Sneeky Final Value & Shipping Fees increase to 10.9%

[capricorntrading]

Don't know if anyone was made aware of the increase of the Final Value Sale and Final Value Postage has now increased to 10.9%

I have 3 different accounts and none have received any notification of fees increasing.

Another ripoff from eBay.  Sellers are the only reason eBay exists.  The way eBay keep leaning towards the Buyer almost makes selling here near impossible to make a profit.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@lizzyamelia wrote:
I think the issue is that now we are paying GST twice for the postage component which is wrong on all levels.

NETFLIX tax is for DIGITALLY delivered downloads supplied by a foreign source NOT for physical items sold over the internet But this is just ebay increasing their fees.

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lizzy, while you are right that paying GST twice on the postage component would be wrong on so many levels, you are WRONG on so many counts in the information you have posted.

You have taken a rather simplified view of what the Netflix tax includes, and it seems you have wrongly assumed that the use of the word "Netflix" would indicate that the Netflix tax is meant to only apply to goods like those provided by Netflix i.e. Digital downloads.  Worthy of note, are:

- eBay will not make a cent out of the Netflix tax, in fact, it may cost them as some sellers will stop selling because they either misunderstand the Netflix tax, OR, have read something some other misinformed person has written or said about the Netflix tax.

- there is no double-dipping by having to pay GST on the postage component of an eBay transaction

- Sellers will now be paying GST on their eBay fees, which is something they probably should have been doing since July 2000.

I suggest you you read the following

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/Budge...

particularly:

The key features of the ‘Netflix tax’ are as follows:

- it will be imposed on intangible supplies such as supplies of digital content, games and software—but will also extend to consultancy and professional services performed offshore for customers in Australia
- the liability for the GST will rest either with the supplier or with the operator of an electronic distribution service
- GST will be imposed at a rate of 10 per cent on the value of the supply
- at this stage it would appear that all intangible supplies will be caught, regardless of the value of the supply (currently goods valued of less than $1,000 from overseas suppliers over the internet imported by Australian consumers are not covered under the GST Act, hence it is likely there might be scope for this value of intangible supplies to be changed by regulation) and
- only supplies made to consumers will be caught: business-to-business transactions will be exempt.

[wornandnew24]

I just got my invoice from eBay.au. Can't wait till Amazon opens in Australia, then we will have some competition.

September 2017

Fees as a percentage of your sales
This month's eBay sales and fees

Total monthly sales
AU $327.50
Total monthly fees
12.84%
Based on your monthly fees and credits totaling AU $42.04, your fees as percentage of your sales is 12.84%

[lyndal1838]

I read somewhere that the Amazon fees are closer to 20%....how is that competition for fees of 12.84%?

Be careful what you wish for.

[collect247]

I heard it's between 8% and 15% selling fees but there will be no listing fees

[jeni!!]

I pay close to 10% in Ebay fees.
Regardless of the fees though, I'm not looking forward to Amazon moving into the Australian marketplace. It just means profits going overseas. And no doubt they will use a convoluted tax structure to avoid paying even their fair share of taxes here.
So we might gain pennies as consumers (and perhaps some will again a little as sellers). but overall for the country, it will be a big net loss.

[davewil1964]

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@eezipeezi888 wrote:

I heard it's between 8% and 15% selling fees but there will be no listing fees

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Please elucidate.

The last time I looked, and I actually looked, it was 20%. And I had to send my books to 'Murrica, pretty much. And who pays listing fees on eBay? A quick perusal of the boards will show many up in arms about potentially having to pay, even to the point of leasving niches for other sellers.

[imastawka]

I looked.  I see selling fees of 99c per item and the percentage works out

to be between 8%  and  25%  depending on the category.

But that's 'Murrican money.

[clarry100]

I agree with Lyndal. Be careful what you wish for with Amazon coming here.

It looks as tho Amazon are far tougher on sellers than even ebay have been to date.

And quite a bit more expensive in fees and other indirect costs.

And I also believe that to sell on there everyting needs to have a product identifier code. Means a registered bar code.

Each and every variation needs to have its own unique barcode. Gets expensive really quickly. Best part of $1 per code.

Even hand made unique items like ours need to have them.

So it means our stuff would possibly need to be at least 50% higher in price to make us break even with ebay.

We are struggling to sell our products now let alone at 50% more.

Not to mention the very specific image requirements they have.

Returns requirements are tougher too.

And I believe everything has to have tracking. So add another $4.00 min to the item cost for us for this.

All up we are approaching them with some degree of caution and whilst it sounds good to have some competition in the marketplace I'm not so sure it's real competition. I need to know more yet from a reliable source. Not too sure who to believe at present.

For the moment we will try to stick with the devil we know.

Until they squeeze us out, which they are gradually doing well at so far.

[rosebudcottageantiques]

Just saw that fees are now 10.9% .. I have been selling on eBay for many years and it was originally 2.9% !! 

There is no way in ten years that wages have gone up by To match this huge rise . Also us poor Aussies are competing with the Asian  sellers .. The reason they can offer free shipping is that noone in china pays shipping !!.. It's free for standard ship !! The government pay it ..  I have been to china twice and wondered how they did it !!

So that puts us behind the 8 ball ..iIt looks awfully like they don't care about the smaller Australian sellers..

if you look at the amount of  cheap items being sold on eBay by sellers from china or hong kong etc they have flooded eBay ..in every country .. .. Such a shame ..oh and the worst is the fake jewellery .. Most ads list under vintage or antique .. And they are right off the show room floor .. Brand Harry spankers .. Most sell thousands of these ghastly cheap items a day .. And have terrible feedback .. But they are allowed to keep on selling ... But if it were a small Australian seller if you get a couple of negative  feedbacks ..you are penalised !  But these high volume sellers are getting 50+ negatives a DAY .. So looks like they must be exempt from any penalties ?. That is very unfair .. But it's the almighty dollar that makes and breaks rules ..

Sorry to carry on .. But it is very frustrating to say the least ! 

[tazzieterror]

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@rosebudcottageantiques wrote:

Just saw that fees are now 10.9% .. I have been selling on eBay for many years and it was originally 2.9% !! 

There is no way in ten years that wages have gone up by To match this huge rise . Also us poor Aussies are competing with the Asian  sellers .. The reason they can offer free shipping is that noone in china pays shipping !!.. It's free for standard ship !! The government pay it ..  I have been to china twice and wondered how they did it !!

So that puts us behind the 8 ball ..iIt looks awfully like they don't care about the smaller Australian sellers..

if you look at the amount of  cheap items being sold on eBay by sellers from china or hong kong etc they have flooded eBay ..in every country .. .. Such a shame ..oh and the worst is the fake jewellery .. Most ads list under vintage or antique .. And they are right off the show room floor .. Brand Harry spankers .. Most sell thousands of these ghastly cheap items a day .. And have terrible feedback .. But they are allowed to keep on selling ... But if it were a small Australian seller if you get a couple of negative  feedbacks ..you are penalised !  But these high volume sellers are getting 50+ negatives a DAY .. So looks like they must be exempt from any penalties ?. That is very unfair .. But it's the almighty dollar that makes and breaks rules ..

Sorry to carry on .. But it is very frustrating to say the least ! 

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As someone who also remembers when eBay fees were in the low single figures, I understand being annoyed at how they've risen over the years.  But that simply means you need to factor it in to your pricing structure and overall business model, just like with any cost associated with doing business.

Same with shipping costs.  Yes, Chinese sellers can ship loads of junk to buyers here very cheaply...so don't complete with Chinese sellers in the sale of junk.  Or differentiate yourself by the fact that you can ship things to a buyer here much more quickly.

As I understand it, penalties for negative feedback are based on percentages, not absolute numbers, so dozens of negatives aren't much compared to hundreds or thousands of positives.

There is very little in the this world that is "fair".  But I can assure you that living in the properous first world country that is Australia, with the freedoms and opportunites we have here - we're in a far better starting position than the vast majority of our fellow humans populating this little blue and green orb, so don't let fake jewellery sold and shipped cheaply by smog-breathing, communist-ruled Chinese sellers get you down - they're just trying to feed their families too.  Life here is pretty good.