Does anyone else think that eBay's fees require revisiting.

[22sangers]

Ebay charges 10.9% (including GST) on the final value amount of your sale including the postage and handling costs. I have been informed by Ebay that this is due to some sellers listing items for a small value and then charging exhorbitant postage costs to get around paying as much in GST. Ebay's answer is to charge everyone GST on postage regardless of whether you are doing the right thing or not. My postage and handling costs are worked out as per Australia Post's fees and this is my cost to post items in Australia These fees already include GST so in effect we are paying the GST twice on postage. It may not be as big an issue for those with stores but when you are just trying to sell your childs's toys so they can make a bit of extra money it seems rude that Ebay wants to take so much of it. 

[kopenhagen5]

This topic has been discussed at length over the years since it was introduced.

You can search for other threads on the same.

eBay's website, eBay's rules. (And it's within Australian laws)

I usually just add it into the items I sell then I don't even notice it.

So if I am selling something for $40 then I list it for $46.

Many sellers including myself have found when an item is increasd in price, it sells.

Too cheap and buyers might think something is wrong with it.

I started an item at 20, had zero interest then changed it to 30 and it sold yesterday.

[collect247]

I used to sell with free postage and included the fees into my selling price

[brerrabbit585]

You aren't paying GST twice on the postage.  Your fees are for the service ebay provides and you're paying GST on those fees.  Yes, paying fees on the postage amount sucks but if we weren't paying it we'd be paying higher fees on the item price.  It'd probably be a more level playing field if the fees were higher on the item price and there were no fees on postage because some of us use letterpost and pay less fees on postage, but we get no seller protection most of the time (no tracking) so it evens out.

Ebay is a company owned by shareholders and if they don't make a return on their investment I'm afraid there would be no ebay.  I'd definitely rather pay a bit more in fees than the site not exist at all.

[chameleon54]

I havnt found a seller yet who believes charging commission on the postage component of the sale is fair and equitable and I,m not fond of it myself, especially when Australian sellers using international mail to sell to OS clients pay the full commission, but some other countries do not.

BUT .......

At the time the extra fee was introduced, ebay as a company was struggling to remain financially viable. It is a global company mixing in the same league as Amazon & Google, but was returning pitiful profits that where less than any of Australias major banks where making at the time. In one of the three years prior to the fee on postage being introduced ebay actually made a loss. The introduction of the fee on postage dramatically increased the fee income that ebay received from sellers and enabled the company to return to some level of reasonable profit.

Had ebay not increased its fees, one way or another there is a strong chance the company would have either gone broke completely or have become the victim of corporate vulture, hedge funds who would have trashed the company, shorting its share price, causing financial chaos for the company ( particularly with any loans they held ) or stripping its assetts and then dumping what was left of the company. Thats what often happens to struggling, " Lame Duck " companies on global stock exchanges.

If you want to use the services of a huge global company to sell your kids toys, unfortunatelly you have to accept that there is a cost involved in providing that service to you.

[tiggywink92]

I hardly ever sell on here anymore.  I have noticed that the fees are above crazy, 3 lots of fees so im lucky to make a few dollars an item.  Have you tried selling on facebook selling pages i sell 98% of my items and sell ALOT and i can sell them abit cheaper as you dont have to add on so much for all the 3 fees.

[mj_v2.0]

I’m fed up with eBays fees, I think for people selling one or two items here and there we are massively ripped off, I think greed is becoming before the users, customers service to recitify a stuff up is non existent, I won’t be ripped off anymore 

that’s why I no longer will sell anything on eBay.  I know not all will agree, but I don’t care, eBay can stick their fees. I’m closing account when I can, apparently 10 days to wait.  I’ve just argued this to two so called Australian live chat assistants, that supposedly live in Australia. 

[mj_v2.0]

Still BS a ripoff mate

[mj_v2.0]

Yep, brilliant now for selling on Facebook. No fees

[mj_v2.0]

Capalists pigs eBay