topic Re: Insane Sellers Fees in Selling

Insane Sellers Fees

australianwallart — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 09:37:00 GMT

Hi, just wondering what other people are getting charged in sellers fees? I paid 30% this month - nearly $500- and am furious about it. The low profit margin on my high quality items meant selling on Ebay actually cost me money in January. Wondering what other people's expereince is with this before I delete my account?

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

instylecollectables — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:00:18 GMT

Simple answer would be that you are paying for insertion fees plus FVFs, why haven't you opened up a store as you have over 800 items listed.

You only get 40 free listings per month without a store so the other 760 or so items you're paying fees on just for listing them.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

negron18 — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:12:00 GMT

might have to open up a basic store with up to 600 items a month and a lower rate that ebay take

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

davewil1964 — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:14:02 GMT

I'm getting charged the relevant fees for my seller level.

On my store, it's about 9.35%. On this and my other account it's 10.9%.

I'm not mug enough to pay listing fees.

It would seem you don't actually understand eBay selling. Maybe try spend some time researching 'selling on eBay'. It will probably be time well spent.

Or delete your account. eBay won't care.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

digital*ghost — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:28:44 GMT

Guys, the OP has less than 80 listings (might be over 800 different items, but with variation listings, that doesn't require 800+ single listings) - yes, it's more than the 40 free allocated per month, but not necessarily the cause of all their angst.

To answer the OP, depends - does that 30% include postage labels you've bought on eBay (they'll include that in your fees and when they calculate that stat chart on your invoices, if that's what you've been looking at) ?

My ebay fees (not including store fee) are something like 13% of my total revenue.

A store would likely be of benefit to you if you want to keep those listings perpetually available and / or add more, $28(ish) a month, more than enough free listings, and a very slight discount on fees.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

instylecollectables — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:53:54 GMT

All of a sudden the OP actually has a store where did that come from? It wasn't a store when I first looked.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

digital*ghost — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 11:05:02 GMT

Normally if a member with a store posts, the red door will appear next to their user name in the forum. If they unsubscribe from the store but never revisit, their profile here doesn't update, so I presume if they open a store after visiting, it won't update either, but don't know for sure.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

davewil1964 — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 11:13:07 GMT

Nor I.

And when I looked at the account it wasn't a store.

Until now. Maybe they have taken the advice proffered.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

chameleon54 — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 11:19:58 GMT

You are offering " free postage ". Is that with ebay printed labels as others have suggested ? If so it is quite possible your total fees could be 30% of turnover. My ebay fees plus separate postage costs ( that I pay direct to Australia Post ) would be in the vicinity of 30% of turnover.

The secret to making money on ebay is to find products that have mark ups of several hundred percent or more so that most of what is left after selling and postage costs is profit. If your mark up is only 50% you are going to struggle unless you are regularly selling items valued in the Hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Basically on low profit margins, ( less than 100% mark up ) on low to medium value items ( less than $100 ) the maths often doesn't add up once you place a reasonable value on your time.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

instylecollectables — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 11:23:26 GMT

I suppose the only way to see what fees you were charged for is to look at your seller account and click on the view fees and scroll through it and see what they are for.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

*tippy*toes* — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:31:51 GMT

@chameleon54 wrote:
You are offering " free postage ". Is that with ebay printed labels as others have suggested ? If so it is quite possible your total fees could be 30% of turnover. My ebay fees plus separate postage costs ( that I pay direct to Australia Post ) would be in the vicinity of 30% of turnover.

The secret to making money on ebay is to find products that have mark ups of several hundred percent or more so that most of what is left after selling and postage costs is profit. If your mark up is only 50% you are going to struggle unless you are regularly selling items valued in the Hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Basically on low profit margins, ( less than 100% mark up ) on low to medium value items ( less than $100 ) the maths often doesn't add up once you place a reasonable value on your time.

Obviously people are loving the OPs items, as she has sold 210 in the last 2 months. Which is fantastic! I am wondering though whether she is buying at retail prices, which means she can't mark the price up very much. On average, I get around 1,000%. A few things I don't get much more than cost price, and a few other things I have actually taken a loss of (literally) a few dollars, just to get rid of them. It's not really a loss because I make much more on the other items which covers it.

My line isn't niche like yours, but doesn't compare to clothing and cds/dvds either. I do compete with Chinese sellers, and some Indian sellers, but I don't sell for low prices to actually compete with them. My prices are higher than theirs. Does it cost me buyers? Probably, but I also have buyers who much prefer to by local because they will get it quickly, and if there is an issue, they know it will be dealt with easily. They are not having to worry about sending something back overseas (I've only ever had 2 returns, both were change of mind, they simply didn't like it when they saw it in front of them).

THe OP doesn't have any listings live now. I'm guessing she's probably setting up her new store.

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

bikeden — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 00:17:27 GMT

I can only see 26 sales since 11 December for the OP using the SOLD items filter, is there a way to go back further ?

Re: Insane Sellers Fees

*tippy*toes* — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 23:14:51 GMT

@bikeden wrote:
I can only see 26 sales since 11 December for the OP using the SOLD items filter, is there a way to go back further ?

You are correct, there are now only 26 sold items showing. I wonder if the rest were removed after she set up her store? There were defininately 200+ showing when I submitted my post.