Ebay Sellers: BEWARE OF INAPPROPRIATE FEES UPDATE!! I WON!!!

UPDATED IN MY LAST POST!

I believe a moderator posted on this subject a while back and I would like to give fair warning to those that sell on ebay.

As you know, ebay charges horrendous final value fees causing many to markup games substantially. This in turns will often result in a non-eBay sale as you can price your game more competitively elsewhere.

I listed Bride of Pinbot 2.0 and a local individual contacted me through ebay and provided his phone number to inspect the game. I did not respond through ebay. I sent him a text and after a day he decided he wasn't interested and bought a different game. In the meantime, I had another deal in the works via another website. That deal was completed three days later and I ended the auction and all other ads (Pinside, CL, Mr_pinball, etc.). At the end of November I noticed ebay charged my account $750 for a final value fee for an off ebay transaction. After several calls, open tickets, offers to provide proof the game sold and was shipped to VA they refuse to credit my account. They refuse to even accept proof of sale I wanted to provide. The fact that the potential buyer emailed his phone number and I ended the auction was enough of an "assumption" that I sold the game to the eBay member. I stated their fees almost always guarantee a no sale due to markup and games always sell via other websites. They stated I shouldn't be posting on other websites and the product should be available to eBay buyers. LOL. I asked them if their eBay motors sellers only post on ebay and not autotrader and deny potential buyers inspection of product.

I'm out $750 and can guarantee I will never post any big ticket items on ebay. Be careful!

Post last edited 6 years ago.

#2 6 years ago

JAR

jar155

Pinside member

North Salt Lake, UT

14y 114K 6,220 9 141

Good warning. I stopped listing machines on eBay for these sorts of reasons. Everybody gets punished because a few people skirted the rules.

#3 6 years ago

KIS

rollinover

Pinside member

10y 83,050 2,094

wow thats insane, there are ways around that, but geez thats absurd. thats just like charging whenever they feel like it based on pure speculation!!!

they just charged me 50 bucks for listing a car for a week. talk about highway robbery.
I called them they reversed it and now sticking with craigslist

ebay fees are terrible!!!

ps. they dont cover the sellers at all anymore

#4 6 years ago

BAD

ImNotNorm

Pinside member

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ebay-policy-change-charging-final-values-fees-for-off-ebay-sales#post-3978810

OP
Quoted from Djshakes:
I believe a moderator posted on this subject a while back and I would like to give fair warning to those that sell on ebay.
As you know, ebay charges horrendous final value fees causing many to markup games substantially. This in turns will often result in a non-eBay sale as you can price your game more competitively elsewhere.
I listed Bride of Pinbot 2.0 and a local individual contacted me through ebay and provided his phone number to inspect the game. I did not respond through ebay. I sent him a text and after a day he decided he wasn't interested and bought a different game. In the meantime, I had another deal in the works via another website. That deal was completed three days later and I ended the auction and all other ads (Pinside, CL, Mr_pinball, etc.). At the end of November I noticed ebay charged my account $750 for a final value fee for an off ebay transaction. After several calls, open tickets, offers to provide proof the game sold and was shipped to VA they refuse to credit my account. They refuse to even accept proof of sale I wanted to provide. The fact that the potential buyer emailed his phone number and I ended the auction was enough of an "assumption" that I sold the game to the eBay member. I stated their fees almost always guarantee a no sale due to markup and games always sell via other websites. They stated I shouldn't be posting on other websites and the product should be available to eBay buyers. LOL. I asked them if their eBay motors sellers only post on ebay and not autotrader and deny potential buyers inspection of product.
I'm out $750 and can guarantee I will never post any big ticket items on ebay. Be careful!

From what others have said in similar threads....request arbitration. They will most likely refund you the $750

Read post #20 by BallyPinWiz

#5 6 years ago

CRG

Toasterdog

Pinside member

Clearwater, FL

11y 95,550 3,646 2 46

If you didn't sell it, then I would list it on Ebay. Tell them you were charged $750 for a game you didn't sell. They should let you run the ad IMO.

#6 6 years ago

JPD

Dayhuff

Pinside member

Battle Creek, MI

11y 126K 6,349 79 11

Another reason why I haven't even LOOKED at EBay in like a dozen years or more......total waste of time.

John

#7 6 years ago

LER

Lermods

Lermods Pinball Co.

11y 201K 10,854 58

eBay is the absolute worst, but it’s a necessary evil.

#8 6 years ago

ABC

Crash

Pinside member

12y 141K 14,133

What about small one-off items, $200 or less? Worth the time and fees or no?

#9 6 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

Quoted from Crash:
What about small on-off items, $200 or less? Worth the time and fees or no?

10% Ebay 2.9% paypal

I sold my Magic cards and I kind of had to on Ebay to get the most bang...they take what they take and there isn't much to do aboot it.

#10 6 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,334 268 14

Quoted from TheLaw:
10% Ebay 2.9% paypal

And 10% on shipping.

#11 6 years ago

ARS

Robotoes

Pinside member

Rutland, VT

9y 48,650 1,250

yeah, the shipping fees are what finally drove me away from selling anything on there.

as another stated, i would request arbitration. that's absurd, and i'm sure you can prove it was sold through other means.

#12 6 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

Quoted from ForceFlow:
And 10% on shipping.

Shipping Fees now? Or maybe they had them and I never noticed since shipping was always under $10?

Uff.

#13 6 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,334 268 14

Quoted from TheLaw:
Shipping Fees now? Or maybe they had them and I never noticed since shipping was always under $10?
Uff.

They've had it in place for a few years now. You might not notice it if you print your shipping label from ebay because of the volume discount ebay gets, but if you don't do that, it's very apparent.

#14 6 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

Quoted from ForceFlow:
They've had it in place for a few years now. You might not notice it if you print your shipping label from ebay because of the volume discount ebay gets, but if you don't do that, it's very apparent.

Never used ebay to print labels...went right over my head apparently. Sneaky bastards

#15 6 years ago

ARS

Robotoes

Pinside member

Rutland, VT

9y 48,650 1,250

Yeah, if you don't use their packaged mailing system you get charged a fee on top of your shipping costs.

#16 6 years ago

DHF

fosaisu

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 142K 10,342

Quoted from Robotoes:
Yeah, if you don't use their packaged mailing system you get charged a fee on top of your shipping costs.

Just to clarify, are you talking about eBay including your listed shipping costs in the "final value" they charge their "final value fee" on (which they've been doing for a long time, to keep people from listing items for $0.99 with a $50 shipping charge to evade paying fees)? Or are they now charging a new, additional fee if you don't use eBay's "print a label" service?

#17 6 years ago

SMK

TheLaw

Pinside+ Addict

Quoted from Robotoes:
Yeah, if you don't use their packaged mailing system you get charged a fee on top of your shipping costs.

They probably added it to my fees at the end of the month or whatever and I never looked closely because I had already worked out around wheree they should be.

#18 6 years ago

TWB

Djshakes

Pinside member

Quoted from ImNotNorm:
From what others have said in similar threads....request arbitration. They will most likely refund you the $750
Read post #20 by ballypinwiz
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ebay-policy-change-charging-final-values-fees-for-off-ebay-sales#post-3978810

This is great. I'm going to take this route and followup.

#19 6 years ago

SBS

o-din

Pinside+ Addict

11y 158K 58,784

OP
Quoted from Djshakes:
After several calls, open tickets, offers to provide proof the game sold and was shipped to VA they refuse to credit my account.

e34ec4294f755af887276ebce4bb16c8 (resized).jpg

#20 6 years ago

BAD

ImNotNorm

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from Djshakes:
This is great. I'm going to take this route and followup.

Keep us posted. There's nothing sweeter than getting back at a company with their own red tape.....

#21 6 years ago

STF

scott_freeman

Pinside member

Detroit, MI

12y 43,650 875 1

What was your advertised price for the complete game??

regarding, "charged my account $750 for a final value "

#22 6 years ago

TWB

Djshakes

Pinside member

Quoted from scott_freeman:
What was your advertised price for the complete game??
regarding, "charged my account $750 for a final value "

I think I had it posted for $7500. Ended up selling for $6100. Had to mark up to cover the fees and was hoping to break even. I took a loss on that game. Bummer.

#23 6 years ago

---

ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,334 268 14

Quoted from fosaisu:
Or are they now charging a new, additional fee if you don't use eBay's "print a label" service?

No, it's a 10% fee on any cost of shipping that you add to the listing that's baked into the final value fee.

I think you have to go into the "my account" section to see all the fees actually listed. For example:

pasted_image (resized).png

#24 6 years ago

KAM

kvan99

Pinside member

12y 97,050 6,029 10

Call them again and ask them to escalate the complaint.

#25 6 years ago

DHF

fosaisu

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 142K 10,342

Quoted from ForceFlow:
No, it's a 10% fee on any cost of shipping that you add to the listing that's baked into the final value fee.
I think you have to go into the "my account" section to see all the fees actually listed. For example:

Thanks for clarifying. So it is as it's been for a long while now, eBay bases your fee on the total cost to the buyer, regardless of how the seller divides it up b/w bid price and shipping cost. eBay takes 10% for all of it. Plus the 2.9% PayPal bight.

#26 6 years ago

TWB

Djshakes

Pinside member

Quoted from kvan99:
Call them again and ask them to escalate the complaint.

I opened up two separate cases and spoke with a supervisor. She wouldn't budge. I just printed off the ebay notice of dispute forms, printed a professional letter and attached my other ads, email communications, text messages, paypal deposits and payment checks to verify the individual that contacted me was not the buyer. All the dates line up. No way an arbitrator wouldn't rule in my favor. I highly doubt most go through the trouble I did. I would be baffled if they denied the request for refund.

#27 6 years ago

F X

Coyote

Pinside member

9y 107K 8,986

OP
Quoted from Djshakes:
I opened up two separate cases and spoke with a supervisor. She wouldn't budge. I just printed off the ebay notice of dispute forms, printed a professional letter and attached my other ads, email communications, text messages, paypal deposits and payment checks to verify the individual that contacted me was not the buyer. All the dates line up. No way an arbitrator wouldn't rule in my favor. I highly doubt most go through the trouble I did. I would be baffled if they denied the request for refund.

I'm really, REALLY curious to hear how the arbitration goes, if they go for it..

#28 6 years ago

RNS

Electrocute

Pinside member

9y 104K 4,873 16

I try to contact the seller without using EBay's services when I find something I like. Craigslist or this site seems to work.

#29 6 years ago

TPD

tomdrum

Tom's Pinball

Port Matilda, PA

6y 165K 7,315 16 52

Ebay charges the casual seller a lot to sell. If you're going to sell there you need to have enough volume to lower the fees. I've been selling for 17 years on eBay. If you reach top seller status, and pay $10 a month for a basic store, your fees are much less. Less than 8% after discounts with a maximum fee of $250 on anything sold. They are really cracking down on contacting buyers outside eBay. I got busted for answering a question from a buyer, "Are you on Pinside?". Got a warning. I've paid them over 25K in fees in the last 5 years alone. 95% of what I sell is not pin stuff.

4 weeks later

#30 6 years ago

BAD

ImNotNorm

Pinside member

Any update?

#31 6 years ago

MJA

Mitch

Pinside member

Wellesley, ON

10y 131K 5,030 18 38

Following

#32 6 years ago

TWB

Djshakes

Pinside member

The 22nd of January will be 30 days, which is the duration of time eBay had to review before it goes to arbitration. I will be contacting the third party arbitrator next Monday. My assumption is eBay is holding out until they see Im serious. No way after the documentation I submitted they think they have a chance. I'll post my submission packet after I block out personal info. Im actually surprised this isn't settled already.

#33 6 years ago

???

Homepin

Inactive member

Unknown

13y 77,400 2,125 1

OP
Quoted from Djshakes:
The 22nd of January will be 30 days, which is the duration of time eBay had to review before it goes to arbitration. I will be contacting the third party arbitrator next Monday. My assumption is eBay is holding out until they see Im serious. No way after the documentation I submitted they think they have a chance. I'll post my submission packet after I block out personal info. Im actually surprised this isn't settled already.

I wouldn't be surprised at all. Most people are not as tenacious as you and would give up by now, so eBay wins.

Remember that companies like eBay, PayPal etc are a law unto themselves and they mostly get away with anything they like.

Good on you for sticking it out.

#34 6 years ago

???

Hollywoodbone

SDTM: a pinball show

Sellersburg, IN

8y 61,550 740 5

Following this to see what happens! I never use eBay any longer. I think between CL and fb market there going to see a decline in sales....

#35 6 years ago

TPD

tomdrum

Tom's Pinball

Port Matilda, PA

6y 165K 7,315 16 52

I sell a lot of stuff on eBay, mostly tools. On collectible categories the final fee is 9.15%. Tools are 8.15%. If you sell a lot and pay $9.95 a month for a store AND achieve top seller status you get a 10% discount on fees. So I pay 7.3% on tools. They have gotten extremely cutthroat on what they perceive as "outside sales". If you're selling a machine, have you phone number inside the listing discretely. If I was charged this fee when I didn't sell the item on eBay, I'd pay it with a credit card and then file a dispute with my card company. Your documentation would win.

#36 6 years ago

TWB

Djshakes

Pinside member

I'll post my submission tomorrow. Tell me what you think.

Just realized you can only post images and not PDF files. Kind of a pain to convert.

1 week later

#37 6 years ago

TWB

Djshakes

Pinside member

Hello all. After going through the pain in the ass to file a notice of dispute and contact the arbitrators eBay has credited my fees. See email below.

They issued a credit which I will now need to request as a refund. More process but at least the credit is in my account.

F#CK YOU EBAY!!! Don't let them screw you!!!!

Hello Tim,

We are in receipt of your recently provided Notice of Dispute concerning your Final Value Fees credit request. At your request, we have credited your Final Value Fee to the account and it currently reflects as a credit balance.

Regards,

Nxxx Cxxxx

Litigation Paralegal

Key post

#38 6 years ago

BAD

ImNotNorm

Pinside member