Postage and Profits

[depotsupplys]

Hi I havent sold on ebay for over 10 years, and have just started again

I am shocked by how much it costs to send a 500g satchel $8.25 in 2004 it was $4 something

I was wondering if sellers find that having to charge more for postage has affected their sales over the last years or do you find that people are willing to pay $8+ for a parcel item (which im finding is pretty much 99% of the stuff sold on ebay) 

If a buyer bought a t-shirt for example at 10.00 and the postage is 8+ than there paying about 20 dollars and the incentive to buy online over a retail store has got to be comprimised? 

Any tips on how to save on postage?

Look forward to your replies

depotsupplys

[jpapas01]

... and now, starting soon, there is a new cost in posting coming into force, sellers have to decide what to do.

Ebay are charging commission on your postage fee (They will charge on the whole invoice now not just the sale of the goods). Another charge to the seller is facing now deciding what he will sell his item for.

Do you absorb that fee as well?! Each person to there on.

I receive majority (over 90%) of payments via paypal. Have calculated that the Ebay fees & Paypal fees for me to sell, cost around 12.7% of my sale price. This will now rise.

Some sellers might have higher costs in posting but they factor in the costs in packaging/travel cost at times. Its not just the AP fee to sell. (depends on what you sell if you need boxes for example) - Some have cheaper prices but higher postage or the other way around. I always look at the overall figure and if I am happy to pay it, I buy.

[clarry100]

We operate 2 ebay stores.

I keep very accurate records for tax purposes.

In this tax year so far the total of fees both ebay & Paypal combined are just under 16% of total sales.

Postage costs including packaging is just under 12%.

[artinvestaustralia]

Take a sale like that of item # <removed>

can you please tell me what is in it for me (profit, etc... after reading my -yes, loooong- description)? What is the outcome, what are the implications of such a price achieved at the auction of this item?

Now many will ask me 'but why sell it in that format if you suffer a loss?' The problem is two fold:

-Auctions used to do well for me on eBay, it is now history ebay the profitable auction place and I have the stock to flog... I also listed at bargain buy it now prices, it did not work, I would have to leave it (at great cost to me) for months, as I am doing now with some of my items...

-Buyers now bid in the last seconds of an auction (3 to 10 seconds, compliments of eBay selling such 'bidding engines'!), so I cannot forecast, watchers are my only mean of 'forecasting' and in a business, if you cannot forecast, youur business is doomed, thank you eBay !

[artinvestaustralia]

.../...

by the way, this framed (with glass) 1927 lithograph weighs 2.7kg when properly packed for shipping safely...

[artinvestaustralia]

Since item number was removed by the mod, here is what it is I was selling two weeks ago: a framed 1927 lithograph by legendary Margaret Preston measuring 435 x 435 x 30 mm and weighing 2 kg (2.7 packed) the framing alone costs at retail $168, the value of the lithograph (fair market price) is a minimum of $150 (those sell -poorly- framed at live auctions for up to $750) and it cost me close to the $150, so if, has happened in real life, this item sells for... $18 (YES, EIGHTEEN DOLLARS) guess what? I await your comments (please read prior previous post with item number removed)...

[wehavethatau]

I would not recommend using Fastway as you will encounter numerous problems if the buyer is not home at time of delivery.

[*crikey*mate*]

I'm just curious why you would sell something on here for $18 when you know you can get $750 for it at a live auction.....

[artinvestaustralia]

You cannot anymore, some reputable auction houses used to sell them for that exhorbitant amount, now we are having the recession we had to have, results at auctions, including on eBay, have turned around... It is 'quiet' everywhere except for premium products (in the tens and hundreds of thousands of $, as always premium market never budge...) ...

I refuse to pay 30 to 40% in sellers premium at live auctions, myself and have no faith at all in the auction process (as a buyer) too many 'ghost' bidders...
What I had intended to do years ago was to open a museum dedicated to our local -& famous, many around where I reside...- artists, when I checked the heritage listed building in which I was going to have the museum a quick search on the RTA website was telling me that a major road was to be built one metre away from the main entrance to the building (!)... Incredible how our heritage items in Oz are treated by the speculators and other governement bodies...

[artinvestaustralia]

1300 hundred items later, not a single problem with Fastway...

[chezzy]

But why would the item sell for $18....why start it so low if you want more for it? Why not start it at a price near to what you need. I think you need to be realistic, if you list it low you really do risk getting a low price for it.

For myself (as a collector) I consider 'retail price' or 'original price' irrelevant - I will pay what I can pay/afford/budget which is more often than not under original retail anyway. Something is only worth what a buyer will pay for it. Who sets these 'fair market prices' anyway.

If you want to avoid a painfully low result - or last minute snipers - or auction house fees why not just set up a listing at a fixed price and see what happens?