When is 8.95 not 8.95
I visited my account on Hipstamp to find the listing of charges to my account. I wanted to find what they actually charged this month for a store fee. In the process I noticed some charges that were more than the 8.95% fee. Some as much as 9+%. Just for giggles I started checking further until my eyes glazed over. I found some overcharges this month.
I emailed support and they quizzed me on changing shipping charges, which seemed silly since the fees are charged when the customer pays and the invoice amounts they listed matched my numbers exactly.
Now they are looking into what may have caused this...whatever that means. I wonder if I will get a refund???
You guys might want to spot check too. "If it happened to me, it could happen to you."
Strange, isn't it. The system can't seem to multiply by .0895 and get it right - my calculator can.
I emailed support and they quizzed me on changing shipping charges, which seemed silly since the fees are charged when the customer pays and the invoice amounts they listed matched my numbers exactly.
Now they are looking into what may have caused this...whatever that means. I wonder if I will get a refund???
You guys might want to spot check too. "If it happened to me, it could happen to you."
Strange, isn't it. The system can't seem to multiply by .0895 and get it right - my calculator can.
Comments
Stamp 30c, 8.9% = 2.67c rounded to 3c (10%)
Postage $1.20, 8.9% = 10.68c rounded to 11c (9.2%)
Amount charged to me = 14c or 9.3% of total or 47% of the item sold.
"We will keep looking into this since we are unable to determine the possible causes of the situation you have pointed out at this time. As soon as we work this out, we'll get in touch.
Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions."
However it is best if you don't call us...we'll call you.
Orders under totals UNDER $11.00 are going to be slightly higher due to the rounding. ($11.00 is about the break over point.)
And to make matters worse, later that day I had another order that was charged correctly, but that charge was applied twice! Same order number, same exact time date, same exact charge.
So there are definitely some issues with the automatic Final Value Fee calculations and applications.
All other orders over a couple of weeks appear to be correct. The amount charged is 8.95% of the total order amount, including the shipping fee. There is no charging of each individual item in a single order. For amounts less than a half cent, the Final Value Fee is rounded down, not up.
Notice sent to Administration.
Richard Pauls (okstamps)
"Hi Wayne,
Our team has looked into your issue and determined that the Sale Fees listed were accurate. Please note that Transaction Fees are calculated at 8.95% (for HipStamp) of the Total Amount of the Sale (which includes shipping), but there is a $0.01 minimum Final Value Fee per any item sold, in accordance with our terms. For a breakdown of the Sale Fees incurred in the Invoice No. you provided, please see the attached sheet.
Best,
Ynez Reyes
Seller Success | Hip eCommerce"
My concern is that this little tidbit is not mentioned on their fees page (https://www.hipstamp.com/site-fees). There is no mention of a minimum or per-item minimum or even a link for further info there.
Sign 'em up and take 'em for every nickel and dime you can...
Yes...the email is from the Seller Success "Team"!
One of the double charges for the same order was deleted.
In regards to the Sales Fee for the order where I had sold 252 items but was only charged $0.35 on a total order amount of $12.42, they said there was an issue (not described) but they had corrected it. They left the charge on this order alone, so I was not able to see if there was a minimum charge of $0.01 for each item.
Like Wayne, I was not aware of this per item charge of at least $0.01. I read through the terms when I started listing here again in 2019 and never noticed any mention of a minimum per item charge, only that the Sales Fee would be calculated on the total order including shipping charges. They also made no mention of this in the response that I received from them. This certainly does not give me any reason to trust the operators of this site.
Fees Policies
The fees we charge for using our Services are listed on our Fees page. We may change our seller fees from time to time by posting the changes on the Hip eCommerce site 14 days in advance, but with no advance notice required for temporary promotions or any changes that result in the reduction of fees.
Note that we charge a final value fee when your item or relisted item sells, or if we determine that you intended to complete a sale outside of Hip eCommerce.
Note that homepage featured upgrades last 30 days, or until your listing ends, whichever occurs first, and do not automatically renew.
When transaction fees are calculated on a sale, there is a 1¢ minimum transaction fee calculated per each listing sold.
https://www.hipstamp.com/terms
"A person comes to my "office" with a list of items from my Hipstamp store they want to buy. I go to Hipstamp and put each of the items in their shopping cart, but charge them no shipping (because it is a pick-up). There are 40 items in their Cart - each priced at 6 cents, for a total invoice of $2.40. The fee for an item priced at 6 cents is $0.00537 or $.01 which is the minimum charge.
You are charging 40 cents final value fee for these items per your "Terms"
The total amount of the items is $2.40 - or a final value fee of 21 cents. Per your Fees page"
Their Answer:
"Hi Wayne,
Thank you for sharing this, can you please share the invoice number so we could take a look? The final value fees are computed per transaction, it should be 8.95% of the total transaction (final price of the item + shipping).
Best,
Ynez Reyes
Seller Success | Hip eCommerce"
So a 10 item invoice is really 10 transactions (11 counting shipping) each charged at 8.95% and rounded to the nearest cent. That's it: call an individual item a sale !
You know, it just struck me that 119 items at say an average of about $0.05 each comes to about $6 or so regardless of what the final fees are. That is a lot of work to pick and pack that many items for what basically equates to lunch money. Do you have those kind of orders often? I would go insane...ok....more insane.
It would drive you insane? I will join you in the nut house. LoL
Not too many. Just three in the last month, with that being being more than average. Most orders I get are for a higher amount and for many fewer items. But I have found that there are some buyers who will pick out the cheapest versions of a issue available, even if means accepting a stamp with faults when I also have perfect copies available, just at a higher, sometimes much higher, price.
I do this as a hobby, not as a business, so the time issue is not a problem.