topic Re: eBay fees for postage. in Selling

eBay fees for postage.

6528marcia — Mon, 30 May 2022 01:57:04 GMT

I too am frustrated by eBay including postage cost in FVF. It seems very unfair. eBay doesn't do anything with post so why do they have the right to profit from the post service? I know sellers brought this upon themselves in the past by reducing the price of an item and increasing the price of postage, But, surely there is someone in eBay clever enough to work out the estimated price of an item now. If we enter the size and weight we get an estimate of post cost. As a casual seller, trying to supplement my age pension, I am disheartened by the result of selling my once precious items. My recent was a book 1911 vintage with a limited interest group. I know it would be very valuable in the USA but I am not experienced enough to deal with international sales. The book sold for $65 incl post. Post cost $15.99. So, by the time eBay finished I received $22.68 for a book that could be worth $50. I am limited in mobility and computer skills, so although angry with eBay, I feel I am stuck to getting meagre amount for my relics. A raspberry to eBay.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

katistrophik — Mon, 30 May 2022 02:12:15 GMT

AFAIK eBay has charged FVF on postage since 2011, not likely to stop now.

You simply need to build this into your Cost of Sales

Re: eBay fees for postage.

gutterpunkz05 — Mon, 30 May 2022 02:14:52 GMT

Total Invoice $65.00 @ 13.4% = FVF $8.71 = BAL $56.29

Postage Via ebay or AP - $15.99

BALANCE = $40.30

Unless you were also paying for additional ebay options or promotion fees.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

jellybirddesigns — Mon, 30 May 2022 02:15:57 GMT

I'm confused - that book sold for $49 PLUS postage of $16, which the buyer paid for, not you.

Fees are approx 13.4% of the TOTAL combined value which would have been just under $9.00.

Not sure how you could have only gotten $22.68 left over. When you click on the Seller Hub - All Transactions and look at the sale - it summarises it for you in 3 columns - Amount/Fees/Net. How much were your fees?

Why are you blaming Ebay though - you're the one setting your prices and choosing whether to charge the buyer for postage or not.

Smart sellers know how to account for all fees so that they never (or vary rarely) run at a loss.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

davewil1964 — Mon, 30 May 2022 09:31:41 GMT

As most have said, your calculations are inaccurate (unless you are including purchase cost, which has nothing to do with eBay). The charges have been extant for many years, something, as a seller, you should have kept yourself apprised of.

Your age or disability has nothing to do with it. eBay is an online level playing field.

You could always try other sites - you are not forced to sell on eBay.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

gutterpunkz05 — Mon, 30 May 2022 10:27:28 GMT

Apart from the mathematical errors, the OP seems to be missing the point that sellers charge for postage + packing and handling. There is no way that ebay can account for individual handling charges.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

p9games — Tue, 31 May 2022 03:28:24 GMT

If Ebay didnt charge FVF on postage sellers would change $100 listings to $1 + $99 postage. I'm sure that would be wonderful for the long term future of the Ebay platform and the thousands of sellers who have built a business on it

Re: eBay fees for postage.

neuvecottage — Tue, 31 May 2022 10:32:12 GMT

eBay is not a non for profit orginisation. I too, don,t like giving my money away. But, eBay provide me a platform to make a little money to offset the low interest rates on my savings. I don,t and never expected to make a living out of eBay. They provide a service. You decide if the service is good for you.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

katistrophik — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 00:40:33 GMT

@p9games wrote:
If Ebay didnt charge FVF on postage sellers would change $100 listings to $1 + $99 postage. I'm sure that would be wonderful for the long term future of the Ebay platform and the thousands of sellers who have built a business on it

This ^^^^^^^

And that was the exact reason eBay took steps to change this in 2011. **bleep** sellers who ruined it for everyone

Re: eBay fees for postage.

k1ooo-slr-sales — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 03:59:25 GMT

@katistrophik wrote:
@p9games wrote:
If Ebay didnt charge FVF on postage sellers would change $100 listings to $1 + $99 postage. I'm sure that would be wonderful for the long term future of the Ebay platform and the thousands of sellers who have built a business on it
This ^^^^^^^
And that was the exact reason eBay took steps to change this in 2011. **bleep** sellers who ruined it for everyone

there are other reasons too.

Back when eBay started charging fees on postage they were trying to get sellers to offer “free postage”. We all know that there is no such thing as “free postage” and the correct terminology would be “postage included”.

Anyway, eBay claimed to have research saying that sellers who offered free postage were more likely to sell more. They never released details about their so-called research, but they pushed hard for sellers to change postage habits.

eBay also justified the fee on postage by pointing out that sellers who included postage in their pricing structure paid fees on the transaction total while those that charged for postage only paid fees on item price. They claimed it “levelled the playing field”, which is true.

At the time, eBay also pointed out that other online selling platforms charged fees based on the total transaction and not just item price.

eBay have continued to encourage sellers to offer free postage through incentives and/or “badges”.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

gudasnu2005 — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 06:04:59 GMT

I, too, am not happy with ebay charges on postage but I do understand why they do it. I do think that ebay can do something to be fair to sellers though.

And this is my suggestion: ebay I do hope you are listening.

ebay knows what Australia Post charges, and it can also access what other couriers charge, even international post. With your computerised system, you will know if the postage being charged by a seller is ridiculously high, for example, $100 postage to send a CD/DVD.

Then ebay can charge only on the excess postage.

What you have to require of sellers will be the weight and size of the parcel, so that you can work out the highest postage possible.

COMPUTE: Seller Postage LESS Highest Postage (possible out there) = $Amount that ebay can charge fee on!!! I think this will be fair for both parties - ebay and sellers.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

sandypebbles — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 06:30:26 GMT

eBay do not read people's comments here

Re: eBay fees for postage.

katistrophik — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 23:23:43 GMT

..........as sandy said eBay do not visit here, and to answer your 'idea' - eBay has over 18million sellers worldwide with over a billion listings - what you want them to do would be impossible, well it might be theoretically possible, but to pay for extra staff to handle such an enormous job your fee's would be sky high.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

k1ooo-slr-sales — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 23:52:25 GMT

@gudasnu

your suggestion does not take into account the push by eBay to get sellers to offer 'free postage'.

Your idea would offer an incentive for sellers to charge for postage.

Re: eBay fees for postage.

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 07:38:38 GMT

My approach to eBay fees is that I've run a bricks and mortar store and the costs of that are way beyond the

+/- 20% ebay take of my sales. I factor in these costs and I also charge a discounted postage fee. I post directly with Aust post, buy my own mailers and receive a reduction on parcel post costs due to volume, I pass a % of this to my customers. I'll offer free post for multibuys and this cost is factored in across my store. I don't agree with offering free post as it just brings out the pests. I believe if you were to sell 'relics' on Gumtree or even through a consignment you'd end up with around the same and most probably a continual headache from tyre kickers. I'd just look what you're trying to achieve $ wise and go to the platform which serves you best. Ebay, Amazon and the like are all business' and are also here to make a bottom line. 🙂

Re: eBay fees for postage.

glenbankloel — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 22:32:14 GMT

I am afraid that you are "flogging a dead horse".

This topic and situation has been around for a long time now, and although if you ask any seller about it they will not agree with it, there is nothing that you can do to change it.

You must make sure that you know your selling costs, and incorporate those costs into your item or suffer the loss.

We do not include post in very many of our items, (unless we have a reason to do so) the buyer nearly always pays for post on top of the purchase price and we pad the item to make sure that the % taken by eBay is not out of our pocket.

Their fee is shown on the details in the "sale" so you can see very clearly how much you have paid to them.

We are also trying to prop up our pensions as well as you, so understand where you are coming from. And many other sellers are in the same boat.

Sorry that you had this bad experience on this particular piece, wishing you many sales and good luck going forward.