Buyer fee - how to calculate total? + Shipping: charge separately now or not?

[jimthing]

Q1: What is the spreadsheet calculation to work out the FINAL buyer price, that's accurate? 

The new abysmal listing page does not allow you to enter a FINAL price the buyer will pay, but instead gives you a single box for your price then works out the fee that'll be added on afterwards?!

Q2: Also, is it better to break the postage back out again from a total sale price now? As previously (before free private sellers for the last 6-mths, since Oct.2024 until now) Ebay would charge fee on everything regardless of shipping cost being in price or separately extra. But AFAICT, now seemingly the buyer fee is only charged on the main price with postage not having the fee on it.

See here: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/selling/pricing-items/buyer-protection-information-sellers?id=55... 

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Separate issue: I should also add that Ebay's system doesn't charge the right fee either, on the list an item page! Example: 

27.95 - item price

= 1.868 - buyer fee [ 1.118 (4%) + 0.75 (fixed)] – which should round up to 1.87 fee

Yet on the list an item page, Ebay fee shows fee as 1.84!

[jimthing]

Anyone figure these q's out yet...? 

[jimthing]

For the issue I gave the example to above, here's a screenshot, if that helps: 

[papso22]

For some reason the 75p fixed fee is being calculated as 72p, which is very odd.

You don't need to do a spreadsheet, you just set the price of your unwanted personal possessions at whatever price you want to get for them. 

The BPF is lower if you separate out the postage.

[jimthing]

@papso22 

BPF?

[EDIT: sorry Buyer Protection Free. I thought you meant BFP 'buyer final price', which I guess it is, lol!]

Like many Ebay users, I use my own spreadsheet to track costs, so many will need the calculation info. (But if my example is anything to go by, even then things will be flipping wrong!). 

The BPF is lower if you separate out the postage.

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So surely that means it is better then, no? As the buyer price will be lower, thus more likely to buy. 

[magpiecorner1]

Will your costs change?  The buyer protection fee is paid by the buyer to eBay, not to you.  And there is no fee on the postage, but even if there was, it will again be paid to eBay by the buyer.

The difference here is that the buyer price and the seller price are different, but the seller income hasn't changed, and the seller costs - which are £0 for domestic sales, excluding promotions and add ons, won't change.

Promotion fees and international fees are paid for by the seller, not the buyer, so the buyer protection won't apply and therefore no changes.

[jimthing]

@magpiecorner1 

While interesting, I know that, and it's not my question. 

Private sellers may want to set rounded prices (eg. 29.99 or 44.00 or whatever they want for said item), hence spreadsheet calculation to do that being needed. 

It's that calculation I asked about, which no one seems to be able to work out. 

Plus the problem with the fee actually being wrong on the listing page that Ebay show (per my screenshot and calculation at the top). 

Thanks anyway. 

[magpiecorner1]

Then I'm not sure what you are calculating - or how the calculation becomes different.

As far a I can see, whatever calculations you made last week will be the same calculations this week - or am I being dense?

As for the fee anomaly - wasn't commenting on that because I have not idea why - though I might suspect neither does eBay. 

[jimthing]

@magpiecorner1 

The idea is that on sellers' spreadsheets, if we want to set a FINAL price based on the post-fees amount, for marketing reasons  – the good old "x.99" pricing strategy, used for decades across retail! 

e.g. If seller wants the FINAL price to be 99.99 the buyer sees and pays (i.e. AFTER fees), working back from that, what do I set on the Ebay list-an-item page as MY Item Price? 

That should clarify the reason for such a calculation. Now I just need the thing, lol! 

[jimthing]

(Another user who wanted to remain anonymous emailed me about the pricing error, with thanks.) 

Ebay have set this up wrongly, as they're working out the fee wrongly! 

While Ebay's help says in their example: 

£20 - Item price set by the seller

£1.55 - Buyer Protection fee (4% of £20 [i.e. £0.80], + £0.75)

£21.55 + postage - Price that buyer sees for the listing

£20 - seller earnings

The list-an-item page works it out incorrectly as: 

£20 - Item price set by the seller

-£0.75 - minus fixed fee

= £19.25

£0.77 - Buyer Protection fee (4% of £19.25)

= £1.52 - TOTAL FEE (£0.75+£0.77)

£21.52 + postage - Price that buyer sees for the listing

£20 - seller earnings

This is ENTIRELY THE WRONG WAY according to Ebay's own help page! 

[jimthing]

Screenshot that proves it!: 

[papso22]

Well yet another mess then!

If you want to work back from a specific selling price to a listing price, then the maths is as follows.

1. Take the price you want the buyer to see, and deduct 75p (we have to go with the published fees whatever is actually happening),

2. then divide what is left by 26, to give what the 4% will be, and deduct that.

3. What is left is what you will get and what you need to put on the listing form.

You can check by adding 4% to your listing price and then the 75p.

The caveat is that there will be rounding involved and that means the listed price is probably going to be out by a penny or two, so making it all rather academic.

[rainbowtrax]

You want the reverse formula of ebay's calculation. At the moment, it won't be right as ebay have messed it up, as you say. 

If ebay ever sort themselves out then (in pounds) the buyer price (we'll call that B) will be the seller's price (we'll call that S) x 1.04 + 0.75.

So B = 1.04S + 0.75

The reverse of that is S = (B - 0.75) / 1.04

Edit - scrub that last bit. I'm recalculating.

[jimthing]

Thanks both. Will have to give it a go on my spreadsheet.

...first, just waiting for a call back from Ebay (if it ever comes!) about their calculation error. 🙄

[jimthing]

First callback was a complete idiot and didn't listen to anything explained to them and just rudely hung-up!

Second callback... 

[rainbowtrax]

If ebay are currently doing what you state in post #10 then B = 1.04(S - 0.75) + 0.75

So the reverse would be S = 0.75 + (B - 0.75) / 1.04 .... I think!

[doumind_7]

Marvellous as Dirty Harry said.

This lot are as bad as the Labour Government.

[twfan11]

I will probably just set my price, then see what a buyer gets charged and reduce it until I undercut other people.  

I have just noticed that if you look at your own items under active listings none of the prices include the buyer's fee, so to see what your buyer will be charged you have to search as a different account.  

And ebay's algorithm for searching for lowest price and P&P is not working properly.  The order reflects the seller's original price without the added buyer fee.  

[doumind_7]

Blimey. I should have got a University Degree in Technology and Advanced Mathematics.

[the-nutwood-collection]

The eBay buyers fee includes VAT, so the fee is £1.53 plus 31p VAT = £1.84