eBay

avionsunantiques · ‎12-20-2013

My understanding of the ebay Final Value Fee on Shipping is that Ebay looks at what it would have cost to ship your item domestically, and charges you 10% of that. If you sell your item internationally, and the shipping rate exceeds the domestic shipping rate, Ebay charges you 10% of the domestic shipping fee, not 10% of the higher international shipping fee.

This understanding has just been confirmed for me by an ebay telephone representative (telephone conversation Dec 20, 2013).

I just looked at the invoice of my current months activities I discovered two items paid for on Dec 19/13, had final value shipping fees of $21.40 and $22.61. The domestic shipping cost for these items was in the $30-40 range. I looked on Dec 20, so I did not go that far back in time to see this immediate problem.

The two items are being sent to China, from Canada, and Ebay has charged me 10% of the international shipping rate, not 10% of what it would have cost to ship domestically.

On the same day, Ebay charged me a final value fee on shipping on another item (also going to China) of 10% of the domestic shipping rate. This confirms the above ebay policy explanation is correct, and in force.

ie, Ebay seems to be slipping in some extra charges into your invoice, and hiding them among correctly charged fees.

If it has happened to me, it has probably happened to others too.

I reported this to ebay, and was told it would be fixed in 3 days - if I had a dollar for every time I have been told that.......you know the rest.

If anyone from Ebay bothers to read this, the subject items are

291031379892

19-Dec-13 05:14:28 EST

Final Value Fee on Shipping

C $21.40

and

291028001443

19-Dec-13 05:14:28 EST

Final Value Fee on Shipping

C $22.61

The service ticket number is 1-19020255607

The scary part is I usually don't read my ebay invoices - I just pay them automatically and assume Ebay has charged correctly. Its a major concern to discover that is not the case. My ebay fees are usually $2000-4000 per month, who knows how many times I've been over charged.

rose-dee · ‎12-23-2013

Your post prompted me to take a careful look at the fee details of my November and December (so far) invoices, and everything seems to be correct. This includes a Dec.19th FVF on shipping which would have been quite substantial had it been based on anything other than the domestic rate.

I'm sure that if you report the discrepancy, eBay will correct it, but it is disconcerting to think if it happened once, it could occur again.

I suppose that means we should all be checking regularly through invoices to see that they're correct. I often just glance at the invoice to make sure I'm getting the TRS discount properly applied, but I usually don't run through the fees line by line. I probably will now.

pierrelebel · ‎12-23-2013

I think I understand the problem.

It is a "bug" (glitch) but it will happen (charging FVF on actual shipping charged) when the seller overrides the first shipping charge shown in the listing for the buyer's location (in this case US$121.15 to China) and substitutes a higher charge for a faster service (in this case US$204.83 for Expedited to China).

I have experienced a similar instance a few years ago when a buyer asked for Registration on an item where I offered "free shipping". eBay did charge me FVF on the registration charge and I got absolutely nowhere with eBay trying to have them reverse the charge. It was not worth my while to spend more time over a $1 rip-off. However, eBay lost a lot of respect in my book that day. It was petty on their part.

avionsunantiques · ‎12-26-2013

Thanks for your thoughts.

First of all, I want to establish ebay's stated shipping fee for those of us who listing Ebay.ca

"If you list on eBay.ca

If you list on eBay.ca and a international buyer purchases your item, your final value fee for shipping is calculated using whichever service is less expensive, either:

The first domestic service in your listing that isn't express, or
Your international or express shipping service"

From the above, it is clear I am correct, that the Final Value shipping fee for international shipments, is based on the Canadian cost of shipping (its anyone's guess how the Canadian rate is calculated, as I'm in BC, and the Canadian rate varies with distance, however that is not the subject here).

With respect to the bug which has been mentioned. Its an interesting observation, however on the date in question I had several items which were purchased by buyers in China, and all sent by Canadapost xpresspost. All had Canadian shipping options (expediated and xpresspost). All were sent individually, and all had the same invoice method, and same shipping options.

The two cases mentioned above were charged a final value selling fee (FVSF) based on 10% of the international shipping fee (instead of the much cheaper domestic rate). The others were charge a FVSF on the domestic rate (as per Ebay's published policy). With this data, the bug suggestion doesn't seem to hold, as one would expect a bug to produce the same result when activated.

Like others, I do not normally review my ebay invoices, as I expect they are all correct.

These invoices are created automatically, so what has happened to me, most likely has happened to others as well. Furthermore, one wonders what other "automatic" additions have been added to prior invoices. Given the millions of customers charged by Ebay, one wonders how many dollars are involved

On Dec 19, Ebay stuck an extra $35-40 ish into my selling fees via two FVSF entries. Who knows what else is wrongly charged. I don't reconcile my ebay invoices to see if the selling fees have been calculated correctly.

I was told by Ebay's telephone representative, that this problem would be fixed within 3 days.

As of this writing (Late on Dec 26, 2013), it has not been fixed. ie Ebay knows about this problem, and has chosen not to correct my invoice.

My invoice will be automatically charged by ebay to my payment source about a week after then end of this month.

If Ebay charges my visa card for these wrongful fees after the end of the month, it will become an act of theft.

rose-dee · ‎01-06-2014

Two things occurred to me when reading your last post, that I'll just put out there as considerations:

You quoted eBay's policy on FVFs on shipping for sellers listing on .ca, that is based on "the first domestic service in your listing that isn't express." This has always been my understanding too, but you also mentioned that your Canadian shipping options were shown as "Expedited" and "Xpresspost". I'm wondering whether eBay has interpreted "Expedited" as an express shipping service (which, to be accurate, it probably is, in relation to ordinary air parcel). Could that possibly be why eBay is charging you full FVFs on the upgraded international shipping to China?

Secondly, I wondered whether you are showing calculated or flat rate shipping, because you mention that you're not sure on what basis eBay calculates the shipping amount for domestic. There could be a possibility that eBay is mis-charging you on the FVFs, based on their error in calculating what the actual first domestic shipping rate is. That amount should, I think, be shown on your invoice. Since I use only flat rate shipping, I can double-check to be sure eBay is picking up the proper shipping amount to charge FVFs, but with calculated shipping it might not be as easy to determine.

Personally I think the first explanation above is more likely, because who really knows what eBay will consider to be a non-express domestic service. I haven't looked at the policy more closely, but I'd guess it doesn't actually set out what eBay calls express and what it doesn't. This might be something to look into.

sheepgal54 · ‎02-18-2014

hmmmm I am going to check my invoice closer. Today I got an invoice with only 15% discount for my TRS instead of 20% and I was thinking that the FVF was a bit high for only a few sales. I guess I will get out the calculator.....again

avionsunantiques · ‎01-31-2015

As a follow up.

I ultimately got this money returned to me by Ebay after going to the Better Business Bureau for help.

Then about 6 months later, ebay did it again!

I ultimately had to go to the BBB again to get the refund.

This time the same ebay person fixed it for me and gave me a refund (although it was a couple of dollars short). Interestingly the ebay person called my case a "unique" situation.

Right!