How do we find the total profit on a sale after the fees?

[thesoulyearns]

There are apparently eBay fees (7.9% for a casual seller, capped at $100) and PayPal fees.

So, I'm just wondering if there is anywhere that we can find the total profit on a sale after all of the necessary fees are added up? PayPal's website shows a deduction but I don't think the eBay fees are accounted for there and I can't find out where it says on eBay.

[lyndal1838]

Is this a joke?  You have been selling since the end of May and you do not know what fees you are paying or where to find them?

There are other factors in working out your profit besides the obvious fees....what about the original cost of the item if you are buying things for reselling?

[phorum_junkie*]

Click on the Account tab on your My Ebay page and you will be able to see all activity, the individual fee for each item will be displayed.

The $100 limit is per item and applies only to the free listings.

[digital*ghost]

eBay reports tally both theirs and PayPal's fees - I look at them occasionally so I'm a little vague on exactly what they show (I generally use them to compare only the total monthly fees / profit, rather than for individual sales, plus I can't quite remember if the reports are available with Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro - sorry  :8} )

The best method is to use a spreadsheet, either Excel (Microsoft Office), or the virtually identical - but free - Open Office version; that way you can account for all costs associated with each sale.

Set up a table that automatically calculates net profit by deducting all costs from the total payment for any sale. (That's a very simple 'explanation', if you don't know how to use a spreadsheet or set up the formulas so that they automatically calculate as soon as you enter the figures, I'd suggest maybe googling for an online tutorial for the basics I can give you some pointers, but might not be able to explain it very well if you aren't familiar with spreadsheets).

I set one up ages ago and if done right, you only need to put the work in once. 😉

[thesoulyearns]

Click on the Account tab on your My Ebay page and you will be able to see all activity, the individual fee for each item will be displayed.

The $100 limit is per item and applies only to the free listings.

Thankyou very much. I'm looking at the Invoice now and it's showing the eBay deductions for each sold item. eBay and PP show different calculations though. Here's an example of what the same listing shows on eBay's and PP's website:

eBay:

Sold price - $3.25 + $2 postage

eBay's FVF - $3.25 minus $0.26

Total after fees - $4.99

PayPal:
Total amount - $5.25 AUD ($3.25 + $2 postage)

Fee amount - $0.43 AUD

Net amount - $4.82 AUD

I'm still a bit confused about which one to follow or how to add them up to find out the exact deductions/final price.

Thanks, d*g. A spreadsheet sounds like a good idea. Is it reliable, as far as the % of fees being the same each time?

[the-kazbar]

No one can tell you the amount. You need to work it out for each item.

selling price - (ebay FVF + PP fee + listing fee + items cost) = gross profit

So, in your example, your FVF was $0.26, the PP fee for the item price was $0.38, did it cost you anything to list? How much did it cost you to buy?

Postage is not meant to be profit producing so you should not include any of that in the calculation for each item. It should cover your costs related to P&H only (and the PP fee portion related to P&H)

You also need to take in to account income tax, GST, spoilage, costs related to customer returns, lost parcels plus other general business costs.

[thesoulyearns]

No one can tell you the amount. You need to work it out for each item.

selling price - (ebay FVF + PP fee + listing fee + items cost) = gross profit

So, in your example, your FVF was $0.26, the PP fee for the item price was $0.38, did it cost you anything to list? How much did it cost you to buy?

Postage is not meant to be profit producing so you should not include any of that in the calculation for each item. It should cover your costs related to P&H only (and the PP fee portion related to P&H)

You also need to take in to account income tax, GST, spoilage, costs related to customer returns, lost parcels plus other general business costs.

I included postage because from reading the boards, postage is included in the PP fees. Also, that's how PP adds it up on their website. Thanks, so you minus both the eBay and PP fees. I wish both would work together and provide a simple table that shows exactly what the final profit per item is, after all of the fees, instead of having to look at both websites and make the deductions ourselves... maybe they don't want us to know how much we're losing.

How did you get $0.38, shouldn't it be $0.45?

[thesoulyearns]

Sorry, meant $0.43.

[misterforgetfulsbooks]

Maybe if you could put into the formula what the item cost you 1st, then everyone would know how much profit you made:^O

[thesoulyearns]

Maybe if you could put into the formula what the item cost you 1st, then everyone would know how much profit you made:^O

Didn't think of that. Well, I guess I was just trying to find out the best way to easily deduct all of the fees from eBay and PP. But I guess you just take away the fees from both websites.