eBay fees are too high
17-May-2008
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eBay fees are too high

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Money - eBay fees too high

Is it just me, or are eBay getting just a little bit greedy when it comes to the high fees levied at sellers these days?  Also, I think that the final fees you may end up paying exactly obvious from the outset.

For example, if you want to sell an item and you want to make sure that you don't just give it away it is a good idea to stick a reserve or an initial bid on to make sure you get something reasonable.  You are immediately whacked by a £2.00 insertion fee - and that's before your item has even sold!

Then there are the various listing enhancements.  Okay, if you describe your item well and "design" the title you can probably forget most of the superfluous extras, but sometimes its a good idea to add a few photos and brighten your ad up a little bit as there is a lot of competition.  You don't want to loose that £2 insertion fee now do you?

Once you've sold (hopefully) your item, you get another nice surprise.  The final value fees.  These are often not considered by sellers, but it is seriously worth taking your potential final value fees into account when deciding on your reserve or initial bid as these fees are actually quite steep in my opinion.  For a £300 item such as my example, you pay a flat £1.57 (for the first £29.99), then a rosy 3.25% on the remaining closing value balance.  That takes your final value fees up to around £10.35

So there you go, you've sold your widget for £300 and you hand over £12.35 to eBay straight away.  So what happens if the buyer decides to pay through PayPal?  Yet more fees, that's what! With the number of people using eBay these days (let's face it, there isn't really a worthwhile alternative at the moment) they must be absolutely coining it in!  eBay's hefty fees are practically a licence to print money.

By: Disgruntled eBay Seller


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We just sold an old musical instrument on ebay and accepted payment via paypal. The horn sold for $1900.00 USD and the total ebay and paypal fees were $173.00 USD, Ouch. More info on this expensive transaction here: http://www.gordonmedley.com/2008/03/19/ebay-paypal-and-the-high-costs
*gordonmedley  19-Mar-2008 22:17

 
Ladylaura, you should take up your query with ebay, they are pretty prompt at replying.

For all those that 'dish' Ebay, don't use it. Mongo is right, go elsewhere like an auction house and haul your gear with you. See if your selling fees are any less than Ebay and how long will you wait for payment? Smaller audience, may not sell them at all.
*Simon  17-Mar-2008 10:44

 
Go to an auction house and sell your stuff then! Ebay fees are about right for the service they provide, around 10%.
*Mongo  16-Mar-2008 18:51

 
I totally agree, I feel I have been ripped off by ebay a couple of times. for example one month I listed 3 items, I then got an invoice to pay £11 invoice fees. now I'm pretty sure that was not the cost. my listings were plain and simple, 1 gallery pic each at 15p plus insertion, it just doesnt add up! and the invoice doesn't give you details of what exactly you are getting charged for!

and then theres paypal fees! I know they provide a good service, safe payment plus added protection but come on, most payments go through with no trouble - why are the prices so high?
*ladylaura  01-Mar-2008 21:28

 
Hi no more fees,

I omitted to mention the overseas policy regarding WW2 German items. There are some items that do not contravene Ebay UK policy however, if the item is listed as worldwide shipping then the item will be visible to countries such as Austria, France and Germany where these items are prohibited.

My friend was caught out by this selfmade glitch as it was Ebay Germany that reported the item in question, hence his suspension. If he had selected countries that do not forbid the sale of such items then there would not have been a problem. The US, Canada and the UK do not have any restrictions to the sale of such items from this period.

You just have to be careful of what you list for sale and where you are willing to send it. Ebay do supply a list of prohibited items.

I've probably drifted from your initial question but this is knowledge to anyone reading this gripe.

Kind regards,

Simon
*Simon  11-Jan-2008 19:52

 
Hi no more fees,

Then your stay with Ebay will be a short one. To register as a seller you are required to provide your bank details, account numbers etc. If I'm correct, they alert you of any payments due and there's a cut-off date.

They are able to extract monies due from your account and there's a good possibility you'll be suspended and they don't make it easy for you to be reinstated as a seller. There is a long suspension period before you can register as a seller.

If you try to sign up as a new member using the card details initially supplied, these details are blacklisted. You need to supply all new credentials to get back on Ebay.

It's very different if you are solely on Ebay as a buyer. You owe them nothing as you don't incur any fees owed to Ebay. As a seller you need to pay for listing your items, extra photos and a percentage of the item sold.

A friend of mine collects and sells items from Germany's Nazi era - He's not a Nazi just a historical collector of this period. He was suspended for I believe it's three strikes out. They consider these items prohibited - racial hatred encouragement, along with any items relating to the KKK. They do allow stamps and coins from this era and post war books of a historical nature but nothing relating to propoganda or denial of the holocaust.

The founder of Ebay is a gentleman of Jewish faith so, I can understand his policies and rules and if you haven't adhered to this policy third time around, you only have yourself to blame.

Hope this has been of use.

Kind regards,

Simon
*Simon  11-Jan-2008 19:33

 
what happens if you just dont pay them there fees after your item sells what can they do how can they make you pay
*no more fees  11-Jan-2008 18:37

 
Can anyone suggest an alternative to EBAY in the UK

If not it's about time someone started one, at REALISTIC fees
*calibra  02-Jan-2008 16:19

 
I love the simple nature of sellin g on ebay. BUT and it is a BIG BUT The fees are far too expensive.......I just sold an item for £62 and was left with ONLY £56 after the posting fee final seeling fee and paypal fee were deducted This is far too expensive for such a small item.....I also understand EBAY are soon to FORCE people to use PAYPAL for certain listings.....I would have thought this would be a restrictive practice, how are they able to FORCE the use of paypal as a payment method.....Only to further increase their profits.....EBAY gets lots of FREE publicity in films etc EBAY is a household name. IF they dropped the fees and made them more realistic they would get even more throughput. I for one will look for alternative methods to sell my items
*calibra  02-Jan-2008 16:16

 
Here's an alternative to eBay that's worth trying:

http://www.phimart.com

The fees are much lower!
*x245  10-Dec-2007 21:14

 
OK, If I buy an item from a seller on Ebay using PayPal, and am not happy with it for whatever reason, I have protection. I can cancel this payment and by doing this is freezes the sellers account.

Thay have an option to reimburse in full which is in their best interest as their PayPal is frozen and can no longer continue.

To me, this is good protection for there are too many people chancing it nowadays.
*Sammy  04-Dec-2007 11:13

 
One other thing. Both ebay and paypal forever rant on about how safe their systems are.
According to Microsoft and IBM, nothing is safe on the internet simply because it was never designed as a medium to send money all over the place. A really good hacker can do anything he wants.
Direct deposits are so much better. A buyer can put money in but they can't take any out, and you don't get charged outragious fees.
*Nickleodeon  02-Dec-2007 04:07


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