ebay ripoff fees

bartelbe

Having not listed anything in months, I put a few things up. Sold a couple, happy enough, until I calculated the fees.

10% on final transaction, fair enough, except they charge that on postage. How is that fair? I charge what it costs, I am not making any money on that.

It gets worse, paypal robs another 3.4%, including charge on postage and a flat 20p. How does anyone actually make any money?

RFW

bartelbe wrote: »

How does anyone actually make any money?

They check what the fees will be before they list an item and work out if it is worth while.

Unrelated, I went to a Ferrari dealers with a ten pound note and they wouldn't sell me a car for it, cheapskates;)

shaun_from_Africa

"ebay ripoff fees" = "I decided to sell something on ebay and didn't look into the costs of doing this before proceeding. Despite all of the information being easily available, I prefer to call it a ripoff rather than admit that I didn't do my research first."

Brooker_Dave

bartelbe wrote: »

It gets worse, paypal robs another 3.4%, including charge on postage and a flat 20p. How does anyone actually make any money?

Even worse:

"eBay paid just £620,000 in corporation tax on sales of more than £1billion last year, its latest accounts show."

Fees paid to eBay by British sellers are sent to a related company, PayPal (Europe) Sarl, in the tax haven of Luxembourg. Meanwhile, eBay UK provides ‘services’ to its Swiss counterpart eBay International AG.

Had eBay paid 5 per cent corporation tax on its full profits of around £300million, it would have had to pay £15million. At 23 per cent, the bill would have been £70million"


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2772461/Revealed-Online-auction-giant-eBay-pays-just-620-000-UK-tax-1-3billion-sales.html

pinkshoes

You need to look at the fees and work them out before selling to see if it is worthwhile.

As a private seller, i now use Facebook instead of eBay, as buyer collects and cash only. So much less hassle, and as there are no fees, i make about the same amount.

shaun_from_Africa

There is one word missing.

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Even worse:

"eBay legally paid just £620,000 in corporation tax on sales of more than £1billion last year, its larest accounts show

If the government don't like it, all they have to do is change the laws regarding corporation tax payments.
Ebay are no different to any other business or private individual in that they won't pay taxes that they aren't legally required to pay.

PDC

Agree they certainly have things sewn up, and again agree on them charging a % on postage costs, no reason they should but they can so they do.


It will be worse when they roll out their Ebay Global Shipping Program to the UK as planned, if my experiences as a buyer are anything to go by.

Without an alternative and with PayPal as a part of their business there isn't much in the way of competition. As mentioned only thing is to make sure you list with all their fees in mind, increased postage and item price to make sure if something does sell you actually make some money too.

bartelbe

The cheapskate comment would hold more merit if ebay didn't have a near monopoly or make its fees deliberately complicated. In the same way budget airlines have an upfront price, than hide all the extra charges.

10% sound reasonable, 10% on postage as well is penalising honest sellers only charge the true cost of postage. Then they add an extra 3.4% for paypal and an extra 20p. When paypal is owned by ebay and you have to use.

I am making money, because I am an amateur private seller who is selling off unwanted stuff. My stock costs are zero, I can't really lose money, but I am amazed anyone could make a business out of ebay.

theonlywayisup

bartelbe wrote: »

The cheapskate comment would hold more merit if ebay didn't have a near monopoly or make its fees deliberately complicated. In the same way budget airlines have an upfront price, than hide all the extra charges.

10% sound reasonable, 10% on postage as well is penalising honest sellers only charge the true cost of postage. Then they add an extra 3.4% for paypal and an extra 20p. When paypal is owned by ebay and you have to use.

I am making money, because I am an amateur private seller who is selling off unwanted stuff. My stock costs are zero, I can't really lose money, but I am amazed anyone could make a business out of ebay.

The fees are very easy to work out. There are NO hidden charges.

You might consider if you have the right type of Paypal account, that could reduce charges further. As for businesses, there are discounts depending on the status of your account.

Ebay don't have a monopoly. They aren't forcing you to sell there.

campdave

bartelbe wrote: »

I am making money, because I am an amateur private seller who is selling off unwanted stuff. My stock costs are zero, I can't really lose money, but I am amazed anyone could make a business out of ebay.

To run a business, you assess the costs and list at a price that means profit once your costs are paid. Essentially the opposite of what you did.

Still, these threads are few and far between these days.

faerielight

call me ignorant, but how do you go about selling on facebook?