How to Create a Commission Plan

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You can create a variety of commission plans to use with consignors or specific consignment items. This tutorial will show you how to create a commission plan.

Introduction

A commission plan contains details on what fees the consignor is responsible for paying and what commission fees you--the seller--will charge upon the sale of an item. Commission plans can be configured to be paid out by a fixed rate or a variable rate.

Step 1. Create a Commission Plan.

In this step, you will create a commission plan. This can be a default commission plan that you will offer to all your consignors, or it can be a unique commission plan created for a specific consignor or item. Make sure that you and your consignors are in an agreement with the commission plan. It's up to you how you will reach an agreement. It's recommended that you work with a legal professional on these agreements.

  • Hover your mouse over the Sales tab and click on the "New Commission Plan" link (Figure 1.1). The Commission Plan page will load.

Figure 1.1. Go to the Commission Plan page.

  • Name: Enter the name of the commission plan.
  • In the Consignor Pays section, you can establish which fees the consignor will be responsible for when an item is posted. Here are the options:
    • eBay Fees: Select this checkbox if the consignor will be responsible for the eBay Fees associated with posted listings.
    • Payment Processing Fee: Select this checkbox if the consignor will be responsible for payment processing fees associated with purchased listings.
    • Base Fee: Enter in a flat-rate base fee, if necessary. This base fee will be charged in addition to all other fees and commissions on the listing.
  • In the Rate section, you can enter the commission rate. These fees are only assessed when an item is purchased. Here are the options:
    • Fixed ($): Enter in a fixed rate if you want to charge a fixed amount.
    • Fixed (%): Enter in a fixed percentage rate if you want to charge a percentage of the closing price of a listing.
  • If you want to assess a variable rate, click on the "Advanced Options" link. The variable table will display.
  • Variable: Select "Variable" if you want to assess a variable rate. Also, choose a variable option from the drop-down menu. The "Graduated" option will assess a single rate from the variable table (see example in Figure 1.2). The "Scaling" option will assess multiple rates per each row of the table based on the final sale value (see example in Figure 1.3).

Figure 1.2. Example: Graduated Variable rate. If an item sold for $100.00, the commission would be 6.75% of $100.00.

Figure 1.3. Example: Scaling Variable rate. If an item sold for $100.00, the commission would be 9% of $50.00 (i.e., the value from the first row of the table) plus 6.75-percent of $50.00 (i.e., the remaining value in the second row of the commission table).

  • Enter the appropriate value ranges in the table. Also enter the associated rate percentage for each row of the table.
  • Above: Enter in the final value and variable rate for any final sale value that is above the value expressed in this field.
  • Click the Save button.

This completes the task of creating a Commission Plan.

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