Gator08041971 • Volunteer Community Mentor 2024
There are a few things to keep in mind when you sell on eBay:
Low cost items generally are going to have a smaller margin of profit. And they are the items that benefit most from free shipping options.
Higher cost items or items that may have a larger size and weight, you are going to want to use calculated shipping.
Next, you need to make sure you know how you are going to ship it before you list! Figure out a plan, packaging, and weigh and size the package so you have the details right. This is important.
Then, stick to only one or two options for shipping. Don't try to add a bunch of choices, its a waste of time, 99.99% of the time, the buyers simply go with whatever is default if it seems fair to them.
There is a shipping calculator you can use located here:
https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator
Use this as a guide, not as a guarantee the price will be always the same. Check against the furthest places from you and do several to get an idea.
Lastly, the calculated may be best for now starting out, as it will calculate a Retail price by default, but you will pay a discounted rate if you purchase right through eBay. This helps a lot to save costs. If you have to pay for packaging, figure that in, either by adjusting the price of the item to compensate, or add a handling fee.
But, again, the lower the item cost, the tighter your profit will be. The best way to get profit is to offer discounts on bundling items, either from one listing, or several. That entices buyers to buy more than one thing, and you get to group the shipment saving you shipment costs while increasing your margin.
It is going to take some experimenting.
Don't be afraid to charge a bit high at first, you can always go down later, or anytime.
Check what similar items are selling on here for and what they do for shipping.
I did this with hard drives, when I started listing mine. The margin is not great on those, but I have been moving a lot of them the past few weeks. Just had to be patient at first. And I'm not the cheapest option.
Oh.
Make sure you choose the right kind of shipping for your items. Don't use media mail for anything other than books, movies, music, etc. (I avoid it in general even then, as its slow). USPS Ground Advantage is great. If you are sending anything hazardous (anything with a lithium battery for example) there is an option to make sure you select the right labeling for the package.
The only thing I can offer as a suggestion with books, as I sold an entire collection of paperback novels for one story series (nearly 200), was that I sold the books in groups, and charged shipping separately. So many of the books were trilogies, or 6 books to a story, that sort of thing. Grouping them into bundles allowed me to sell them for a better base price, and then I did the shipping on top of that. Sold every single book in under 30 days.
I made the most when selling a group of 3 or more books, and less when only selling one book. But I averaged about 3-4 dollars net on each book after all was done. And that constituted about 60% of the books original value when purchased new. And I was even doing quantity discounts, had a few buyers buy several sets at once.
Condition matters a lot and most of these were pristine, many looked brand new. I wouldn't even bother with a book unless its has a higher rarity, or very old, limited edition, excellent condition, etc. But that's me.
I'm getting ready to list an small amount of 100+ year old school text books soon. Those should be fun.
Good luck though!
