Final value fees and postage

[sweetsherry1]

I am absolutely appalled that my final value fee was charged on the total price including postage. Postage is not money in my pocket. It was $70 paid by the buyer to get the article to themselves. How can they do that and get away with it. That must be illegal. I will NOT be selling any large cost items on ebay again. That is highway robbery. sweetsherry1

[phchbr]

Then please help me understand the facts. The numbers I've used are, from my understanding of how the fees appear to work, correct. I had an online chat with the ebay support team and they confirmed that the numbers are correct. I posted a clear explanation of my concern because it's not simple enough to be explained in a couple of sentences. I posted it in two threads because it's frequent to post these sorts of things and get no response, or one that is rude or unhelpful. The final sentence is a question.

[davewil1964]

The fees are around 13.4%, depending on store subscription. Your claim of 25% is thus unsubstantiated unless you can provide actual figure to support it. Which is unlikely, as they aren't.

It's not hard. All you need is a calculator or a few braincells.

[phchbr]

Yes, ebay quotes its final value fee as 13.4% of the final value of the goods plus postage (there's also a fixed fee and a variable fee for selling to an international buyer). As a seller though, I want to know what percentage of the final value of the goods is being eaten up by ebay fees.

Final value: $137.50
Postage: $42.00 (International Express)
Basis for fee: $179.50
Final value fee: $24.05
Fixed fee: $0.30
International sale fee: $1.97
Total fees: $26.33
Fees as %age of Final Value (ie, of $137.50): 19%

So my item sold for $137.50. The buyer is paying $137.50. I'm paying 19% of that in fees. If the buyer had been in Australia and had been happy with standard postage, here's how the figures look:

Final value: $137.50
Postage: $14.05 (Domestic Standard)
Basis for fee: $151.55
Final value fee: $20.31
Fixed fee: $0.30
International sale fee: $1.67
Total fees: $22.27
Fees as %age of Final Value (ie, of $137.50): 16%

The buyer was outside of Australia. If they had asked me to courier the goods, here's how the figures would have looked:

Final value: $137.50
Postage: $96.00 (International Courier)
Basis for fee: $233.50
Final value fee: $31.29
Fixed fee: $0.30
International sale fee: $2.57
Total fees: $34.16
Fees as %age of Final Value (ie, of $137.50): 25%

So the shipping cost, determined by the location of the buyer, and their choice of shipping method, affects the fee I pay, calculated as a percentage of what the buyer has agreed to pay for the goods. The buyer is paying $137.50 and I lose either 16%, 19% or 25% of that, depending on where they are and how they want it shipped. So my question, as asked in my original post, is do people protect themselves against this?

[phchbr]

Apologies, I got one number wrong. If the buyer had been in Australia, there would have been no International sale fee:

Final value: $137.50
Postage: $14.05 (Domestic Standard)
Basis for fee: $151.55
Final value fee: $20.31
Fixed fee: $0.30
International sale fee: $0.00

Total fees: $20.61
Fees as %age of Final Value: 15%

[gutterpunkz05]

You keep reverting to the FV less postage, which is not how it works,  and you should have added ebays  fee  to whatever postage quote, express etc, when you invoiced the buyer.

[phchbr]

I understand that ebay includes postage when calculating their fee. I'm not complaining about ebay's fees.

Here's an example to illustrate the point I'm making. Let's say I'm selling something like a concert ticket. It has a face value of $50 and I'm happy to sell it for its face value. The buyer is happy to pay the face value. I'm also happy to pay ebay's fees for the convenience of them finding me a buyer and handling the transaction. If the buyer is in Australia and is happy for me to post the ticket in the mail with a standard $1.10 stamp, my ebay fee will be $7.15, ie 14% of the face value of the ticket. I would consider that to be a reasonable fee for the convenience ebay provides me with. If the buyer asks me to send it by Express Post at a cost to them of $7.45, my ebay fee will be $8.00, ie 16% of the face value of the ticket. Probably still not unreasonable. However, if they ask me to courier across the country it at a cost to them of $70, then my ebay fees will be $16.38, ie 33% of the face value of the ticket. That's no longer reasonable, but if the buyer requests it, I'm kind of stuck with it. If they're in another country and want it couriered as fast as possible at a cost to them of $200, my ebay fee will be $36.55, ie I will have paid ebay fees of 73% of face value of the ticket.

So in this example, whether I pay 14% or 73% of the indisputable value of the ticket in ebay fees is determined by where the buyer is and how they choose to have it sent to them. I could refuse to courier it, but that could lead to a dispute. I could charge the buyer for the extra ebay fees I will incur because of their choice of shipping method. So for example, if the buyer is overseas and is happy with economy air at a cost to them of $3.40, I will end up with $41.96. If they wanted it couriered and I still wanted to end up with $41.96, I'd need to charge them $233.35 for the $200 courier and keep the extra $33.35. That gets complicated because every extra cent you charge them for postage increases the ebay fees. But if I don't do something like that, I'm going to end up with $13.45 from my $50 ticket, instead of $41.96, because of something the buyer decided to do that's of no benefit to me.

[sugar249]

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@phchbr wrote:

I understand that ebay includes postage when calculating their fee. I'm not complaining about ebay's fees.

Here's an example to illustrate the point I'm making. Let's say I'm selling something like a concert ticket. It has a face value of $50 and I'm happy to sell it for its face value. The buyer is happy to pay the face value. I'm also happy to pay ebay's fees for the convenience of them finding me a buyer and handling the transaction. If the buyer is in Australia and is happy for me to post the ticket in the mail with a standard $1.10 stamp, my ebay fee will be $7.15, ie 14% of the face value of the ticket. I would consider that to be a reasonable fee for the convenience ebay provides me with. If the buyer asks me to send it by Express Post at a cost to them of $7.45, my ebay fee will be $8.00, ie 16% of the face value of the ticket. Probably still not unreasonable. However, if they ask me to courier across the country it at a cost to them of $70, then my ebay fees will be $16.38, ie 33% of the face value of the ticket. That's no longer reasonable, but if the buyer requests it, I'm kind of stuck with it. If they're in another country and want it couriered as fast as possible at a cost to them of $200, my ebay fee will be $36.55, ie I will have paid ebay fees of 73% of face value of the ticket.

So in this example, whether I pay 14% or 73% of the indisputable value of the ticket in ebay fees is determined by where the buyer is and how they choose to have it sent to them. I could refuse to courier it, but that could lead to a dispute. I could charge the buyer for the extra ebay fees I will incur because of their choice of shipping method. So for example, if the buyer is overseas and is happy with economy air at a cost to them of $3.40, I will end up with $41.96. If they wanted it couriered and I still wanted to end up with $41.96, I'd need to charge them $233.35 for the $200 courier and keep the extra $33.35. That gets complicated because every extra cent you charge them for postage increases the ebay fees. But if I don't do something like that, I'm going to end up with $13.45 from my $50 ticket, instead of $41.96, because of something the buyer decided to do that's of no benefit to me.

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My head hurts.

I don't think you have understood or read a word anyone has said about this subject.  At the rate you are going with your silly maths,  you will end up owing Ebay more then the tickets are worth

[gutterpunkz05]

You have no idea, and may as well add in the cost of feeding your cat for a week.

If you get a quote  for shipment from a courier  @ $70.00  you then add 13.4%  ($9.38)  =  $79.38, which is what you invoice the buyer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzxVyO6cpos