They probably pay 2/5 of f#&kall in tax to the Australian Government.
They actually pay 0/5 of f#&kall in tax to the Australian Government.
Despite the .au in the web address they are based in
eBay International AG
Helvetiastrasse 15/17
3005 Bern
Switzerland
So they pay no GST and no company tax
Paypal is the same deal, govt. gets zilch
Trouble is everyone relies on it so they can do what they want.
I sell my footpegs and muffler packing on ebay because that's where people are looking for it, they don't bother looking at my site unless I spend a black fortune on advertising.
Incidentally my last invoice stated...
Fees as a percentage of your sales
This month's eBay sales and fees
Total monthly sales AU $152.00
Total monthly fees 9.9%
and that doesn't include the Paypal fees
That percentage will get worse if I have to pay a fee on postage as well
Consumer affairs should look into how they are charging a fee for postage but as they are not in Aust. they probably don't have to abide by anything