hiwhy does ebay take commission on shipping cost as I sell items for auction

[creamandgreen]

why does ebay take a commission on shipping fees?. I have been told by ebay staff by phone to add postage onto price of item & tick postage free. All my items are auctions so if I started item off at .99 cents with postage at $14.80 The buyer would recieve item for nothing & it would cost me more than the item is worth. I don't mind paying commission for final valuation fee 10%. But ebay forced people selling into opening  pay-pal accounts. Pay-Pal   take their commission on total amount deposited by buyer which includes shipping costs. then ebay take their commission out of the total deposit (item final value sold & shipping costs). Do they expect the smaller ebayer members to compete with all the bigger companies that mark their products up when bought & add their propfit percentage plus shipping costs into the price of their items before selling at a fixed price. Example Myers, david jones, target all have postal account where they can send any item anywhere in australia for about $5.00 how can I being a smaller ebay seller compete with that. We the smaller ebay seller are getting charged commission twice on the same final value fee & shipping by ebay & pay-pal. Could you please look into this matter as it is unfair to be charged twice for the one total price by both companies.

thankyou

[lyndal1838]

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@pennyforum14 wrote:

  Most of us just build the costs in to our prices,

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And the buyer pays the fees, not the seller.

How many buyers do you see on the boards complaining about Australia Post price rises, ebay price rises and paypal price rises.

And buyers have far more reason to whinge than sellers....even ebay tells sellers to build their fees into their prices, charge a packing and handling fee and allow for paypal fees.

[lyndal1838]

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@pennyforum14 wrote:

  Most of us just build the costs in to our prices,

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And the buyer pays the fees, not the seller.

How many buyers do you see on the boards complaining about Australia Post price rises, ebay price rises and paypal price rises.

And buyers have far more reason to whinge than sellers....even ebay tells sellers to build their fees into their prices, charge a packing and handling fee and allow for paypal fees.

[englishrosegardens]

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@pennyforum14 wrote:

No you are not the only person who has a problem with it, most sellers disagree with it.  But it has been in place for close to 2 years now, eBay are not going to change it, so stressing about something that is now old news is really a waste of time and energy.  There are enough things on eBay you can control, like keeping your store stocked and managing your sales and customer satisfaction, without stressing over the things you can't do anything about.  Most of us just build the costs in to our prices, and ignore eBay's prompts for things like 99c auctions, free post and 1 day handling, all of which will just add to the stress levels without generating any real benefits.  If there was a viable alternative, we wouldn't have to put up with it, but there really isn't.

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They actually asked are they the only person who DOESN'T have a problem with it. 

I don't have a problem with it on the letters I post, apart from the fact that it's unethical, but I do on the items I sell with $12 postage on them, and especially when they charge fees on the total amount paid on combined purchases, regardless of whether or not I refund some of that amount.  If I sell five items with $12 postage on them, I'm charged fees on $60 worth of postage so I'm forced to deduct the fees from the refund amount.  Yes, buyers can wait for an invoice to save money, but they shouldn't really have to, and of course ebay does everything possible to make them think they have to pay straight away because they collect more fees that way. 

[digital*ghost]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

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And the buyer pays the fees, not the seller.

How many buyers do you see on the boards complaining about Australia Post price rises, ebay price rises and paypal price rises.

And buyers have far more reason to whinge than sellers....even ebay tells sellers to build their fees into their prices, charge a packing and handling fee and allow for paypal fees.

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Buyers only cover the costs if they buy an item, and they have the luxury of not having to think about where the increased costs are coming from or where the money has to go to, they generally just have to decide if they're going to pay the total. That's why sellers worry about it and complain about it, because other parties increasing the seller's costs will generally affect a buyer's decision to buy or not, it doesn't affect the buyer's livlihood, it affects the seller's.

And buyers quite frequently complain about the prices on eBay. We may not see threads in high volume like complaints about increased costs by sellers, but there have been plenty enough from people saying prices on eBay are too high these days - no one has ever said, "well, that's business for ya", all of the replies have pointed out how many fees and charges sellers pay now. But most buyers wouldn't bother creating a thread to tell everyone they don't like and won't pay the prices being charged on eBay, they just go shop elsewhere - which in itself is a form of protest. 

Heaps of buyers complain about postage costs, too, it's just that more often than not, they blame the seller for the high costs, not Australia Post. 

[amber-eyed-girl]

Yes.

There are plenty of threads these days started by sellers saying where have the buyers gone? Why so quiet here? Lower sales...etc., etc.

Buyers do vote as it were by shopping somewhere else.

eBay is trying to lure buyers back with the money back guarantee and more discount codes than ever before. They are targetting sales for the big stores, with heavy promotional deals, though...unlikely to help out the sellers who start those threads.

If a buyer did start a thread complaining about a rise in prices to cover all the fees, they would be likely to get short thrift.

I have changed my buying habits here over the years but not because of the fees (which I am aware of).

What I used to buy, is less and less available. Quality, rarer items.

Now most of my buys here are from the big name stores, but that is based on pricing.

With any buy I think total cost.

[247newdeals]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

Fees on postage component was introduced to stop sellers using 99 cent auctions with $500 as postage to circumvent fees.

So we have those turkeys to thank for that.

List your items at a realistic price you are happy with and have the fees added in to start price.

99 cent auctions are a load of rubbish, they rarely sell at that and even if they did, I would feel too guilty to take a good item for nothing. Price it right and all you need is one bid.

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That is not the reason at all 10 years a go when a lot of seller put high postage to get around EBay fees I reported a few, who had ridiculously high postage, and not 1 listing was ever removed. The fact is if EBay was that bothered it would of been easy to remove/punish the worst offenders. Ebay may pf used it as an excuse to increase fees but it was not the reason it was do

[247newdeals]

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@audio-spot wrote:

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with FVF on postage?

I remember the days when some sellers would list an item for $1 and charge $50 for postage. Would the FVF still be 10% today if this was still allowed to occur, or much higher?

How else would you suggest eBay could have made it fairer to those of us who were doing the right thing back then by charging postage at (or close to) cost and paying the correct FVF on our sale?

Why not use eBay satchels and boxes where possible to get the cheaper rates?

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It would of been very easy for EBay to punish remove the sellers who did it the only reason it became so widespread is because it did not bother EBay enough to take steps to stop it. They used it as an excuse to increase fees to ALL sellers even those who never overcharged on postage this means 1 thing buyers are punished because it is them that are paying the extra fees to EBay. Also those of us who only put the correct postage or even offered free postage (as I did) was not punished in the least the fact others got around EBay fees by doing it made no difference to me as a seller. I can not believe people are gullible enough to believe EBay on this

[247newdeals]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

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@pennyforum14 wrote:

  Most of us just build the costs in to our prices,

---

And the buyer pays the fees, not the seller.

How many buyers do you see on the boards complaining about Australia Post price rises, ebay price rises and paypal price rises.

And buyers have far more reason to whinge than sellers....even ebay tells sellers to build their fees into their prices, charge a packing and handling fee and allow for paypal fees.

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Are you serious? If an item goes over a certain point guess what it does not sell. It is VERY easy to say just build the fees into your price but that is impossible we are competing with an increase influx of Chinese sellers a lot are not even posting from Australia and charging Chinese prices. The fact is really simple ebay is ripping off both sellers and buyers by charging a fee on postage and I am REALLY god smacked people defend what they do.

You may think what EBay does is ok but I will tell you now soon ebay will be just large companies and Chinese seller which may be fine by you but as an Australian it annoys me to watch money leaving this country and it is NOT alright.

The profit margins I have to work with to sell on EBay are extremely low and it is ME not the buyer who is paying the fees

[lyndal1838]

Where did I say that I am OK with what ebay is doing?

My point is that sellers who price their items correctly and build the fees into their prices are not paying the ebay fees.....their buyers are paying them.

At present the major part of my buying is from Australian sellers so I am not supporting overseas sellers...except for some DVDs because they are a lot cheaper from the UK.

[247newdeals]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

Where did I say that I am OK with what ebay is doing?

My point is that sellers who price their items correctly and build the fees into their prices are not paying the ebay fees.....their buyers are paying them.

At present the major part of my buying is from Australian sellers so I am not supporting overseas sellers...except for some DVDs because they are a lot cheaper from the UK.

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You are defending EBay charging fees on postage so I would say your saying your ok with it.

You can not increase your price above what is available buyer just will not buy they will go to the Chinese sellers. To keep with the current market you have to sell with an extremely low profit margin on Ebay or you want be competitive and want sell. Saying buyers pay the fees is, sorry for the french, BS it lowers the sellers profit margins even more.

If I added the fees onto my price I simply would not be selling items the fees come out of MY profit margin not the buyers pocket