@isaiah53-57 wrote:
@theteamsetguy wrote:
@stevemartin60 ,
I don’t know what your margins are? Perhaps you are paying too much for your inventory? Most collectibles dealers usually pay 50 to 60 percent of retail or less. This leaves plenty of margin for the dealer to make a profit.
I buy mainly from other dealers wanting to move excess or inventory they don’t want because they acquired it as part of a much larger purchase. These dealers sell me stuff generally for 30% or less of my sell prices.
Like the saying goes you make money when you buy not when you sell.
Wow not sure what help this is to people who have tight margins or cant find better sources...
But here... Lets put your theory to test that there is plenty of profit after ebay fees on an item you own for 50% of selling price...
Lets arbitrarily use a $50.00 item with a $12.00 shipping fee, 8% sales tax($4.96), and promoted at the recommended rate of 8%.
The FVF for this sale is based off the rate of 13.35% - so the FVF would be 9.04 +.30 Transaction fee = 9.34 + Promoted Listing fee of $5.35 = 14.69 Total Fees
For the sake of argument, we wont consider the idea that someone from another country bought this and you have to pay another 1.65% in fees. Or for that matter any other fees that might come into play like the 5% below standard fine, or that you purchased a listing enhancement, or that you had to pay an item listing fee, etc...
So out of the $25 profit you stood to make, you paid $14.69 in fees leaving you a net profit of $10.31...
Net profit does not account for Packing Materials, Gas and Vehicle wear and tear, Storage, Internet and Phone Service charges and device wear and tear, TAXES(about 20% of net net!), etc etc...
Net profit also does not account for YOUR TIME involved in all this, the ever-growing risk of lost, damaged or STOLEN items, and other variables...
So in this sale scenario, if you account for everything above, you'll be lucky to have made $5 for your 1hr of time with absolutely no guarantee the sale will stand...
And guess what, they WILL be asking for more VERY SOON...Happy selling everyone....
For our margin we consider all the packing supplies/shipping fees/ads/etc, everything is taken in to account.
Real life numbers, as a seller who obtains parts directly from manufacturer, is that quite often we're making < $5 margin.
These are with the best possible prices you could get.
Which basically means anyone who's buying from a 3rd party, or getting jobber prices that are 50-60% less than retail, often can't even compete on eBay.
But this is also why the heavier focus on ad's hurts so much. Just 1% more of ads is a huge chunk of the bit of profit margin remaining. Considering our ad investment has more than doubled from what it was a few years back, our profits are far lower than they used to be. Not because of less sales - we can still compete for the sales since we have great pricing - but because of the piece of the pie eBay is getting becomes larger and larger.
This is why I have to dispute with those who say things like ads are optional or eBay hasn't increased fees. If you don't use ads, you go out of business, and if you don't pay those increased fees, good luck surviving on 10-20% of the income you get now (when the income we get now is already around like 60% of what it used to be).
As an experienced seller who is able see clearly see the climate of eBay throughout their changes, it's pretty sad to see that the popular opinion on here is often so far off from the truth, and even sadder that people don't believe the truth when sharing our real life experiences on here (rather than just presumption and hearsay).
With that said, on topic, I don't think "equal visibility" across the board is the answer on eBay. But there needs to be SOME way to compete with others. Right now, the only way to "compete" is to invest more in promotions, and this is unhealthy for both sellers and buyers, and does long term damage to the competitiveness and viability of the eBay marketplace.
There should be ways to compete that are fair, such as it used to be, where a strong sales history and actually taking care of your customers was rewarded. A way you could put in work and eBay takes care of you if you do your part and give customers a good positive experience.
Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
