Okay, so let's do the numbers.
The difference between business sellers (B) and private sellers (P) on a 70% FVF promo. I sell trainers, so use this as example.
For trainers below £100:
B pays 11.9%+VAT fees, P pays 12.8%*0.3+VAT=3.84%+VAT
This works to around 10% of final price more in fees for B and this is how I calculate my profit.
Then you need to accommodate 30p insertion fee and returns. Assume average return rate of 10%, which will be well exaggerated (mine is ca 1-2% including all requests, not requests I accepted). You can choose 'buyer pays for return postage', so if 1 in 10 pairs gets returned, you need to accommodate £0.33 for each pair you sell (£3.29 Tracked48). Let's make it additional £1 for simplicity.
So if P sells trainers for £70, B must sell them for £78.
For trainers above £100:
B pays 7%+VAT fees, P pays 12.8%*0.3+VAT=3.84%+VAT
For trainers that cost £120, B will pay £10 in fees, P will pay £5.50 in fees.
Conclusions:
For trainers below £50 the difference is less than £5.
For trainers above £100 the difference is negligent.
Most ebay shops sell more expensive trainers, so they don't loose much.
For the most popular price range (ca £70-£80) that I sell, I'd need to charge £78-£88 instead from now on. Am I bothered? No, because the most shops have the same trainers listed for around £100 anyway. Just work out difference in profit margin yourself.
And finally, I also pay taxes. At Higher Rate, because I also do my main job.
