Cost to high from Ebay

[bigwadrum]

I've been with Ebay over 20 years.  I just sold an item for $135.  It cost $40 to send, and Ebay cut was $35.  I should have saved my time and sold locally for $50.  Avoid the growing black hole of shipping and Ebay profit.  Ebay should be taking less, not more and more.   Ebay changed to a typical overly big profit entity.

thanks,

Wa

[bonjourami]

You probably shouldnt have done free shipping then, cant blame Ebay for that.

[evry1nositswindy]

The cost of shipping is getting higher and higher.  It is the USPS that is the biggest problem, IMHO.  Sometimes ground advantage is cheaper for a book than media mail.  That's crazy!

[albertabrightalberta]

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@bigwadrum wrote:

I've been with Ebay over 20 years.  I just sold an item for $135.  It cost $40 to send, and Ebay cut was $35.  I should have saved my time and sold locally for $50.  Avoid the growing black hole of shipping and Ebay profit.  Ebay should be taking less, not more and more.   Ebay changed to a typical overly big profit entity.

thanks,

Wa

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Why would you have "free" shipping on such a large, heavy item? 

You did realize that "free" shipping only means that the buyer doesn't pay extra for shipping over and above the price of the item, right? But YOU have to build the shipping cost into the BIN price! 

If you didn't realize that the $40 shipping price would come out of the $135 price, that's on you.

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@bigwadrum wrote:

I've been with Ebay over 20 years.  I just sold an item for $135.  It cost $40 to send, and Ebay cut was $35.  I should have saved my time and sold locally for $50.  Avoid the growing black hole of shipping and Ebay profit.  Ebay should be taking less, not more and more.   Ebay changed to a typical overly big profit entity.

thanks,

Wa

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You should have known the cost of selling on eBay, especially if you have been with eBay for over 20 years. You may want to consider eBay-selling calculators you can use for free (online) that can help you do the math (fees and cost of selling showing profit) if needed. 

[luckythewinner]

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@bigwadrum wrote:

I've been with Ebay over 20 years.  I just sold an item for $135.  It cost $40 to send, and Ebay cut was $35.  I should have saved my time and sold locally for $50. 

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The item you sold cost $40 to ship and you offered it for $135 with free shipping.

So in reality, you sold it for $95 with $40 shipping.

The fees on music equipment should only be 13.25%, but you chose to list your drum amplifier in the Books & Music & Movies category instead which has a higher fee of 14.95%.

Even with 10% sales tax, your fees could have been 40 cents plus 13.25% of $148.50 which would have been $20.07. I'm not sure why you chose a category with higher fees and why you paid them $35. Did you also choose to use promoted listings?

[tobaccocardyahoo]

The cost of shipping often does make selling locally more profitable, but there may not be enough local demand in the area you are located in to sell the item, even at a lower price.

Over the years, I have selected smaller and lighter items for my inventory. I have also ceased selling many items which are too inexpensive to justify my labor in selling them.

I have selection criteria which take into account a required profit margin and a minimum dollar profit so that I do not complain about the selling fees. Fortunately, I can find merchandise which meets my requirements.

[bonanza125]

The problem is on you as the seller to know the cost of fees and shipping before listing the item especially with "Free Shipping." This doesn't just go for you but other sellers who are complaining about the costs being high if any seller feels the cost is too high to list on Ebay then don't list it. Ebay is a business. They set there own fees up front. If its too high sell the item locally. You are selling on a platform which offers a service. The odds of selling items for market value are much higher on Ebay than it is locally or any bargain yard sale site. I also agree with the others. 

[goodbrakes]

Looking at the items you are selling and offering Free Shipping you are not going to be happy when those sell and payouts come to you either. 

[cardsforauction]

$135 - $40 - $35 = $60    (If that accounts for all the fees)

So you got $60 here and if you sell locally $50.  You made more money here.  If you wanted more profit, you should have listed at a higher price.  As others mentioned, shipping prices are going up across the board.  This week I believe gas prices went up because of the hurricanes and conflict in the Middle East.  I'm sure shipping will increase in the near future. 

[mam98031]

@bigwadrum 

Why were your Ebay fees so high?  Did you have Promoted Listings on this item?  If so, what percentage did YOU add to the FVFs for the use of PL?  

For those that use PL, it is a choice for each seller to make.  But then to turn around and complain about the cost of Ebay fees is a bit odd to me.  

You should likely consider not to do Free Shipping.  As long as  your pricing is within reason, you should still sell stuff.

[bigwadrum]

Thanks for responding to my complaint.  Ebay venting from frustration.

I wish I could.  Some items can't be sold for a higher price, as a new one is close to my "fair" used price.  And retailers sell new items with free shipping.  It is difficult to sell for a fair price, because no one will buy unless it is a good deal.  A fair deal would be great, but the shipping and Ebay cost has risen so much, that it is selectively eliminating some buyers.   The trouble with Ebay is they've been outmoded by free market expenses: higher mailing cost, higher Ebay fees, and China. 

I don't use expensive listing tricks, like PL.

 I was once tagged for a failure to ship, an error that was due to Ebay glitch in emailing.  Ebay reduced my profit for a year as punishment.  Ebay said I was at fault, I complained, and they said, "Sorry, we can't help you remove the error because we are not set up to do so."    When I call help, Ebay flatters me: "Thank you for being a loyal Ebay customer for over 20 years."    So every time I sold something for the last year they took out a hefty penalty percentage.   Ebay made money at my expense for a year of my sells, for one error.  Loyalty lasts if there were somebody loyal on the other side. 
 

[inhawaii]

Didn't you know what the fees were BEFORE you sold the item?

When you list a item, you should know exactly what you'll make.

If you under-priced your item, that's your fault, not ebay's fault.

[isaiah53-57]

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@cardsforauction wrote:

So you got $60 here and if you sell locally $50.  You made more money here.  If you wanted more profit, you should have listed at a higher price.  As others mentioned, shipping prices are going up across the board.  This week I believe gas prices went up because of the hurricanes and conflict in the Middle East.  I'm sure shipping will increase in the near future. 

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He/She also had to deal with the time & effort of shipping and the shipping material cost - He/She now has to deal with waiting 6 months before the money is actually even really theirs - He/She also has to worry about returns here and the shipping cost to get it back - He/She also has to worry about buyer theft here as well as other issues that might arise that are exclusive to this site or online mail order sales in general...

OP should have taken the $50 and been done with it - he/she likely lost $10 in shipping time/costs alone and can now only hope and pray they get to keep the share-cropper sized payout they got paid from this greed obsessed site...In my most humble opinion, of course...

You think he did better

[adamcartwright]

@bigwadrum 

Why are you doing free shipping on so many heavy items?