Selling Orphan Original Art

[lo-270152]

Wow, this is a great forum. I have been selling my orphan originals via EBTH (Everything But The House) where it is auctioned starting at $1. But if it does not go for over $300 they get 57% which is okay but it does put a damper on things. So now I am looking to post all my orphan paintings (paintings that have not sold in five years) and list them at auction starting at $1. They normally go for about 1/5 the market cost. I'll include free shipping with the continental US. I tried E-Bay but the commission is also high when you set a certain starting bid. I think I will try again, starting at $1. What I am really looking for is a site that has lots of art buyers! They are a special breed! Imagine a site where artists can list their work at auction that starts with $1 and the artist ships it. The website takes care of the money and takes a small percentage for supplying a huge art buying audience.

[a_c_green]

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@lo-270152 wrote:

So now I am looking to post all my orphan paintings (paintings that have not sold in five years) and list them at auction starting at $1. They normally go for about 1/5 the market cost. I'll include free shipping with the continental US. I tried E-Bay but the commission is also high when you set a certain starting bid. I think I will try again, starting at $1.

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The "commission" (Final Value Fees, I assume you mean) is not determined by your starting bid. (Many years ago your listing fee was, but those days are long gone.) If you list an opening bid of $1 with Free Shipping and only get one bid, you will be obliged to sell for $1 and ship with Free Shipping.

Instead, list an opening price of the minimum that you would accept to sell for if you only ever get one bid, and then every bid after that is gravy. Don't offer Free Shipping unless the item is unusually small and cheap to ship, because your artwork is unique, and thus someone who wants it will also be willing to pay the Shipping cost to get it to him safely.

[lo-270152]

Sounds like a good plan. But last time I listed work for a reasonable price (like $150) and they did not sell I still had to pay a hefty listing price.  Trying to find out exactly what is the listing price fee scale. Thank you.

[murph1727]

If you had to pay a fee even though it didn't sell, it sounds like you had a reserve on it. As @a_c_green said, skip the reserve and start with a reasonable price.

[a_c_green]

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@murph1727 wrote:

If you had to pay a fee even though it didn't sell, it sounds like you had a reserve on it. As @a_c_green said, skip the reserve and start with a reasonable price.

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Good point. Yes, that's the only way I can see of getting hit with a big payment due even when the item didn't sell. (The cost is shown to you before you submit the new listing.)

eBay appears to be actively discouraging the use of Reserve pricing (probably because it results in a "Bad Buyer Experience," to use their favorite new term, when the bidding does not reach the seller's Reserve price in order to win it), so just set the opening price to be the lowest that you would agree to sell for, and see how it goes.

[soh.maryl]

Have you read all the information about selling on eBay?

Do you realize that, if you list ANYTHING for the starting price of $1 with free shipping, and you have only one bidder, you will be losing money?  

[lo-270152]

Yes, I had a reserve. Will not do that again.

[worldcoinauctions]

Everyone gets 250 free listings a month, but adding reserves, second categories, bold listings etc will generate fees. Also if you use their advertising.....

[femmefan1946]

You get 250 FREE listings unless you open a Store.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section1

These can be Auction or Fixed Price.

You can add, at no extra charge, Buy It Now (which gives a Fixed Price higher than the opening bid) or Best Offer (which is expected to be higher than the opening bid) to an Auction listing.

Auctions are less than 15% of transactions on eBay.

Even so, there are more Unpaid Items with Auctions than with Fixed Price.

Auctions last seven days by default. Some can be 10 days. There is a relationship between this and the Unpaid Items.

With Fixed Price you can add, at no extra charge, Best Offer to your listings.

Best Offers on FP listings are expected to be lower than the asking price.

You can set automatic Accept/Refuse parameters on Best Offers.

Refused Offers get a polite notice telling the customer to try again. Many do. This is automatic.

FP listings last 30 days then automatically renew.

More time to find a buyer.

Frankly, the best choice in my opinion would be to run an auction, starting at the price you want to get.

If it doesn't sell after the seven days , relist as Fixed Price at the price you hope to get.

Add Best Offer and set those Accept/Refuse parameters.

Let it ride.  The buyer may be back from the cottage in September, meanwhile it costs nothing to have the listing.

You will pay fees when it sells.

The selling fee on paintings is 13.25%  BUT this is charged on the customer's payment.

The payment includes the selling price, the shipping cost, and the sales tax the buyer pays to their state.

So your $150 sale may cost your buyer $50 for shipping and $10* in sales tax .

They pay $210.

Your fees on the payment would be $27.83.

*5% tax on purchase +shipping