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.

[phorum_junkie*]

As long as buyers are prepared to pay over twenty bucks plus postage for a second hand top they could have bought new in my store for thirty dollars I will go on selling on ebay. Not too sure if I am going to keep my store open, it is not doing well at all but then I am not putting much work into it as I am selling so much on my auction id.

[cq_tech]

I don't know whether you happen to be the exception to the rule, or if women's clothing is still a marketable product via auction, but you're certainly doing a lot better than most others running auctions on this site.

[artforartssake]

thanks all for yr comments and suggestions

I list items to sell because whatever happens I MUST sell them, even for only $1.

So that's why I always start at $1 and take my chances. generally tho, they go above $1 because most of my items are in solid condition, carefully looked after, mostly bought new and I always keep the documentation such as original purchase receipt, manuals, assembly instructions etc

Given that this is a short-term exercise, I guess I may just stick with ebay for now until all the current stuff is gone. At least I know how it works, nothing new to learn. Altho having said that, I tried to use the new draft listing feature but couldn't figure it all out (esp how to duplicate listings, so confusing!) so I've gone back to TURBO LISTER (now minus the Listing Designer feature which I always found useful)

[artforartssake]

Just a thought here, based on some of these comments:

Is Ebay going the way of Amway?

i.e. once a popular marketing concept where ordinary people could make money if they got in on the ground level and were prepared to put in the effort. But now seems to have petered out (one hardly hears about Amway these days, in the 90s everone was talking 'bout it!)

[i-love-my-sheep]

WOW, I had completely forgotten about Amway! I haven't bought anything from them in years. Their washing detergent was excellent and when they said you only needed a small amount, you really only needed a small amount. Even really filthy greasy stuff would come up spotlessly clean.

You might be right about them, they may have had their day too.

[2014auswit]

You are right,sticky fingers will go.I have noticed postal costs are higher than that stated by ebay even before their 10%

You sell and you lose.

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@cq_tech wrote:
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.

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[diecastcorner2014]

cq_tech wrote:
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.

Ebay has out priced there worth.

simple figures are $1.50 to list    9.9% fvf  9.9% postage fees 

sell item for $25.00 ebay recives $2.46 in fvf  0.40 in postage fees plus $1.50 to list = $4.38  add paypals fees then its appox $5.00 gone from sale so seller gets $20.00 then add sellers time listing packing travel to p/o hardly worth the hassle

because then sell places themself at risk at buyers honesty to have transcation complete after 180 days going by ebays cash back policy.  OK you can take away the $1.50 listing fee by listing only with free listings but its hard to keep motivated to keep selling working around free listings.

since ebay hacking earlier this year many buyers have not returned as the fear the site is no longer safe.

ebay site is regular crushing and sellers are missing out on auction style listings between these downtimes.

sellers feel under stress selling as ebay most times to fix what seems the seller is 100% right but recives neg feedback because buyer didnt pay or tried to cheat the system to get free items claiming not recived even though tracking shows delivered to address supplied by buyer.

my sainity is worth more than a few dollars a week for a lot of work.

Ebay is spending heaps in advertizing on tv and facebook trying to save a sinking ship where i thing that ship has gone past the point of saving...

there are some sellers claiming to be still doing well selling here and i wish them well and hope there selling continues to strive forward.  But there seems to be many more sellers putting up there hands in serender saying we give up.

ps sorry for my miss spelling im just getting over a minor stroke and my brain is not working 100%.

ive closed my 2 selling id,s both with over 1000 positive feedbacks 100% with no defects

and in the near future i cant see me reopening them as i cant justify the work and effort for so little return.

[cq_tech]

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@artforartssake wrote:

thanks all for yr comments and suggestions

I list items to sell because whatever happens I MUST sell them, even for only $1.

So that's why I always start at $1 and take my chances. generally tho, they go above $1 because most of my items are in solid condition, carefully looked after, mostly bought new and I always keep the documentation such as original purchase receipt, manuals, assembly instructions etc

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Despite the fact that most of your items end up selling for more than your $1 starting price, why take the risk? If you're telling bidders that you only think your item is worth $1 then that's all they'll bid unless they really want it or can see that it's a bargain. If the stuff you sell is in such well looked after condition and has all of its original accessories and manuals, and you expect it to bring at least a certain amount, why not start it just below the amount you expect it to bring?

If people want it and are still interested, they'll still bid, and one big advantage of a higher starting price is that the bidding increments are larger so it won't take many bids at all for the price to start getting up to quite reasonable levels. Don't forget that the market sets the retail price, not you, so by starting a bit higher you stand to make considerably more from your auctions than you do right now. I no longer list auctions but when I did that's the way I did  it and my end prices were always much higher than I'd expected them to be.

[2014auswit]

Your health is worth more than that creatures operating under ebay banner.

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@diecastcorner2014 wrote:

@cq_tech wrote:
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.

Ebay has out priced there worth.

simple figures are $1.50 to list    9.9% fvf  9.9% postage fees 

sell item for $25.00 ebay recives $2.46 in fvf  0.40 in postage fees plus $1.50 to list = $4.38  add paypals fees then its appox $5.00 gone from sale so seller gets $20.00 then add sellers time listing packing travel to p/o hardly worth the hassle

because then sell places themself at risk at buyers honesty to have transcation complete after 180 days going by ebays cash back policy.  OK you can take away the $1.50 listing fee by listing only with free listings but its hard to keep motivated to keep selling working around free listings.

since ebay hacking earlier this year many buyers have not returned as the fear the site is no longer safe.

ebay site is regular crushing and sellers are missing out on auction style listings between these downtimes.

sellers feel under stress selling as ebay most times to fix what seems the seller is 100% right but recives neg feedback because buyer didnt pay or tried to cheat the system to get free items claiming not recived even though tracking shows delivered to address supplied by buyer.

my sainity is worth more than a few dollars a week for a lot of work.

Ebay is spending heaps in advertizing on tv and facebook trying to save a sinking ship where i thing that ship has gone past the point of saving...

there are some sellers claiming to be still doing well selling here and i wish them well and hope there selling continues to strive forward.  But there seems to be many more sellers putting up there hands in serender saying we give up.

ps sorry for my miss spelling im just getting over a minor stroke and my brain is not working 100%.

ive closed my 2 selling id,s both with over 1000 positive feedbacks 100% with no defects

and in the near future i cant see me reopening them as i cant justify the work and effort for so little return.

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[cherry*135]

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@artforartssake wrote:

Just a thought here, based on some of these comments:

Is Ebay going the way of Amway?

i.e. once a popular marketing concept where ordinary people could make money if they got in on the ground level and were prepared to put in the effort. But now seems to have petered out (one hardly hears about Amway these days, in the 90s everone was talking 'bout it!)

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Looks like Amway is still going fine.. diversified their product range.. sells Energy Drinks too (yuk). Products available to buy on their website (instead of/or as well as their home party plans)

Art- no mention of accepting cash on pick-up in your listings? Money Orders & Bank Cheques cost the buyer a bit.