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I'm moving at the end of the month and have almost a dozen things I'd like to sell. Nothing big or too spendy, but I was wondering if eBay is worth using due to their new structuring? How much more in fees do they collect from your sales? I know it's a hit or miss deal with sales, but, if things sell well, I'm only looking at about $500 in sales.
Are there alternatives to eBay that anyone recommends? If these items sell well, I might decide to continue selling items here and there.
I've been using eBay since '98 and I'm a power seller. It's a great way to turn miscellaneous items into quick cash at market price. I agree that their fees could/should be lower, but it's still the best venue I know of for easily moving most any tangible item.
The fees on $500 could range from $20 to $100+ depending on what options you choose. I often start personal items at a penny (that's 35 cents for the listing fee) with no other options, then they take a commission of the final sale price. After PayPal fees it averages out to be 6% in cumulative fees. By far, the largest cost in selling on eBay is the TIME involved to create your listings, answer questions, ship, leave feedback, et cetera. The fees are miniscule in comparison.
I'm moving at the end of the month and have almost a dozen things I'd like to sell. Nothing big or too spendy, but I was wondering if eBay is worth using due to their new structuring? How much more in fees do they collect from your sales? I know it's a hit or miss deal with sales, but, if things sell well, I'm only looking at about $500 in sales.
Are there alternatives to eBay that anyone recommends? If these items sell well, I might decide to continue selling items here and there.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
For the dozen or so items, its not a bad avenue, just be sure you have an idea of postage fees and cover them.
I have pulled all of my listings from Ebay.. wont ever sell there again, but I was selling tens of thousands at a time.
How much do they charge these days for a reserve price? I know I could go there and look it up, but, until I get serious about selling on eBay, asking here is quicker.
Are the "handling fees" people charge bogus or do they cover the cost of the box and packing material?
Also, how can you tell how much something will cost to ship if you don't know where it's going?
When I sell, I want to charge the exact price for shipping and not rip anyone off with added fees. Sorry for the naive questions. This isn't something I plan to do on a regular basis. I would probably just sell these items, maybe a few more, and then stop. How do buyers react to new sellers? After the auction is won, I intend to have everything packaged and shipped within 24 hours.
I never use reserve price unless it's a vehicle being sold, as I don’t like fees. If your goods are only $500 total, just start a penny and use the full allotted space for the title by choosing relavent key words. This will increase your potential traffic.
I'm a current eBay seller. Fees have just been raised to 8.75% at the lowest tier. Here is a link to all the fees (including reserve: $2.00) eBay.com Fees
You can start at a penny to save fees, but be sure you are prepared to let it go at a penny if nobody bids it up. I recommend starting at the lowest price you think you can handle. I usually start at 9.99. Low enough to get bidders attention, but high enough so you aren't giving it away. Of course it depends on the item.
Shipping charges: eBay supplies a shipping calculator in your listings. When you write up your item, you just need to input the shipping weight and method (First Class, Priority, etc), and whoever wins your item will have their shipping cost calculated for them at checkout depending on their location. Then when they pay for their item, they also pay the correct shipping fees.
About handling fees, some are bogus, some are not. I charge $1.00 over actual postage to cover costs. Some people go way overboard and charge $10-$20 + over actual postage. This is usually done to get out of paying insertion fees, as eBay does not take a cut out of shipping/handling charges. This is an ongoing issue.
About buyers reaction to new sellers: I don't have a problem, everyone has to start somewhere. You can usually tell by the wording of the listing if they are a scam artist or if it is someone like yourself, just trying to get rid of some unneeded household items.
Tips: 1) Take a good clear picture. 2) Describe your item well including size and any flaws. 3) Utilize the free priority mail boxes available at the USPS website USPS - The United States Postal Service (U.S. Postal Service) where you can also print postage online if you want.
just sold a car on ebay myself.. for the 2k i sold it for they took only 140bux after all my fees and auction options were said and done. im happy with that
Why did eBay raise their rates? Their fees do seem high when all their really providing is a very small, and temporary, bit of bandwidth.
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