Commission on Shipping, is that legal

[vintage1stuff]

Could some one Please tell me why ebay charges sellers a Commission on Shipping 

[ypdc_dennis]

Yes.  It is legal to charge commission on the total sale amount including shipping charge.

There are a variety of reasons that might be ebay's why:

1) the A-river does it

2) avoids sellers selling for a penny and charging $500 for shipping

3) prevents sellers with "free shipping" (shipping included in the price) from being penalized

Not new: eBay has had FVF on shipping charges for the last 7 years (2011).

[kawartha-ephemera]

I guess it must be. The E site just announced out of the blue that they're going to begin doing the same. Just for good measure they hiked their commission percentage too, the combination of the two isn't far short of doubling the cost of selling there. Also announced they are rolling out store subscriptions. That should slow down the flow of vintage eBay sellers moving over there.

[hlmacdon]

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@kawartha-ephemera wrote:
I guess it must be. The E site just announced out of the blue that they're going to begin doing the same. Just for good measure they hiked their commission percentage too, the combination of the two isn't far short of doubling the cost of selling there. Also announced they are rolling out store subscriptions. That should slow down the flow of vintage eBay sellers moving over there.

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It's almost like all the execs are all hanging out at Nobu writing down revenue generating ideas on the back of fancy napkins and passing them around.  Wait till everyone announces the same 2.9% fee to collect online sales tax.  

Gett

[kawartha-ephemera]

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@hlmacdon wrote:

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@kawartha-ephemera wrote:
I guess it must be. The E site just announced out of the blue that they're going to begin doing the same. Just for good measure they hiked their commission percentage too, the combination of the two isn't far short of doubling the cost of selling there. Also announced they are rolling out store subscriptions. That should slow down the flow of vintage eBay sellers moving over there.

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It's almost like all the execs are all hanging out at Nobu writing down revenue generating ideas on the back of fancy napkins and passing them around.  Wait till everyone announces the same 2.9% fee to collect online sales tax.  

Gett

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The little E appears to be following the ebay playbook page by page. They announced that they are "investing" heavily on behalf of their sellers. They are now all about selling store subscriptions too. Their announcement was very vague as to what the benefits might be ... to their sellers.

[kawartha-ephemera]

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@hlmacdon wrote:

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@kawartha-ephemera wrote:
I guess it must be. The E site just announced out of the blue that they're going to begin doing the same. Just for good measure they hiked their commission percentage too, the combination of the two isn't far short of doubling the cost of selling there. Also announced they are rolling out store subscriptions. That should slow down the flow of vintage eBay sellers moving over there.

---

It's almost like all the execs are all hanging out at Nobu writing down revenue generating ideas on the back of fancy napkins and passing them around.  Wait till everyone announces the same 2.9% fee to collect online sales tax.  

Gett

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Yeah those types are never happy until they've alienated most of their customer base and the cancellation of service requests start to boom. I'm waiting for ebay to announce some sort of subscription around all this traffic data ... I'm highly suspicious they will try to monetize that if they can ever get the system to work.

[retroman_studios]

To the reseller of cheap products from the forbidden kingdom, I'm sure these tactics will help. But for those who are drowning in a sea of false products (claimed handmade but not) not much....

Now is the time to unite the e's. They have been apart far too long. World domination! j/k 😉

[dutchman48]

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@retroman_studios wrote:
To the reseller of cheap products from the forbidden kingdom, I'm sure these tactics will help. But for those who are drowning in a sea of false products (claimed handmade but not) not much....

Now is the time to unite the e's. They have been apart far too long. World domination! j/k 😉

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It is a cash grab, and the higher the postage charges go, the more money they make for doing absolutely nothing to help sellers!

[pierrelebel]

"Could some one Please tell me why ebay charges sellers a Commission on Shipping "

Pretty simple in fact.  Like most similar websites, eBay charges a fee (commission or Final Value Fee) on the total value of the transaction (except for tax).

So, it does not matter to eBay if the seller charges

$100 + $20 shipping

or

$120 with "free" shipping

eBay (and most competitors) collects their fee on the total value of the transaction (except for tax)

Similarly PayPal, credit card issuers and similar operators charge their fees of the total amount of the transaction they handle (including shipping and tax).

And, yes, it is very legal.  You, as a seller, agree to it when you accept eBay's Terms of Use.

[amcdc79]

Pierre you are here, and correct as usual, the charge on shipping was mainly to stop the many sellers with a low sale price but a Hugh shipping cost. At lease ebay did lower their Fvf by a little, from 12% to 10%. It helped a little, but did not take all the pain away. 

[bpl521_sell]

I may be incorrect on this but you are only charged fees on the rate of shipping to your own postal/zip code. So if you ship to the end of the country your fee charged does not change. At least I think

[311mainstreetantiques]

Because they are money hungry, vicious **bleep**s! I think it is illegal to charge commission on postage for a third party... That is why I left Ebay after like 20 years....

[byto253]

AAARRGGHH  ZOMBIE THREAD COMES TO LIFE 

[mrdutch1001]

"That is why I left Ebay after like 20 years">yet you still come here to **bleep**

[mrdutch1001]

@kh-leslie 

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2018!

[reallynicestamps]

@311mainstreetantiques 

Technically they don't.

They charge a commission/fees for processing the buyer's ENTIRE payment, however that is made up.

Most payments include selling price, shipping (which may be part of the selling price and called "free shipping", and sales taxes.
If you sell an item for $100 with $10 shipping to Alberta which charges only the 5% GST, the customer sends you $115.

At the usual 13.5% fee, you pay eBay$15.53 .

For that fee eBay sends the appropriate tax to AB, provides a discounted shipping label, and allows you to advertise your product around the world 24/7.

[marnotom!]

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@311mainstreetantiques wrote:

Because they are money hungry, vicious **bleep**s! I think it is illegal to charge commission on postage for a third party... That is why I left Ebay after like 20 years....

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Basing your business plan on what you "think" rather than what you "know to be true" isn't always the best way to go about things.

That "third party" that you're referring to is actually a service you've contracted out yourself to perform the task of delivering the item to the customer, a service that you offer in the listing as yours.  The buyer pays you, not the third party, for that service, and that service adds to the value of the transaction.

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.