........

And you probably would get better answers on a European board than here in the US since we don't deal with Vat...........  and there may be differences in fees between US and other countries.....

[zrenjanin-srb]

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@dhbookds wrote:

Note that the last example shows total fees......INCLUDING VAT............I believe there was a change in how the vat tax was handled in the last year........you need to do some research to be sure........

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You may look into the previous thread I posted,and you'll see that some of the folks here told me like "there is no change,everything is the same" (for taxes,fees,all).Well,don't tell me that when fees rise up from 5% to 20% that "it's all the same".

Anyway,if there is (obviously) a change,could it be so tremendous,with such a high increase?Or am I missing something?

Should I then not sell to European customers?

In other words,if I not sell to them,will my fees be back to "normal" (5%)?Because,previously,as I wrote,fees were the same for buyers no matter from which part of the world they're coming from.

If that is the case,that is really unreasonable move from eBay's side (to have that high selling fees for buyers from Europe).

[downunder-61 · Accepted solution]

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@zrenjanin-srb wrote:

So,I could not understand eBay fees now,since they are robbing me (I have no other word) of 20% now with fees!

I wrote about that here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Is-eBay-now-taking-20-fee-for-payout-That-s-almost-insane/m-p/...

There,most of the people were convincing me that the fees (and taxes and everything eBay is taking from us/the sellers) were the same almost "since forever" (for years back now).Well,I'll show you my case.

These are some of the sales of my items (sticker albums) from this summer (June/July),before I went to my vacation.Meaning half a year ago.

Example number 1:

Cost (what buyer pays): 49.99

Fees: 2.5 (roughly 5%)

Payout: 47.49 (roughly 95%)

Example number 2:

Cost (that buyer pays): 89.9

Fee: 4.26 (roughly 4.7%)

Payout: 85.64 (roughly 95.3%)

And so on (there are numerous examples like this).

All from the more-less same category.

And NOW (my latest transaction,where eBay is robbing me):

(details of those fees and all are in previous thread)

All in all.

It's same type of items (sticker albums),all sales are international sales (buyer is out of my country,each time),but the eBay is taking now not 5-10% (like before),but 20%!

And some people here are saying that everything (fees,tax and rest) is like before.

Well then,explain me how's then this?

From 5% fee to 20% fee - that is theft!

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Again, in your screengrab's it appear's you have totally disregarded the Paypal Fee's that we no longer pay.

[inhawaii]

Call it "robbery" all you want, but you agreed to pay those fees.

You don't have to sell here. Selling on ebay is voluntary.

[zrenjanin-srb]

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@downunder-61 wrote:

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Again, in your screengrab's it appear's you have totally disregarded the Paypal Fee's that we no longer pay.

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(you don't have to quote the whole post,quote just part what you want to reply to😉)

And yeah,you're right...I made a mistake.I just realized that.Sorry.

The screenshots I presented here are Paypal fees.Not eBay's fees (I messed up).

Nevertheless...

Even if eBay's fees were (say) 12.5% and Paypal's ~5%,that's 17.5% totally.

Not 20% like now.

(even though I would think that eBay's fees were 10%;somehow I recall that if I sold this month say 1800$ worth of good I'd pay 180$;but maybe my memory doesn't serve me well...)

There's still increase,just not so drastic,as I first thought (I was wrong).

Thanks for clarifying 🙂

[zrenjanin-srb]

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@inhawaii wrote:

Call it "robbery" all you want, but you agreed to pay those fees.

You don't have to sell here. Selling on ebay is voluntary.

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I know that.We all know that.

You don't have to repeat it.

EDIT:

I was just expressing my surprise that fees went up from 5-10% to 20%.

And I know (as well as others) that nobody's forcing me to sell here.

That kind of input is irrelevant.

[powell-memorabilia]

There is a report in the seller hub that will show your fees for the last 31 days compared to previous periods.  I just ran my reports to compare to earlier periods.  I’m usually always in the 21%-22% mark.  Yes, that includes my pre-MP days.

[powell-memorabilia]

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@powell-memorabilia wrote:

There is a report in the seller hub that will show your fees for the last 31 days compared to previous periods.  I just ran my reports to compare to earlier periods.  I’m usually always in the 21%-22% mark.  Yes, that includes my pre-MP days.

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I should let that the above includes the shipping label charges.  eBay gives a breakdown to you - it won’t be hard for you to calculate what your eBay fees were.

[lacemaker3]

@zrenjanin-srb ,

You are right that the situation has changed in the last year or so. The main changes that affected your fee calculations are:

1. The EU now requires eBay to collect VAT on the buyer's purchase (as of July 1, 2021 I believe). This is included in calculating the fees (whether eBay fees or the old PayPal fees).
2. With managed payments, your entire fees are now deducted from the payments, rather than billing you for eBay fees at the end of the month.
3. Sometime last year, both PayPal and eBay raised their fees slightly. You don't pay PayPal fees anymore, and the new eBay fees are very slightly lower than the total would have been if you still had to pay the PayPal fees.

In a post on your previous thread, you posted a screenshot of the fees you were being charged:

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@zrenjanin-srb wrote:

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

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How can I make (settings) that the buyer pays for that "International fee" and "VAT",does anybody know?

You can't.  What you can do is add a handling fee to the shipping or adjust your asking price.

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I see....thanks.

That's not what I've expected from this "new version" of eBay.

Like I've said,previously they were usually charging me 10% for a sale.

Now this,with 20%...makes me thinking...should I continue here.

By the way,this is the screenshot,if somebody needs/comes in similar situation,to understand fees (I hope this can been seen the way I post it here):

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These fees were calculated correctly. The major difference here is that the buyer had to pay VAT on his purchase, which only started in July of this year. In this case, that was the 19% VAT that is shown. This is included in the total payment, and eBay fees are calculated as a percentage of the buyer's total payment. PayPal did the same thing. This does make a big difference because VAT rates are quite high (around 20% usually).

The one thing that is not shown on the eBay screenshot is that the buyer's VAT is deducted from the payment as well as the eBay fees, because eBay has to send the buyer's VAT to their government. So the buyer is already paying their own VAT to their government on their purchase,

The second VAT that is shown, is the VAT on your eBay fees, which is charged at your VAT rate (20% for Serbia). You have to pay this, because that is being charged on eBay's services to you, because European VAT is charged on both goods and services, and is paid by the person who received the goods or services. That is not a new change, eBay has been required to charge VAT on their fees for non-business sellers in Europe for years.

My understanding is that you could avoid paying this VAT on the eBay fees if you registered for VAT in your country, and changed your eBay account to a business account.

Here is a chart that shows how the fees were calculated for that transaction. The advice from the other responder, that you need to change your business model so that all your expenses are included in the purchase price was correct. That's what a business needs to do. You  need to adjust your business model to changing circumstances in order to make sure you make a profit.

Paid by Buyer:			Charged on:
Purchase price		$  49.90
Shipping		$       -
Subtotal		$  49.90
VAT/Sales tax	19.00%	$    9.48	Subtotal; buyer's rate (Cyprus)
Total payment		$  59.38
Paid by seller:
FVF Variable	12.55%	$    7.45	Total payment
International Fee	1.30%	$    0.77	Total payment
FVF fixed	$    0.30	$    0.30	Per order
Subtotal fees		$    8.52
VAT	20.00%	$    1.70	Subtotal fees; seller's rate (Serbia)
Total fees		$  10.23
Shipping label		$       -	(if paid from pending funds)
Paid by buyer:
VAT/Sales tax		$    9.48	remitted to Buyer's VAT authority
Total deductions		$  19.71	Total fees + Shipping label + Buyer's VAT
Payout		$  39.67	Total payment - Total deductions

[jayjaspersgarage]

You are in Serbia and you expect an international ebay expert in the United States to give you accurate answers?  Props to you for being hopeful but as other responders have written you would be much better looking on the European message boards.

[pburn]

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@jayjaspersgarage wrote:

You are in Serbia and you expect an international ebay expert in the United States to give you accurate answers?  Props to you for being hopeful but as other responders have written you would be much better looking on the European message boards.

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Since Serbia has neither its own eBay platform nor its own discussion boards. and the OP is listing on ebay.com, s/he has as much right to use this discussion board and post whatever questions s/he encounters as any of the rest of us do.

[zrenjanin-srb]

@jayjaspersgarage : agreed with what pburn said (by the way,I wasn't aware that European board even exist,as I'm selling only here - ebay.com).

And to add that I mainly opened this thread because (as I've said) some folks still claim that the fees are "the same as they always had been".When they're not.

@lacemaker3 thanks man for detailed breakdown and explanation.