eBay fees nearly 20% total

[jonik247]

I have been selling on eBay for more than 12 years and this year is don’t make profit at all through eBay, because of covid the sale went down and their fees went up so much. As the don’t use PayPal they charge fees total to 20%. So we have to be aware of their fee before selling. Thinking that they are cheap things to buy on eBay, we cannot do it anymore . We have to sale extra 20% to cover the fee they charge. It’s ridiculous. I may think to quit eBay for good. Because you are working for them instead for your self. 

[gutterpunkz05]

Ebays fees are a doddle,  All included in my sales price so the buyer pays them for me.

The actual sale fee,  As Dave has said, is  13.4% +30c  without a store, and by having a store subscription this figure is reduced.

Now you can get creative with the figures, and  ADD a store subscription, Ebay promotion, multiple categories , ebay apps subscriptions etc, even postage labels via ebay, to totally distort the figures.

I could even offer ebay a 50% commission on promotion sales, and then whinge that I am paying  astronomical fees, but again, that would simply be a distortion and totally irrelevant , as are all optional extras.

Now the only thing that will altar the % of sales fee is the  30c Fixed Portion, this will distort the percentage on low value items,  And of course there are the higher rates that apply to sellers who fail to meet service metrics.

Last time I checked, My total fees, including store sub and additional promotion fees, was still under 14%

[chameleon54]

And again for those who seem incapable of doing " simple maths " as dave calls it. .........Every single basic store that sells less than $300 per month ( and that could be quite a few judging by the number of sellers who have reported transaction declines of up to 60% recently ) will be paying over 20% basic fees to ebay without allowing for any add ons.

I,m not saying whether I agree or disagree with the fee structure ( but for the record I consider ebay's fees reasonable )  I,m simply presenting " verifiable facts " as Dave calls it rather than personal opinion or " dump on new posters " hyperbole.

And just as a side note one or two of the posters on this thread who claim they are not paying anything close to 20% in fees might do well to have a proper look at their selling id's and do some " simple maths " ( factoring in the store fee they have signed up for into their costs ) They may be in for a surprise.  

[davewil1964]

Every single Basic store that sells less than $300 per month needs to cancel the store. (And the break even is significantly more than that in most categories. For instance, in media, the store discount is 0.44%, GST inc. That requires $6,238 to break even ) Unless they have reasons to keep it. In which case the mathematically challenged should be factoring the (unnecessary these days) store cost into their selling cost.

Still no sympathy. I maintain a store. For brand awareness, the ability to choose my own sub-categories. It costs me, but like business cards, a part of doing business.

It doesn't come close to 20% though, even though I don't sell multi-K items.

[gutterpunkz05]

Hi Cham,  have done all the maths, have taken all ebay fees,  that includes  store fees and extra promotion  fees, into account.  Currently paying  13.8%   TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL.    Absolutely no mathematical errors.   Anyone paying anywhere near 20%, does not know what they are doing.

Just to Add all those extra free listing, wow what a saving there.

I must admit,  I do miss all those free weekend listings, prior to managed payments, which saw me paying less than 6% PP & ebay fees  total.

[gutterpunkz05]

Just to  add  Cham,  I am not here to offer free maths  or ebay account management,  that is up to every individual seller to learn how to make ebay work for them.

[chameleon54]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

Every single Basic store that sells less than $300 per month needs to cancel the store. (And the break even is significantly more than that in most categories. For instance, in media, the store discount is 0.44%, GST inc. That requires $6,238 to break even ) Unless they have reasons to keep it. In which case the mathematically challenged should be factoring the (unnecessary these days) store cost into their selling cost.

Still no sympathy. I maintain a store. For brand awareness, the ability to choose my own sub-categories. It costs me, but like business cards, a part of doing business.

It doesn't come close to 20% though, even though I don't sell multi-K items.

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You and and me and a huge number of other sellers use the store feature because it is really essential to run any sort of business on ebay. Besides the features you mention ( brand awareness being an important one ) the holiday function, categories, better CS support for larger stores and most importantly the upgraded record keeping facilities ( for tax etc. ) mean while a store may not be mandated it is really essential to run a professional business here ( large or small )

That being the case, the store cost needs to be included in calculations of monthly % fees paid to ebay. Anything less is dodgy, fudged figures.  While the break even point for 20% fees is a little bit over $300 a month in sales for a basic store, .............you might be interested to run the calculations on sales of around $450 in the last month  ................  They come in at around 18%  - 19 % of gross sales. Very close to the " nearly 20% " fees the OP mentioned. ( and scoffed at by some here )  " Simple Maths "

[chameleon54]

And if some-one has got the time to do more complex math ( I just did " Simple maths "  on the back of an envelope ) and nail the figure down exactly, I suspect the number for $450 sales per month will come in very close to 20% fees. 

I doubt that some posters here will be back though to give us an honest, accurate  answer of exactly what fees they are paying. ( or how their ' tickity boo " 90 day sales numbers are tracking compared with the previous 90 day period for that matter ) Falls of around 30% are pretty common from some selling id's I have looked at recently.

[gutterpunkz05]

Here  is some maths for you to calculate cham.   Note, we have all seen these members/sellers? come to the boards over the years, and they have all been told the same thing, Cancel your store sub.   You know the ones, they open stores with Zero Listings, or continue Store Subs after being banned from selling  etc etc.

So a member subscribes to a basic store  @ $27.45 / Month

They then fail to create any listings,  so revenue is  $0.00.

What percentage are they paying in fees,  who is responsible, and is the % a true reflection of ebay fees.

[jgom9081]

I am in the same boat you actually lose money with Ad fees and the Selling fee 19.86% or close enough to 20%,

I have stopped selling items on Ebay will not use again.

[padi*0409]

You shouldn't be paying any listing fees ("Ad fees" ?) at all unless you were putting promotions etc on your listings.

So unless you are adding postage charges to your fees, then there is no way you could be up for 19.86% fees.

Edit to add.  You should be building all fees into your selling price anyway, so that effectively the buyer is paying for them...............