I charge exact postage, just realise eBay charge a fee on postage as well ?14% total fees w PPal !

[cardikel]

I am afraid eBay's greed is starting to price sellers out of their site .. Just not worth it now !

[haolove13]

To do the correct calculation it is over 15 % now as you pay FVF on the commsion as well.

Say postage is $10.00

you may think it is only 99 cents commsiion but the FVF is on the actual charge so on $10.99 you still lose money. as you pay ebay $1.09 commission

Then you must add paypal as well

to recover $10.00 in actual postage cost you actually need to charge $11.50 just to break even.

Times are tough around the place but everyone I speak to has given up on Ebay.

Just not enough return for the risk and costs .

[cq_tech]

With 9.9% FVF, to recover $10 in actual postage, in fact you'll need to charge $11.10 to break even, not $11.50.

This represents as near as dammit to 10.99% so if you add that percentage to your postage, you'll break dead even.

For example, if postage = $18.75 you multiply that by 10.99% to get $20.81 and eBay take 9.9% ($2.06), leaving you the $18.75 you paid.

Therefore, to make it simple, just add 11% to your postage and you'll always break even. 🙂

[springyzone]

And that is on exact postage. If you are factoring in the hidden costs such as wrapping etc, that buyers don't always consider, then it can look excessive even when it isn't. No wonder ebay wants people to add it to the item cost and just list things as 'free postage'.

[cq_tech]

Exactly. Ebay want us to mislead our buyers even though doing so breaches their own rules & regulations. They're nothing but hypocrites.

[haolove13]

And do not forget to recover your paypalcost as well.

When I first started on Ebay I did not have a paypal account as paypal was twice the cost of my merchant credit facility.

Now that everyone has been hoodwinked into thinking paypal is perfect and AUSTRALIAN LAW has charged you are allowed to recover the actual cost of credit card / merchant costs. So the actual breakeven cost is closer to my figure than yours.

and if someone uses an alternative payment method the few cents of extra profit can go towards recovering the intangibles like bubble wrap, envelopes,boxes and also start to go towards the inevitable loss through false paypal claims.

And also do not forget that the safe drop system seems to be on it's last legs so there will be an increase in claims for items left on doormats.

Still a no win situation for sellers ,

so to quote you  cq_tech

Therefore, to make it simple, just add 11% to your postage and you'll always break even.  

Well you will not breakeven at that percentage.

And you will have nothing in reserve for what has become inevitable claims.

SORRY BUT THAT SPIN DOES NOT WEAR WITH ME ANYMORE !!!!

[cardikel]

Just tested the market by putting a couple of cheaper items on local free sites, both sold within a day, buyers collected and no fees. May not be as successful with higher priced items but will give it a try. One of the ladies who bought off me said she has sold some baby items for her daughter on eBay and actually ended with fees taking all the cost !

[i-love-my-sheep]

You're far better selling baby clothes on Gumtree......so my sister reckons.....for the reasons you mentioned.

[lane-ends]

gumtree works best for pick up items that are not worth posting.

[ccrider1966]

Since the fvf is higher now and we pay a fee if we post I find sales are down and Im not optimistic about selling. You cant put 11% extra on shipping costs,most buyers dont like what I charge on postage but I just quote what Aus Post charge. I cannot give discounts on products and postage in the hope of making a sale. Ebay has ruined sellers. I sold a phone for $72,take out paypal,fvf and postage fee from ebay and Im not left with any profit at all. Ebays days are numbered. Thanks for nothing.