topic Re: Selling Low Priced Items in Selling

Selling Low Priced Items

colexsell4u — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 05:45:25 GMT

I Notice A Lot Of Sellers Put Items On Ebay Worth Little As $3 To $10, Is It Really Worth It, As Ebay Fees Come Out Of Everything Sold??

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

digital*ghost — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 05:53:05 GMT

Depends what the item cost to begin with, I suppose, and the reasoning behind the pricing. I have quite a few items priced between $3-$10, and I feel it is worth it. I don't make a lot of profit on those items, but they're intended to be higher-turnover lower profit items to create / maintain / increase range and traffic, and they require much less effort from me to list and package.

Some of them, I price that low because I want to get rid of them and I figure I'm better off with at least some, if not all, of the money I originally invested.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

zelly888 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:03:27 GMT

On a $3 item you would still make $2.70 so if you sold 100 items you would make $270 out of $300 to me that's a great outcome.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

bigbrickshop — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:08:44 GMT

A great outcome? Not when you take out the cost to purchase the item, the PayPal fee and any listing fee.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

bigbrickshop — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:10:50 GMT

Some high volume sellers will list some low cost fast-selling items to keep up their DSR percentages. They'd make little or no profit, or maybe a loss, on the items but would treat them as advertising.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

zelly888 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:20:59 GMT

Theres no paypal fee when payment goes into your bank account.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

zelly888 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:23:20 GMT

If you're in the business of selling then you have to be a Capitalist so if you don't make a profit then well that's just not good enough in my books.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

digital*ghost — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:24:59 GMT

There's always more costs than the most obvious ones, so when I price something, whether it's under $5 or much higher, I always consider store subscription, PayPal fees, eBay fees, stock cost (including a percentage for shrinkage - be it loss, replacements, faulty items), packaging costs, running costs (that would be net access and hardware) and so on, and then arrive at a price that will cover those - sometimes individually, sometimes collectively, as well as allow a little for re-investment. For these items, I also look for things that no one else is generally selling so that I don't have to compete (price-wise).

I have higher priced items, so I don't often have to go to special effort or expense to post a $3 item.

The lower priced items also help maintain cashflow, which I have found to be just as important as profit percentages, because they're currently allowing me to expand a little more rapidly than I have been before I introduced them.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

davewil1964 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:32:22 GMT

@zelly888 wrote:
Theres no paypal fee when payment goes into your bank account.

How do you convince the 95% of buyers who prefer to use Paypal to trust you, somebody they've never met?

As you have to offer an eBay defined safe payment method, of which Paypal is the most popular, you are generally going to be hit with some sort of fee. On the whole transaction, including postage.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

bigbrickshop — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:36:20 GMT

I agree d*g. You can't have the same profit mark-up on every item and offering a variety of items at different prices usually leads to buyers making multiple purchases.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

zelly888 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:27:17 GMT

I'm not saying that you do bank deposit for a new seller,but for the well know sellers there is no problem depositing into their bank.I mostly deposit into bank accounts for the sellers that I have come to trust but I always have the items sent registered post and I haven't had any problems what so ever

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

davewil1964 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 10:13:09 GMT

define new.

I have sold in excess of 1000 books in the last 3 years and I don't recall a repeat buyer. So to all of my buyers I am probably a new seller.

Also beware of sellers who will be brilliant selling low value items, then start 'selling' high value items once they've built up some trust/feedback, rake in the bank deposits and disappear into the setting sun.

Or those whose accounts have been hijacked.

I am quite happy paying Paypal fees for my buyers' peace of mind. It's a cost of business.

But your original statement was that profit was 90% of sale price - disregarding cost, listing fees and Paypal (usually) fees. Not so.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

sonya0576 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 10:29:57 GMT

Sellers often sell a range of items, they use their higher priced products to offset the lower priced items. I know myself I have some lower priced items and because of them I often get bigger sales whether it be buyers buying several of the lower priced items or they click through to look at what else I sell that might interest them.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

zelly888 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 11:03:02 GMT

Profit is 90% of my sales maybe not yours or others but it is in mine

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

davewil1964 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 11:05:19 GMT

So you don't pay listing fees, don't accept Paypal and don't pay for your items.

Thanks for the heads up.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

zelly888 — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 11:16:37 GMT

No I don't pay listing fees as I only list the free listings,I do pay FVFs,I except PayPal and Bank Deposits.Most of my items that I sell I have collected over the years or have acquired from family and friends,so they did cost me something when I first got them but I am making a great profit from selling them now.

Re: Selling Low Priced Items

colexsell4u — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:52:44 GMT

Thank You So Much To Everyone Who Replied!