Tracking or following FedEx charges in eBay?

[no_zero369]

Hey, probably an easy answer to this and something I should know....

How does one track or "see" what FedEx charges have accumulated on their account, BEFORE the monthly invoice comes out?  It sure isn't rolled into the details section (All Account Activities) of My eBay: Account.

What am I missing?  Thx

[berserkerplanet · Accepted solution]

You don't.

FedEx charges are added to your account invoice as the come in (usually a day or few after tracking shows delivery), and there is no total or summary - they are line items associated with the sale of each item, and they usually get "backdated" to sit right next to the FVF and shipping charge entries for a sale.

If it's something you need to know, then you need to record each individual estimated amount at label creation time in a spreadsheet, text file, or on a scrap of paper. You could probably download your to date account activity to CSV (link on right in "all activity" view), plug that into Excel (or whatever spreadsheet program), and sort or apply some filters to only display FedEx entries to date and a total.

That should be accurate - my billed amounts always match my estimated amounts - unless you are not being meticulous about your FedEx shipments (sloppy with dimension, weights, or other parameters) or FedEx puts their thumb on the scale or uses a rubber ruler and upcharges on the invoice.

[no_zero369]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
You don't.

FedEx charges are added to your account invoice as the come in (usually a day or few after tracking shows delivery), and there is no total or summary - they are line items associated with the sale of each item, and they usually get "backdated" to sit right next to the FVF and shipping charge entries for a sale.

If it's something you need to know, then you need to record each individual estimated amount at label creation time in a spreadsheet, text file, or on a scrap of paper. You could probably download your to date account activity to CSV (link on right in "all activity" view), plug that into Excel (or whatever spreadsheet program), and sort or apply some filters to only display FedEx entries to date and a total.

That should be accurate - my billed amounts always match my estimated amounts - unless you are not being meticulous about your FedEx shipments (sloppy with dimension, weights, or other parameters) or FedEx puts their thumb on the scale or uses a rubber ruler and upcharges on the invoice.

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@berserkerplanet- THANK YOU!

OK, That is what I needed to know - charges do not show up on ebay's running tally invoice until a few days AFTER the item shows it arrived.  I was looking for the charges on the invoice before item arrived.  And since I keep careful track of income & expenses (spreadsheets), I had a difference between what my expenses showed and what ebay's invoice showed.  This explains it.  Also, now that the item has been delivered a few days ago, I DO see those charges on the invoice.

No worries with quoted price not matching billed price.  Have learned from reading your posts & others here, to be EXACT with Weight & Dimensions when shipping and especially with FedEx!

So may I extend the thought and ask this-  If I ship something across country on the day BEFORE my ebay invoice closes, and say it is via FedEx SmartPost (slow boat) and the package clearly won't be delivered until well after the invoice closing date, when do those charges hit the invoice?  Logic would suggest the next invoice, such that ebay doesn't "hold up" a payment and keeps cash flow going, but one never knows. 

(obviously I don't use FedEx very much and just like to know what to expect when I do)

[berserkerplanet]

Glad one of my points addressed your core issue.

Yes, you are correct. It will show up on the next invoice if it misses the closing date for the current invoice.

I have one of those right now. This one was created and shipped on 11/7, and was delivered on 11/12, but the FedEx billing came in too late to make it on my November invoice that closed on 11/15.

Just to clarify (since you seem meticulous about your invoices and it may come up):

That billed amount matched the label estimate to the penny. Sometimes the estimate at label creation and the final billed amount will be off by a couple of cents from what the buyer pays or the listing estimating calculators show - never figured that out but I think it has to do with variable decimal places in Fuel Surcharge rates used differently in different calculation or something similar, but never more that a few pennies difference.

What I meant by "my billed amounts always match my estimated amounts" was referring to gross upcharges by FedEx claiming higher weights or outrageous inflated pkg dimensions that is a huge theme here in the forums (at least half of which are user error). Just doesn't happen to me except that one time. But I'm pretty low volume, so maybe would happen more if I shipped 10 pkgs a day.

[no_zero369]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:

Glad one of my points addressed your core issue.

Yes, you are correct. It will show up on the next invoice if it misses the closing date for the current invoice.

I have one of those right now. This one was created and shipped on 11/7, and was delivered on 11/12, but the FedEx billing came in too late to make it on my November invoice that closed on 11/15.

Just to clarify (since you seem meticulous about your invoices and it may come up):

That billed amount matched the label estimate to the penny. Sometimes the estimate at label creation and the final billed amount will be off by a couple of cents from what the buyer pays or the listing estimating calculators show - never figured that out but I think it has to do with variable decimal places in Fuel Surcharge rates used differently in different calculation or something similar, but never more that a few pennies difference.

What I meant by "my billed amounts always match my estimated amounts" was referring to gross upcharges by FedEx claiming higher weights or outrageous inflated pkg dimensions that is a huge theme here in the forums (at least half of which are user error). Just doesn't happen to me except that one time. But I'm pretty low volume, so maybe would happen more if I shipped 10 pkgs a day.

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Yes, meticulous about tracking expenses & revenues.  Interesting that you note a few pennies variability in the shipping charges.  I keep bumping up against a penny or two difference in my ebay invoice, relative to what I calculate.  Seems to be some kind of difference between how ebay rounds and how the SS rounds?  Then again, with promotional discounts, combined with charity donations, I can see where that might happen.  But I have seen the numbers in the details section, NOT add up to the invoice amount!  Seems to be in my favor most of the time, so no complaints; I just add an "adjustment" to the SS and keep going!

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

[berserkerplanet]

You are most welcome.

I talked to eBay about the invoice discrepancies a long time ago, and was told they use 3 or 4 decimal places internally (can't recall which or if for all calculations), so when all is said and done, and rounding to 2 decimal places is performed, a penny or 2 difference can occur. I don't sweat it any more 🙂

[sellergreg88]

If you go to sell then shipping labels you can see everything you need to know.  Or find somewhere to reprint previous labels.