Does anyone use a formula for pricing their items on eBay?
I’m goin going to start posting items soon, and I know people and eBay say to look at what others sell their items for, but my items aren’t that popular. Anyone have a formula?
16 comments
soh.maryl
·3 years agoIf you know in advance that your items "aren't that popular", perhaps your focus should be on finding things that are more likely to sell?
andeb6356
OP3 years agoThey are items that aren’t very common, as they are vintage.
vintagecraze50
·3 years agoYou have pro sellers on here who know how to price items because they search for the going price on all internet searches. You have people here that are clearing out their stuff they have had for 30 years and they put it up for nothing. These are not professional seller running a business. Then you have the non pro people putting their stuff up for astronomical prices and they will NEVER SELL. YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE CORRECT PRICE RANGE. Not the low low prices these non pro non business sellers put stuff on here for. Somewhere in the middle of the road where you have a chance to compete properly with the people who know how to price it correctly. You must be able to obtain inventory at a good price or you will be wasting your time.
fm2000
·3 years agoThere are a million variables in an equation like this, but if you are asking how much a known item will likely sell for, reasonably expect 75-110% of the average selling price where condition is roughly the same as yours (only a very general range, and will obviously vary depending on what you are selling, how popular the item category is and how lucky you are.) Known items being items that are easily identifiable and not one of a kind or extremely rare (eg. a popular comic book with a known title and issue number, or a piece of electronics with a brand and model number.) Accurate obscure and one of a kind item pricing involves knowledge (and instinct) in a given area, which can take a very long time to develop (and often require luck and patience to sell.)
Look at what things are going for using eBay's Terapeak tool. Ignore the extreme prices for given items. Never anticipate any high outlying price (an item that sells for $15-20 on average going for $150 etc.) and ignore the bizarrely low selling prices (any prices where a seller would obviously lose money, such as an item selling for $2 with free shipping that would obviously cost $15+ to ship.) Less popular items in oversaturated markets may never, ever sell. If there are a zillion active listings for a known item you have, and few sold ones, it probably isn't worth bothering with.
The best advice is to start small here. Limited listings and only sell items you can afford to lose. If you do well, you can use the valuable experience you gain to start selling more and more expensive items.
andeb6356
OP3 years ago@dbfolks166mt
You don’t need to, but can you show like a screenshot or link? Not to invade your privacy or anything. Is it like an excel formula? Thank you
dbfolks166mt
·3 years ago@dbfolks166mt
You don’t need to, but can you show like a screenshot or link? Not to invade your privacy or anything. Is it like an excel formula? Thank you
I sent it to you in a message.
ckimodog
·3 years ago@andeb6356
As a new seller my formula would be to sell at a fixed price with immediate payment required and NO best offers. New sellers who use auction style listing are a target for sports bidders, non paying bidders and scammers.
Here's a little something to look for concerning new sellers and scammers & some red flags to look for:
1. Buyer asks for your email address, Paypal address because they are new and can't pay with the payment methods eBay requires.
2. Buyer sends you a phone number to text/call him/her
3. Buyer asks you to buy gift cards to go with the order
4. Buyer asks you to send the item to a different address after paying
5. Buyer wants you to send the item overnight/express and will pay you a lot extra to do this
6. Buyers says that they cannot pay through the eBay website and sends you a link to click on so that the payment will go through
7. Buyer offers more for your item than the price you have it listed for
Hope this is helpful to you. Oh yeah, don't forget to accept returns. No returns does not mean no refunds on eBay.
Happy Selling to you!
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoPay yourself.
What is the minimum wage in your area?
What is that per minute?
Here it is $16.75 per hour or 28c per minute.
So to your procurement cost add the labour cost of photographing, listing, uploading, packaging, and shipping.
Then add fees.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822
And some notes:
The BUYER pays shipping and sales taxes. YOU pay fees on shipping and sales taxes.
You decide what shipping service you want to use.
You have stuff. You want money. Turn the stuff into money.
Don't ship until you are paid.
cardxcraft
·3 years agoIf they're extremely scarce items, you can set your price with a nice healthy bargaining cushion, best offers with buyer paying shipping and no promoted listings.
If they're more common, you're going to have to perform Ebay price comparisons, solds condition, etc. Then, try your best to match it while leaving some profit.
dhbookds
·3 years agoJust a suggestion........but when I first started I made a chart.......started at $5 (then a possible price, today, not so much)......and figured out the fees at each increment....5,6, 7, etc......today, you have to "guess" at some of the costs.....but I would use farthest shipping & 10% sales tax.......
With that chart.....I could mentally add the cost of the item and come up with something near the basic costs of selling...... which gave me a starting point to figure out a price.
You really need to be aware of what those costs are before you list......otherwise, you can end up sadly disappointed when something sells.........and you see what's deducted from the selling price.......
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoI have a cost model, in EXCEL, that I use to determine what price I need to list an item for in order to make what I consider to be an acceptable return on the items I intend to list on eBay. It takes into account the eBay fees, what I paid for the item, federal and state income taxes, misc. expenses like packing supplies, printer ink, paper........... On occasion after running an item through the cost model the cost that I would need to list the item at in order to make an acceptable profit would not be competitive in the eBay marketplace.
This is generally due to shipping costs. While I do not pay those the buyer does and it factors into their decision. i often sell those items on local forums/venues where there is no shipping cost so the item can be listed at a price that is market competitive.
andeb6356
OP3 years agoYou don’t need to, but can you show like a screenshot or link? Not to invade your privacy or anything. Is it like an excel formula?
simba6
·3 years agoPrices on items like that vary as the crow flies. The only "formula" is set prices so you don't lose money.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoThe formula is simple:
What do you want to make.
How 'low' will you go before you are NOT making what you want to make?
Work your way backwards. Free shipping, Calculated or Flat? 15% selling fee on both item, shipping and sales tax. Self employment tax, fed tax, state tax.
So, it's like this: Buy item for $10 and sell for $40 shipped.
Nets you $30; you'll pay $6 in fees, leaving you $24. You'll pay 15% self employment, 10% fed tax, 4% (varies) State Tax.
So, $24 minus 30% leaves you about $16.
Buy item for $10 and sell for $20- you will never make a penny and will actually be paying.
Every person/every item is different.
Finally; YOU don't get to choose what something sells for; the Market does.
clown_car_driver
·3 years agoFinally; YOU don't get to choose what something sells for; the Market does.
Absolutely right. YOU do not determine what the item's value is ... a ready willing and able buyer agreeing with a ready willing and able seller determines that.
What YOU have to determine is ... "Will I try to sell it for what it's worth? Or will I put it in the trash?" It really is that simple. If the ONLY price you can sell it at is a not-profitable sale ... then why do it?
At THAT point, if it happens a lot in the genre of your sales, then you need to find something to sell that the buyer is willing to pay a fair price for.
It's really not any more difficult than that.
I will throw away 'inventory' that doesn't sell, even if I paid for it.
cardxcraft
·3 years agoThe reason why you would sell it for less or not for profit is: using items as loss leaders is a tried and true method. But, that's not why I'm writing this.
Its in regards to the statement, "a ready willing and able buyer agreeing with a ready willing and able seller determines that." I agree with this statement, except, on Ebay and probably other platforms, you'll have to alter the last part...with a ready willing and able buyer that can see your listing determine that.
It used to be Buyer A, looking for a particular product or service, went to market B, with sellers that have the product or performed the service that Buyer A desired. Then you can insert the statement, "a ready willing and able buyer agreeing with a ready willing and able seller determines that." Now, visibility is the most important commodity.
I'm not talking about location, location, location either. No, buyers found the location, Ebay, but now there's another task at hand. How do I get "seen" so we can go to the next phase.
Cassini was supposed to be the tool that matched a seller of item A with a buyer that had the most probability of producing a successful transaction. I really do not believe Cassini is doing this any longer. Its possible its become self aware and has developed a hatred of Ebay sellers, lol. kidding about self aware.
Anyways, I justed wanted to put that out there.