Is it worth continuing to sell on Ebay?

[artforartssake]

It’s been a few yrs since I last sold on ebay, but when I did sell something recently I was SHOCKED by how much the fees have gone up by.

My item sold for $300. Ebay took 9.9% of that or $29.70. And because the buyer paid with Paypal, that took a further 2.4% + 30c or $7.50 off the proceeds. So that made total selling fees $37.20, on a sale of $300, or 12.4%.

In years past I probably would have paid $1 or so for the listing plus a few dollars for the final fee, but never anything as high as 12.4%.

And isn’t it a bit unfair to FORCE sellers to accept Paypal, knowing that they’ll lose 2.4% of the sale price + 30c?

Can you imagine the uproar if your bank charged you 2.4% + 30c for every deposit you made?

I’m moving interstate next year, so I have a fair amount of household goods to sell in the next month. But now I’m thinking of selling them on Quicksales, Gumtree or even Trading Post.

Is this a wise thing to do or should I just bite the bullet and stay with ebay? Because, to be fair to ebay, everything that I’ve listed with them HAS sold, in most cases reaching prices (before selling costs, of course!) at or above expectation. And since I’m moving, the stuff has to be sold, I can’t afford to have it lying around.

[colic2bullsgirlore]

I've noticed people are more likely to pay by bank deposit than by paymate especially if you do not offer paypal as

well.

If you allow for the lack of GST input credits via paypal, paymate and paypal fees are identical. In some cases paymate

is cheaper especially for lower renage business sellers

[colic2bullsgirlore]

[artforartssake]

thanks for the responses

Everything I sell on ebay is PICK-UP only i.e. furniture mainly, or kitchen appliances

so why I can't I simply say on my listing that the only method of payment is CASH on COLLECTION? Isn't that the simplest? there's no chance of anyone getting ripped off. The buyer will see the gds before he pays and takes them away and of course, from my perspective, I will never part with anything before I've been pd.

So shouldn't ebay make an exception for these kinds of sales? I don't want to pay 2.5% to Paypal just to get paid ON TOP OF the almost 10% I'm paying to Feebay

[2106greencat]

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@artforartssake wrote:

thanks for the advice

I'm selling only large household items like cupboards, a dining suite, chests of drawers, bed etc, that kind of stuff

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For that type of item you don't need to take paypal anyway, you would no doubt be listing these as pick up only, so you state in the description for buyer that you require cash on collection after inspecting the item.

The odd buyer who does know understand how pickups work may want to use paypal, but once you explain there is no paypal protection on pick ups and that they should inspect before purchase, they will likely agree to cash.

edited - OOPS - replied to your earlier post and missed the one above, yes indeed you can request cash on pickup

[artforartssake]

sounds like a good idea. What will Feebay say if I put that on the listing? i.e. cash on collection only after inspection of goods

[strawberries-n-creambabies]

It's even more disgusting that they charge that same outrageous fee on the shipping amount we have on our listings! It's f**ken off considering some of us only charge what AU post actually charges to send the item, but ebay is dipping their greedy hand in first, so sellers are having to cover the extra. 

They are abusing their customers too much and it's going to come around and bite them in the ass in the near future. There's already plenty of signs with so many people already gone. 

We've given up selling too much overseas cause the shipping on some of our weighty items to the US is around $100. The fees they are scoring on that shipping alone is just off!

[cherry*135]

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@artforartssake wrote:

sounds like a good idea. What will Feebay say if I put that on the listing? i.e. cash on collection only after inspection of goods

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No problem writing that. You still have to tick Paypal (or one of the other safe payment methods) in the listing.

Most buyers want to see the item first before they pay for it with cash.

If an items sells for a high $ value, some buyers may prefer paying by paypal rather than carrying cash around. With smart phones/tablets a buyer could inspect the item and pay by paypal whilst at the sellers house.

eBay policy

Other payment methods

As long as you offer one of the safer payment methods above, you can also offer these options:

Payment on pick-up

How soon am I paid?

Immediately. In-person payment methods can include cheques, money orders, cash, PayPal or credit card. In your listing, be clear about which of these payment methods you'll accept.

*  Cash, cheques and money orders are not covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Not recommended

• eBay does not recommend cash. Sellers may only offer to accept cash on pick-up.
  
  http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/pay/accepted-payment-methods.html
  

[digital*ghost]

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@artforartssake wrote:

sounds like a good idea. What will Feebay say if I put that on the listing? i.e. cash on collection only after inspection of goods

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The rules are this:

• You can't list an item (in the categories you'll be selling) without offering a safe payment method (i.e. PayPal, Paymate, merchant credit).
• Any payment method you offer, you must accept if the buyer pays that way
• You are not allowed to discourage the use of payment methods you offer (so saying cash on pick up only is not allowed - you're only allowed to say something like "cash on pick-up preferred").

If you listed and said "cash on pick up only", your listings would actually be reportable; sometimes the search and destroy bots pick up and taser (i.e. end) listings for containing certain words mentioning cash, though many start / end without an issue, it's worth noting the risk. 

[i-love-my-sheep]

Yes, the fees are getting ridiculous! Even the eBay ra-ra boys are not happy!

I noticed you started your auction at $1. Are you prepared to let them item be sold for $1? Quite often these days, auctions sell with only one bid and it would be a real shame to see good items selling for only $1. If you are happy to sell it for a dollar, fine, but if you want more for it, always start the auction at the lowest amount you'd be willing to accept.

The longer term sellers will tell you that the days of bidding wars are over (unless you are Chinese). The eBay recommendation for starting auctions low to attract buyers no longer applies.

Good luck selling your items and even more good luck with the move. Long distance moves are GHASTLY!!!

[cq_tech]

Why would buyers even bother coming to eBay when they can buy precisely the same items for between 10% to 20% less elsewhere? The simple fact is that eBay have priced themselves right out of the market and nobody can make a living selling their items at a loss, which is what they have to do if they want to compete. The sad fact is that eBay has had its day.