Isn't this a rip-off?

[adtokens]

Why does ebay charge the 10% selling fee on the shipping costs as well as the item price?

[dianequeenofstuff]

Because they don't want to have to police the sellers who sell for a penny and place the actual price of the item in the handling field to avoid the FVF, is my take on it. 

It's their idea of making it a fair for we honest sellers?

[pocketins]

It's a ripoff

[momcqueen]

Back in the old days, there were sellers who abused the system in two ways. One was to sell an item for 10 cents but charge $24.95 shipping and handling. In that way, they paid a final value fee to ebay on their ten-cent sales and nothing else. The other was to refund purchase price only if there was some kind of problem. 

When I'm listing an item for sale, I add the final value fee on shipping into my asking price. Others add it to handling. 

As a seller, the only way around being assessed a Final Value Fee on shipping is to offer free domestic postage. This is also something buyers like, or so ebay tells us. 

[adtokens]

Thanks .... a few abusers of the system have screwed it up for the rest of us. It's too bad eBay couldn't take the time to make examples of those responsible, but hey, it's more money in the eBay coffers so why do they give a **bleep**.

[momcqueen]

Yes, that's always the way of it, isn't it? The 'honour' system doesn't work so well behind the relative anonymity of ecommerce. As far back as I can remember, my first purchase was in 1999 on ebay.com before there even was an ebay.ca. So so so many listings were exactly like that. Super cheap item with super high postage. Most were extremely large sellers shipping from China and doing this too. If memory serves.

The final value fee on shipping is a bitter pill to swallow if you, as a seller, are shipping from Canada (like all of us) yet trying to remain competitive with our counterparts to the south who have much less expensive postage options. It can be done if you persevere.