Over the last few weeks I've been making numerous upgrades and improvements to my eBay spreadsheet and today I'm glad to finally announce the release of version 1.5. Here's what's new in this version.

Support for older versions of Excel
Prior to version 1.5 I had an OpenOffice.org version and an Excel 2007 version. That means the spreadsheet could be opened in either OpenOffice.org (any platform) or Excel 2007 (PC) or Excel 2008 (Mac). However, I received numerous e-mails from sellers who told me they couldn't open the spreadsheet because they were still using Excel 97-2003. These older versions of Excel have technical limitations and couldn't understand my long advanced formulas. In version 1.5, I re-wrote a lot of the formulas using a different method and now the spreadsheet will work perfectly in any version of Excel. It will also now work on any spreadsheet program on any type of computer that can open an .XLS file (for instance, Numbers for the Mac). When you download the spreadsheet you will now be given 3 versions:

	OpenOffice.org Version (.ODS)
	Excel 2007 Version (.XLSX)
	Excel 97-2003 Version (.XLS)

You can choose to use whichever version you feel most comfortable with and delete the other two.

Quick Pricing Spreadsheet and Fee Calculator Spreadsheet merged
Prior to version 1.5 I included two different eBay fee calculators. One was called the "Quick Pricing Spreadsheet" and allowed you to perform simple fee calculations and the other was called the "Main Fee Calculator" which allowed you to perform more advanced fee calculations. In version 1.5 I've merged these 2 spreadsheets into 1. Now there's just one eBay fee calculator which can perform both simple and advanced fee calculations.

eBay Fees Chart and eBay Profit Chart merged
Prior to version 1.5 I included two different eBay-related charts. One was called the "eBay Fees Chart" and showed what your eBay fees would be for common amounts. The other was called the "eBay Profit Chart" and showed what you would make after fees. In version 1.5 I've merged these two charts into one. Now you can see what your fees and profit would be in a single chart and see the most profitable listing format highlighted in green.

The eBay and PayPal Fee Charts are now separate files
Prior to version 1.5 I included the eBay and PayPal Fee Charts in tabs which you would find inside the main fee calculator. In version 1.5 they are now their own separate files which makes them easier to find and print.

Selling Format Fee Comparison Tool merged with eBay Fees Chart
Prior to version 1.5 I included a bonus utility called the Selling Format Fee Comparison Tool which was used to compare the fees for different selling formats. In version 1.5 this tool has been merged with newly redesigned eBay Fees Chart. Now you can compare the fees for different sellings formats and print them out at the same time.

The Edit Fee Rates worksheet was re-designed
The place in the spreadsheet where you can edit the actual fee percentages used by the calculator has undergone a major facelift in this version. Prior to version 1.5 everything was very spaced out and it was sometimes difficult trying to find the right fees to edit. In version 1.5 everything is now much smaller, more condensed and color-coded to make finding the right fees much easier to edit. I've also moved all the options you can configure about the spreadsheet to the top-right corner so you can edit all of those as well without scrolling.

Tooltips added everywhere
In version 1.5 I've also added a lot of new tooltips that will give you useful information about what to enter in a particular cell. You can tell which cells have tooltips because they will have a little red dot or triangle in their top-right corner. Just move your mouse over the cell, leave it there for a second, and a little help window will pop up explaining what you should enter.

Color-Coded Selling Format Fee Comparison
New in version 1.5 is the ability to compare the different eBay listing formats side-by-side in the fee calculator itself (not in a separate tool) and be able to instantly see which is the least expensive way to list your item. The format highlighted in green is the listing format with the lowest fees and the format highlighted in red is the listing format with the highest fees.

New Self-Extracting Version Available
Now when you log into the Download Area you can choose to download the spreadsheet either as a standard ZIP file or as a self-extracting ZIP file. The self-extracting version is for people who don't have a ZIP program (such as WinZIP) installed on their computer.

	Self-Extracting ZIP File (.EXE)
	Standard ZIP File (.ZIP)

New field in Sales Log: Sold For
I've also updated my eBay Sales Log to version 1.91 and included a new field called "Sold For". This is for eBay Trading Assistants and consignment sellers and it allows you to type in the name of the person you're selling the item for.

Averages and Totals more accurate when using "Auto Filter"
In version 1.91 of the Sales Log I've also re-written the code that calculates your average and total sale amounts to be more accurate when using "Auto Filter". "Auto Filter" is a neat feature that allows you to see only some of the items in your list, not all of your items, based on a criteria you specify. For instance, you can use "Auto Filter" to instantly see all of your unsold items, or all the items you've sold to a particular person, or all the items you've sold in a particular date range, or all the items you've sold for a particular person, and so on. Here's how to use it.

How to only show certain items in the Sales Log using Auto Filter

1. The first step is to click on any item in your list.

2. The next step is to click on Data > Filter > Auto Filter if you're using OpenOffice.org or Excel 97-2003.

3. If you're using Excel 2007 you have to click on the Home tab, then click on Sort & Filter, then click on Filter.

4. This will put little down arrows next to each of your column names. The down arrows allow you to add what's called "filter criteria" to only show specific items. So for instance, if I sold items for 3 people: John, Mary, and Sue and I only wanted to see the items I sold for John I would click the down arrow next to the "Sold for" column and select "John" from the list. This will only show the items I've sold for John.

5. To show all your items again, click on the down arrow again and choose All.

6. If you're using Excel 2007 you use checkboxes to choose the name you want to show.

PayPal fees for amounts sent in foreign currencies are now calculated more accurately
Prior to version 1.5 the spreadsheet supported Cross-Border PayPal transactions (3.9% + $0.30) but it would only work for payments being sent in U.S. Dollars. In this version you can specify that you're receiving a payment in any currency and your PayPal fees will be accurately calculated including:

• The PayPal Cross-Border percentage fee (3.9%)
• The appropriate PayPal Fixed Fee for the currency you're receiving (i.e. 0.35 EUR for Euros)
• The correct PayPal currency exchange rate (including the additional 2.5%)

This new version allows you to enter an amount in one currency, for example 100 Euros, and it will tell you what you would receive after fees in U.S. Dollars if a person were to send you that amount. You can also specify the amount you want to receive in U.S. Dollars and it will tell you what you would need to charge in Euros to receive that amount. This feature can be a little confusing, so let me try to explain it step-by-step.

How to calculate PayPal fees for multi-currency transactions

1. The first step is to open up the file named eBay Fee Calculator using a spreadsheet prorgram of your choice.

2. Once you've got that open, look for the PayPal Options section.

3. In the PayPal Options section choose "Cross-Border" from the "Type of Payment" dropdown.

4. Next, since there will be currency conversion involved you have to click on the Edit Fee Rates tab.

5. When the Edit Fee Rates worksheet comes up look for an option labeled "PayPal Exchange Rate" near the top-right.

This option contains two boxes side-by-side. The left box contains a drop-down list of currency codes and the right-box contains a very long decimal number. The left box is your "From" currency and the right box is your "To" currency. The "To" currency is always U.S. Dollars. The spreadsheet has to establish a ratio between these two currencies in order to perform currency conversion. In the left box, choose the currency the payment is being sent in from the dropdown list. For instance, if you're receiving a payment in Euros choose "1 EUR". All of the options begin with 1.

6. Next, you have to figure out what 1 unit of that currency equals in U.S. Dollars (according to PayPal's rate of currency exchange). The way you do that is by using the Official PayPal Currency Converter. Click on the link in the spreadsheet that says:

Click here to go to the PayPal Currency converter

If you're not already logged in you will prompted to log into your PayPal account. If PayPal doesn't automatically redirect you to the Currency Converter after logging in you may have to click on the link a second time.

7. In the PayPal Currency Converter, type 1 in the Amount box, then choose the currency the payment is being sent in from the From Currency dropdown, for example "Euro". In the To Currency dropdown choose "U.S. Dollar". Then press Calculate.

8. Look at the bottom for a very long decimal number which will look like this:

PayPal exchange rate:
1 EUR = 1.32727 USD

You need to copy and paste that long decimal number, 1.32727, into the spreadsheet like so...

Copy and paste it into the box on the right. You just need to copy the number itself, not the USD part.

9. Now click back to the eBay Calculator tab and type the amount in Euros a person has sent you.

If you're using OpenOffice.org or Excel 2007 the currency symbol should change automatically. If you're using Excel 97-2003 the currency symbol won't change, but the calculated amounts will still be accurate.

10. Your PayPal fees will be calculated to be € 4.25. You can verify that. 3.9% of 100 is 3.90 plus a fixed fee of 0.35 EUR is € 4.25. Next PayPal will subtract 4.25 from 100 to get € 95.75. Then PayPal will convert that into U.S. Dollars. Using the exchange rate above (1 EUR = 1.32727 USD) 95.75 EUR = 127.08 USD. You will receive 127.08 USD after fees. When dealing with currency conversion I have found that PayPal's currency converter will truncate the decimal and not round it so that is what my spreadsheet does as well.

11. If you want to know what to charge in Euros to receive $100 USD after fees, just type in 100 into the box labeled "To Receive this amount"...

12. The calculator will return back € 78.77. You can verify that.

78.77 EUR
- 3.9% PayPal Percentage Fee (3.07203)
- 0.35 EUR PayPal Fixed Fee (0.35)
= 75.35 EUR

75.35 EUR = 100.00 USD (using the exchange rate 1 EUR = 1.32727 USD)

If PayPal truncates the decimal you will receive exactly $100.00 USD after fees. If PayPal rounds the decimal you will receive $100.01 USD after fees. I am under the impression that PayPal truncates because that is what their Currency Converter does.

13. If you're receiving payment for an eBay item just type the amount that was sent to you in the "Closing Price" or "Buy It Now Price" box and your PayPal fees and profit will be automatically calculated using that exchange rate as well.

If you've already purchased the spreadsheet you can download the new version at:

http://www.rolbe.com/download/

If you haven't purchased the spreadsheet yet you can do so at:

http://www.rolbe.com/2010/03/07/ebay-spreadsheet/

Please feel free to leave comments on this page if you would like to see any new features or options added to the spreadsheet.