Class Action Alleges Facebook Withheld Marketplace Payments for Sold Items, Retained Unreasonable ‘Selling Fees’

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that Meta Platforms has neglected to properly issue payment to several users who sold goods through Facebook Marketplace, and also tacks on an “unreasonable” selling fee to all sales.

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The 11-page complaint contends that Facebook has violated California’s Unfair Competition Law by pocketing from a seller’s sale price a 10-percent “selling fee” that’s based not on the sales price of a product, but on the total amount paid by a buyer, including the product price, shipping costs and estimated taxes.

“For example, if a seller sells a product at $50.00, and the buyer pays $10.00 for shipping the $5.00 in taxes, the buyer will pay a total of $65.00. 10% of $65.00 is $6.50,” the case explains. “Facebook retains $6.50 as a so-called ‘Selling fee’ for itself, and in this example Facebook pays the seller only $43.50.”

In addition, the plaintiff, a California consumer, alleges she was never paid $29 she is owed from a Facebook Marketplace sale in December 2024, even though Facebook retained the buyer’s payment.

“After the seller ships the item, Facebook is supposed to promptly deposit the seller’s payout amount in the seller’s bank account or PayPal account, whichever the seller chooses to receive payouts via Marketplace,” the case reiterates.

The plaintiff asks the court for an injunction to order Facebook to create and implement policies and procedures to ensure that sellers who ship items through Marketplace are promptly paid the money they are due. The plaintiff also asks that the court move to get Facebook to end its assessment of its 10-percent selling fee based on the total amount paid by the buyer, and instead assess the 10-percent fee based on the sales price only.

The Facebook Marketplace class action lawsuit looks to cover all United States residents who sold and shipped an item through Facebook Marketplace and did not receive their payout, and/or were assessed a 10-percent selling fee based on the total amount paid by the buyer during the relevant statute of limitations period.

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