eBay

bluemorningglory · ‎09-19-2011

I think that I am not offended by the amount of fees that are charged, but by how the fee structure is frustratingly hidden by Ebay/Paypal. I decided to sit down with a calculator, and find out how much (on average) fees are really costing me. I wanted an average percentage number, so that I could glance at an item while shopping, and say, "Ok, it will cost me this much to sell it. Is it worth buying it to sell on Ebay?"

Let's assume that I am a small seller without a store. I go to a yard sale, and buy some ordinary piece of trash, say the classic frog beanie baby. I intend to sell it on Ebay, and ship it in a small Priority Mail flat rate box. The buyer will use a credit card to send me the money via paypal. What percentage of my selling price will Ebay keep?

I decide to list the item for $10 with buyer paying shipping of $4.95. The auction ends with one bid. I "sold" my item for $10. What percentage of that $10 selling price did Ebay keep?

I started with the Ebay fee calculator, which states that Ebay fees for this item will be a mere $0.90, or 9% of the selling price. I follow a footnote to find that Ebay will also charge me a final value fee on shipping. That is another $0.45 in fees. Why did Ebay put in big bold numbers that my Ebay selling fee was only $0.90?

Next, I go to Paypal. After several frustrating page views, I find that I do not qualify for the 1.9% rate, but the 2.9% rate. This rate is applied to the entire amount sent to me, $14.95. Another $0.43 in fees. I also notice that this 2.9% is in addition to a flat fee of $0.30.

So, add it all up: 0.90 + 0.45 + 0.43 + 0.30 = $2.08

On an item which sold for $10, my selling fees were 21% of the selling price.

We have run several numbers through the calculators, and selling fees of about 20% of the selling price seems to be a fairly consistant estimate for my selling style.

Of course, you should try running a more typical item (high/low price, other categories) for items that you normally sell. For a $1 item with 50 cents shipping, your selling fees would be about 50% of the $1 selling price.

In general, fees would be about 12% of total amount (price plus shipping) sent by seller, plus 30 cents.

firefighter1970 · ‎01-06-2013

i was told by ebay that they charge a fee on s&h because peopl use to sell a 500.00 item for .99 cents and charge 500.00 to ship it so they wouldnt have to pay the final value fee on s&h. thats why they now charge a fee on shipping to stop that. its not fair to the honest person who does things the right way. that fee should waved when it shows that the s&h is being charged to the buyer. they could change it but they are greedy !!!!

chronogeek · ‎04-10-2013

They definitely have to revamp their fee schedule. I sold some ethernet cables and after paying their fees and paypal fees, I ended up giving my item away for free and losing $2.00. That was just not right!

hydraotto · ‎06-18-2013

Years ago I used Ebay to sell a couple of items. Today I am giving up trying to figure out the fees on selling a $20,000 boat. Ebay should give examples of the cost of various items, instead they chase you around and around. If I'm not correct then why is there a book on " Ebay for Dummies". Ebay should stop bouncing you around and make it simple to figure it out like it use to be in the old days. Is there any such thing like an Ebay Geek ???? Guess I won't be selling on Ebay.

Otto

morgoth813 · ‎09-19-2013

What I do find obnoxious is charging a % of the item cost when it's a cheap internet service to provide, entirely unrelated to the item price.

I guess ebay is trying to make as much money as possible before they're completely out of the picture.

barabytesnw · ‎12-04-2013

I'm glad I found this thread. I'm a new seller but I've been a member for 7 years. I was SHOCKED. when my $198.88 sold. At first I immediately saw the 2% or thereabout come off the top for PayPal. Although I read (or should I say thought I read) the Seller agreement. I didn't recall seeing anything about 10+ percent plus (insert fee) plus (insert fee). here are the hard numbers. $198.88 SOLD $192.xx when Paypal was done with it (and then the 4 day wait to transfer it to my bank) AND THEN Ebay just Invoiced me and WOAH $20.92 due by Dec 15.. $8.xx something to paypal. $20.92 to Ebay and since I offered free expedited shipping I got to pay $15.72 to ship it ...all said and told. $44.64 in fees and shipping. I'm not a brain surgeon but that looks close to 25%....that's before we talk about the money spent getting the item ready for sale. I wish the Fee Schedule were more transparent. This is the 3rd time Ebay's broadsided me and I'm a little disenchanted....okay ALOT.

johnrj1226 · ‎12-04-2013

FVF fees are based on the final selling price & S & H that the buyer paid - the percentage is the same - wheter it is a 2 ounce shipment or 50 pound item.

Sellers should predetermined all their expected selling costs before listing an item add their desired profit margin and set that as a minimum selling price they are will to accept- if market pricing says they can sell it for more increase the sell price, if the market price says you calculated sell price is too high thenyou have two descions to make - don't sell it on eBay or reduce you profit margin.

Recently, I bought an item for $2.00 and was able to sell it for $158.00 w/shipping included - my gross margin was $126.81 after deducting - all my eBay/PayPal Fees, shipping cost plus $2.00 acquistion cost (total $31.19). I'm Happy, Happy, Happy. That don't happen everyday for sure - but I sell stuff I can make a nice profit and discontinue selling stuff that produces minimal profit due to market pricing decrease due to market saturation of product & sellers offering the same or similar item.

"I have the right to remain silent but I didn't have the ability." Ron White, Fritch, Texas
"Stay away from negative people, they have a problem for every solution." A. Einstein
The Devil made me do it! - Flip Wilson
If the band can only play loud - they ain't no good - peps too J.R. Johnson

maconlytech · ‎12-09-2013

I think 10% of the ebay sale is bad enough .... but 10% of shipping charges too! Ridiculous!

It makes me want to create an auction forum myself and charge the 3% they used to.

It was not that long ago ...

It was 3% to ebay and 3% to paypal.

Screw this **bleep**. Sorry ebay, but you've become just another greedy conglomerate.

You've made it worst too by not allowing a seller to leave feedback after a **bleep**py buyer doesn't pay.

Worst still, only supplying recourse to buyer protection.... not seller protection....

And then gouging the seller for it.

More than twice this year ... buyers have tried to do the ol'switcheroo on logic boards on me.

You were about to close the last case in the buyers favour until I had proof from photos in MY listing that the serial numbers didn't match to the item they sent back.

I feel bad for a seller that didn't have proof! You would have ruled in their favour. pffff

I've had 4 unpaid item cases in the last 6 months and had to wait 10 days to relist the item. (that's BS)

I might never use ebay for selling again after paying these expensive, undeserving, gouging seller fees this year.

I think I'm done selling for good on ebay.

Someday you will learn that having product to sell on your site is as important as attracting buyers.

If nothing is up ... the buyers won't come you morons.

What's wrong?.... Is AMAZON kicking your ass?

Signed

maconlytech · ‎12-09-2013

Disappointed EBAY member (buyer and seller) of 14 years

Agreed!

prinzparsiphal · ‎12-21-2013

The secret is : buy low, sell high.

captain77450 · ‎01-03-2014

WOW. OUCH. I sell an item on eBay for $40 and it cost me >$10 in fees and shipping, counting eBay and Pay.OUCH What a racket. Did not use to be that way. GREEDY!

drumstash · ‎01-06-2014

Hello, I want to write this comment/reply from the perspective of a young entrepreneur concerning my personal experience with eBay, hopefully to help someone else trying to do something similar to what I'm doing in the future

I buy and sell used musical equipment and gear - primarily drums, cymbals, and guitars, and I use eBay and Craigslist as my primary means of getting my "product" out there. My plan is to buy drums/equipment in bulk and break the parts out to double my money. I'm not doing it just for fun, it is my primary source of income so if I'm not doubling or more it's not really worth the time and investment.On Craigslist this is easy.Let's say I end up basically getting a cymbal for $50. I would expect to sell for $100. Someone emails or calls me, we arrange a meeting and I sell the cymbal. It's simple from that point. I have $50 profit (minus a 10% savings and 10% tithes which I advise for ANYONE, and then the often overlooked cost of gas.) And that's it. Deal done! ... With eBay however, it works differently. First off, obviously there is a shipping cost, lets say $15 a cymbal, so I simply would list the same cymbal at buy it now or starting bid of $115. I soon realized that, "hey, eBay just took $500 from me!". Figured out about that FVF (final value fee) of 9% and had to change my math. Now the $100 cymbal I figure is 100 x 1.1 (adding roughly 10%) + $15 = $130. So at that, I should see my $50 profit again, but things never really added up... My fault for not researching further but live and learn.

Anyway, I sold a bunch of items this last Christmas (2013, its now Jan 06 2014), doing the formula above which shoul've left me with 1% or so extra profit in my Paypal account, but low and behold - Yesterday I received a bill from eBay saying "Hi, we've come to collect $250 or so you weren't expecting". After now even FURTHER research I realize that I was loosing money in all sorts of hidden fees.

As people have shed light on above/below (i don't blog often.. lol) It is more like 20% in fees plus shipping. That includes the Paypal fees that I thought were small enough not to matter.. they add up!

So my new formula is now 1.21X+S=whatishouldbeabletochargewithoutgettinganunexpectedbilllater...

Or - Items value multiplied by 21% (giving me roughly the 20% fee in the cost) + the shipping = What I should be able to charge without getting slapped with a bill from eBay later on: making my business very difficult through eBay.

So to sum up above, I estimate that I have to charge $136 for a $100 cymbal to get the $50 I paid I was expecting (which it's not worth and I wont get) and that at only charging the $115 (value+shipping) I am billed later roughly $23, leaving me with HALF my expected profit at $27 or 54% profit rather than 100%.

I will personally will have to stick primarily on Craigslits or just find a way to buy so low that I can compensate for all the fees here on eBay or just open up a phisical store locally which would rock. But DO YOUR RESEARCH. It's not eBay's fault I keep getting burned or anyone else. It's mine and the other sellers out there for simply not researching. But as I said before, live and learn!

Keep at it entrepreneurs!

Go Capitalism!

"A wise man may fall seven time, but he gets up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the foolish"

- Proverbs 24:16 (The My Butchered-but-you-get-the-point Version)

headofkorn · ‎01-08-2014

Hey Guys, nice thread !!!

Totally agreed with previous post, that it's our fault that we don't do the researches before starting to sell. I personally just started selling stuff on ebay not so long ago(maybe sold 10 items) and a few days ago i received the invoice, and took the calculator with my wife and started counting all the fees and all the expenses, so we end up with almost 25% deducted from the total amount that we sold, and even though they have they're "Fee Calculator" that says insertion fees $0.00, and final value fee = about 10-12% from the item price, they end up somehow to charge almost $30 in fees from a $250 total amount of sales, and thtas without the PayPal Fees.

PLEASE SELLERS DO ALL THE RESEARCHES BEFORE STARTING TO SELL

, not like me after receiving the invoice and wondering why it's so much. But I guess if someone's reading this it's already kinda late and you're already stocked in the middle of the problem and trying to figure out what's going on.

So, I agree that Craigslist it's a bit better 'cause it don't have the fees, but it's also kind of a pain in the a*s that it's usually just a local thing and sometimes you're expecting the buyer to come by and they just don't show up and you're ending up wasting your time.

SO, AGAIN PEOPLE, DO ALL THE RESEARCHES BEFORE STARTING TO SELL.

GOOD LUCK SELLING EVERYONE !!!

camarotoolman · ‎01-09-2014

Craigs list is free, but you have deal with ass holes calling, texting, and coming to your house. Taking the stuff to a flee market also costs alot, gas rent , tolls, truck exspenses etc. them if it rains! As stated auctions house are pricey. I think the only way to get over is if you have a reallly good flee market or swap meet close to home. But, generally they are not that good any more. I have quit going aot of places Iused to go to and do good. So ebay looks good to me. Also I usually get 15% more form my stuff onebay, but other stuff sells better @the flee or Craigs. Between the 3 . I still do okay, but not like the 80s 90s.