unfair

[usagal99]

why are we being charged fees on shipping, we dont gain anything from that.

[soh.maryl]

What was the state sales tax in your example?  

[dbfolks166mt]

Not sure why you keep calling it a commission and trying to distinguish it from fees. They are basically the same thing

Good. eBay has you convinced the current FVF (Transaction Fee PLUS Commission) is the same as the separate Transaction Fee and FVF (Commission) eBay had when they first started managed payments.

Nothing to convince me of I just know what the FVF percentage is and how it is applied and manage my selling activity accordingly. One of the main reasons other venues are comprising a larger percentage of my sales is I adjust my pricing based on the fee schedule for  those sites/forums a lot of which are considerably lower than eBay. 

2.9% Transaction Fee = 10% FVF = 12.9% FVF (simplified) = current 13.25 FVF

I am assuming the 2.9% you are referring to is with regards to when PayPal was the financial processor prior to MP. In case you are not aware PayPal's fee is now 3.49% and a $.49 fixed fee. So had eBay not switched to MP PayPal would be 3.49% eBay FVF 10% (assumption)

Total fee 13.49% 

Hmm... those fees don't look basically the same to me. Given rising costs and inflation adjustments they look about right to me. 

Transaction fees are fees paid for processing transactions.

The original FVF was the commission eBay EARNED for providing the eBay platform and services to help sell your item.

The simplified FVF used now was created by adding the Transaction Fee and original FVF (commission) together. Mathematically incorrect and forces any portion of an eBay transaction, such as State Tax, to be charged the transaction fee AND COMMISSION.

     So the FVF on the sales tax is for calculating and collecting the correct sales tax rate, keeping track of the total due each state, filing the forms on a regular basis with each state and processing the payment. How is that a commission again? 

     The same applies to shipping if you purchase the label through eBay. The seller collects the money to cover the shipping costs and utilizes eBay's shipping label interface with the carriers to allow the buyer to purchase, pay for and print the labels, and remit the money to the carrier. Commission? 

Agree or agree to disagree on your other points. Good responses. Bottom line, I want to see eBay as a place buyers and sellers love. I don't agree with everything eBay does and feel there is lots of room for improvement for buyers, sellers and eBay.

Fair enough on the agree to disagree. Personally I don't "love" any site and eBay is simply another venue to me. I seldom buy anything on eBay these days not because I don't care for the site but simply because I can generally find the item cheaper elsewhere. It was what started me diversifying my selling, and buying, across multiple venues.

I do still enjoy selling on the eBay platform and I am happy with over 99% of my buyers. I am with you there I have no issues with eBay. It's their business and they are free to run it as they see fit. 

[mybigsale]

@dbfolks166mt 

Nothing to convince me of I just know what the FVF percentage is and how it is applied and manage my selling activity accordingly. 

Nothing to convince you of because you accept the current FVF (which added the Transaction Fee to the original FVF) as being no different than the original managed payments FVF that was a separate fee from the managed payments transaction fee.

I am assuming the 2.9% you are referring to is with regards to when PayPal was the financial processor prior to MP.

Nope. I am talking about the 2.9% Transaction fee Managed Payments used before they eliminated the Transaction Fee by adding their transaction to the then FVF to create the new one "simplified" FVF with the same name. 

Apparently, a smart move by eBay. 

I prefer having the original two separate fees and paying less in total fees, like when managed payments first started. Seems most sellers prefer just having the current "simplified" FVF where eBay changes the rules of math and sellers end up paying more in fees.

[stephenmorgan]

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@mybigsale wrote:

Apparently, a smart move by eBay. 

I prefer having the original two separate fees and paying less in total fees, like when managed payments first started. Seems most sellers prefer just having the current "simplified" FVF where eBay changes the rules of math and sellers end up paying more in fees.

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There are other payment options besides Managed Payments where eBay is not involved in processing the payment such as Check, Money Order or Cash for Local Pickup.  With the Fee no longer be broken into two parts you do not save the Money Processing Fee by using an alternative payment option.  Now you are charge the two Fees combined no matter who processed the payment.

[mam98031]

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@coolections wrote:

Nope, not making up anything. When you get $310 for selling your $400 item you got duped into thinking you paid 12% LOL

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Fees in most categories for sellers without a store are now 13.25%

Are you deducting your cost of shipping from the above numbers?

[mybigsale]

@stephenmorgan 

There are other payment options besides Managed Payments where eBay is not involved in processing the payment such as Check, Money Order or Cash for Local Pickup.  With the Fee no longer be broken into two parts you do not save the Money Processing Fee by using an alternative payment option.  Now you are charge the two Fees combined no matter who processed the payment.

Actually, when managed payments first started, the fees were broken into two parts. Managed payments still charged all the fees no matter how payment was made, even for cash on pickup.

The current calculation using one combined fee just results in a bigger fee due for sellers as it results in State Tax being charged a much higher percentage than just the original transaction fee. With the one fee, eBay started earning a commission on State Tax as well as the original transaction fee.

[mam98031]

The current calculation using one combined fee just results in a bigger fee due for sellers as it results in State Tax being charged a much higher percentage than just the original transaction fee. With the one fee, eBay started earning a commission on State Tax as well as the original transaction fee.

Yes, I agree.  Neither Etsy or Amazon charge ANY fees on sales tax.  So they can't claim this is industry standard.  

Not to mention the states that require Ebay to collect and remit sales tax would be giving them some time of compensation for the service.  Whether it was through a discount on the amount or something else.

[showmecurrency4u]

because ebay wants to make e money.xcessive

[mam98031]

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@showmecurrency4u wrote:

because ebay wants to make e money.xcessive

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@showmecurrency4u 

You do realize that Ebay is a corporation and their sole purpose for creating this site was to make money, right?

Further EVERY seller on this site has come here to also make some money, right?

Mutual goals.  For the price we pay on Ebay, where else do you believe you can get your items seen worldwide?