What is the profit point at which it is not worth selling an item on eBay?

[anestitized]

I used to think that if I make $1.00 profit per item, and if you can sell 1 million items...then hey, you just made a million bucks! But over the years I have come to realize that it's not really worth selling items too low. The top reason being, a buyer somewhere at some point is bound to give you negative feedback for something totally out of your control. After working hard all year/years, is it really worth risking your perfect feedback score over a measly $1.00? How about $5.00 bucks? Probably not, right? I'd rather throw my item in the trash than to risk receiving negative feedback over a $5.00 item. Personally I have tried to limit myself from listing very low cost items. So now my new question is, what is the profit point at which it is not worth selling an item on eBay? Here's an example, an item that I sell on eBay sells for $14.00. My cost of goods is $4.00. Then factor in all of the other costs/fees. eBay gets a percentage off of the item price + the same percentage off the shipping fee (which is a total loss on that fee because the postal service gets the shipping fee, not me). Also, I live in Massachusetts where we are automatically forced to be 1099'ed, even if you're not a business, so you are taxed by the government on your eBay sales. One thing to consider about taxes, it's not just about being taxed for your sales, because if you do enough sales then that could bump you into a higher tax bracket, which would effect ALL of your personal income earnings, not just the eBay sales; yikes! Last, there are the packaging material costs such as tape, envelopes, bubble wrap, boxes, etc.. All of these things are the expected cost of doing business. But when you add everything up, at what point is it not worth it to sell an item on eBay? 

[releasethekraken_1]

“ it's not just about being taxed for your sales, because if you do enough sales then that could bump you into a higher tax bracket, which would effect ALL of your personal income earnings, not just the eBay sales”

That’s not how tax brackets work.

[anestitized]

What about if you're on the cusp of the next tax bracket? In 2020 the 24% bracket was $85,526 to $163,300 range. The 32% bracket was $163,301 to $207,350 range. Hypothetically, if you are sitting at $160K for the year, and had an additional $15K in eBay sales, wouldn't that push you from the 24% into the 32% bracket?

[oneblindcat]

Only on the income above $163,300. The rest would be taxed at the lower rate.

[inhawaii]

I don't factor in tax brackets.  I'm just not that smart.

What i can tell you is that i wont sell anything on ebay

unless AFTER ALL EXPENSES i can at least double my money,

whether it be a $5 item or a $500 item. 

[donsdetour]

$1.00 profit????

Whats your time worth??

[toysaver]

I'd rather sell 1 item for $100 than 10 for $10.  The most valuable thing on eBay is invisible, T I M E .  I want to get paid for my time, from buying to researching to cleaning to photographing to listing to packing to shipping.  My average item has an hour's time investment.  I'm not a teenager mowing lawns or babysitting and I pay myself acccordingly.

[tryno2]

The thought of a bad rating isn't something I consider.  I do consider the time I have to spend taking photos, writing the listing, packaging and mailing.  I also consider will the item sell higher on EBay then what I'll price it at the local shop that I sell in.   If I don't think I can get more on EBay then I can locally, then it won't be on EBay.  

[katzrul15]

You do the same amount of work for that $5 item as you do a $100 item - sometimes more as Buyers seem to nickel dime whatever is cheap.

Time really is money.

We do not totally avoid low-dollar items as they can sometimes draw Buyers to your store, etc.  We do limit those and do not actively seek them to list.

[itsjustasprain]

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@donsdetour wrote:

$1.00 profit????

Whats your time worth??

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Thank you! Someone needed to point that out.

If you spend an hour prepping or shipping an item for which you made $1 then your time is worth $1/hour. You will make more than that working at the local fast food place. Seriously - if the idea is to make money here then you need to consider all your expenses PLUS the time you are putting in vs. how much you could make in the same time spent doing something else. 

[releasethekraken_1]

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@anestitized wrote:

What about if you're on the cusp of the next tax bracket? In 2020 the 24% bracket was $85,526 to $163,300 range. The 32% bracket was $163,301 to $207,350 range. Hypothetically, if you are sitting at $160K for the year, and had an additional $15K in eBay sales, wouldn't that push you from the 24% into the 32% bracket?

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Of course it would, but only the amount over $163,300 would be taxed at 32%. If it didn't work that way, earning that one extra dollar would cost you about $13,000 in additional tax.

[toysaver]

If you spend an hour prepping or shipping an item for which you made $1 then your time is worth $1/hour. You will make more than that working at the local fast food place. 

But on the bright side they can wear their pajamas to work.

[iart]

With most of the items we sell, it takes close to the same amount of time to sell a cheap item as it does a more expensive item. We have limited time (and work way too much) so we opt for the more expensive.

Our low value is $14 inching up to $16, free shipping. But these basically pay for our time. Our preferred range is $25 and up.

[dhbookds]

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@toysaver wrote:

If you spend an hour prepping or shipping an item for which you made $1 then your time is worth $1/hour. You will make more than that working at the local fast food place. 

But on the bright side they can wear their pajamas to work.

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I think we overlook the reasons some have for listing........money may not be the main/total goal.  At one time, quite a number of stay at home Moms used to list and would freely admit they needed some of "theirs" that would mentally take them out of their everyday lives......  likewise seniors who want to be active in some way, but don't care to "go out" for physical or other reasons......

The profit point is a good one......we all need to "know" what we are making.......but what may to some to be "wasting" time on low profit items, may well be time well spent for others........

[varebelrose]

Probably 90% of the items we sold here were from our personal stuff/collections/hoard or family estate items, so I never thought about it in terms of net profit; I am pretty confident that, depending on source, we either took a huge loss or made pure profit, with little middle ground. On the very few things that we ever bought specifically for resale, my goal was always 1000% net profit, which was actually doable most of the time.

That said, we did make many sales where we wound up with $2 to $5, after all costs, but at least it was something we could do on our own schedule and convenience.