eBay

pwil-23 · ‎11-30-2022

Well, I've been selling on Ebay for about 3-4 months now. And each month I am shocked at what Ebay takes in selling costs. For the month of November, I sold $397 worth of items. Between taxes/government fees, Ebay fees (final value), account level fees and adjustments, and the real shocker, shipping labels, coming in at a whopping 113.00, I was left with $197.00!! 44% of my total sales went to COSTS! I posted on Mercari two large Christmas dolls, also posted on Ebay, which sold today for $104 for both, including shipping. My net will be approximately $86! I made a decent profit with minimal COST!! Does ANYONE know how to mitigate these outrageous fees? Especially with regard to the labels. For what I've been shelling out for labels I could have bought one of those high-end label printers so many of you suggested I not purchase. I don't know what to do. I've got over 200 new items I'd like to post, but if I'm going to keep getting hit like this, I think Mercari will serve me better.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-01-2022

@dbfolks166mt wrote: ... I am really hoping the OP comes back and responds to the question I asked them about their postings not having the shipping specified. I am curious as to what eBay puts in the invoice they send to the buyer ....

I'm seeing a specific shipping cost for every one of the OP's listings. Are you sure you aren't set up for a location they don't ship to?

concavecutterwoman · ‎12-01-2022

I am new to eBay so this cant be true what you say, but sounds possible because I see the same things being sold for hundreds and then the same item sell for a few dollars, so some of what you say must be true, you say the site and the company is self serving. I see they get a bunch in fee's, you could be right, but do you have any proof? You are scaring me. How can this be true? A Ponzi scheme? That is terrible! My friends told me to stay away from eBay, but I did not listen, maybe I should leave before this happens to me, thanks, I know how out of hand credit can put you to ruin, good luck!

firesteel_surplus · ‎12-01-2022

@richards*collection wrote:
That is what they do, they're very good at getting you to buy things on credit and selling just enough of your finer things and taking most of the money. All the time you think your doing good and you have hope when actualy your going into debt. It really is a willing scheme to steal your most prized possessions from you while you rack up thousands in debt, they put out false listings to make you thing what you have bought is worth more than you paid. I tell you its a scam, the whole thing on ebay is a scam, a ponzi scheme. I am sure of it. Now that you know, hows it feel? The worker go home and use their own computers and send you low ball offers because they know your desperate, and then resell your stuff on etsy.

Then what are you doing here???

Are you saying I can buy ALL of your stuff and resell it on Etsy for a profit?

Don't give me any ideas....

Or the whole post was sarcasm.

For once in my life I am totally confused. For once.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

aeparts1 · ‎12-01-2022

My one small comment: You don't need a store, it is costing you more money that it will save or make you.

Once you start to regularly use all of your free 250 insertion fee listings every month, want to list 300+ items per month & start selling more expensive items, then you will want to consider a store.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

firesteel_surplus · ‎12-01-2022

@pwil-23

Something I forgot to mention last night/early this morning.

Since you have a store...but I think this is only Basic and higher, you get a quarterly $25 coupon (Basic Store...not sure about the others) to use for ebay shipping supplies.

Just go to My Ebay and then Summary and it should show at the top of the screen. Mine shows Redeemed. But there should be something to click on to take you to a page for shipping supplies. And they have a lot. And from what I remember, the $25 will cover the whole purchase on certain items. I usually have to pay a few bucks to make up the difference though.

Thought I'd pass that on.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

aeparts1 · ‎12-01-2022

"Especially with regard to the labels. For what I've been shelling out for labels I could have bought one of those high-end label printers so many of you suggested I not purchase."

Could you please provide some details about this printer? I've never heard of it & am interested in seeing how I can get one to reduce my shipping costs. Thanks!

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

pwil-23 · ‎12-01-2022

Sarcasm. I get it now. There is no such thing as a label printer that will reduce my shipping costs.

house*of*paws · ‎12-01-2022

Hi @pwil-23

You posted about the exact issue a month ago.

What you don’t seem to realize is that the money you pay eBay for shipping labels is for the postage, which eBay sends to the post office. And you are receiving a discount over what you’d pay at the post office for the same shipping method.

farmalljr · ‎12-01-2022

Your store fee is part of the selling costs eBay calculates, so that adds to the percentage of the cost.

If you are wanting buyers to pay for the shipping, you need to enter the choice of carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx) and the weight and dimensions when making the listing. If you are doing that, buyers ARE paying the costs of shipping. It's paid to you, then you pay for the label.

In your settings, you can set it up so buyers pay counter rates, and you get the difference to keep, from your discounted rate and the counter rate. That difference ideally covers the eBay fees on the shipping and likely the cost of your packaging. If you give the buyers your shipping discount, the fees and packaging you have to cover in the cost of the item if you don't want to lose money.

A thermal label printer doesn't save you any money on the cost of labels. It may save you costs for printer ink and paper, but it doesn't work out on the money end unless you are shipping a fair amount of packages. If you are shipping less than 90 packages a month, it probably does not make financial sense to buy one. But it is convenient, so it's up to you. Initial costs of a printer and labels is not pocket change, unless you get some amazing deals. If you are not tech savvy, you will need to stick to a brand with great support, like Rollo, Dymo, or brother. But beware, Dymo an brother use proprietary labels, and those get expensive.

pwil-23 · ‎12-01-2022

Yes Mike, I have been solicited by Ebay with both a $25 and $50 coupon offers, but I have disregarded them. I thought they were to encourage me to purchase from other resellers. I'm realizing that is my problem. I am not researching everything I need to know about reselling on Ebay. I am doing a brief overview of certain policies/procedures I believe are relevant, coming to my own conclusions as to what they mean, then panic/get upset when the end result isn't what I expected. And, you are right, MOST Ebay resellers are very helpful. But a couple have mentioned my shipping is not specified. I believe it is though. I go through each carrier to find the cheapest cost for the buyer relevant to the packaging weight and dimensions, chose it and it's listed along with the item. Right? Now I'm questioning my ability to do this. Dang it!

farmalljr · ‎12-01-2022

Also, after taking a quick peek at your store, it appears you are selling a fair amount of items with lower retail value. Meaning your shipping costs about what the item costs. So yes, your labels will be a big part of your "expense" in eBay's calculations. You should ignore that and the percentage you take home. Shipping is an expense, but it's not something you are "selling" I saw you use calculated shipping, so that is not really part of your selling "fees". The buyer is paying this, so they pay you, and you pay for the label. It's a wash, as far as accounting goes. Your money is made on the sale of the item.

Costs of labels. since buyers are paying for it, means nothing in your profits portion. Again, it's a wash. It's not really a cost to you.

pwil-23 · ‎12-01-2022

I chose a store because I thought that is what all resellers did. That's what I get for thinking instead of researching. I've been told that a store keeps all the product you are selling together. Without a store, your items will be disbursed throughout Ebay's site. That is why I don't cancel my subscription. I want my stuff all in one place.

pwil-23 · ‎12-01-2022

Thank you, for clarifying this question.

jgmfreedomauto_5 · ‎12-01-2022

Well, I know this won’t be much help to you. But I’ve been saying the same thing for a while now it just isn’t worth the hassle of using eBay. For all the fees that they charge you when you actually have a problem with a buyer they will automatically refund the buyer and throw you under the bus. I have a couple more items to sell myself and then I’m out of here. This place has turned into nothing but a bunch of scammers Pirates ripples and thieves. Your best bet is Run from eBay. It’s fast as you can. Good luck to you.

firesteel_surplus · ‎12-01-2022

@pwil-23 wrote:
Yes Mike, I have been solicited by Ebay with both a $25 and $50 coupon offers, but I have disregarded them. I thought they were to encourage me to purchase from other resellers. I'm realizing that is my problem. I am not researching everything I need to know about reselling on Ebay. I am doing a brief overview of certain policies/procedures I believe are relevant, coming to my own conclusions as to what they mean, then panic/get upset when the end result isn't what I expected. And, you are right, MOST Ebay resellers are very helpful. But a couple have mentioned my shipping is not specified. I believe it is though. I go through each carrier to find the cheapest cost for the buyer relevant to the packaging weight and dimensions, chose it and it's listed along with the item. Right? Now I'm questioning my ability to do this. Dang it!

No...don't disregard the coupon offers. That is MOST LIKELY your quarterly ebay shipping coupons. I'm not sure about the $50 one though. Mine have always been $25. If you go where I explained, you probably have a current and valid coupon to use. I think the current one expires this month...so hurry.

You are losing out on free shipping supplies.

Now your shipping...It sounds like you are doing the same thing I am. You are probably better off in adding those shipping costs to your ebay item cost and then shipping at whatever rate is best for you. What you are doing is calculated shipping. That is a different thing all together and you can actually set that up when you set up your sale. If I remember, you can add a handling fee into the shipping cost to cover shipping material (box and packing)...but keep it modest. Then a buyer can enter their zip, get a calculated shipping by whatever shipping you authorize and then they know exactly what it will cost to ship before they buy along with an estimated shipping receiving date. That is what some seller recommend over what you (and I) are currently doing (since we don't have a calculated receiving date.) The only thing is you will need are the package dimension and weight ahead of time when you post the sale.

Hope that helps some.

Feel free to PM if you want.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus