eBay

arome_city · ‎02-28-2023

Hi,

Can someone kindly help me understand how eBay calculates all these fees. Yes, I have read all the help documentation, but still confused.

1. I sold an item for $409.50

What your buyer paid Item subtotal$409.50

Shipping$21.97

Sales tax*$39.91

Order total**$471.38

What you earned

Order total $471.38

eBay collected from buyer

Sales tax*-$39.91

Selling costs

Transaction fees-$61.11

Shipping label-$14.74

Ad Fee Standard-$28.28

Order earnings$327.34

CONFUSIONS:

a) Transaction fee of $61.11 which is 14.92% of $409.50 - as eBay now process funds, is this basically replaces Old PayPal transaction fee?

b) Ad Fee Standard $28.28 which is $6.9% of $409.50

So I have paid 21.82% of the actual transaction cost in fees!!!

Is this normal?

Question 2:

If I am running a mark down campaign and offering people 30% off list price and NOT doing any promotion, where this Add fee coming from? Why eBay doesn't tell you up[ front what percentage they will charge you for running a campaign?

Thanks in advance for your help.

the-hook-and-the-loop · ‎02-28-2023

The promoted fee and final value fee are based on the total that the buyer paid, including tax and shipping.

the-hook-and-the-loop · ‎03-01-2023

eBay cannot tell you up front what the promoted fee will be, because every state has a different % tax rate. They don't know what state your buyer resides in prior to purchase.

It looks like you had your promoted listing rate set at 6%. It looks like your buyer's state tax is about 8.5%. You can always guestimate your approximate FVF and PL fee by using 7% or 8% tax.

sapphire_studio · ‎03-01-2023

The ad fee means you are promoting your listing. You choose a percentage, and whoever bids the highest gets a spondered spot. Your item was sponsered when the buyer clicked it so you were charged that percentage of a fee. You can disable the promoted percentage to avoid this fee.

Like someone else else said the ebay Final value fees (and the promoted percentage fee) are taken on everything the buyer pays including the shipping and sales tax.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-01-2023

@arome_city wrote:
Hi,

Can someone kindly help me understand how eBay calculates all these fees. Yes, I have read all the help documentation, but still confused.

1. I sold an item for $409.50

What your buyer paid Item subtotal$409.50
Shipping$21.97
Sales tax*$39.91
Order total**$471.38
What you earned
Order total $471.38
eBay collected from buyer
Sales tax*-$39.91
Selling costs
Transaction fees-$61.11
Shipping label-$14.74
Ad Fee Standard-$28.28
Order earnings$327.34

CONFUSIONS:

a) Transaction fee of $61.11 which is 14.92% of $409.50 - as eBay now process funds, is this basically replaces Old PayPal transaction fee?
....

As noted in the other posts, the transaction fee (AKA Final Value Fee) is based on the buyer's total payment including shipping and sales tax. eBay has included shipping and handling in the final value fee since 2011, and now that eBay (rather than PayPal) is collecting sales tax, that is included too. Yes, it now includes the percentage that used to go to PayPal, and it also includes the flat 30-cent fee that used to go to PayPal. So here's where your fee came from:

$61.11 - $0.30 = $60.81

$60.81/$471.38 = 12.900%

And indeed, the final value fee rate in most categories was 12.9% up until eBay recently raised it to 13.25%. You can see the category-specific rates here:

Non-store: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822

Store: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809

the-hook-and-the-loop · ‎03-01-2023

It looks like you have been questioning the fee structure for about 5 years now. Hopefully it will sink in after this.

kenneth686321 · ‎03-01-2023

1. You actually paid 12.96% in Final Value Fee $61.11/471.38) This is the standard fee % Ebay outlines in their Terms and Conditions

2. You Actually Paid 6% in promotions ($28.28/$471.38) which YOU chose to pay. Its YOUR choice whether you think it is a good idea pay more to promote your listings to sell faster. I personally promote at 5%.

3. When a buyer clicks on your promoted listings and buys it at a later date (within) 30 days, you get charged a promoted listing fee even if you have stoped promoting at the time of the buyer's purchase.

2. You paid Ebay 19% in fees.

4. DO NOT pull a price out of thin air which i think thats what you did. You need to build a price that account for Ebay fees, promoted listing fees, and shipping costs plus the cost of you buying a item if you are reselling and an acceptable take home profit margin.

5. It's not unfair that ebay charges fees on the price including shipping and taxes. If I sold an item for $100 free shipping 13% Ebay fees would be $13 If you sold same Item for $10 with $90 shipping and ebay charged 13% of the $10 so $1.30. Now that would be unfair. Hence like everybody said fees are charged on list price + shipping + Tax

joliztoyco · ‎03-01-2023

You've been keeping track for 5 years?
Perhaps you should make better use of your time.
Maybe list some more auctions.
Or read a different thread.

luckythewinner · ‎03-01-2023

Yes, I have read all the help documentation, but still confused. Transaction fee of $61.11 which is 14.92% of $409.50 - as eBay now process funds, is this basically replaces Old PayPal transaction fee?

All the documentation says the fee is based on the total payment, not in the item price.

Ad Fee Standard $28.28 which is $6.9% of $409.50

All the documentation explains how the ad fees are calculated. They are based on the total payment, not in the item price.

Is this normal?

The meaning of "normal" is subjective. But yes, your fees are correct.

If I am running a mark down campaign and offering people 30% off list price and NOT doing any promotion, where this Add fee coming from?

Markdown campaigns are not "ad fees". Did you promote this item in the past? If so, all the documentation explains the promoted item fee applies up to 30 days after you stop promoting it.

Why eBay doesn't tell you up front what percentage they will charge you for running a campaign?

eBay cannot predict the fees in advance because they do not always know the price, shipping, tax, buyer location, or promoted status.

isaiah53-57 · ‎03-01-2023

YES! You are correct you paid 21.83% of your items selling price in fees - It is the only percentage that matters when accounting profit - DO NOT LISTEN to the smoke and mirror and of those posting that you are only paying 12.9% blah blah blah... Also, Dont listen to those who give you advise on promoting an item - You likely dont need to promote an item to sell it, especially if it is in high demand and supplies are limited.

You are 100% correct to be concerned, appalled and questioning at the fees you paid on the sale of your item.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-01-2023

@isaiah53-57 wrote:
YES! You are correct you paid 21.83% of your items selling price in fees....

Of course it's a higher percentage when you take fees as a percentage of just the item's selling price.

But the original question was, "Can someone kindly help me understand how eBay calculates all these fees." And the answer to that question is: eBay calculates a percentage (recently 12.9%, now 13.25%) of the buyer's total payment.

redmodelt · ‎03-01-2023

"You've been keeping track for 5 years?
Perhaps you should make better use of your time."

You do not have to keep track, all one needs to do is click on any posters name and can see the post(s) they started.

"Or read a different thread."

As long as the replies are kept withing the Community Guidelines, anyone can reply to any open post.

coolections · ‎03-01-2023

@arome_city wrote:
Is this normal?

Yes, Ebay charges anywhere from 18% up to 25% total, it mostly depends on the ship cost and if you promote your listing.

jameshen1 · ‎03-01-2023

@joliztoyco wrote:
You've been keeping track for 5 years?
Perhaps you should make better use of your time.
Maybe list some more auctions.
Or read a different thread.

Click on the user name of the op. You will see that they have started threads asking questions about the fees several times, the first being back in 2017. Literally takes about 5 seconds to see this.

the-hook-and-the-loop · ‎03-01-2023

Um, all I had to do was click on their name. You could familiarize yourself with how forums work before trying to make cocky comments. Have a nice day.