posted on June 30, 2005 12:36:32 PM new
I spent a little time trying to figure out what I needed to get for an item I wanted to sell on ebay. If I sell this item for $49.99 I will pay out in ebay and paypal fees a total of about $5(assuming I get paid thru paypal). Is this alot of $$ to pay in fees or am I just missing the true value of ebay and its ability to attract buyers. Or maybe it is just the slow time of year and I am tired of selling stuff low just to keep the cash flow moving. Just wish there was some place else that didnt cost so much to sell.
cd
posted on June 30, 2005 02:09:24 PM new
5 dollars is reasonable for a 50 dollars item,assuming you paid wholesale for it and mark it up accordingly.
If you have your own website and your own merchant account to accept credit card,you would pay the same .
But if you cant sell it the first time and have to relist and relist,then it get pricey.
It all depends on how high is your markup.
dont waste your time selling a 50 dollar item on Yahoo or Ioffer.
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posted on June 30, 2005 02:19:36 PM new
stopwhining, you'd rather sell a $50 item on eBay and pay $5 in fees, instead of selling a $50 item on Yahoo and pay no fees?
posted on June 30, 2005 03:03:09 PM new
you get what you pay for,a 50 dollars item has a better chance of geeting sold on EBAY than anywhere else and you may- surprise,surprise,get more than 50 dollars and may even get paid immediately thru paypal.
The same items I get 10-12 on Overstock,0 on Yahoo and 10 -60 dollars on Ebay.
My cost is 2.75 .
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Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
[ edited by stopwhining on Jun 30, 2005 03:03 PM ]
posted on June 30, 2005 03:09:32 PM new
I agree with everyone about Yahoo. I have listed in yahoo and many other auction sites and for me there is no place like ebay. When it's a slow season I just list my items for the amount I am happy receiving if only one bidder bids.
I feel when your selling something for a decent amount then the fees really don't matter but when your listing low end items then the fees seem high.
posted on June 30, 2005 04:47:23 PM new
stopwhining's right...you get what you pay for.
and at the risk of sounding repetitive, why pay primo eBay relisting fees over and over again with ultimately diminishing returns? if it doesn't sell at auction, put it in an ebay store and fugedaboutit, it'll sell. it's gotten to where i actually seldom actually list in auction format...i know what i want for the stuff i sell. so in the store it goes. saves a ton on listing fees. http://stores.ebay.com/postcardspostcards
posted on July 1, 2005 09:26:02 AM new
so looking at the difference in fees between a store and an auction it is about the same. Is the biggest advantage with a store the amount of time it can be listed??
posted on July 1, 2005 10:00:06 AM new
i see two advantages to the store:
1. yes, i pay FVFs and $15.95/mo. for the store. but the listings are only 2 cents each/mo. or 3 cents/mo. with the photo (i use the photo).
2. yes, another advantage is, a store listing is good for 30 days. at the end of 30 days, it automagically renews itself for another 30 days. about 35% of what i sell per month is old stuff that has recycled itself in the store. so i find it's a great way to move the slower items as well.
an aside - a couple of times a month, i pay off the balance via paypal/from the proceeds of sales. my ebay store fees are due on the 15th of each month, so i go in around the 10th and make sure there is some extra in there (ebay will let you run a negative balance, where you're owing nothing and they owe you for services not yet rendered). i make sure the upcoming store fees are covered that way, so as not to end up having any charges on my credit card. my philosophy about that is, if my store can't pay for itself, i wouldn't want it. http://stores.ebay.com/postcardspostcards
posted on July 1, 2005 10:00:24 AM new
That and the fact that listing to the store is much less. There is also the "just shopping" factor. About half my customers right now on one of my accounts win bid on an auction and then go check out what else is in the store and buy a few more things while they are at it. my store sales are exceeding my auction sales in the US right now.
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No, I'm saying -- I'm merely -- I'm saying what I'm saying. I don't know why I'm always having people say, are you trying to say -- you know what you can do if you want to know what I'm saying is listen to what I'm saying. What I'm saying is what I said ...
posted on July 1, 2005 10:26:57 AM new
I had to stop selling things for under $50 because the fees are just so high, I wasn't making enough profit. I'm going to think about going the store route though - it sounds like it might be worth the time. I've tried yahoo and Amazon a few years back, and I didn't make one sale! IMHO part of the reason ebay fees are jacked up (besides greed) is it may cut back on some of the frivolous listings that junk up some of the categories (particularly in the Antiques section). Like those trying to sell a $100 item for $750 and relising it over and over again and hoping someone bites (which happens)...
going the store route was the single best business decision i ever made about ebay. and fenix is right, a store also snags some of the "just looking"/impulse buyers. a lot of my buyers already know approximately what they want. when they see it, they can just buy it outright. some people are impatient and don't want to wait for an auction to run its course.
i research my postcards before i put them in the store - if i find i've got one that brings historically high prices, i either price it high in the store or do an auction listing and then save it for the fall or january. about twice a year, i'll actually list some of these at auction. but never in the summer, which is a historically slow time. http://stores.ebay.com/postcardspostcards
posted on July 1, 2005 10:41:10 AM new
I agree listing fees are very high, especially when you sell an item that is less than $5.00. I have lots of craft supplies I'm trying to get rid of instead of giving away or selling at a garage sale.
My process is list the item once, if it doesn't sell let it relist. I'm thinking of putting all the relisted items that don't sell into a store.
Does anyone else list their items that aren't sold on auction (listed and relisted) into the store? I haven't looked into the fees for stores yet, but it sounds like basically there is a monthly fee and then a small $.02 to $.03 per listed item? Then of course probably FVF.
posted on July 1, 2005 03:04:16 PM new
rsauvehearts...That is exactly how I do my listing...put it through as an auction twice and then pop it into the store. I drive traffic to my store thru my auction listings.
