eBay fees on Shipping and Taxes

[vintagetibits]

I am selling Ribbons below $5.00 and shipping runs from $3.75 to $4.75. No handling included. Usually my price is around $3.49 a yard and most sales are 1 yard. Ebay is adding in the shipping fee and taxes  (some states have very high sales taxes)  which are paid by the buyer to my sales amount. After ebay deducts their 12.75% from the new total, I am netting around $1.82. Highway robbery!! Does anyone know how to stop ebay from using this inflated illegal calculation of total sales for their base calculation to charge their fee. It's not correct in any money system I have dealt with and I am 71 years old. Does anyone know of the law ebay is using to inflate the total of sale amount?  Shipping is not an item sold, nor is the taxes. After my cost, I am making roughly 75 cents per sale. Is this right? The ribbon cost more than that. What to do??  

[monica-sells]

the shipping fee has been added to the final fee since, like, forever (2011 I think)

since collection of sales tax is still relatively new....the 'sticker shock' is still being digested...

based on your above numbers....the average sales tax is between .50 and .60 cents per sale. The fee for ebay to process, file and remit the tax to the proper authority is an average of ..08 (8 cents) per order.........

I am certain at your young age you do not want the repsonsilility of filing the sales tax in the over 1100 jurisdictions in the good 'old' USA.......

Tack on a.50 handling charge and things will be better than they were in whatever era/time frame you are comparing this to.....

[inhawaii]

The fees ebay charges should not be a surprise. 

They are published for all to see.

I sell some cheap items on ebay.

Figure out what the fees are on what  you're selling.

Adjust your prices accordingly so you will be making whatever profit margin you desire.

That's what the rest (most) of us do.

[pargran3]

Once upon a time there was a graduated fee schedule based on selling price. Once upon a time there was no such thing as a free insertion even with a store. That fee also depended on starting price.

Once upon a time as now, there was a break even make not a dime selling price that made selling low low price items unfeasible.

Such is commerce.

[duffy4444]

   Stat selling your ribbon with a minimum of 2-3 yards, not just 1 yard. Or get your ribbon for a song and dance at garage sales. Adjust your business model and see if you can ship your ribbon with large envelope. It's true that there is no tracking that way, but eBay will never ding your metrics below "above average" on the tracking metric alone.

Cheers, Duffy

[nobody*s_perfect]

I'm apparently the oldest poster on this thread, and I recommend that you stop using eBay shipping labels for First Class packages, and mail your items as a First Class letter instead. For under a dollar, you can mail an envelope weighing an ounce or two, as long as it's not over 1/4 inch thick.

[soh.maryl]

"And as you can see by their sympathetic comments."

If you are referring to the replies the OP has received here, and mean to be sarcastic, please remember that the people who respond here are not eBay employees.  We are fellow eBayers, buyers and sellers who face the same challenges.  Our comments ARE sympathetic.  We feel the OP's pain.  But most of us have learned some lessons the hard way and one lesson is that you cannot list low dollar items and expect to turn a profit.  If telling it like it is is wrong, then I guess we are all wrong.  

[soh.maryl]

Don't know how old you are, but if you want to be the oldest poster here, you'll have to beat 89 in May.

PS:  Don't tell anyone.  There are some people who believe I'm only 88.  

[chapeau-noir]

---

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

I'm apparently the oldest poster on this thread, and I recommend that you stop using eBay shipping labels for First Class packages, and mail your items as a First Class letter instead. For under a dollar, you can mail an envelope weighing an ounce or two, as long as it's not over 1/4 inch thick.

---

That's gonna be hard with ribbon, though - 1/4" is not very thick when you include the envelope.  I think selling in bulk is the way to go with that kind of small - I'm surprised the OP hasn't seen that as the way to go by now.  I would suggest selling in increments of a yard.

[loc2blue]

Sorry to tell you you are wrong--I sell comics for years starting under $5.00 I always make money ,explain please? 

[loc2blue]

If you are going to be 73 ACT LIKE IT and stop making fun of other Ebayers--you act like my kid when I say something he has to be on the opposite of my saying---just because--and  you are 73 Wow ??? time to act like it Bro....

[loc2blue]

I READ ALL COMMENTS ,YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE THAT UNDERSTANDS ,THE GREEDINESS OF POWER---YET WE ALL JUST CAN"T DO NOTHING ABOUT IT...ALL COOL--BUT MOST OF THESE COMMENTS--ARE LIKE A LAW BOOK FOR THEM---SO IF WE WOULD TELL EVERYBODY FROM NOW ON THERE WILL BE A USAGE FEE FOR THE ROADS --ALL GOOD FOR THEM--THEY WOULD THINK-THE GOVERNMENT IS RIGHT-WE ARE USING THE ROADS ,WE SHOULD PAY TAXES FOR USING IT MAYBE 100 BUCKS A MONTH --AND GUESS WHAT--THESE PEOPLE --WOULD DO NOTHING BECAUSE IT IS THE LAW---WICH IS GOOD --AND THEN NEXT YEAR BECAUSE THEY GOT AWAY WITH IT --THEY WILL SAY --OH YOU ARE DRIVING AN SUV--IT WAY TOO HEAVY AND DAMAGES THE ROAD MORE --SO WHO EVER OWNS AN SUV HAS TO PAY $150--AND GUESS WHAT AGAIN --PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR IT ---NOTHING MATTERS --JUST GO BY THE BOOK OF LAW, THAT BIG SHOTS MAKE UP FOR US <BECAUSE THEY CAN<<<

[loc2blue]

No "wrong66" just bend down and take it ,,,,as we will for a long time ,,,trust me it will get way worse than we have it now--can we change it no--but can we have our free speech? yes!!! seems like you don't like that--free speech stuff ,,well that is all we have left --so if you don't like the comments that does not agree with you ---go on a chat line, that has no free speech --there you can teach them about our way--- but don't try to shove nonsense down nobody's throat, the way Ebay was  and it is now --it came a long way to be a big MONEY HORDER --DON"T CARE about small business who just want to start up as they make even that difficult , they sit on their money for 3 weeks after you get paid? come on just because you are new to Ebay--are you kidding me??? so do not preach your LAW BOOK STUFF ,,, I know the LAW but I DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE with it , 

[loc2blue]

Do NOT GIVE ADVISE TO ANOTHER SELLER TO SEND THEIR STUFF WITHOUT TRACKING!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS THE MOST INACURETE ADVISE YOU CAN GIVE--let the seller decide that--and then he will learn and adjust ,,but just to say send it with no tracking??? you should be ashamed to say this with your amount of feedback you have--JUST DO NOT GIVE ADVICE NEXT TIME PLEASE----

[loc2blue]

YES YOU ARE 100 PERCENT WRONG ,,,I MAKE GOOD MONEY SELLING MY COMICS FOR A FEW BUCKS--SO YOU SELLERS STOP MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS PLEASE

[pargran3]

We do pay taxes to use the roads. What planet are you on?