The payout f4om my sale is less then my total sales minus ebay fees, why?

[north_guy]

My sale was a total of $69.50. In the sellers hub it shows all their fees detailed to totaling out at a sum of $10.03 but the payout to bank is only $54.92 where is the other $4.55?

[byto253]

It is likely state tax.  Ebay presents total sales including tax they collect, which never hits your account.  

Was your sale to New York state?  $4.55 is 7%, the same as their sales tax.

[reallynicestamps]

Fees are charged on the ENTIRE amount the buyer pays.

This includes the selling price- which basically goes to you, the shipping price- which basically goes to Canada Post or equivalent, and the state/provincial sales tax - which basically goes to the buyer's local government.

The first two are charged fees for historical reasons and also to flatten the playing field for those of us who offer Free Shipping.*

The last is Canadian and American and Australian and EU, etc laws about online sales. The taxes are collected and remitted by eBay. It may help to think of this as a service charge so you don't need to memorize over a hundred different ways sales taxes are reckoned. (But it won't.)

The sales tax fee is a percentage of a percentage. It shouldn't affect your costs by very much.

This is one of the reasons old hands at selling say"You make your money when you buy, not when you sell." They mean that you need to know your costs before you set your selling price.




*Free Shipping is a marketing terms for "the seller's costs for shipping are included in the selling price".