How is this going to affect fees?

[55-yard-line-sportscards]

We already get shafted on fees on postage despite the fact that a ten-dollar item is a ten-dollar item whether it's going to a Canadian destination or is mailed to a foreign destination at a higher price. Is eBay planning on hammering us for fees on the taxes too (wouldn't surprise me), or will the taxes be exempted from eBay's fees?

[marnotom!]

Post this to the Q&A thread!

[velvet@ebay]

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@55-yard-line-sportscards wrote:

We already get shafted on fees on postage despite the fact that a ten-dollar item is a ten-dollar item whether it's going to a Canadian destination or is mailed to a foreign destination at a higher price. Is eBay planning on hammering us for fees on the taxes too (wouldn't surprise me), or will the taxes be exempted from eBay's fees?

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Hi @55-yard-line-sportscards! The tax team says:

Current day, if a Canadian seller is required to collect GST/HST/PST/QST, fees are imposed on the total sale price paid by the buyer, inclusive of shipping and taxes. Fees will continue to be imposed on the total sales price.

[55-yard-line-sportscards]

In other words, you will make money off of taxes. Why am I not surprised. eBay screwing the seller again. It never ends with you thieves. You make it impossible for small sellers to earn anything on here, then lying idiots like Brian Burke have the gall to tell us our fees won’t be impacted all that much by eBay moves.

[mrdutch1001]

not everything can be blamed on eBay...and this isn't just about eBay...this taxation will encompass many online selling sites...

as a marketplace facilitator, eBay is simply following the requirement.

[55-yard-line-sportscards]

You missed my point. eBay is collecting the taxes from the buyer for the government. That money never goes to the seller. But they are then charging the SELLER fees on those TAXES. Those taxes have NOTHING to do with me as a seller, so why in heck should I have to pay fees on them? THAT, my friend, is eBay's decision/fault, so your darn straight that I can blame that on them.

[reallynicestamps]

Once again this is Standard Practice in the financial sector.

We had merchant credit card accounts (through Moneris) from 1979 or so until we closed our shop in 2014.

Moneris charged us a fee on every payment made by card.

That fee was based on the whole payment, including sales taxes.

When we shipped goods, and we had an active website, we also paid Moneris their fee on our shipping charges.

Because we got our account 30 + years earlier, we had a good rate. And because our average sale was in the three figure range, the rate was better than a coffee shop with an average sale under $15.

[mrdutch1001]

well, not really...for the past 3 years we have been paying fees on those USA sales taxes to those states(and there are now 45 states plus the District of Columbia that have the USA "internet tax"),  so paying fees on Canada's version of taxation is no different...

[shoeboxgold]

This is just plain wrong in so many ways.  I currently collect and remit HST/PST to the governments, and do not want eBay to provide this "service".  No doubt, this will cost is in the end, as eBay is not doing this for us for Free.  

As many have already stated, it is extremely difficult for small sellers to break even, much less make a nickel on our sales.  Fees keep rising, eBay makes millions, and we continue to get the shaft.