Selling an item for $1

[abisout-0]

I just started using Ebay and i sold a couple things for 1.00.  My question is if you sell something for 1.00 and then the buyer paid for shipping then why is the shipping coming out of my  bank account? Will it be refunded or did I just lose $50?

[stephenmorgan]

You should have received all money that the buyer paid for your item and shipping fees minus eBay commission fees.  So when you pay for shipping you should already have the money to pay for it.

I do not see that you had a $1 sale with $50 shipping. Did you sell it on another account?

How much money is eBay transferring to you?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Sellers always pay for the postage for shipping the item.  When eBay listing says "buyer pays for shipping" that just means that shipping isn't Free (for the buyer).  The buyer's payment for shipping goes to the seller, who then uses it to purchase postage.

[donsdetour]

Never use eBay suggested start price unless you are willing to sell the item for that amount.

shipping is payed to you:

you then pay for the shipping.

You need to know fees:

Variable fee is on final value of item, plus shipping if any, plus tax if any. then the final value fee is calculated; plus the fixed fee of .30.

Other fees can also include international fee: promotion fees, and listing fees.

So far as I can tell you are paying eBay to give your items away: except maybe one or two....

[a_c_green]

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@abisout-0 wrote:

My question is if you sell something for 1.00 and then the buyer paid for shipping then why is the shipping coming out of my  bank account?

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It sounds like your Shipping payment preference may be set up to draw your postage cost from your PayPal account (which in turn seems to have drawn it from your bank account). You can change that to draw from the buyer's pending funds received by eBay. The setting for that is at the bottom of the Shipping form where you purchase your label.

[abisout-0]

No I sold 5 items for $1 so that shipping was like $8-$9 for each item. So I just did the actual math and the shipping comes out to $49.95 that was taken out of my account. I'm just confused because it says the buyer paid for the shipping, yet it came out of my account. 

[donsdetour]

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@abisout-0 wrote:

No I sold 5 items for $1 so that shipping was like $8-$9 for each item. So I just did the actual math and the shipping comes out to $49.95 that was taken out of my account. I'm just confused because it says the buyer paid for the shipping, yet it came out of my account. 

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Yes you pay for the actual shipping done:

The money paid by the buyer for shipping  you get when it is deposited to you.

One can use eBay shipping and use pending funds to pay with if you did not know this....

[soh.maryl]

Frankly, no one should be selling on eBay unless/until they have a thorough knowledge of how eBay  works.

The buyer pays YOU, the seller, for shipping.  That money is then used to pay the shipping cost.

The buyer never ever pays directly to the carrier.

And the fact that you're listing items for $1 is evidence is that you don't understand eBay fees either.

eBay's final value fee, in most cases, 12.9% is taken from the total amount paid to the seller by the buyer.

So, when you sell an item for a buck with $8 shipping, plus possibly state sales tax, you are probably looking at, for example, a $15 sale.  Deduct that $8 for shipping and deduct the state sales tax, then deduct the FVF and how much do you figure your net receipt will be? 

[mybigsale]

@abisout-0 

1. eBay collects Item Cost + Shipping Cost + State Tax

2. eBay charges the Final Value Fee on Full Amount Paid and removes the Final Value Fee and the State Tax from the full amount.

3.eBay credits you the Item Cost and Shipping cost left over from step 2.

4. If you used sponsored ads, the amount will be deducted from your balance.

When you pay for shipping, you can have eBay use the money you were credited, or you can use PayPal or purchase the actual postage however you want. eBay has kept a percentage of the shipping cost paid by the buyer for themselves - you get what is leftover to pay shipping.

For your $1 items you will be losing money as eBay is charging you a percentage from the total amount and not just the item you sold, plus a 30-cent charge just because. 

[stephenmorgan]

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@abisout-0 wrote:

No I sold 5 items for $1 so that shipping was like $8-$9 for each item. So I just did the actual math and the shipping comes out to $49.95 that was taken out of my account. I'm just confused because it says the buyer paid for the shipping, yet it came out of my account. 

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 I can see where it may be a little confusing. 

Look at it this way, the buyer paid for shipping as determined by your inputs into your listing.  That money has gone to you.

Thy buyer can not actually purchase the shipping because they do not have the item to package, weigh measure and take to shipping facility.  This is why the money goes to you so you can purchase the shipping.

As others have stated there are several ways the shipping can be paid for.

Taken from your pending funds

Taken from your bank account

Taken from your Pay Pal account

Taken from your Credit Card

Can pay at the shipping facility

The $8 to $9 you charged for shipping will be given to you by eBay minus their Fees so you should get about $6.97 to $7.84

Look at your Seller Hub and it will tell you about money due to you.

If you sold something for $1 with $8 or $9 shipping you could very well go backwards on a sales transaction.

https://www.ebay.com/sh/fin

[1tuna]

please do not forget that the buyer has to pay taxes on the shipping

that is rolled into the final cost and then you pay fees on the item price, shipping and taxes

you can be coming out behind with that much for shipping

dollar items need to be shipped for maybe $4 or you are just spinning your wheels

I hope they leave you good feedback while you gain from experience

good luck

@abisout-0 

[busy_bee_finds]

YES, you just PAYED EBAY to sell an item for 1.00. Why did this happen? Because eBay adds in the (SCAM) SHIPPING COST into your total gross amount that they take fees from.

The same thing happened to me. I sold an item for 1.00 and I did a flat shipping rate of 14.00. The shipping label was only 13.05. That is .95 less than I had thought. So that amount is 1.95 total. I didn't expect to make any hardly any money, but I also didn't expect to have to pay any money. I had to pay eBay .60 cents. 

So here is the break down:

Item subtotal: 1.00

Shipping: 14.00

Sales tax: 1.20

Order total: 16.20

SO HERE IS THE PROBLEM: 

16.20

-1.20 tax

-2.55 selling fees (THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS, see below)

-13.05 shipping label

==== a minus -.60 cents that I had to pay.

The 2.55 selling fees are based on the 1.00 and the 14.00 shipping amount = 15.00 x .17% eBay fees...= $2.55

So that is 15.00 -2.55 = 12.45....(and the shipping label is 13.05)..so 12.45 + .60 = 13.05

So that means that to sell an item for 1.00...you will have to pay for the SHIPPING PRICE on top of the 1.00. So if the shipping price is very expensive..watch out.

[sta_778543]

can I get it then 

[ebooksdiva]

Posted edited .....Old thread from 2022

[soh.maryl]

The buyer pays YOU for shipping and that money is used to pay for the shipping label.

There is no point in listing an item for $1, 5, 10 or even $20, unless your goal is to lose money. 

If you didn't read all about fees when you started selling, you really should do that now.  

PS:  "Carrie Bradshaw inspired" is a no-no. 

ETA: Just noticed original message is from 09/17/22, so we're spinning our wheels here.  But the OP still has 143 listings, so guess this is working for her, but don't see anything at $1.