eBay Fees on Buyer-Paid Sales Tax

[Santo10Fan]

Originally Posted by Santo10Fan

I will concede eBay justifying the standard processing fee of 2.9% ($5.45) on the funds transaction.

I consulted with a friend of mine who codes software. His theory is that when eBay folded the processing fee within a single closing value fee, that the breakdown I described may have simply been overlooked-or deemed simpler for the coders to ignore. We concluded that the coders likely were instructed to ensure all processing fees were collected on gross sales tax. I've had some experience at my current job where there is certainly a disconnect, if not outright miscommunication with IT and my dept. I've also noticed different totals appearing on iOS notifications from the eBay app after sales, which strengthens the argument the software is out of order-possibly from being hastily implemented.

I have no doubt eBay fully remits what it collects on my behalf. Logically, the Wayfair decision of collecting based on the buyer's physical location was the only way to settle the matter. Otherwise, all eCommerce would flock to incorporate in the states that collect the lowest, or zero, sales tax.

A greater debate on the merit or lack of merit of sales tax was not my intention with this thread. My motivation is to bring awareness to the fact gross tax amounts are included in the FV fee. I have a resale certificate and you can actually leverage that under this fee structure by reminding the seller they will pay less in fees with me than a buyer paying sales tax-and to consider splitting that savings 50/50.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Santo10Fan

I consulted with a friend of mine who codes software. His theory is that when eBay folded the processing fee within a single closing value fee, that the breakdown I described may have simply been overlooked-or deemed simpler for the coders to ignore. We concluded that the coders likely were instructed to ensure all processing fees were collected on gross sales tax. I've had some experience at my current job where there is certainly a disconnect, if not outright miscommunication with IT and my dept. I've also noticed different totals appearing on iOS notifications from the eBay app after sales, which strengthens the argument the software is out of order-possibly from being hastily implemented.

I've got over a decade of experience working in software development. Yes, oversights happen all the time. I *guarantee* there was no oversight or disconnect here. Ebay implemented this exactly the way they intended.

[ALR-bishop]

Gosh. After reading Bob’s post do I owe him for advice ? Is that taxable too ?