There are other ways if you're honestly trying to be fair. eBay for instance could have made 10% of (price+shipping) exempt assuming 10% was the nominal fraction before abuses.
I never understood why eBay didn't resell shipping to their sellers. They could have gotten very favorable rates from the carriers with that kind of leverage.
> When you print a shipping label on eBay, our negotiated rates let you save money relative to what you would pay at the post office or to a carrier for most services, and you'll save time by not having to stand in line. The cost of the label is then charged to your invoice, PayPal account, or Processing funds if you're a managed payments seller.
Ah, well then that would have been the easy path. No commission if you pass-through charge eBay rates.
You’re also not really lying commission on the shipping when you factor in the discounts they provide and what they charge the customer. There’s some cases where you get screwed a little but it’s not as bad as a lot of people think. I still make money on shipping if it’s beaver and goes out priority.