New eBay Fees Will Include Commission on Sales Tax

by: Marie

For many sellers it is a whole lot more than a nickle in savings.  This per transaction fee change was excellent news for many sellers.  But then of course there are those sellers that typically sell one item at a time that it is an increase for.  So for some it is an increase for others it is a significant savings.

by: lessthanthreerecords

@Marie
Read the terms carefully!  It does not say the fee "will" be refunded in the case of a cancellation, it says it "may" be refunded.  In other words, it is at eBay's whim whether or not they refund the fee back to the seller.  Typical "tricky" eBay!  I specifically brought that wording up on my phone call on April 30.  I asked the associate if she could be specific as to when fees would be refunded and when they would not be.  She told me that all fees (with the exception of the $0.30 - actually, she said it was $0.25, but who knows?!) would definitely be refunded in the case of a refund or cancellation.  Good news, right?  Except that she's the same person who told me that fees would not be assessed on sales tax.

No seller likes fees to go up.  However, I can live with fees going up to a certain extent.  What I cannot deal with is the constant jerking around and never being able to trust a single statement that comes out of eBay.  Fees will/will not be assessed on sales tax, the flat fee is $0.30, the flat fee is $0.25, fees "may" be credited, fees "will" be credited, fees will decrease (despite terms that show an increase on most transactions), fees will be taken off the top of the payment, fees will be invoiced separately.  I can learn to deal with a lot of things I don't "like."  But give me reliable and consistent information about what I'm dealing with.  I can increase prices if I need to.  I can make other decisions that need to be made.  I cannot make these decisions with so many mixed messages!

by: pace306

1) "I absolutely do not understand how Ebay is entitled to charge a FVF on sales tax. This makes zero sense to me."

Well now - where exactly were you when eBay did this ON SHIPPING?

How long have we said that eBay ISNT entitled to ONE PENNY on money thats not part of the sale - AND ITS EXACTLY THE SAME HERE.

Shipping ISNT part of the sale and NEITHER is sales tax.

"You should have said something THEN - in this case - the horse already left the barn"

2) To Ina:

Why is this even an issue FOR SELLERS?

When you as a buyer pay for something - its YOUR responsibility to pay the state or Fed government tax - its NOT the sellers issue.

Here - the seller A) isnt the merchant of record, B) doesnt see any payments (until at least the item has shipped) C) why should the seller even have to deal with tax (never mind eBay stealing money from its collection?)

Collecting sales tax should be between eBay and THE BUYER - NOT the seller!

Can you please ask eBay about this?

by: Shanna

From the day he was hired, Brian Burke was paid to lie to sellers. Its all he knows how to do.

by: tcpjs

Anybody registered recently that can post what the new category FVF's actually are (or at least, are proposed to be)? Kinda hard to compare before and after without hard numbers.  

by: ebayout

I've never seen a serious discussion on the components of eBay's GMV...that bogus number that includes seller shipping costs whether stated or "free".
If ebay won't separate their ACTUAL sales from the sales+shipping aggregate, why would they not include sales tax in that same aggregate?
That's an average auto-bump of GMV of at least 5% every quarter...they can hide a lot of mismanagement under 5% of $21B each quarter.
Sidenote: They "claim' that GMV was flat this past quarter...shipping costs were UP.
Do the math on actual sales.
 

by: iheartjacksparrow

Ina asks: "Sellers - does any other marketplace charge a commission on sales tax?"

I sell on eCrater, and there the sellers are responsible to collect and remit sales tax. So the answer for that site is "no" on charging a commission.  

by: Marie

@lessthanthreerecords

I understand the concern and your caution.  I can just share a couple things.  Ebay always uses the word "may" in policies.  It gives them wiggle room.  Nothing new in that.  And the other thing is that some sellers that are currently in MP have shared with me that they do get the fees refunded other than the 25 or 30 cents.  Which is exactly what PP use to do.

I too can live with fee hikes.  All vendors raise their rates from time to time.  My objection to this particular fee increase is the FVF on sales tax.  That I think is really wrong.  If they had said they were raising the FVF on our sales [not including sales tax] while I wouldn't have liked it, I would have understood it.  But how they are going about it and the reasoning for it I do not understand nor do I support.

by: Marie

@pace306

Please.  Where was I.  I was right here and I strongly objected to that fee too.  However that particular fee was not unusual in the industry.  It didn't make me like the FVF on S&H and I still don't.  If you think you can find any posting of mine here or elsewhere that says any different, then repost it.

I get it that you may not agree with me.  That really doesn't matter to me.  You are entitled to your own opinions and beliefs.  But don't misrepresent me or what I say.  You are assuming you know something that is simply not true.

We have been over and over and over the MOR subject.  But let me try again.  Merchant of Record [MOR] does NOT mean they are the seller.

A MOR is the entity that is authorized, and held liable, by a financial institution to process a consumer's credit and debit card transactions. The merchant of record is responsible for maintaining a merchant account, processing all payments, and managing all credit card processing fees.

PP is a MOR, as it Etsy, Amazon and any other site that has their own payment processing.  

by: COVID-19

@ Shanna

Hear, hear!  eBay and its stooges have been regurgitating this line "Most sellers can expect to see overall savings" many times before.  Since I am one of those occasional sellers that eBay doesn't welcome anymore, I will just look into other platforms to sell on.

by: notfunanymore

eBay profiting on sales tax, wow! What a surprise. When they required us to get sales tax permits for each state god forbid we had made a mistake with %, and a few pennies went our way, they threatened to suspend. When I look back and remember the sleepless nights, the phone calls from them anytime of the day to tell you you violated a rule then punishment afterwards, it makes me ill. You have zero control of any aspect of your “business”.  

by: papergoy

My favorite- Paypal used to have three tiers based on sales volume.  2.1%, 2.5% and 2.9%.  To simplify things for everyone, they did away with that...which made me go from 2.5% to 2.9%.  You know, I'm willing to accept a little complexity.  Have to love when corporations cannot tell the truth- just come out and say "this is a money grab" and I will respect that a lot more than "simplification" when it wasn't that difficult for me to multiply by 2.5%.  It's not like multiplying by 2.9% was any fewer strokes on the calculator- it in no way simplified anything.  Well other than sped up my counting money at the end of the year as I had less of it....

by: toolguy

10 more months and I can flip the finger to eBay!

With eBay wanting fees for shipping and now taxes I'll be moving my QUALITY American made merchandise over to Facebook with NO fees!

My marriage to eBay is almost over. . . . .

by: toolguy

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

WHICH SHOULD BE 100% ILLEGAL

I'm going to mention this to John Stossel and see what he thinks of eBay profiting off of sales taxes!

by: iheartjacksparrow

@papergoy - If we're going to do "PayPal used to....": (a) charge zero fees on bank account to PayPal account transfer; (b) charge zero fees on the first $100 paid to a seller with a credit card each pay period.

by: ElectronixRecyclers

Perhaps letting your state legislators know that their sales tax is being used to generate revenue for non-resident corporations is a good move.  Believe it or not, a lot of people at the state level actually care about the businesses operating in their state.  If they are made aware of the problem (eBay using tax collection as a revenue stream), they can take legislative action to stop it.

In the long run, competing states introducing contradictory regulations regarding "fee fowarding" of sales tax collection will force the matter into federal court, where the constitutional prohibition against states taxing each other will come into play.

Remember that just because someone who got elected to something says something is true doesn't mean it is.  They can claim they can apply sales tax to sales by out of state merchants, but it doesn't mean a court has actually reviewed that decision.

by: toolguy

What will everyone do when eBay hides seller ID's from buyers?

It's coming sooner then you think.

Next year you'll be buying from eBay and eBay will have someone to fill your order.

Sellers will only be order fillers for eBay's sales. . . .THAT'S COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE TRANSACTION

by: Covid-20

Why is ANYBODY surprised at this logic???
Where is the "Logic" in collecting revenue off of YOUR shipping?
We ALL got used to THAT, so i guess, we can all get used to this, RIGHT?  (Haa)

Boils down to the all famous weekly updated USER AGREEMENT now doesn't it?
DON'T LIKE OUR SITE AND THE WAY IT'S RUN?  GO SOMEWHERE ELSE AND SELL.

by: NoMoreEbay

When you have unprecedented corruption coming from the White House on down, there is no one left to report this to.  

by: Shanna

I would recommend Mercari to all sellers. A straight 10% commission fee. Competitive shipping rates, no fees on those or sales tax. Buyers get 3 days to resolve any issues, they get an email as soon as tracking shows delivered to rate their seller. Once rated, the money is released to you and my deposits show next business day. No BS. No 30 day returns, or 180 charge backs. Buyers have to follow the same rules and are notified up front. Everyone knows its a person to person transaction, no big box stores demanding special rules for them.