If you have been charged by eBay, you are not alone. There are an enormous number of items that get sold on eBay every day, and some of them may be big-ticket items with significant profit margins. And the money doesn’t go straight to eBay—the company charges a fee for each item sold. If it’s any consolation, you’re probably not the only person who was charged by eBay. The good news is that we’re here to help you find out why eBay charged you and what you can do about it
What kind of fees does ebay charge?
You get two kinds of fees from ebay: Final Value Fees (FVFs) and Insertion Fees (IFs).
Final Value Fees are calculated on the total amount paid by the buyer, including shipping. They also vary according to category and whether you use eBay’s Preapproved Payment Program (EPPP), which allows buyers who make at least one purchase of $100 or more within 12 months to pay through PayPal without having to enter their credit card information. For listings in the following categories, FVFs (which are calculated based on the total amount paid by the buyer) can range from 6 percent to just over 9 percent: Antiques Automotive Baby Books Cell Phones Clothing Coins and Paper Collectibles Computer Hardware Consumer Electronics Crafts Dolls DVD Movies Entertainment Memorabilia Gift Certificates Health and Beauty Home and Garden Jewelry Music Musical Instruments Pottery Sports Memorabilia Stamps Tickets Toys Sports Mem, Cards, Fan Shop Wine Everything else has a FVF of 8%.
Insertion Fees are based on the amount you would like your item to sell for. eBay charges $0.10 or 10%, whichever is higher .
You can read more about the different fees that eBay charges on its website. There are a few different reasons why you might be charged by eBay, however: A final value fee was charged to the winning bidder of your item An insertion fee is being charged for re-listing your item after it didn’t sell The buyer couldn’t complete the purchase. If this happens, an insertion fee will be charged whenever you re-list your item.
So, why did ebay charge me?
The good news is that if you’re looking to avoid paying one of these fees in the future, you can generally do so by tweaking your listings a bit. For instance, if the final value fee was charged because you used Auction-style format (the cheapest kind of listing to use) instead of Buy-It-Now, you can switch it up to avoid being charged a final value fee the next time around.
You may also want to consider using Preapproved Payment Program, which has a relatively low monthly or annual fee and doesn’t charge buyers extra fees. Keep in mind that only buyers who have made a purchase for more than $100 with you in the past year qualify.
Another option is to use fixed price format, which does not charge an insertion fee when a sale falls through after a buyer has committed to buy your item. In fact, most fixed-price listings don’t have insertion fees, either.
If the buyer couldn’t complete the purchase, try contacting him or her by clicking “Get help from other users” under “Problem with this listing?” on the item’s listing page. If the buyer doesn’t respond, you might be able to cancel the sale under eBay’s Second Chance Offer feature.
Article summary:
eBay charges fees that vary depending on the category and type of listing (auction or buy it now), as well as whether you’re using their Preapproved Payment Program (PYP). You are likely being charged an insertion fee if your item didn’t sell, you used the incorrect listing type or category, or your buyer couldn’t complete the purchase. There are ways to avoid these charges in the future. If you can’t figure out why you were charged a fee on eBay and would like assistance with the company, call them at (800) 949-eBay.
