eBay is a rip off and fraud.

[peppernatl]

What a total rip off!!! How many times does one have to pay sales tax on an item. I bought and resold this item because it was the wrong part. Look at the fees ebay charged me!! 150 bucks on a 650 dollar item. What a complete scam. We’re not partners. You don’t get a cut of 25% of my item. That’s ridiculous. I could understand maybe 15-25 bucks max!! Never again!! Beware people. Use marketplace. It’s free!!!!

What you earned

Order total

eBay collected from buyer

Sales tax

Selling costs

Transaction fees

Ad Fee Standard

$698.31

-$53.31

Order earnings.

• $92.83
• $62.85

$489.32

[yuzuha]

Well, to begin with, it wasn't a $650 item since you sold it with free shipping, which makes it significantly less than that.

[ten_o_nine]

Please stop this nonsense and show some empathy.

[isaiah53-57]

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@american-photography wrote:

Try selling that item in a brick-and-mortar store and see what it costs you with labor, utilities, taxes, business expenses, overhead, etc.  Your profit margin after EBITA would probably not be more than 10%.

---

I find it absolutely unbelievable when people compare online selling to brick and mortar selling - Its like comparing apples to astronauts...

You do realize there is not a cost or expense you mentioned in you post that is not exclusive to brick and mortar selling right? - You dont think you have "labor, utilities, taxes, business expenses, overhead, etc." when selling online here on ebay??

And my biggest pet peeve(and not saying it is the case with you) when people regurgitate this spiel about the costs of B&M vs Online selling is this: they always gush how cheap ebay fees are compared to storefront rental or lease costs - SORRY - if you are running a well managed B&M store, your rental cost should be about 10% of your items sales - Not 15% to 20% or even more like it costs here for an online storefront - No wonder they didnt make it as a B&M Store owner if they couldn't manage their store costs to a successful degree...

[inhawaii]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

Please stop this nonsense and show some empathy.

---

Does the OP want empathy or straight answers?

I can do empathy, but it doesn't help the OP any.

[dqdistribution]

Seems pretty close to me then.

If rental costs you suspect around 10%. You still have credit processing fees of Id say 2-3%.

Aren't most fees on ebay around 13.25%? Unless you opt for advertising costs.

[mam98031]

@peppernatl 

I don't really understand why you are so upset or surprised.  The buyer of an item is ALWAYS responsible to pay the sales tax [not the seller].  You did NOT pay the sales tax again, the buyer did.

You can avoid sales tax by filing the proper paperwork with your state and become a Business.  Then apply for a resale certificate.  

Ebay charges sales tax per the laws of each particular STATE.  It is the LAW.  You should know that Ebay does NOT keep the sales tax, it is sent on to the state it is owed.  Ebay is just the processor.

[lepke1979]

I get being off by a few dollars because of sales tax. But the amount of people that seem surprised by what they have to pay in fees is insane.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Selling on eBay is not free.

[isaiah53-57]

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@dqdistribution wrote:

Seems pretty close to me then.

If rental costs you suspect around 10%. You still have credit processing fees of Id say 2-3%.

Aren't most fees on ebay around 13.25%? Unless you opt for advertising costs.

---

I see what you are saying, and the point is valid, but diminished when you consider that Fees are 13.25% of the ENTIRE SALE - They are more like 15% to 20% when you equate that percentage to ITEMS SALE Price alone, which is what I was talking about when I said "your rental cost should be about 10% of your items sales"( in the post you responded to). Consider a very well run store can see rental costs much lower than 10% their item sales. My point is, fees are not near as "reasonable" in consideration to B&M costs as some people here like to reiterate...

[dbfolks166mt]

     A couple things to note. First you don't pay the sales tax the buyer does but eBay does assess the FVF on the sales tax. Without using promote listings and using an average of 8% sales tax, since I am not sure what state your buyer was in, the eBay fee on the sales tax would have been about $6.83. Since you offered free shipping, which really isn't a thing, the eBay FVF's would have been about $85.46 which is close to the $92.83 shown in your OP which equates to an effective rate of about $14.39%. 

     I am going to assume the $62.85 shown in your post is the cost of the promoted listings percentage which equates to about 10%. Add the two together and yes you get around 25% but 10% of that was by your choice when you promoted the item. 

[lilyswan2]

both empathy and straight answers can be done at the same time together...

[lilyswan2]

true, but you don't have to be happy about it and can vent your frustrations...that's how things potentially change, when enough people complain...

[inhawaii]

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@lilyswan2 wrote:

both empathy and straight answers can be done at the same time together...

---

You are absolutely correct.

But in this case it's hard to show empathy for someone who was charged exactly what ebay is supposed to charge then calls ebay a rip off and a fraud. 

I would show some empathy if they were somehow wronged by ebay.

I guess I could have thrown in a "sorry you feel that way".

[femmefan1946]

@isaiah53-57 they always gush how cheap ebay fees are compared to storefront rental or lease costs - SORRY - if you are running a well managed B&M store, your rental cost should be about 10% of your items sales -

@dqdistribution If rental costs you suspect around 10%. You still have credit processing fees of Id say 2-3%

Add to that municipal business taxes. And utilities. And business insurance including liability. And garbage pickup (not covered by municipal tax).
And possibly employees to cover lunch breaks, bathroom breaks, and vacation time, which means payroll taxes  on wages.

[femmefan1946]

Like listening to Tina's introduction to "Proud Mary".