Calculating seller fees

[gatorray26]

I'm still not clear about  about all the fees....you could even say, I'm confused!  Here's an example.

I sold a book for $65.00 that included free shipping and received the funds in my PayPal acct in the amount of $65.00 less $2.19 allegedly for a Paypal fee.  Paypal's website says, quite clearly that money sent to my acct incurs a fee of 2.9% of the selling price. Therefore, according to MY calculations, it should have been $65.00 less 2.9% ($1.89 not $2.19)) yielding $62.81.  Now, Ebay also takes a cut.  Since 4/19/11 Ebay does not charge an insertion or B.i.N fee, only a final value fee of 9.0% on the total that includes a shipping fee, if any.  So, I calculate a 9% fee on $65.00 at $5.85 (not . Prior to shipping, I now have subtotal fees of $56.96. The shipping fee recorded on PayPal was $4.65, leaving me with a net of $52.31. Thus my sale generated a net profit of 80.5% of the selling price.   My next Ebay acct invoice isn't due until May 15. 

Why is all this so confusing?  Isn't PayPal an Ebay company?  Why aren't ALL the transaction listed on PayPal?    It appears that after Ebay & PayPal have extracted their fees, the USPS extracts another 5-7+% netting me the 80+%.  Are my figures correct?  Am I missing something?  Is the "profit" in reality <50% as someone opined?  We all may do a lot better by donating everything to Salvation Army and taking the write off.  Its Deductible (donation software program) gives pretty generous thrift values IMHO!

[PayPal_barry]

Hey there, our transaction fees can range from 1.4% to 3.4% + 20p. If you receive a payment from outside the UK, an additional cross-border fee of 0.5% may apply. As many sellers may agree to sell a listed item in a method other than PayPal, we do not then calculate the total fees between eBay and PayPal.

I am uncertain about the “USPS fees” you mention, but here’s how to view PayPal fees applied to any of your transactions:

1. Go to www.paypal.co.uk and log in to your account.
2. Click ‘History’ near the top of the page.
3. Find the transaction you want to look at and click ‘Details.’

[Slyheel]

Hi, I need to invoice an overseas client who wishes to pay via Paypal, they will cover transfer fees.

In order for me to recieve the complete job amount I need to add the Paypal fee to my invoice before the transaction, Is there an easy way to calculate this?

Many thanks

[kernowlass]

It depends on the type of account you have cross border fees etc etc so can't work it out for you.

Hope you are not sending an expensive item to Nigeria etc.

[PayPal_paula]

Hi Slyheel, 

As kernowlass says, if it is a payment coming from another country you will be charged a cross border fee. 

I would suggest that you review our fees as this may help you calculate the fees you would incurr. 

I hope this helps

Paula