The ebay final value fee killed me

[jeffd52000]

I'm not a big time seller i sell maybe 1 or 2 items per year, anyway I put an iphone up for sale for $250 it sold for $265+14$ shipping

i was happy about that because listing it was practically free. And people on kijiji and letgo couldn't offer anything above 250 anyway.

everything was going well until i noticed ebays final value fee for the phone was 31$!!!

so really i pocketed 234$. This makes the rare selling of items not feasible for me.

I did not know the final value fee would be so dam high either! i think i read somewhere after the fact that it's about 9% from google but the information on that was not clear and if my math is right then i think the real percent is higher then that. If i had known that the final value fee was going to be so much then i would have gone with kijiji or letgo. 

Unless i hear from ebay or get some small refund I think this marks the last time i ever use ebays services, that will be it for me because it's just not worth it.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Sounds about right. FVF is 10% for most categories + tax. So if you have to pay 13% HST in Ontario, then it's $265+14 = $279. $279 x 0.10 x 1.13 = $31.53. If the payment is made via Paypal, then there is a Paypal transaction fee as well. 

Why should you be getting a small refund from eBay? It's a user's responsibility to read and understand the seller info, fees, terms and conditions etc prior to selling. 

It's important to factor in FVF, tax, and Paypal fees (if applicable) into listing price prior to listing.

Are you shipping that phone with a trackable method? In Canada it's Expedited Parcel, which I believe included a signature option. You need to ship something expensive like a phone with tracking and signature to protect yourself, or else you could end up losing more. 

[jeffd52000]

i forgot about about the HST too. Also i didnt even mention paypals fee of 8$ too.
This makes me want to create my own website to compete against ebay lol

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Not sure if you saw my edited comment... please tell me at least you are shipping that phone with a trackable method. Even if it means paying a few dollars more for tracking, it's worth it and for YOUR OWN protection. iPhone is a high risk selling category, more so when you are a new / occasional seller.

[jeffd52000]

oh yes tracking is definitely included.

[femmefan1946]

Sometimes the best bet is to use Fixed Price, like 85% of transactions on eBay.

That way, not only is your item viewable for 30 days rather than seven, but you choose the price after allowing for your costs including fees (which are given on the Sell Your Item form just before you click to list).

And if you prefer, you can add Immediate Payment Required, which leaves the listing available until someone actually pays.