eBay

katlover1952 · ‎04-20-2021

My bank account for my eBay sales (tied to my Paypal acct of course) is located in the US. My understanding was that eBay was going to sort this out. Just a heads up for anyone who is in the same situation as me because I just talked to eBay this am. I am required to set up a new bank account in Canada. It can be in US or CAD dollars. I sell on both sites. This IMO is a definite inconvenience to sellers in this situation but it is pretty obvious to me that eBay does not really care.

Something interesting that came out of the conversation was the rep indicated the account had to be in Canada & that eBay would be collecting & paying my income tax on the sale. I said whoa eBay better be doing anything with my income tax as I file that on my own. I asked if he meant sales tax & he said yes. Not surprising I suppose as the provinces must be hating missing out on this revenue & the Amazons of the world are already collecting & remitting.

Anway sounds like there is no longer any time & that this issue was never going to be solved so we must change our bank accounts for them. As I sell on both .ca &.com the big question is now should I open a US dollar account or a Canadian dollar account. Whichever I am sure their exchange rate will not be in our favour. Just curious as to what those of you sell on both sites opened.

marnotom! · ‎04-20-2021

My understanding is that right now eBay and/or Adyen (adminstrators of Managed Payments) are getting a sense of how much interest there is from Canadian sellers in having payments sent to US dollar accounts on Canadian soil. Right now you have to attach a Canadian dollar bank account to a Managed Payments account.

reallynicestamps · ‎04-20-2021

the rep indicated the account had to be in Canada & that eBay would be collecting & paying my income tax on the sale. I said whoa eBay better be doing anything with my income tax as I file that on my own. I asked if he meant sales tax & he said yes.

And this is why the Boardies here are so ... satirical.... about customer reps.

Not surprising I suppose as the provinces must be hating missing out on this revenue & the Amazons of the world are already collecting & remitting.

EBay is registered as a Canadian company now and collects Canadian taxes on their fees.

So if you sold something for $100 and your FVF was $10, eBay would charge you 5% GST (etc depends on province.) or $0.50 on your FVF.

At this time, neither Canada nor the provinces and territories attempt to collect sales taxes on the actual purchase price.

Sellers who are registered to collect and remit sales taxes set that up on the Sell Your Item form and the buyer is invoiced for that.

katlover1952 · ‎04-20-2021

What was indicated to me by the rep was that eBay would be collecting the sales taxes for the provinces & remitting it on behalf of sellers. I do not know if this is correct or not but that is what was explained to me when I asked why I could not have an account with a US bank but must be in Canada.

katlover1952 · ‎04-20-2021

I was told that I must have a Canadian bank account but it could be a US dollar account if I wanted. Also the email had a link if I wanted to be paid in US dollars. I am just curious if any other sellers are using US dollar accts in Canadian banks. If anyone is I would appreciate hearing how it is working out for them.

They would obviously have to convert CAD sales into US funds & I am wondering how the exchange rates are with MP.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-21-2021

I don't think they have set up the ability for sellers to have their money deposited into Canadian bank US dollar accounts yet but hopefully it will be soon.

katlover1952 · ‎04-21-2021

I don't know PJ but they told me that I could have either a US dollar or Canadian dollar account & the email does have a spot if you want US funds so perhaps they have got that changed. I just called my credit union to set up a US dollar account for me so will try & get this all signed up for MP on Friday. I am rather PO'd at eBay making us switch our eBay banking accounts like this when Paypal worked just fine. Yeah I know they sold Paypal but why not find a partner that could manage to accomodate sellers.

I will post back after I get this thing set up & let you know if the reps know what they are talking about.

On another note how do they handle the fees etc? Are they just deducted from the amount they put in your bank account. I also wondered how labels are paid for if you use their system (I am not impressed with their prices). That was one thing I liked about Paypal, I could use my Canadian dollars in the acct to pay for shipping labels. If I had to pay for something in Canadian dollars it was taken out of my Canadian dollars, not the US with all the exchange.

reallynicestamps · ‎04-21-2021

It isn't.

The rep was a little vague on the concept of "Canada" "sovereign nation" and "not part of the US Supreme Court ruling on state sales taxes".

This is the advice you get for $7.25 an hour.

EBay is collecting Internet (state)Sales Tax for US states that charge it. This includes collecting the taxes when the Buyer purchased out of state, over the border, or overseas.

EBay adds that STATE sales tax to your buyer's invoice, collects it, and remits it automatically to the appropriate state.

If you are registered to collect Canadian sales taxes you set up your Sell Your Item form to do this. But you are receiving the Canadian taxes and you are responsible for remitting them.

EBay, as a seller of advertising space, charges us fees. And eBay as a registered Canadian company, collects Canadian taxes on those fees.

That includes fees on sales outside of Canada.

But that has nothing to do with US taxes. Nor with your US customers.

To be fair, free advice is worth every penny you pay for it.

katlover1952 · ‎04-23-2021

So guess the rep really had no clue how it works in Canada. Not surprising really although I did ask to speak to someone who was an expert in Managed Payments lol.

blackranda2 · ‎04-23-2021

This is all a mixed up mess. Another example of what happens when eBay changes things. Sellers end up having to do a lot of extra work and pay extra money to comply with their new polices. Nothing new about that. I also like to print my shipping labels from the money in my PayPal account. Plus like to buy items on other sites using the funds in PayPal from my sales. None of that will be possible anymore. Having numerous money transactions going back and forth from by account scares me. Hackers are getting much more savy these days. The more times money is transfered back and forth the more the odds of hacking increases. I am sorry that eBay couldn't work out their differences with PayPal but is it really fair that sellers have bear the burden of that? I have sold on eBay for just over 15 years. I was intending to finally retire at the end of this year but now it looks like that will happen sooner than I expected. The issue with no funds going to PayPal is a biggie for me but I encourage all sellers to throughly read all the fine print in this new policy. There are other big issues as well such as a 20.00 refund fee being applied to any disputes resolved in the buyer's favor, a possibility of the buyer not even having to return the item to get a refund and 12.9% fees added to the internet sales tax and international VAT. PayPal now charges about 4% fees on these taxes because it is included in the transaction total. No matter how you look at it 12.9% is a lot higher than 4%. In the course of a year this will add up to a lot of extra bucks for eBay at the seller's expense.

I used to enjoy selling on eBay but there is no way for me to justify this latest change. All good things must come to end, I guess!

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2021

there are other big issues as well such as a 20.00 refund fee being applied to any disputes resolved in the buyer's favor,

The $20 fee will be in effect if there is a credit card chargeback or dispute filed through Paypal and you do not win the case or refund before a decision is made. Paypal does the same thing for some credit card chargebacks. Another difference...Unauthorized use cc chargebacks in MP require proof of delivery, with PP they required proof of shipping or delivery.

a possibility of the buyer not even having to return the item to get a refund

That definitely does seem to be a problem with some of the payment disputes that are filed with other payment processors rather than the eBay MBG.

and 12.9% fees added to the internet sales tax and international VAT. PayPal now charges about 4% fees on these taxes because it is included in the transaction total. No matter how you look at it 12.9% is a lot higher than 4%. In the course of a year this will add up to a lot of extra bucks for eBay at the seller's expense.

Yes 12.9% is more than 4% but you have to look at the whole picture. Right now you pay 12.9% fees for a Canadian buyer and 13.7% for a US buyer. In MP your fees will be 12.35% for Canadian buyers and 12.75% for US buyers. In both scenarios you pay a .30 transaction fee. Although it may seem that you will be paying more fees on taxes, whenever I've figured it out on a specific transaction, it is fairly close to even and in some cases MP is a bit less.

Honestly I would prefer to stay with PP too but I do think that people have to look at the actual numbers per transaction and compare what the differences will be. Keep in mind that the fee percentages are not the same. I think that the biggest hit will might be on those sellers that prefer to sell on .com although we will have to wait and see exactly how that will work out with a $US bank account.

lady.stark · ‎04-23-2021

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
and 12.9% fees added to the internet sales tax and international VAT. PayPal now charges about 4% fees on these taxes because it is included in the transaction total. No matter how you look at it 12.9% is a lot higher than 4%. In the course of a year this will add up to a lot of extra bucks for eBay at the seller's expense.

Yes 12.9% is more than 4% but you have to look at the whole picture. Right now you pay 12.9% fees for a Canadian buyer and 13.7% for a US buyer. In MP your fees will be 12.35% for Canadian buyers and 12.75% for US buyers. In both scenarios you pay a .30 transaction fee.

I think that blackranda2 meant 12.75% on IST / VAT is much higher than 3.7% or 3.9% (eBay vs PP).

EBay will loose many sellers because of their greed. I know a big Collectible/Movie Props seller left eBay because of this... they have their own website now. And I really understand why they left... paying 20% (more or less) fees to eBay or charge a 20% Buyer's premium instead on their website. The choice was easy. They surely make more money that way even if it means having to pay the Internet Sale Tax themselves.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-23-2021

I know what they meant but if in the end the fees are basically the same does it matter? I gave an example in an earlier post of the cost difference in one specific transaction.

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/More-crazy-stuff-from-Ebay-Re-Managed-Payments-Fee-Gougi...

My point is that you have to look at the whole picture. Don't assume that you will pay more. The only way to know is your average costs will be the same,more or less is to keep track of what your fees are now and what they wouldbe in MP. I think that some people will be surprised. Obviously fees aren't the only issue but they do get mentioned a lot.

Sorry, I just tired of people throwing around misinformation.

As far as greed......Most businesses are going to try and make more money when they can. In this case I would guess that ebay will make more because they are partially handling the payment processing. It isn't necessarily on the backs of the sellers. The word greed seems to get thrown around a lot here so I guess that must mean that if ebay wants another revenue stream that's greedy. If we expand the type of items we sell because we want more money too is that greedy as well?

There are lots of reasons why people leave ebay but if the seller you know left because they were going to pay 20% more in fees than that was silly as I don't see how someone could pay that much more just because of MP

marnotom! · ‎04-23-2021

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

As far as greed......Most businesses are going to try and make more money when they can. In this case I would guess that ebay will make more because they are partially handling the payment processing. It isn't necessarily on the backs of the sellers. The word greed seems to get thrown around a lot here so I guess that must mean that if ebay wants another revenue stream that's greedy. If we expand the type of items we sell because we want more money too is that greedy as well?

Amen to that. I'm getting pretty weary of the accusations of "greed" on eBay's part as well. I would have thought more sellers would appreciate the reasoning behind eBay's decision to switch back to its own in-house payment management system. eBay is a business, these sellers have businesses. Perhaps there are more closet socialists on eBay than I realized. 😉

blackranda2 · ‎04-23-2021

For the record, I have had a dispute ruled in the buyer's favor through PayPal. I did not refund her before it was resolved and was not charged a refund fee by PayPal. I have no idea how the buyer paid for the purchase as that info is not available. All I know is that this buyer tried to open the dispute on eBay first (she said that in her message to PayPal) and they told her she couldn't and to go to PayPal. I did not have proof of delivery but I did have proof I had shipped it but they still ruled in the buyer's favor.

blackranda2 · ‎04-23-2021

Fees aren't the biggest issue for me. Not having the money in my PayPal account to either spend where I want or to transfer to my bank account manually when I want to is the biggest issue. When you sign up for managed payments you have to choose how often you want it to be sent to your bank account. I don't buy things online on a set schedule. So say I choose to get the money sent daily to my bank account. They send it and 2 hours later I find something online and want to buy it. With PayPal I always leave extra in my account for this reason. I will now have to pay for the item from my bank account or credit card. This means 2 money transfers when with PayPal there would not have been any transfers. Two less chances for a hacker. I am well aware they are saying it is secure but as we all know hackers getting into bank accounts is happening much more often these days. Less transfers = less chances for hackers. Simple math!

blackranda2 · ‎04-23-2021

If we expand the type of items we sell because we want more money too is that greedy as well?

Nope that is not greedy as well because we are just putting an item out there. A buyer can choose to buy it or not buy it. They have a choice. The seller is not going to ban them if they don't buy it.

And before you say it ... Yes sellers also have a choice as to whether or not they sign up for managed payments. It is just not quite as simple of a choice. It has consequences if you don't.

Don't think I am a closet socialist just a realist.

marnotom! · ‎04-24-2021

Your realistic response isn’t making a lot of sense to me.

Managed Payments is part of the eBay package sellers use if they’ve chosen to use the eBay platform. PayPal used to be part of the eBay platform and sellers would have to get set up with that if they wanted to sell on eBay. Prior to that, sellers had more choice of payment methods, including PayPal, but Billpoint was the only one you could say was integrated with eBay.

If you want to sell on eBay you take the package that comes with eBay. The package is changing, those changes may have ramifications for some sellers.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-24-2021

@marnotom! wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:

As far as greed......Most businesses are going to try and make more money when they can. In this case I would guess that ebay will make more because they are partially handling the payment processing. It isn't necessarily on the backs of the sellers. The word greed seems to get thrown around a lot here so I guess that must mean that if ebay wants another revenue stream that's greedy. If we expand the type of items we sell because we want more money too is that greedy as well?
Amen to that. I'm getting pretty weary of the accusations of "greed" on eBay's part as well. I would have thought more sellers would appreciate the reasoning behind eBay's decision to switch back to its own in-house payment management system. eBay is a business, these sellers have businesses. Perhaps there are more closet socialists on eBay than I realized. 😉

When eBay first announced MP it was advertised as "simpler" along with the supposed selling point, "Some sellers will see savings". Now that sellers are being enrolled and seeing the nuances, they are discovering not so much on both accounts. The accounting portion is extremely messy which was not helped by the sudden change to individual billing for listing upgrades and promoted listing charges. And then the out of the blue to no longer refund FVF's for partial refunds. Most refunds have been caused by how difficult eBay has made it for either a seller to send a revised invoice or a buyer to request one. Greedy? Maybe a bit!!! Ummmm Yay???

-Lotz

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-24-2021

eBay insists on labeling anything new as easier/better/ cheaper etc etc and sellers that have been around for a while already know that this is rarely the case. But many of them to keep forgetting that. Ebay seems to prefer to over promise and under deliver with many things just like they do with delivery times and such things as the gsp or international standard delivery so it's best to reserve judgement rather than listen to the hype and be disappointed later on. IMO they would be better off to be more upfront rather than try to sugar count things but I'm not counting on that changing anytime soon.

@lotzofuniquegoodies What do you mean by:

"And then the out of the blue to no longer refund FVF's for partial refunds"

afaik they have not given fvf credits for partial refunds in years...if ever. I know that they would sometimes give one if the seller phoned in but that was never guaranteed and I didn't think that they had even done that for quite a while.