Ebay: Did you know? 2 2

[FlyingDonut]

On 2/3/2023 at 3:35 PM, Lightning55 said:

With any international shipment, eBay charges fees based on the domestic shipping amount that you have associated with the item.  So if you have shipping set at $8, but it goes to Germany at $50 shipping, eBay will only charge a fee based on the domestic $8.  Always been that way.

This is incorrect. eBay charges on the fees that the buyer pays. I do not use the Global Shipping Program for all of the reasons outlined above. I charge actual shipping costs. Fees are charged on the dollar amount that is paid me.

[FlyingDonut]

On 2/3/2023 at 4:08 PM, the blob said:

Yeah, I guess the theory is that ebay is in every state, and while they are not the "seller," they are sufficiently enough involved in the process. Does Amazon do the same? Etsy?

 

 

Yes and yes.

[FlyingDonut]

As does Poshmark, for that matter.

[PeterPark]

On 2/6/2023 at 11:46 AM, FlyingDonut said:

This is incorrect. eBay charges on the fees that the buyer pays. I do not use the Global Shipping Program for all of the reasons outlined above. I charge actual shipping costs. Fees are charged on the dollar amount that is paid me.

Plus taxes, which are not paid to you.

[FlyingDonut]

On 2/6/2023 at 11:53 AM, PeterPark said:

Plus taxes, which are not paid to you.

This is a semantics argument. The taxes are most definitely paid to me. They are taken out of the payment that is received by me - I can deduct them from my gross costs. But yes, the fees are laden on the total gross amount paid by the buyer.

[Lightning55]

 

On 2/3/2023 at 3:35 PM, Lightning55 said:

With any international shipment, eBay charges fees based on the domestic shipping amount that you have associated with the item.  So if you have shipping set at $8, but it goes to Germany at $50 shipping, eBay will only charge a fee based on the domestic $8.  Always been that way.

 

On 2/6/2023 at 11:46 AM, FlyingDonut said:

This is incorrect. eBay charges on the fees that the buyer pays. I do not use the Global Shipping Program for all of the reasons outlined above. I charge actual shipping costs. Fees are charged on the dollar amount that is paid me.

It was true when I was shipping international packages, but that was quite a few years ago. Maybe no longer true since the inception of Ebay Payments.

[FlyingDonut]

On 2/6/2023 at 12:56 PM, Lightning55 said:

 

 

It was true when I was shipping international packages, but that was quite a few years ago. Maybe no longer true since the inception of Ebay Payments.

Could be. eBay payments has streamlined a lot of things now.

[grebal]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:46 AM, FlyingDonut said:

This is incorrect. eBay charges on the fees that the buyer pays. I do not use the Global Shipping Program for all of the reasons outlined above. I charge actual shipping costs. Fees are charged on the dollar amount that is paid me.

You're very experienced on ebay, your decision was not to go the 'free shipping' route that a lot of dealers established. Did you ever test it out?

The theory being that 'free ship' attracts more buyers, and at least some of them would factor the ship cost into their bids (hopefully the highest 2 bidders among them).

Just curious for you pov, given how long you've been at it.

[ttfitz]

On 2/6/2023 at 1:42 PM, grebal said:

You're very experienced on ebay, your decision was not to go the 'free shipping' route that a lot of dealers established. Did you ever test it out?

The theory being that 'free ship' attracts more buyers, and at least some of them would factor the ship cost into their bids (hopefully the highest 2 bidders among them).

Just curious for you pov, given how long you've been at it.

Yeah, it would be interesting to see. When I was selling stuff on eBay, it was generally low priced items, and I figured offering free shipping would be a disincentive - shipping costs would have to be baked into the price, and would be a significant percentage of the cost. Since I offered combined shipping, I figured that would encourage multiple purchases, in order to "spread around" the shipping costs.

[Vixom]

On 2/3/2023 at 3:09 PM, Stefan_W said:

People used to charge 99 cents for an item and them a hundred bucks or whatever for shipping to get around paying Ebay fees. The current system that charges fees on shipping is a direct result of that. 

Those were the good old days. Along with cash checks and money orders. 

I love global shipping program. Never had a package fail to get to Kentucky safely. Once there they can do whatever they want to it. 

I find shipping almost irrelevant. Free shipping according to ebay boost your visibility. A good listing without it will still be at the top of searches though. Some people fix on lowest price. Some are spoiled by Amazon and think free shipping is actually free.

A big notice for me was when they raised the minimum promoted listing to 2%. I stopped promoting and my traffic plummeted. I just use EBay for advertising so I bumped that up and a mega difference. 

[Dr. Balls]

On 2/6/2023 at 9:44 AM, FlyingDonut said:

Your statement is incorrect. The sales tax is based on where the buyer is, not where you are. You can thank the good people of South Dakota for this.

I failed to mention I am well below the sales threshold (South Dakota is $100,000 in sales as is with Washington, but not sure/don't care about other states) - but yeah, you're right - the South Dakotans made it a pain for everyone else, and as I said - if Ebay collects that because it's their policy, that's their business. I can still be frustrated and annoyed with it.

[rexinnih]

Interesting topic. Was wondering why I was paying fees on shipping also. Now I understand.