eBay should show taxes before a purchase, not after.

[xmiketheripper]

eBay should really find a way to let buyers preview taxes, even if it's just "estimated",  before they accept an offer or make a deal, because it's SO frusterating sending out offers to people watching my items, for them to ACCEPT the offer, or make me a counter offer which I accept, only to have them request to cancel the order after, because once they see the FULL price + shipping + taxes, they don't want the item anymore. 

I've had this happen at least 3 different times now, and it's really getting on my nerves, having to reslist the item and start from scratch, losing my previous potential buyers watching my items.  I buy on eBay too, I'm aware there ARE taxes i'll have to pay ontop of the "Buy It Now" or "Best Offer" price, people should be more considerate. 

[pjcdn2005]

 The buyer can change their address before payment so the site has no way of knowing how much tax or shipping to charge until the address has been put in.  Any shopping site that I have been on works like that. They show the tax at checkout.

It might have something to do with your shipping costs too. You're charging $20 to ship a tshirt from BC to Alberta. You could print an  expedited lite label on eBay and send it for under $10.  The statue seems very high too. It would be more accurate if you used calculated shipping.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Sales taxes are very complex. Some US residents pay not only state taxes but also county and city taxes.

Without the exact address, the program can't work out what rate to use.

Calculated Shipping does pull the exact address and gives the buyer the exact amount to their doorstep. This also tends to look more "official"  than Free Shipping (which buyers love even though it really means the asking price includes the seller's shipping costs) or  a Flat Rate which may be too high for some nearby destinations and too low for others.

[regs43]

---

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

It might have something to do with your shipping costs too. You're charging $20 to ship a tshirt from BC to Alberta. You could print an  expedited lite label on eBay and send it for under $10.  The statue seems very high too. It would be more accurate if you used calculated shipping.

---

I weighed one of my Tshirts for fun and its like 285grams (I am a larger person) but thats not even including packaging, so that might not work depending on the size and actual weight of the shirt (I didnt look at the OP's listings)

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You'd likely lose more orders from people simply not ordering it. 

I would suspect that sticker shock does happen, but your average person goes through with the purchase because they already committed to buying it. 

It's almost like how eBay used to show the total shipped price in the search, but no longer do. So anybody who uses free shipping actually is at a disadvantage when trying to get the buyer to choose to click on their item because $14.99 w/ Free Shipping looks more expensive than $12.99 + ($4.99 shipping) on the search, since it only shows $14.99 vs $12.99. 

[recped]

I always see the shipping amount in search results, are you saying it's too difficult for buyers to add the item+shipping=price+tax

[recped]

---

@femmefan1946 wrote:

Sales taxes are very complex.

---

Sales Tax is not "complex" for buyers, surely any adult knows the tax rate in their own Province (or State).

I will say that eBay buyers who have not bought here since eBay started collecting GST/HST/PST might be a bit shocked but even that would be rare. I collected Sales Tax on all on all Canadian orders since 1999, I can count on one hand the number of people who made a complaint.

@xmiketheripper 

It is NOT the sales tax that is causing these buyers to cancel, cancellations or non-payment has been a major issue from the day eBay integrated an offer system into the site.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

For me, it shows the shipping in the mobile app, but not when using a web browser on .CA or .COM. Look at the example above. 

People speculate that you get better 'best match' placement with free shipping, but if you sell lower priced items it can unintentionally make your items falsely appear more expensive.

My theory is that if you're selling an item that is going to appeal to more casual buyers where there is significant competition, that getting someone to choose to click on your item first is a big part of getting the sale. I am talking about an item where there might be 50-100 options. So if someone is served with 5 options on the screen in front of them, and one says it is $9.99 (with no shipping charge visible), and the other says $14.99 w/ free shipping, I would gamble on the $9.99 one being more likely to be clicked on. 

[recped]

FireFox or Chrome

[dinomitesales]

---

@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:

For me, it shows the shipping in the mobile app, but not when using a web browser on .CA or .COM. Look at the example above. 

---

It's weird how this differs between users for unknown reasons. My desktop view (Chrome browser) shows the shipping prices within the search results just fine. 

[xmiketheripper]

---

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

 The buyer can change their address before payment so the site has no way of knowing how much tax or shipping to charge until the address has been put in.  Any shopping site that I have been on works like that. They show the tax at checkout.

It might have something to do with your shipping costs too. You're charging $20 to ship a tshirt from BC to Alberta. You could print an  expedited lite label on eBay and send it for under $10.  The statue seems very high too. It would be more accurate if you used calculated shipping.

---

When I recieve an offer, I can see their address/postal code in the offer. When an offer is made, if eBay is already making the connection between where the buyer and seller is with the buyers address being shown, is there not a way for the system to calculate an estimate on taxes based on their Zip/Postal code ?

You may personally think the prices are too high, if this person messaged me and asked for an exact shipping quote with their Postal Code/ Zip, I'd look it up for them, like I often do when asked. The buyer also KNEW the shipping cost before sending me an offer, which I accepted. I don't drive, the only options close to me are Canada Post and UPS, so that's what I use, and I make more sales than I have people cancel, but within the past 4 months I've had 3 people cancel after accepting my offer or sending ME and offer which is getting annoying. 

The flatrate shipping is always either bang on, or it's a bit more which I pay out of pocket. I've even refunded the difference to buyers on the rare chance it's less.   

Shipping for 1/4 statues are ALWAYS expensive because the boxes are huge and heavy... Anyone who collects statues knows this, and for the particular items I currently have up, they're the cheapest on eBay, and both below what I paid... 

[xmiketheripper]

I'll look into calculated, as a seller tbh I never really understood how it worked.  I had this account for a looooong time, this is the only way i've done shipping and never had issues with shipping this way, so I never bothered looking into anything else. When people message me about exact shippping, i always take a screenshot and send them the options right from Canada Post and UPS so they can see the prices/measurements and their address etc.

Because they never message me before cancelling, and always used a lame excuse like " used the wrong credit card" or something, I always just assumed it was because they did't like the taxes, because if they've commited to an Offer or outright Purchased on their own, I would hope they'd know there's always taxes added now.

[pjcdn2005]

@ilikehockeyjerseys 

You need to customize your page again.  I know that I lost that option too and had to turn it

back again. On a search page next to the sort option, click on the 3 lines, customize and then check

off seller information.

[marnotom!]

Just out of curiosity, how many brick and mortar retailers have we run into that have taxes displayed on the shelf tag?

[xmiketheripper]

In Europe the prices all have taxes included, so what you see on the tag is what you pay. I was more thinking if there's a way for them to show taxes before you accept an offer as a buyer, or before people "Buy it Now". The system already has both the buyer and sellers info by that stage. If there was a way to show taxes before buyers commit, they might be less likely to cancel and order. When you buy anything online, after you put in your address, before you commit, it ALWAYS shows the total + taxes ( if there are any ) 

I'd rather someone skip the acution entirely than waste time commiting to a purchase, only to cancel after they see the ACTUAL total. 

[byto253]

When I purchase items, I pretty well always put it in the cart first then go to checkout where I can see the taxes and double check my delivery address.  

But there are buyers pulled in from searches or google ads that likely don't realize it is that easy to get a total.

[marnotom!]

September is an expensive month for a lot of people. They may have summer vacation bills rolling in or kids heading back to school. Seeing taxes added to their sale may give them an extra jolt of reality but I don’t think they’re the sole cause of these potential buyers backing out in their offers.

I agree with @recped's observation that what you’re seeing comes with the territory of Best Offer. Sometimes you’re dealing with buyers who make offers to several sellers simultaneously, thinking they still have a chance to pick and choose who to buy from even after they’ve reached deals with these sellers. It’s a problem that has a controversial solution on the .com site, FWIW.

[xmiketheripper]

Yeah I do feel that, but if I'm hurting for cash after vacation or have bills piling up, I'm not looking for $600+ statues on eBay and sending people offers, then backing out of them after the seller accepts the offer. As a buyer myself, and a seller, it's just frustrating. I wonder if there was a way for eBay to make it mandatory to add items to the cart before purchase, like if someone chooses to "Buy it Now", or if they accept an offer, it'll take them to the cart and show the FULL breakdown BEFORE confirmation/ending the auction.

Meaning if someone chooses "Buy it Now" or accepts/sends an offer, it won't end the auction or count as being bought until they confirm in the cart and pay.  This method wouldn't work for bidding auctions, but I'd prefer the cart being mandatory for Buy it Now/Offers, because I don't think people even remember the cart is there. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Thanks for the info.

For my personal use of eBay, it doesn't matter. I usually sort by lowest price+shipping or newly listed. 

My post was looking at it more from a marketing POV. If that is the default of what your average user sees, that is what you should cater to as a seller. Your average user isn't a "power user" who understands the platform in and out. They are a person who decides they want an item, searches for it, and clicks on the most appealing one served to them through eBay's Best Match. I think that having an item at least initially appear cheaper is an advantage in that scenario.

[femmefan1946]

You don't have to know how it works.

You don't see where the browsing customer lives, but if they click on the listing, the Shipping Cost they see, just below the asking price, will be the rate Calculated based on the seller's choices for:

• weight
• dimensions
• service

which the seller had to enter to use Calculated shipping.

Which may require a certain amount of imagination if your products vary a lot. Mine tend to be envelope sized or huge heavy books.
I use Flat Rate for envelopes and Calculated Shipping -available only on dotCA- for the books.

About the visibility of shipping costs.

I ran a favourite Search and found that listings with shipping were displayed first, then listings without.
The listings with were also displayed first on page one and a few without at the bottom of the page. But on page two, the shippping costs were back at the top while those without again dropped to the bottom.
My defaultSearch is "highest price plus shipping" and the Search was "Kaylee Firefly"

"Huh"- Captain Malcolm Reynolds.