Is EBay worth it for sellers anymore?

[johnmcelroynu]

I just noticed that EBay fees since January 1st have been 21%, I use the most basic listings. They are hostile towards sellers...always on the side of the buyer, and really don't give a *&% as they think they are the only game in town. It isn't worth it; besides the crazy buyers, a bunch of theives at EBay and the headaches...for what, 79% of my goods and I get the hassle. And if that guy comes on that always tells you to take a deep breath, hold yours for as long as you can.

[klygrl09]

I love the way you all lightened up this topic.

Me a cheerleader "not" just a soccer girl through out my high school career. I live through my daughter, she was a cheerleader since the age of 6 all the way through High School.

She is now in College and has chose not to cheer, "too much drama" as she puts it.

Happy times to all! 🙂
klygrl/Patty

[kleininv]

Hi John,
I too get frustrated with the fees as they're continually going up. Thus I googled "Is eBay worth it" and found this post. I've been buying and selling since 1999 and I hate seeing the increases, but as others have said, I usually get more for my unneeded things than a yard sale. Not always though as I've lost money serveral times. I've take the bait to of lower fees for taking a risk on the final price. Pay the higher up front fees and risk an item not selling. Bottom line is they have the info we don't about buyer/seller behavior.

My hope is that eBay starts seeing some real competition which I believe will drive down the seller fees. I get it from there perspective, maximize shareholder wealth. I definately don't sell as much as I would if costs were lower, but in the big picture it probably doesn't matter.

Thanks for posing the quesiton.

[sacket89]

This post is getting pretty old and at this point is done. I was speaking with an ebay seller yesterday who was telling me he is leaving ebay because of fees and the hassle. Mainly because of the percentage of shipping fees that will now be charged.
As a buyer I have liked ebay for the limited exposure that I have had. Since speaking with this seller, I have found myself looking more into the company (ebay) and trying to view things more form the perspective of the seller. That being said...WOW, talk about being bent over and the whole no lube ordeal...I think that pretty much sums it up.
Every thing is laid out so a person goes into this knowing what to expect (at least it is there if they research), so I don't buy the "Poor Me" stories. It is a rough environment...deal with it if you want to sell. However, it is the whole "Big Box" approach on everything and most seller's are at the mercy of the "Big Box"...i.e. Wal-Mart Vendors. Everything is done to their specs...like it, or leave it. That simple.
Good luck to all you sellers. Thanks for putting up with what you do because in my opinion...It's B.S.!!!

[hondamedic]

It's eBlechs playing field and they set the rules.

And it's their ball, their markers , their goalposts, their sidelines, and they have the TV rights too.

And thanks for wishing us good luck!

[amxmachine686970]

your gonna need it lol

[lobofanboy]

A good breakdown of all the fees and accounting of an actual eBay sale from this past year (2011) taking into account the latest fee structure. Stresses the importance of knowing ALL fees.

http://www.infobarrel.com/Is_Ebay_Worth_It

[kansas_gal06]

Welcome to the part time board!

Someone else posted that article a few days back. It's interesting, and anyone thinking about selling on eBay would get up to speed pretty quickly by reading it.

Only thing is, the final paragraph makes it sound like eBay takes the entire 40% when in reality most of that is from shipping costs.

[myronann]

I realize this was bumped from 2010 and the OP may not be around any more, but I had to chime in.

I never understand it when people come here saying stuff like this (ebay fees are 21%!!).  And I usually respond this way.

My last item brought 405.50 (free shipping).  Of course, I started the minimum bid at a price that took into account the shipping costs (but got much more....wheee!), so the shipping was paid by the buyer.  (I think this may be one thing that many people who are complaining have failed to take into account.)

There was no listing fee and I used no extras (even though I put something like 36 extra pictures in the description), so the listing was completely free.  Ebay took 36.50 in FVFs and PayPal took 12.06.  That totals 48.56, which is 11.97533% of 405.50, or pretty much 12%.

How do people come up with these outrageous numbers for fee percentages?  (I didn't read that link provided, but by the way kansasgal answered, I'm assuming it was inaccurately skewed by some disgruntled ebay seller.)  I'm thinking that many people are using too many "extras", which are totally unnecessary.  And some of them may have stores, and I think the fees are different for stores.

I've probably already answered the OP once in this manner in the 5 pages of posts in this thread, don't remember, but if I'm missing something in my figuring, someone please correct me?

[nick1173]

So I have been doing business with Ebay and PayPal for 10 years and have 100 percent feedback on buying and selling. I have awards from ebay. So after not selling on Ebay for 3 months they put a hold on my payment. I sold a guitar and it had to be shipped out in an irregular box. I got to print the shipping labels out for the guitar because Paypal and Ebay force me to do so and guess what? It's double the price of what the post office box was gonna charge me. So I go to the post office and ship through them and get a tracking number, insurnace everthing neccessary. I call up Paypal because Ebays sight wont let me post the new tracking number and they fudged that up. The item finally get to where it needs to go and then. NO FUNDS!! I call Ebay and Paypal which is really India and India and they both give me attitude and tell me its gonna be 3 more days after the items been delivered. So after that Paypals gonna take another 3 days to transfur the money to my account. Plus on top of all this I sold 3 items now and it's going on 40 dollars for a basic listing. No videos or anything fancy and its 40 dollars? I'm finishing up my transactions with Ebay and PayPal and then I'm done doing business with them. Times are hard and I'm just trying to sell the things I really dont use and make some extra money to pay my bills because I can't find a job.

[kansas_gal06]

nick, best of luck finding a job. It's rough out there, I know.

You will get your money eventually, but yes. PayPal has a write-up of when they will hold funds (x amount of feedback, $ amount in sales, etc) but in the end, it basically says "anytime they want to".

eBay is not the place to sell something if you need immediate cash. craigslist might be better for that.

[aashmo]

Add up your listing cost, completed auction cost, paypal cost (on not only the price of your item but shipping also) and you will see that generally your payment to ebay is in the 20% range.   Figure that you pay approximately 50% of the cost of the item to buy the item and now you are are looking at 30%.   Then deduct your ink, travel, lost dollars through slackers and returns, and other real expenses.   Let us not forget about taxes.  This places most people in the 10% range or less of "real" profit unless of course you can find a lot of "deductions".    Really, we are all just working for ebay      

[hondamedic]

Hi aashmo and welcome to The Part Timers Forum.

Totally agree! I only sell stuff I make 100% or more profit on after listing fees, FVF's, S&H cost including consumables, PayPal fees, state taxes, federal taxes, etc.

The only thing I disagree on is "lost dollars through slackers and returns," this is a cost of doing business with a "Brick & Motor" store so it's no different here, IMO.

Best of luck going forward!

[poptones-me]

8.75%? That must be power seller level, and I'm not there yet. My first sale was jul 28, I have been selling seriously since Sept 18, have less than 30 feedback so far, and in that time I have done nearly 800 bucks. My selling fees last month were 50 bucks and so far my fees for october are over 40. It sounds like a lot but I figure with shipping, which I offer free and costs me about 5 bucks a package, I'm still clearing 2/3 or more of my listing price to cover my expenses, reinvest in the store, and pay myself. I'm on track right now to do maybe 1500 bucks this month and it ain't even november! If I had a brick and mortar store I'd have to sell 4 grand or more a month to get that kind of return, and with the stuff I'm selling that would be a lot of traffic and a HUGE investment in inventory. Is ebay worth it? HECK yes. I'm hoping to make power seller by the time I get my hundred feedback and then it'll be even more worth it.

[leogexx]

As Hondamedic pointed out , you have to choose the right items to make it worth while to be a seller on ebay . Years ago ,with less competition , lower fees and lower shipping it was easy to sell on ebay and make a profit .Now you have to find the right items to sell to make it worthwhile to be an effective seller . If you do not find your niche you might as well give up .

         Another factor to selling is being lucky enough to get decent buyers . One person can sell 10 items and have all great buyers with no issues,while another seller will sell 10 items and get a few bad buyers (read scammers)  which will eat up the profits and ruin the  ebay experience for you .

[wearever]

I agree, always on the side of the buyer whether fair or not. There are people who will purchase expensive clothing, wear it once and then complain that it has a flaw. Even with my no return policy ebay sides with the buyer and I am out the money for product and shipping. I am considering dropping ebay. I already have two retail locations so it's starting to be just not worth the loss anymore.