New eBay Fees Will Include Commission on Sales Tax

by: iheartjacksparrow

"Most sellers can expect to see overall savings."

Translation: eBay can expect to see more revenue.

by: Udderlygoodstuff

You have been paying a Paypal fee on that sales tax - overall your fees are going to go down.
I was on the call with the execs yesterday and here are my takeaways
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wEmbQO6F_Q

by: Marie

I think some sellers may see an overall savings, but MOST sellers will not.  I absolutely do not understand how Ebay is entitled to charge a FVF on sales tax.  This makes zero sense to me.  I'm not at all sure that the 38 states involved in these sales tax amounts would agree with Ebay.  I get the money processing fee on sales tax.  That is normal and has been done for many years.  But a FVF on sales tax.  That's a new one that no one but Ebay is going for.

This seems pretty questionable to me!

by: Marie

@Udderlygoodstuff

On TOP of the payment processing fee, Ebay is going to be charging a FVF on sales tax.  That has never been done before on Ebay or any other similar site.

by: Marie

Some Excerpts of the new MP policies currently JUST FOR the members entering in July.  Ebay has not yet decided what parts if any of these new rules will apply to members already in MP.

Final value fees
We charge one final value fee when your item sells, and you don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus $0.30 per order.

The total amount of the sale is the entire amount the buyer pays, including any handling charges, the shipping service the buyer selects, sales tax, and any other applicable fees. If you offer 1-day or international shipping as well as a cheaper or free option (like domestic shipping), the total amount of the sale is calculated based on the cheapest domestic option you offer. If you only offer 1-day or international shipping but no cheaper option like domestic shipping, the total amount of the sale is calculated based on the service the buyer chooses.

International fee
If your registered address is in the US, we charge an International fee if either the buyer's registered address or the delivery address for the item is located outside of the US. This fee is calculated as 1.65% of the total amount of the sale and is automatically deducted from your sales.

If your registered address is not in the US, please refer to the fee page for your country of residence for your International fee information.
Seller currency conversion charge

If your registered address is in the US, when a buyer purchases your item in a currency other than your payout currency, eBay will convert the funds to your payout currency using a "transaction exchange rate" we set for the currency exchange. The transaction exchange rate is adjusted regularly and includes a currency conversion charge of 3% applied on a base exchange rate. The base exchange rate is based on rates within the wholesale currency markets on the conversion day or the prior business day; or, if required by law or regulation, set at the relevant government reference rate(s). The currency conversion charge will be automatically deducted from your sales.

If your registered address is not in the US, please refer to the fee page for your country of residence for your Seller currency conversion charge information.

by: lessthanthreerecords

I spoke to an eBay employee on the phone on April 30 after being forced to sign up for Managed Payments.  I raised my concern over this exact issue, and asked how most transactions would result in less fees (as eBay has frequently stated) when they are going to be charging their their fees on the sales tax as well.  The woman I spoke with said that the calculation of fees would not include the sales tax portion of the transaction.  When I asked why the terms clearly stated that the tax would be included in the calculation, she said that was in error and would be corrected.  She also stated (later in the call, and not with respect to this specific issue), that everything was subject to change until July (2 weeks before I am pushed into Managed Payments).  I guess "everything is subject to change" is a useful statement for a company that lies to their customers in nearly every communication.

by: NoMoreEbay

How anyone can still do business with this revolting company is mind boggling.

by: FeelingFroggy

Ebay is hurting so bad for money it is starting to squeak and scrap the bottom of the can. HA HA HA

by: Marie

@lessthanthreerecords

Sad to say the CSR you spoke to was simply wrong.  It is on the sales tax too.  The policy pages state so as well as all other stuff they have released on this July entry of sellers.

by: Geetar

Not happy with the new revenue from managed payments.....It's not enough. Now they have to find a way to charge more. Of course they will always find a way.

And everyone said, well, the customer pays the sales tax. YEA, NOW WHAT DO YOU SAY?  Now, after this Amazon will be cheaper than ebay to sell on.

My question is. Does ebay get charged sales tax on the fee's it collects and charges us for our customers sales tax? After all it is a sale? And ebay should be getting charged sales tax. And sales tax on the fee's it charges for collecting sales tax....

by: Whatever

"Our goal with the changes was to simplify"

No your goal was to rape more sellers and make more money - after 21 years I closed all 3 shops and am now selling elsewhere - just the lack of stress not having to deal with eBay and their constant scams is like being re-born and I could kick myself for staying the last couple of years.  Hanging on like a koolaide drinker thinking it's gonna be ok. Things are going to get better - no - their not getting better and every night when I go to bed and say my prayers I ask that I am never going to have to go back to eBay.  Thank you lord.

by: toastedmutt

Have the states that charge sales tax refused to pay eBay a fee for collecting, processing and remitting sales tax monies to them?

Is this eBay's means of getting paid for their employees time and its software development costs expended to comply with the chaos that resulted from the US Supreme Court ruling that now allows states to freely tax online purchases?

We all knew eBay would ultimately make money off those sale tax collections, one way or another.  

by: Marie

@toastedmutt

It is likely that they always made money off sales tax.  From the first time they filed returns.  Most states give a percentage discount over what is due to large companies.  Plus they would not be able to do something this significant like forcing facilitator to collect and remit sales tax without some type of compensation for the expenses they would incur.  

by: Smallseller

Final value fees
We charge one final value fee when your item sells, and you don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus $0.30 per order.

And everything will now be buried in 1 fee so it will be hard to tell what we are actually paying and so easy for them to increase fees.

Did anyone notice that this increased from $0.25 to $0.30 per order?

And if ebay is still having glitches with combining shipments, then a multiple order will be very costly.

I am just getting discouraged that anything that ebay does is just a disguise for them to get more money. If I had service in exchange for this, I would have no problem paying. But between hiding listings, rolling blackouts, only showing promoted listings, hidden listings by ad blockers, GTC etc. etc., we are just paying more and getting less.

When a company is losing GMV, the worst thing it can do is anger the very people that are paying them.  

by: Lightning

If they are going to charge "one simple fee", does that mean they are abandoning the 25 cents per DIFFERENT ITEM in a multi-item sale?

by: Vigilant Eye On eBay

As I am selling a heck of a lot more products on my own e-commerce site, like ''Whatever,'' after twenty-one years on eBay, will be closing all of my eBay Stores in July.

by: Marie

@Smallseller

That 30 cent fee is about the ONLY good news in all of this.  Granted it is 5 cents higher than it was, but they are DOING AWAY with the 25 cent per listing purchased.  So if a buyer purchased 5 different listings from you, your processing fee would have been $1.25.  Now that is going away and it is simply 30 cents no matter how many different listings are purchased from on the same payment.  EXCELLENT news.

You can tell what their Simplified fees are made up of.  You know what your fees are now, so just back into it.  It isn't complicated.  If Ebay says for your category you are going to pay 11.5%, you know you currently pay 9.15 in FVF and 2.9 in payment processing, that equals 12.05%  So on first glance you are saving 0.55% on each sale.

HOWEVER, Simplified isn't so simplified, kind of like Simplified returns.  This is a hot mess just like that.  This simplified fee represents the ENTIRE sale amount to INCLUDE sales tax.  So while we are use to paying 2.9% on sales tax, now you will be paying 11.5% on sales tax.  That is a BIG difference.

And don't overlook those additional fees sales to international buyers whether they have a US ship to address or not.

by: Marie

Oh another good thing is that if buyers request a cancellation on a purchase, the Simplified fee is refunded in its entirety.  Got to take the good news in the hopes it helps.  I like this one too as it will save money for sellers.

by: Hork

Like Pierre once said, "It's only a nickel."

by: Ina

At first, I also compared this to PayPal, which charges a payment processing fee for sales tax, when I first skimmed this information.

But as Marie says above, eBay is ALSO taking a FVF on the sales tax. MUCH higher than the 2.9% average fee charged by financial institutions.

This sounds like eBay is actually *profiting* off of state sales tax.

Sellers - does any other marketplace charge a commission on sales tax?