Is the percentage eBay charges sellers too high?

What do you think is a fair percentage for eBay to charge to sellers?

It used to be fair, but the past few years the rates have gotten high between what is paid to eBay and to PayPal for each sale. It's now even worse for car sales.

i voted that it should be higher because there is NO SUCH THING AS FAIR. There is only what people will pay and what people are charging. If people aren't paying, they will lower the rate

There is only what people will pay and what people are charging. If people aren't paying, they will lower the rate

What are you talking about? People don't have a choice but to pay their rate. Paying 15% of the sales price between eBay and PP fees is quite high. If people don't pay their account gets canceled. This is reminiscent of the old Ma Bell monopoly days.

What are you talking about? People don't have a choice but to pay their rate. Paying 15% of the sales price between eBay and PP fees is quite high. If people don't pay their account gets canceled. This is reminiscent of the old Ma Bell monopoly days.

I think he was indicating that noone forces you to sell on eBay, so if you choose not to sell there you don't pay the fees. I don't like paying 15% either especially when it is charged on the shipping cost as well, but there are some items where I can get alot mor eselling on eBay then local even with the fees, so I suck it up and do it.

I think he was indicating that noone forces you to sell on eBay

I believe the subject of this topic is "Is the percentage eBay charges sellers too high" and not about using alternate selling sites.

i believe if i were ebay and people would pay 50% thats what i would charge. It's a business and if it gets to be higher than what you want to pay you have to be creative in finding other sources to get rid of your stuff. I use ebay only to sell the most specialized, small, higher end items because thats where they fetch the best price. I could also use the local auction house but wont fetch as good a price. so until i can get more locally than globally i'll continue to use ebay(which is only about 10% of my current sales).

Well, I'd like it to be cheaper of course but that being said I think it's a pretty good deal to gain a buying pool of millions of people. It's a cost of doing business. If you compare to the cost of having a physical store it's not bad at all. 

I don't like paying 15% either especially when it is charged on the shipping cost as well,

It's on the shipping cost because sellers were taking a $20 item, selling it for $2 with a $20 shipping charge. That way they only paid the seller's fees on the $2.

I believe the subject of this topic is "Is the percentage eBay charges sellers too high" and not about using alternate selling sites.

Where in my post did I talk about using another selling site? I said no one is forcing anyone to sell on eBay is all so if a person thinks the fees are too high you will choose not to sell there. No one is forcing you to sell online at all. No one is forcing you to buy storage units either.
In my opinion selling on Amazon is both more difficult and more expensive and most other sites I know of don't get near the traffic. So it can be a matter of pay eBays fees and sell there, or not sell online at all like, it appeared to me, he was indicating. If the fees are too high no one will use the service.

It's on the shipping cost because sellers were taking a $20 item, selling it for $2 with a $20 shipping charge. That way they only paid the seller's fees on the $2.

I know the history of why. It still sucks!! I think if you purchase your postage through eBay/Paypal they know how much you are paying for shipping and a credit should be given for the FVF charged on actual shipping cost. Would not be that hard to figure out. Why punish the masses for the greed of a few. Because eBay is greedier than any of the sellers that were gaming the system.

For those of you who think eBay's percentage is too high, what percentage do you think would be fair? 

what percentage do you think would be fair?

5%

I know we all love to complain about fees but if we whine so much why are we on ebay? If you can find someone else who gives you the same or more exposure for cheaper by all means go there but nobody else comes close. Also if you actually sell volume on ebay you can save quite a bit of money. For example I started off with 2.9% paypal fees and now have it down to 1.9%. ebay fees I get a 20% discount on, shipping is much cheaper something that otherwise costs me $18.95 I can ship for about $12 with the ebay discount. Open a store, become a powerseller and top rated seller and fees get much more reasonable. ALso, keep in mind ebay isn't the right venue for everything, its kind of the lazymans way to sell and you pay for the convenience of not having to meetup with craigslist people in parking lots which I can gurantee costs you more in time and gas than ebay does in fees.