Is it worth selling on ebay any more?

[richie1957]

I miss those days when I was able to run a fairly profitable cottage industry selling new & used CD's, LP's, & DVD's on eBay, but, alas, with the advent of streaming and online pirating, those days are now long gone.

Thanks to ever-rising eBay selling fees and Paypal fees, added to Australia's unreasonably high shipping & insurance fees, and lack of protection of sellers for uninsured items that are 'lost' during the shipping process - it is no longer worthwhile selling any item valued at less than $10 - especially international sales. Virtually no prospective customers are willing to pay insurance and shipping fees for such low cost items.

I'm better off just donating my collection to charity.

[supermussolinibros]

given up selling and only buy here to resell as sellers on here are getting desparate so there are baragins to be had, have bought items here and resold on facebook for three times for what i got it here -the word is out there that ebay is a ripoff/not to mention a scam for sellers,  millenials for example NEVER use or care about ebay-ebay is just old fashioned way to sell items from the days of yestyear when it was too hard to setup your own website or sites had little reach-Facebook is HUGE and growing even bigger and totally fee free and paypal scam free (never accept it as people use it as a carriage service to commit fraud - there was even a TV show about it ages ago - current affair type show).

Way better results also on gumtree these days, for me way better than here - in fact gumtree has this year payed for bills like rego, rates etc for me - amazon is rubbish and also old fashioned but their fees are even worse than here.

In my opinion the horse has bolted  this place is great if you have 1000 coloured buttons, plastic generic kitchen utensils, 2000 alligator clips, plastic placemats etc for sale - probably unbeatable for these things but this rubbish is better off here and not polluting the other places. Keep this cheap chinese rubbish here on the site that is the king of chinese rubbish - ebay (chinese sellers also get the best treatment here).

For collectibles facebook groups are the best -not to mention market place - have got the best records and the best cd's and collectibles there as well as great consumer electronics and musical instruments etc.

Check this out - https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/ebay-growth-turns-negative, just remember in the past year aussies spent 16 Billion dollars shopping on social media  https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6416946/aussies-spend-big-shopping-on-social-media/?cs=1

The last article can also be found elsewhere in full if you have used your 5 free articles a month.

Don't believe the rusted on sellers here who are too scared to have you go elsewhere, times have changed and unfortunately this place has not been able to keep up with a BEHEMOTH like facebook - it only makes sense that the most widely used social media should become the best shopping platform  - ebay should have bought facebook years ago.

[supermussolinibros]

sorry i think you are completely wrong - 16 billion dollars aussies spent in the last year on social media is some proof.  Don't blame the government as people are still spending big just not where you think they are - 16 billion dollars is underdeveloped?

Have had plenty of posted items for sale on gumtree that have sold way better than here for me.

I don't think it's overcompetition here i think it's just sellers being desparate as they think it's the be all and end all- it's often really hard for individuals to adjust to change, especially big change and that's what is happening here.

I agree retail has died- after all who the hell wants to spend money on petrol and travel times and parking to fight crowds at some smelly shopping centre or shop not to mention some homeless drug addict pestering you for some change-much better sipping pina coladas at home and have your item arrive at the front door.

[eol-products]

There are different selling avenues for different products and what will work on ebay may not work on others and vice versa. Gumtree would be especially good for pick up only items as people search locally unlike ebay where someone accross the country buys your pick up only item.

[springyzone]

I was reading that facebook is being shunned by a lot of the really young ones these days, because their parents are on it.

The way i see it, there's a place for all these sales venues. A lot of buyers don't limit themselves to just one or the other, they use several.

I still enjoy shopping at real shops too. I like being able to see and handle the actual product and in the case of clothing & shoes, try them on. Shopping can be a lot of fun. It's an outing. the sights, the smells, stopping for a coffee. You must be male if you think it is always necessarily a chore.

[eol-products]

Soon the hipsters will find ebay to be retro and cool and shall I say a vintage selling platform. Next they will bring back the newspaper classifieds. 

[chameleon54]

@ supermussolinibros........The fact that you admit you cant sell anything here probably says a lot more about you than it does about ebay.

Those expensive books you say never sell on ebay, just keep walking out the door for me, as quick as I can list them. Today's tally includes a $125.00  book with $50 postage again to an international buyer, plus a few other cheaper items.

There are many experienced sellers on the forums who would be happy to steer you in the right direction as to how to start making your ebay sales work for you. You only need to ask .

[davewil1964]

I have a suspicion that mussolini might also be a retrosystem.

The constant spruiking of Gumtree and Facebook seem the same, as does the posting style, and the location clues.

[*tippy*toes*]

Today is Monday. Since Friday, I have sold $1200 worth of collectable items on eBay (why am I still working?). I have sold $15 on Facebook marketplace. My marketplace stuff might pick up in the lead up to Christmas, but nowhere near $1200 in 4 days (items average $10-30 + postage.... marketplace average $5 per item). Last year, selling the same stuff I do on marketplace, my best day was $35.

[kitty-kat-kollection]

I must admit I don't like the fees and the ever present risk of paypal chargebacks or ebay false "item not as described" disputes that are near impossible to win, but...for my stuff...

Ebay = fairly regular stable sales, higher prices, easy postage options.

Gumtree = occasional cash sales that are good value, though I never enjoy having to meet the people (I'm a very friendly but antisocial person), and 90% of the interest turns out to be a waste of my time (eg, asking price $50, barely coherent buyers asking if I'll take $10. Um, no.)

Facebook Marketplace - I mostly get literally NO interest whatsoever. I often encounter weirdos who message me at 2am asking if I'm single. JUST BUY MY STUFF, PEOPLE!!!

Anyway, I like ebay mostly and Gumtree sometimes.

[supermussolinibros]

Thanks for offering help but i have just sold $2000 worth of rare fighting fantasy books posted to an interstate buyer - fee free etc - good luck with your small change