How can ebay still morally and ethically charge commissions for shipping fees?!?!?

[genetics1982]

In 2021, i'm still amazed that ebay continue to charge seller fees for postage. How can this still be the case?

We can choose a specific Australia Post cost based on the item size and weight, so eBay know this is a fixed cost, not a profit, so why is ebay still charging commissions on shipping fees?

Its a disgrace and if not addressed soon, i'll raise it with the ACCC and Ombudsmen. And leave eBay permanently after that.

[genetics1982]

Why do they charge fees on postage?  

Simple.  If they didn't, people would sell $20 items for $1 plus $19 for postage, and thus avoid fees.

Poor eBay, you think they're so dumb they can't work out a system to track reasonable postage costs? 

Is it fair to sellers?

Yes. 100%. Ebay fees are a cost of business and should be factored into your business plan and pricing structure.  Business 101

Ok, so you're saying if postage costs me $10, i need to charge the extra % on postage to cover eBay fees? That's good for Ebay but not for the buyer.

[genetics1982]

Yeah, i've had to increase item and postage costs to cover the ebay fees, but that's not really fair for the buyer.

I'd like to be able to sell items at a fairer price and realistic postage costs, which is what ebay should be facilitating. 

[gutterpunkz05]

It could have something to do with the fact that it is postage & handling,  and no matter what postage charge you want auto uploaded, sellers can also add what ever they like to cover handling, packaging etc. 

It is not and never will be a one size fits all scenario.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

There's no point being offended by eBay's fee structure, on moral or ethical grounds - as in, this won't fly with the ACCC. It didn't several years ago, and it definitely won't now. 

If you want to make a change, you would need solid evidence of that fee structure being in breach of specific laws / regulations, or you will need to prove that it actively stifles competition and / or hurts consumer choice (and those aren't points you can work backwards on, or find a theory that matches and conclude it must be true, you need data that proves it. Being personally disadvantaged by it also won't matter to the ACCC, because in a nutshell all you would be saying to them is "I contracted a service and then when I was made to pay for it, I thought it was too expensive, despite it being the exact percentage of X I knew it was going to be"). 

There are many practices eBay should be taken to task for, IMHO, I laid quite a few of them out in the survey the ACCC recently conducted, but JMHO the fees on postage is one of the more benign ones. That survey is now closed, but you can find more info about it here - it's worth taking a look at, because it will help show you exactly what the ACCC is interested in when looking at online marketplaces. (My impression was that they were most interested in the "other" site's practices, the one where they have their own warehouse and often sell the same things their sellers do, and just threw a couple of other sites into the mix in the interest of looking fair / unbiased, lol). https://consultation.accc.gov.au/mergers-and-adjudication/survey-for-small-business-sellers-general-...

[springyzone]

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@genetics1982 wrote:

Its not a personal opinion, its a statement.

Here's an example:

Aus Post charge $9.4 for a prepaid satchel. You then ad in Aus Post tracking when selling. Why should you be charged a fee for postage if the cost to you is $9.4? Its simply immoral. 

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I don't know about immoral. others have outlined why ebay needed to cover postage as the system was being abused with some sellers asking practically nothing for the item but a high price for postage and that annoyed buyers no end, buyers who almost got caught. Ebay had to fix the problem.

The examples of postage overcharges given were hypotheticals to get the point across and you asked-could the ebay system not pick up on 'unreasonable' postage. But the problem was not all the real life ads were as extreme. Often there was slight padding of the postage cost so the item came out looking cheaper compared to other sellers of similar items, but maybe not enough to be picked up by any computer program as 'extreme' or necessarily unreasonable. But the seller still walked away paying slightly less than was fair to ebay and that in itself was not necessarily ethical or moral.

I think your problem is you are thinking if the postage for a satchel is $9.40, that that is exactly what you should be charging the buyer and then you lose out once you pay fees on it.

But there are a lot of reasons why a seller could quite ethically ask for more than the baseline $9.40. For starters, sellers may be using bubble wrap or some other sort of wrap before they place the item in the satchel. They are perhaps printing out labels too. It all costs money and it is not wrong for a seller to add on a bit to cover those extras. 

It is true that buyers don't like postage costs that are way higher than what the seller paid but most understand why there would be a little extra. If I were selling, I'd add the ebay fees onto the cost of the item before I listed.

I don't see that as cheating because in any business there are expenses and ebay fees are what sellers pay for exposure, so covering business expenses and selling at a profit is quite ethical.

[cezm]

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@genetics1982 wrote:

Why do they charge fees on postage?  

Simple.  If they didn't, people would sell $20 items for $1 plus $19 for postage, and thus avoid fees.

Poor eBay, you think they're so dumb they can't work out a system to track reasonable postage costs? 

It also protects buyers from only being able to get a $1 refund on an item if they return it

[philliplye]

I guessed at the post on the last thing I sold. $30, and the post cost me $47.  Does that mean I am a cheat and robbing ebay?

[repentatleisure1952]

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@philliplye wrote:

I guessed at the post on the last thing I sold. $30, and the post cost me $47.  Does that mean I am a cheat and robbing ebay?

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Not at all.

It just shows you're not very smart when it comes to correctly reading a post or setting your postage prices.

[phchbr]

There is a valid problem here. Ebay can charge what they want, and people can choose to use it or do something else. I'd prefer to use it than risk the Wild West of GumTree, and I'm ok paying a fee for the protection offered by ebay. Their reason including postage in the fee calculation, ie that people are selling for $1 and charging $99 postage, when in fact the goods are worth $90 and postage costs $10, seems a bit lame in this age of AI and machine learning, but again, I can either put up with it or go somewhere else.

The problem is that the seller's fee varies depending on where the goods are being shipped to, and by what method. I just sold something as a private seller, not a store seller, on ebay Australia for A$137.50 to someone in Canada. The buyer requested Express postage. I got a quote for A$36, plus an Australia Post packing box and insurance, total A$42. I discovered after everything had been agreed by the buyer, that sending Express bumped up ebay's fee to me, the seller, from 17% to 19% of the sale price. Had the buyer been in Australia and happy with a standard shipping service, my total fee would have been 16%. If he'd requested a courier to Canada, my fee would have been 25%! And none of this benefits me in the least. You might say ebay gave me access to an overseas buyer, but they also charged me 1% for that. Ok, so I've learned a valuable lesson.

I assumed that if I looked through goods for sale by private sellers that I would see people protecting themselves from these fee variations. I expected to see comments like "Ebay fees are calculated on the sale price plus the postage. If posting by Express or any service other than Standard, or if posting outside of Australia, the buyer will bear the additional ebay fees incurred". I can't see anything like that. Does anyone know if people protect themselves in this way?

[davewil1964]

Wrong.

Learn maths.

Fees are charged on the transaction at about 13.4%. There might be a currency conversion fee, but selling domestically will never be 16%, unless you have below standard ratings. Most of us don't, so if you are in the minority that has poor performance defects, it is down to you, rather than eBay