eBay question

18 years ago

This seller is charging a 5% tax (or, as s/he puts it, "%5") on all items. How can they get away with that?

We have no tax on clothing in PA. I suspect the seller just sees this as a way to make more money. I'm not interested in the coat, but I'm curious about the "tax."

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Comments (8)

User
18 years ago
Could she be paying sales taxes and that is why she added it?
debo_2006
18 years ago
Email the person and ask her what's up with that. I would. I think you're right about her trying to make extra profit. Besides, she can't collect sales tax without a sales license. That's a government requirement, and she'd have to file quarterly or bi-annual sales tax with her state if she is collecting it.

I'm a business owner in PA, that's the way it works.
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Only if you give me a good kick Kim. LOL Like you, I want to be sure I've got something sellable before wasting my time and listing fee money. I just wish our Craig's List was more active here. I need to give it a try too. Since it's free, I have nothing to lose I guess. I also have large appliance items that I need to list in our local classified weekly. It's just getting it done. I don't have a very good excuse not to be doing it either. Ok, I'm bending over then it's your turn. LOL
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The 48 hours refers to how long the offer stands. In other words after 48 hour the offer made expires if the seller doesn't accept it. It has nothing to do with how long the buyer has to pay if it is accepted. Your listing may have immediate payment required in the TOS but if it doesn't then the buyer could take as long a a week to pay. Even the "immediate payment required" has been challenged in the past in favor of the buyer. The buyer has four days from the time he is notified he won to pay before you can file a dispute for non payment. Once filed the buyer is given 4 more days to pay. So the buyer has 8 days total with a dispute. Just because you can file after 4 days doesn't mean you should. It will only lead to negative feedback against you as a seller. The buyer is not sitting at his computer waiting for 48 hours for a seller to respond. He may have left for the weekend, be on a business trip or not seen he has won yet. Most seller wait 7 days before worrying about it.
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Well really, are you sure you WANT a piece of lingerie back from such a person? Euuuu. I've had many things to sell but have always been too chicken to become a seller, lest I run into this kind of scamming, so my hat's off to you for doing it. But from the standpoint of a prolific ebay buyer, there are some sellers out there who scam as well. As someone said, you aren't face to face. You don't know what kind of person you're really dealing with, so it's a little iffy. I hate to say it but I would just let him keep the thing and chalk it up as a lesson, and then ban him from buying from you again. If all sales are final, then make it very very clear in your listing, and go out of your way to make disclaimers. On this one you could say "This is a vintage item so the sizing may be different than today's sizing, but across the waist it measures ____". Then nobody can fault you. The other thing you might do is have some communication with the buyer before sending the merchandise. Before I buy something I always email the seller asking a question. OK usually the question is for real, but sometimes it's just so I can get a feel for them. It almost always becomes very apparent when it's someone you don't want to deal with. This is more problematic for sellers because if you got that feeling, you'd have to reneg on your auction, so maybe my idea isn't so bright! It seemed strange when ebay announced sellers couldn't leave negative FB any longer, but I figured they must have their own private spot on ebay where they report nasty buyers to each other.
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I've never sold anything on eBay so I don't know how to activate that feature. However, I have purchased a LOT on eBay, and I do always look at the items I'm interested in to see how many, if any, watchers are shown. I've never increased a bid -- before the end of the auction -- just because there are watchers. The only way having watchers has influenced me is if the items has a Buy-it-Now option. If it does, and if the BiN price is what I am willing to pay, I just go ahead and hit the BiN button rather than putting in a bid.
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debo_2006
18 years ago
joann:

If she did pay sales tax and is trying to re-coop that cost, she should just mark up the item to cover the tax instead of calling it sales tax. That way, she wouldn't need a license or wouldn't have to file (if she's not collecting any).

I'm curious about this one as well.
alisande
Original Author
18 years ago
Okay, I emailed her. It doesn't seem like someone with feedback of 4 would have a sales license. Or maybe I'm wrong.

We'll see what she says.
dilly_dally
18 years ago
Posted by debi_2006: "If she did pay sales tax and is trying to re-coop that cost, she should just mark up the item to cover the tax instead of calling it sales tax. That way, she wouldn't need a license or wouldn't have to file (if she's not collecting any)."

Wrongo bongo.

Most likely she is required to file.

End of the line sellers must pay sales tax. It does not matter how they price their items. Sales tax can be added or it can be built into the price. All the state cares about is getting it. Just because they sales tax is not added onto the retail price rather than being built into the price of goods sold does not mean a seller does not have to turn it over to the government. There are no "tricks" to get away with.

The seller can have whatever mark-ups or profit margins they wish in most businesses. One reason for pricing with the sales tax as an add on is to easily calculate prices for tax exempt organizations. It can also streamline bookkeeping procedures.
Lindsey_CA
18 years ago
Her feedback of 4 includes 3 feedback as a buyer, and only 1 feedback as a seller.
jannie
18 years ago
I took an adult ed class on how to sell on Ebay. If you're planning on selling a lot of stuff and making a "living" at it, you should collect sales tax. You should also get a business ID number for tax purposes. I'm not sure how to do it, but I've only listed one item for sale so far, and it didn't sell!
western_pa_luann
18 years ago
She removed the tax....

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debo_2006

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