I just got an update from eBay about their new seller pricing structure. It looks like I'm going to have to pay 16 bucks a month to sell now. Here's a link to the new fees: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/FeeUpdate2010.html#chart No more 'buy it now' in auction listings either.
If you scroll up in the linked page, you can see the new standard fees, they are actually not too bad, lower insertion and 9% final value fee. I've got to read this again, looks like small time sellers might get a bit of a break. I misunderstood the monthly fee, that's for a store.
I am going to guess that eBay has lost a lot of sellers, and is trying to get some back, and also keep the ones they have. Now they'll probably raise paypal fees or something. We'll figger this out in a short while. This comes in effect in April, I think.
I think this is an attempt to bring back many of the smaller sellers who have left because of all of the fees on top of fees. Ex- I recently listed some rolls of 2010 cents. I paid: - a listing fee - a listing design fee (bold, color, background, etc.) - a final value fee - a fee to accept payment by paypal (I don't accept credit cards, so paypal is the only option that I have available.) - a fee to move my money from my paypal account to my bank account and this was after some smart shopping and forgoing the fees for: multiple categories, subtitles, longer listing times (in # of days) and more! If you're only selling a $10 or $20 item, you can't afford to sell it on eBay, the fees eat all of the profits. I currently have 2 2008 Proof Sets that I want to sell. I can: a) sell them on eBay or b) sell them to the shop at 10% back of bid unfortunately, the shop seems to be paying more but that's close to what I paid for them from the Mint, so I am going to keep them instead. I don't want to, but I am not going to lose money on a set that sells for a premium above what I paid for it.
With this new structure, if you sell something like a mint set, which gets lots of hits, you can list under a buck starting for free. Paypal doesn't charge me to shift money to my checking acct. I use auctiva, I get 15 listings a month for $2.95, that includes up to 24 supersize pics per auction and free listing designer, also, you can get a small kickback using their insurance. no charge to list later, and it's much quicker than the 'sell' button on ebay.
paypal charged me every time (at least 4) that I moved money last week. Every time! I don't think I am some lower class citizen compared to you, so are you absolutely sure? Because I know what I was charged, a total of $5 over 4 auctions which at very low margin makes it cost prohibitive. eBay should stop trying to disguise fees and spreading them out between all sorts of small fees and be more forthright about what they charge. It's as if they hope you can't add it all up and so you eventually make an uninformed decision. They charge you for selling, accepting payment, and taking the money. That's triple dipping where I come from!
Yes, I have sold items for other people, I take a percentage, they pay the fees. It takes about 5 minutes just to find out what fees I paid, and it's around 15-18%. My paypal is linked to my checking, maybe that's something different than your setup.
the plus side, ebay ebay will soon protect sellers from non paying bidders, by not allowing buyers to leave negative feedback after NPB case is filed. in the past it was a sure thing that NPB would leave a negative, in remorse , and injust. ebay finally figured it out, that in order to buy , you need a seller
mine is linked as well. 15-18% is more than the margin most small sellers have in their items, so that's a losing proposition for the most part. Think about it, If I sell a 2008 proof set for $80, then I can expect to pay $15 in fees leaving me a net of $65. even if I get a deal and buy them at $70, I will lose money selling them on eBay.
Here's a link to a page that tells you which program to pick. If you sell 15 items a month , no store, 17 items, a small store, etc. http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/FeeIllustrator2010.html
I recommend getting a paypal debit card. All you have to do is ask them for one. Then you can stop at any ATM and get the cash the moment somebody pays if you choose to. Then you have the buyer's cash in hand to pay for the shipping. I'm pretty sure you can use it to pay for things in stores as long as you have a balance in your account. Though I haven't tried that yet. The bank charges $1.50 fee, even if you use your own bank's ATM. Not worth it to pull $5 out, but if you're pulling a few hundred out, I personally don't care. It's better than waiting 3-4 days for it to transfer to my personal checking.
I have sold on ebay occasionally and it seems to me, the total fees always come out to about 10% of the sale price. That's paypal and ATM fees included. I usually use the subtitles too. And, that's getting the shipping right. I've paid shipping expenses out of pocket I don't know how many times. The problem is, this isn't even putting a value on your own time or materials. It takes time to list auctions. It takes time and energy to package and get things shipped off. That's just taken for granted.
The reason I pay such a high percentage is that I sell some low value items. There are times I've barely broke even and lost money. this new structure will benefit me as a small time seller.
