That.....they take out a whopping 10% on the shipping?So,if you send a drumset to OZ....and it cost $400 to ship....you just payed $40 of their shipping?Sounds illegal to me...but...what do I know?HmmmmHelp2Mister T
Well...... the buyer still pays $400
But the seller pays an additional $40 to eBay fees
A ripper......:(
This is just one! of the many reasons why i stop selling on FEE-BAY.
yea I have paid them dearly for years. Gotta be another way !
EBAY is a for-profit business. They will charge for every single penny they can, like every other for-profit endeavor. They will evolve, exploit, and continue to find ways to extrapolate as much money from their customers as is legal, and possible. It is called capitalism, and it has been around for a little while..........
So has GREED.....
They started including shipping in fees a while back. Seems some smart people figured out how to get around the selling fees by selling for a $1, and charging $200 to ship, keeping the big money out of the loop. Ebay figured that out and changed their policy.
If that is true, then the people in question may have been "smart" but they were also unethical. There is nothing wrong with a business making money. If they (in this case, eBay) are supplying the world's largest marketplace to you, the seller, then there should be a fee for that. I have no qualms with that as I prefer to make money when I do business as well. Imagine what it would cost you to advertise your goods to the size market that eBay provides. You couldn't even come close. Now if you are finding success selling on your own as some have mentioned, that is great. I do find it a little hard to fathom that eBay charges 10% on shipping. I am assuming that is based on actual shipping and is tallied via PayPal transactions? That is a bit of a shame as shipping should be whatever shipping costs.
Speaking of shipping costs, I know a lot of guys here get really hung up on a seller tacking on fees above the cost of actual shipping. The reality is that there is the cost of shipping, the cost of shipping materials and the cost of the time it takes to deal with all of that. I value my time and I charge for it and should expect everyone else will do the same. If someone tacks on $20 for "materials and handling" I have no issue with that, so long as I know it in advance. When you pay shipping for an item from Amazon, or some big box store, I guarantee that you are paying those costs whether you realize it or not. It would be tough to stay in business if your warehouse staff and shipping materials were just a value added bonus.
For Fix Auction Style
10% on Final Value on Shipping
and
10% Final Value of item
$29.99 sale price = $3.00 fee
$5.99 shipping = .60 fee
$3.60 total fee for $29.99 +$5.99 Shipping
Source: Just looked at my fees for an item.
tnsquint has got it right though. eBay provides services, marketing, payment methods etc. All of which would cost money if done on their own.
If that is true, then the people in question may have been "smart" but they were also unethical. There is nothing wrong with a business making money. If they (in this case, eBay) are supplying the world's largest marketplace to you, the seller, then there should be a fee for that. I have no qualms with that as I prefer to make money when I do business as well. Imagine what it would cost you to advertise your goods to the size market that eBay provides. You couldn't even come close. Now if you are finding success selling on your own as some have mentioned, that is great. I do find it a little hard to fathom that eBay charges 10% on shipping. I am assuming that is based on actual shipping and is tallied via PayPal transactions? That is a bit of a shame as shipping should be whatever shipping costs. Speaking of shipping costs, I know a lot of guys here get really hung up on a seller tacking on fees above the cost of actual shipping. The reality is that there is the cost of shipping, the cost of shipping materials and the cost of the time it takes to deal with all of that. I value my time and I charge for it and should expect everyone else will do the same. If someone tacks on $20 for "materials and handling" I have no issue with that, so long as I know it in advance. When you pay shipping for an item from Amazon, or some big box store, I guarantee that you are paying those costs whether you realize it or not. It would be tough to stay in business if your warehouse staff and shipping materials were just a value added bonus.
Scott's right on here.
And, as many know, this is a topic that seems to be rehashed on here quite a bit. Sometimes I ignore the thread, sometimes I chime in. I'm going to chime-in this time, but I'm just going to repeat what I've said before... not necessarily a defense of eBay, just my opinion and practice.
I, for one, where I live, don't have much of a "market" without eBay. I live in a small town (less than 2500) in SE Kansas. I am somewhat centrally located between larger cities (KC, Wichita, Tulsa, Springfield Mo) that I can get to in under 2 1/2 hours. And I've bought and sold in each. But... without eBay... well, I just can't keep enough sales going.
So, let me share what I do as simply as possible. I figure out what I need out of an item (any item, whether a single part or a set) to make it worth my time. I start with that price. Then I figure out what it's going to cost me in actual shipping to a random point about as far away from me as I'm willing to ship to (although I have used their new global shipping a few times now), and add that. Then I add what it's going to cost me in shipping materials. Then I add about 15% to cover listing and final value fees. All this added together becomes my starting price.
It's simple business sense, but it does take some planning. And I suspect the "planning" part is what's lacking in many instances where people are complaining about the fees (sorry if that offends anyone, but it is the way I see it).
As for Paypal, yes, there are the fees. I figure on that as well. But I like Paypal because it allows me to handle the transaction and get the money immediately -- yes, immediately! Once you've established yourself (there IS a probation period where they do hold your money for up to 21 days), the money transfers into your account for your use right away!
So... if you don't like eBay, Paypal, and their fees, fine. You don't have to use their services. But when you make allowances for their fees in your prices, they can both be valuable business tools.
Bill
