Ebay fees took all my profit

Question

Bought a book for 25Â¢ thinking it would be easy profit. Listed it for $2 (700% more than what I paid for it). And ended up with 54Â¢ net profit after everything. I ended up losing money, from the label, ink, tape, a bubble mailer, and my labor. Ebay are straight thieves.

Is it any wonder this place is going down the toilet? You're seriously gonna charge 14.65% on a $2 book, plus the shipping, and the tax? That ends up being a 75% fee.

It's no wonder sellers have to markup things by 50% just to make a penny here.

mn467462 · Accepted Answer

@caldreamer wrote:You cannot make any profit by selling $2 items. EBAY fees charged on (purchase price + shipping + sales tax) plus 30 cent handling charge. You should bundle multiple items together and sell for at least $25 if you want to make any profit. I did do this as a scientific experiment, because I already had that hypothesis. But the result is just absolutely pitiful. It's no wonder this place is going the tubes. Selling something for 700% more should always make you a profit. You shou...

kh-shakhib · Answer

Hi everyone, Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic. Thank you for understanding.

vintagecraze50 · Answer

Yep. You have to acquire the item at the lowest possible acquisition and then mark up to the high heavens on some items. Always use your calculator for each item to realize the best profit. Also, you gotta research what everybody else has it up for as well, BEFORE the acquisition of the item.

ckimodog · Answer

@bandit8333

This is an old thread from June, 2023. OP doesn't appear to be selling anymore, so I doubt they'll reply.

Should you have any questions or concerns it is always a good idea to start your own thread to get the help and advice for your specific issue.

bandit8333 · Answer

I just sold something for $0.99 and Ebay took $1.06

I'm very angry.

I figured I'd rather it go to somebody who can use it rather than the trash, so I don't mind giving it away, but I never expected to come out negative.

isaiah53-57 · Answer

@mn467462 wrote: Bought a book for 25 Â¢ thinking it would be easy profit. Listed it for $2 (700% more than what I paid for it). And ended up with 54 Â¢ net profit after everything. I ended up losing money, from the label, ink, tape, a bubble mailer, and my labor. Ebay are straight thieves. Is it any wonder this place is going down the toilet? You're seriously gonna charge 14.65% on a $2 book, plus the shipping, and the tax? That ends up being a 75% fee. It's no wonder sellers have to markup things by 50% just to make a penny here. @mn467462 Yeah its so sad - Selling a $2 item here is gonna be a fee-pocalypse. Just the .30 transaction fee alone is Approx 15% of the selling price. Profitability goes up the higher the items dollar amount, problem is, with the Money Back Guarantee, I seriously have brought the dollar amount down to $50 as the highest value item I would sell here - Used to not have a problem listing 2K, 5K, 8K+ items back 10 to 20 years ago - Now, it appears that any items of value are in the criminals crosshairs. Dont have anything listed right now because of the MBG and Promoted listings... Promoted listings is another thing - though profitability percentages tends to go up the more valuable the item, now you have to contend with the promoted listings issue where they want you to give them an additional 10% to 17% of the entire transaction to get the same service you got for just the FVF's a couple years back. You'll get some of the posters here hammering the "its an optional program" thing - It sure isnt optional that you have 30 other sellers items plastered all over your own listings, now is it? - And as time goes on, it gets easier to see that the site is ALL IN on this program and though it may be optional to pay for it the entire time it's offered, it wont be hard to see that in order to sell here, it wont be an option, it'll be a necessity... So if you consider their "recommended" rate along with the already high FVF's, there are people out there right now paying 30% to 35% or even more of the ENTIRE TRANSACTION to sell here with no other costs figured in - That number can easily equate to 40% to 50% of the items price in fees... Happy ebaying everyone!

an-57470 · Answer

Welcome to eBay! I can do a couple better than that. How about ebay charging a fee for shipping when no profit is made on shipping. Ebay also charges a fee for shipping when the item is, " pick-up " only! Like I said, welcome to eBay! Home of, " let's screw the sellers and put the crappy buyers on a pedestal ". All in the name of profit. Greedy corporation!

ckimodog · Answer

@wachumacallit

This is an old thread from last year and OP never sold anything and is presently not selling, so they most likely won't reply. Should you have any concerns or issues it's always a good idea to start your own thread to get the help & advice for your specific problem.

wachumacallit · Answer

Couldn't agree more with OP. It's pointless making low-value sales on eBay, unless you're happy to be an eBay slave. I sell plants, mainly. Low-value items, yet all lovingly tended over many months, some that were nurtured from seed. If you start a low auction, say 99 cents, chances are good someone will take advantage. From that, eBay automatically deducts 30 cents, plus another 15 or so, and -- this to me is especially galling -- another 15% of the postage charge that you, the seller, are responsible for paying to the postal service. Then eBay has the audacity to report back to you your monthly "earnings", overinflated misinformation that includes none of these eBay deductions. eBay is supremely unethical and all-round bad for business. At least, from the perspective of someone merely trying to get a hobby to pay for itself. The answer, of course, is to increase prices, and overcharge for postage. eBay is driving up inflation.

reallynicestamps · Answer

I make money on those25c purchases.

But I know that my 25c book will cost 55c after the eBay service fee, that the poly bag will cost a dime , so now it is a 65c book.

And I have a Store subscription so each listing costs me 2.5c, so now the book cost me 67.5c.

And I use Free Shipping, so I add in an average of $5 for that , since Canada Post does not offer Media Mail.

Now my cost is $5.675.

But I use discount postage stamps to mail, so I make $2.50 on the difference, and I charge $9.99US minimum for my books.

The FVF on a $10 sale is $1.50 so my costs are now $4.675 and my profit is $5.31 .

home_making_lady · Answer

I just realized this too. I bought a book for $.50 and sold it for $6.00. Paid 3.92 for a label, eBay took 1.25 AND .30 cents. I made about $.03. im done with ebay.

sipcollectibles · Answer

Hi, I had a similar thing happen with a book I sold for $1.50. I wanted someone to get use from the book not make money, but was surprised when I owed ebay at the end. Now I use a listing template that explains to buyers that my shipping charge includes all of ebay's fees (their 15%, including taxes and any of my costs, like shipping materials). I always use the higher of ebay's estimates on the shipping charge, then add in the extra fees they will charge and then always set the price for postage at that amount, do not choose price based on buyer location. You set non-variable postage price. I have had some buyers overpay for postage that more than covers all of the fees and gives me a little extra profit and I still can give them a return on some of their postage for good will and make profit on the postage and my item. I'm on the east coast, so I always assume I'm shipping to the west coast. I ship only lower 48 states but will ship elsewhere if a good buyer requests. Then I investigate my shipping cost and charge them accordingly.

redmodelt · Answer

Sad is the OP accepting their own answer as a solution! That should not even be allowed.

To the OP: If you wish to close this discussion for further comments you can contact the moderator to lock this discussion. Use the down arrow over on the right.

janet9988 · Answer

@mn467462 wrote: Bought a book for 25 Â¢ thinking it would be easy profit. Listed it for $2 (700% more than what I paid for it). And ended up with 54 Â¢ net profit after everything. I ended up losing money, from the label, ink, tape, a bubble mailer, and my labor. Ebay are straight thieves. Is it any wonder this place is going down the toilet? You're seriously gonna charge 14.65% on a $2 book, plus the shipping, and the tax? That ends up being a 75% fee. It's no wonder sellers have to markup things by 50% just to make a penny here. Congratulations on earning a 200% profit. Most sellers are happy with 10 to 20 %

ms.rodriguez* · Answer

I am taking a few words from your post and rephrase the statement, " you are seriously going to sell on ebay without knowing the ebay fees and the time involved and the expenses involved in selling." This is solely on YOU. I have been here since 1998 and I knew the fees from day 1. Nothing gets listed on Ebay that will sell at a loss. Absolutely NOTHING. Look at all of your 25 cents books and do research and if you can NOT do a decent profit on them, toss them out, give them away, stored them or sell them at a yard sale.

No one here is going to take your side unless it's another newbie seller that sold something for 2 dollars too.

Learn to research. Learn the fees. All fees are a % PLUS 30 cents. The percentage fee is also charged to the shipping fee. Buy your supplies in bulk to save money. Add part ofthe cost of the shipping supplies to starting price or the shipping price. I just got a new shipment of 4 x 4x 3" boxes. The prices went up slightly. I will be adding 50 cents to the shipping price on all of my listings within the next week. I don't pay for shipping supplies, my customers do.

Now take a few hours and read the many posts here and learn so that you can make money and succeed here. As a new seller , you will be making more mistakes. Hopefully , they will not be very costly ones. You become a great seller by learning and sometimes, the best way to learn is to make an error. Goodluck.

maxine*j · Answer

Markup, schmarkup. You can't make money selling items for two bucks even if you get them for free unless you sell a zillion of them -- and that's true whether you're selling on eBay or anywhere else.

I guess if you had found the book for $15 and could have sold it for $150, you'd have passed it up because what you call the "markup" is too low for your liking.

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tdrake · Answer

You should have listed for $3 then you would have made a (slim) profit (if you don't count your time). .. ...but then you couldn't make a post saying eBay took all your profit.

huntfishdie45 · Answer

Your thinking was flawed, you never considered the cost of selling the item which needs to be factored in along with the initial purchase price of the item you sold. That is on you not eBay. The cost of selling on this site should be considered before you list an item so you don't give your item away. Good Luck on future sales.

jrkirk · Answer

I live fairly close to the USPS post office, and it still costs over $3 to drive back and forth on each trip, and that doesn't include any costs for mileage on the buying side. There are many costs that sellers are not including when calculating their eBay selling costs.

anasazirose · Answer

@mn467462 wrote: Bought a book for 25 Â¢ thinking it would be easy profit. Listed it for $2 (700% more than what I paid for it). You're seriously gonna charge 14.65% ... ? Ebay are straight thieves. They charged you a lower commission / fee than your markup, and you called them thieves. Oh, the irony.

laststopgeneralstore · Answer

This is a YOU issue NOT an eBay issue. You knew exactly what you were getting into and how much the fee's were going to be. eBay isn't going down the tubes at all. It's the stuff that your attempting to sell that isn't any good.

With that being said you still wouldn't have made "great" profit selling that same book here 5 years ago. Times change & so does business and you should do.

Imagine you leased a building out from joe the landlord so you can open your bookstore. Now lets say that you don't get very many sales because the items your selling are no good but the one time you do get a sale the customer purchased the cheapest book you had for sale and after merchant fee's, rent, labor, storage etc... you don't make "great" profit.

Is the the landlords fault?

pickapaper · Answer

Another thing to take into consideration is returns. What if the book gets lost or damaged in transit? You are still responsible and have to refund the buyer. What if the buyer claims the book isn't as described? Are you going to refund him and let him keep the book or if you want the book back, pay for the postage for him to return it?

dqdistribution · Answer

You can list things cheaper than it costs to ship them and take a loss on items.

This is something the seller has to figure out.

All this shows is you priced the item too low.

Not all items are worth selling on eBay. Heck, some items aren't even worth selling on facebook marketplace with local pickup that's totally fee free. Gas to get to public spot and time waiting. Not worth a dollar profit.

rugerskick · Answer

I can't blame ebay for this one.

You (YOU, not Ebay) have to factor all your costs into your listing price. You didn't really do that here. Chalk it up as a learning experience and be more realistic about the prices for your items so you actually do make the profit you want from an item.

yuzuha · Answer

Okay, I'm genuinely confused here... how much profit were you expecting to make on something that you listed for only $2, with an acquisition cost of 25 cents? Even if fees weren't a thing, you'd still only have made $1.75, minus the cost of label, ink, tape, bubble mailer, etc.

dhbookds · Answer

Selling something for 700% more should always make you a profit Does even Walmart/Dollar Store sell anything for 25c? Don't think so......... It's because their costs exceed any hope of making a modicum of profit...... THEY figure it out before trying to sell something at a loss....

craft-stash · Answer

My "profits" are down 90% from last year. I made $64.74 last month. Store Fee $22.99. I might not make it till years end! Total Loss!!! Ebays Fault!!!!

marnotom! · Answer

Margins and mark-ups donâ€™t pay the bills. Dollars do.

Do you really think all your time and effort spent on listing, selling, and shipping that book was worth $1.75 even before your costs and eBayâ€™s cut?

fashunu4eeuh · Answer

eBay has little control over what prices sellerâ€™s set, and what items they list. So a lack of profitability is entirely within a sellerâ€™s own purview. The problem is not eBayâ€™s feesâ€”those are stated. Profits

are supposed to be covered by the prices sellers set for their buyers to remit. All expenses need to be covered by that price.

Not everything is suitable to be listed on this site. You said so yourself,

â€œBought a book for 25Â¢ thinking it would be easy profit.â€ Well, you miscalculated. And during these tough times, where there is so much competition for the consumerâ€™s ever-shrinking discretionary dollars, miscalculations in product selection and pricing strategies can make for a painful outcome.

So how is eBay responsible for your retailing choices? You listed an item at a price that couldn't meet your profitability needs, and seemingly did not take into consideration the full impact of eBayâ€™s selling fees on your bottom line.

a_c_green · Answer

@mn467462 wrote: Bought a book for 25 Â¢ thinking it would be easy profit. Listed it for $2 (700% more than what I paid for it). And ended up with 54 Â¢ net profit after everything. I ended up losing money, from the label, ink, tape, a bubble mailer, and my labor. Ebay are straight thieves. What puzzles me is that you had all the relevant numbers to calculate the outcome even before you started. Why would you even bother to list a $2 item here? Surely the time you spent on listing, packing and shipping should also be factored in; that's time you didn't spend doing something else that might have been considerably more profitable.

slati_2013 · Answer

What do you think would have been a decent profit for you to make on a single $2 sale? People who sell things for $2 usually sell tens of thousands of them and make their profit on quantity. Imagine you sold 10,000 of these $2 books and made a 54 cent profit on each sale. Then it becomes real money. That is how big sellers who sell items for a few dollars make their money.

downunder-61 · Answer

It is not pitiful, it is Business 101 - due diligence on fee's versus price to be listed at. eBay is very transparent about all costs and fee's involved it is up to you to set your mark up and if it is not covering shipping, taxes, fee's, do not list on the site

redmodelt · Answer

When did you sell this book? There are no completed or sold listings on the account in the past 90 days. Was it a different account?

All FVF fees are spelled out in the help guides. Did you do any reading in those guides about selling on eBay? Did you sign up for Managed Pay?

eBay is not the place for quick money, esp new sellers.

caldreamer · Answer

You cannot make any profit by selling $2 items. EBAY fees charged on (purchase price + shipping + sales tax) plus 30 cent handling charge.

You should bundle multiple items together and sell for at least $25 if you want to make any profit.