eBay Fees Percentages Don't Add Up?

[westcoastreuse]

I just had a sale under my new eBay Basic store and I have a few concerns / questions that could not be answered by the support people when I chatted with them.

Now it was only a small sale, but it is the fee percentages that I am confused about as they are not adding up correctly, including the GST addition to the fee.

The sale was for $4.40 in the Media catagory.

The Final Value Fee (Standard order level fixed) was -$0.30 then -0.03 GST added, total -0.33 (This one is ok!)

The Final Value Fee (Standard variable) was -$0.52 then -$0.06 GST was added, total -0.58 (Lets break this one down!)

The sale being 4.40, and as per the Basic Store rate for Teir 3 listings (that this one falls under) the fee should be 11.3% (or in decimal it would be 0.113), so 4.40 * 0.113 = 0.4972, now rounding that off you get 0.50, or $0.50 at 11.3%. But the problem is that I was charged $0.52 which, if going the other way, 0.52/4.40 = 0.118181 or rounded off to two decimal points, 0.12, which is 12% not 11.3% on a $4.40 sale.

Then the GST was added, in this case the charge was $0.06, but lets work out the GST on the fee. Starting with the amount I was actually charged (that is the 12% of 4.40, being $0.52, or just 0.52, you simply multiply that amount by 10% or 0.1 to get the GST to add. So if you are still following, 0.52 * 0.1 = 0.052, and when rounded off should be 0.05 or $0.05 not $0.06. You are meant to round down if under 5 and up if over 5! This rounding up to 0.06 makes the GST charged on the fee 11.5% not 10% as per government rules. (0.06/0.52 = 0.11538)

So basically, eBay is charging 11.5% GST on fees instead of 10% and 12% instead of 11.3% on sales!

Unless I am somehow mistaken, an explanation would be great! The best I could get form support when I went though all this with them was:

“I understand your point, but don't worry pre GST amount might be showing due to some technical glitch. However, total charge after adding GST is correct and you will be charged at 11.3% for basic store in managed payments.”

But this is not what the invoice is showing and what I have been charged.

[davewil1964]

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@westcoastreuse wrote:

I just had a sale under my new eBay Basic store and I have a few concerns / questions that could not be answered by the support people when I chatted with them.

Now it was only a small sale, but it is the fee percentages that I am confused about as they are not adding up correctly, including the GST addition to the fee.

The sale was for $4.40 in the Media catagory.

The Final Value Fee (Standard order level fixed) was -$0.30 then -0.03 GST added, total -0.33 (This one is ok!)

The Final Value Fee (Standard variable) was -$0.52 then -$0.06 GST was added, total -0.58 (Lets break this one down!)

The sale being 4.40, and as per the Basic Store rate for Teir 3 listings (that this one falls under) the fee should be 11.3% (or in decimal it would be 0.113), so 4.40 * 0.113 = 0.4972, now rounding that off you get 0.50, or $0.50 at 11.3%. But the problem is that I was charged $0.52 which, if going the other way, 0.52/4.40 = 0.118181 or rounded off to two decimal points, 0.12, which is 12% not 11.3% on a $4.40 sale.

Then the GST was added, in this case the charge was $0.06, but lets work out the GST on the fee. Starting with the amount I was actually charged (that is the 12% of 4.40, being $0.52, or just 0.52, you simply multiply that amount by 10% or 0.1 to get the GST to add. So if you are still following, 0.52 * 0.1 = 0.052, and when rounded off should be 0.05 or $0.05 not $0.06. You are meant to round down if under 5 and up if over 5! This rounding up to 0.06 makes the GST charged on the fee 11.5% not 10% as per government rules. (0.06/0.52 = 0.11538)

So basically, eBay is charging 11.5% GST on fees instead of 10% and 12% instead of 11.3% on sales!

Unless I am somehow mistaken, an explanation would be great! The best I could get form support when I went though all this with them was:

“I understand your point, but don't worry pre GST amount might be showing due to some technical glitch. However, total charge after adding GST is correct and you will be charged at 11.3% for basic store in managed payments.”

But this is not what the invoice is showing and what I have been charged.

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You seem to be forgetting that you are no longer paying Paypal fees.

The comparison is not a detailed breakdown of fees, which nobody will bother reading, but how the total fees under MP compare to the fees pre-MP.

In my experience, it is about the same.

[digital*ghost]

Media is tier 4 - 11.9% with a basic store.

11.9% of $4.40 is 52c rounding down. 

eBay's actual FVF charge including GST for media with a basic store is 13.1%, though, instead of the 13.09 it works out to be if you add 1.19 to 11.9.

13.1% of $4.40 is $0.576, which then gets rounded up to a total of 58c.

The way they communicate these things leaves a lot to be desired, but the calculation is (technically) correct for how they do it.

[gutterpunkz05]

I am trying to understand, what makes you believe the fees should be  11.3% under tier 3   and not  11.9% under tier 4.

At  11.9%  (tier 4)  the fee is correct

[westcoastreuse]

When I asked eBay help chat about it they told me it should be 11.3%, so maybe they sent me down the wrong track. I did not realise there was a teir 4, but that would make sense! Though on the link I was given the media catagory was teir 3 (maybe wrong link?)

The chat help guy was no help at all, was trying to tell me that GST is added to the fee at $0.10 when it is multiplied by 0.1 (10%).

[westcoastreuse]

This is the link they sent me to:

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/ebay-stores-selling-fees?id=4122&st=10

But I just found this one!

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/ebay-stores-selling-fees-managed-payments...

[digital*ghost]

This is the correct page for sellers on managed payments (CS often have no idea what they are talking about, unfortunately): https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/ebay-stores-selling-fees?id=4809

(Edit, I see you found it already 🙂 )

I think eBay would have preferred to have a single figure FVF that's GST-inclusive so that the fee would be X and GST would be 1/11th of X, because that's basically the system they came up with for the standard fee and how it's applied, but because GST-registered sellers can qualify for GST-free fees, or get a credit for the GST portion, they had to create a system that also split the base rate and the GST amount in invoices, resulting in a much messier system that doesn't quite hold up to thorough scrutiny. (That's the most logically sound theory I can come up with as to their reasoning, anyway, but logic and ebay aren't as familiar with each other as one would hope, lol). 

[westcoastreuse]

Thanks for the understanding, it is apparent that they are still using incorrect links and untrained staff to answer questions like this one, cuasing the confusing I have today.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@westcoastreuse wrote:

This is the link they sent me to:

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/ebay-stores-selling-fees?id=4122&st=10

But I just found this one!

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/ebay-stores-selling-fees-managed-payments...

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No worries, just could not figure out why the wrong figure was being used.  Pretty easy to get confused with ebay,  when they keep changing everything and even CS cant keep up.

[westcoastreuse]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do what ebay CS should have done, see my other replies that show that I was bum-steared to view incorred information and then told to simply "trust eBay" by CS - which is the sort of comment I cannot stand - but this now makes much more sense.