Fees

[pwil-23]

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.

[fern*wood]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@pwil-23 wrote:

 I was told that purchasing shipping labels from Ebay is cheaper than if I bought a label printer, so I have continued to purchase my labels from Ebay. 

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A label printer merely prints out the paper label that you purchase online.  It will not have any impact on the cost of that postage.    Buying labels online through ebay is much cheaper than buying postage at the post office.

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That is true, but if you get a Thermal label printer, you will no longer have the cost of ink.  This can be a real money saver on your shipping costs.

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I get that about the ink, but it sounded to me like the OP thought label printers would alleviate the need to pay for the postage, so that is what I was trying to explain.   I didn't think they were talking about shipping supplies, but maybe they were and I misunderstood what they were getting at.

[mam98031]

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@iart wrote:

We 'roughly' calculate this pretty simply. We take the amount that eBay tells us we sold and we compare it to what they actually deposited into our bank account.

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That really is not the best approach.  Every seller should keep their own records on sales.  The reports you can get on Ebay should be to double check your numbers, not your sole source for the information.  Ebay numbers should be cross check numbers for your own records.

@iart 

[mam98031]

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@ryanrobyn wrote:

sadly ebay increased the costs of the shipping supplies so one usually has to pay extra to use the coupon

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Yes, I've been fighting this for a long time with Ebay.  Since Ebay introduced this program they have not raise the amount of the coupons for each store level, not even by one penny.  Yet the provider of these branded supplies and more than double the rates since this program started.  It is hardly fair at all.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@concavecutterwoman wrote:

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!

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@concavecutterwoman 

No need to be anxious about eBay being a Ponzi scheme, because it is not. The poster who wrote this is mistaken. The likely reason for such wild claims is that they'd rather believe there is some kind of conspiracy responsible for their lack of sales than admit it could be their choice of item or price or mismanagement, etc. My experience selling on eBay has been overwhelmingly positive these last 11 years. Oh, there are things eBay does that I'd like to change, absolutely, but nothing that can't be handled if one can adapt and remain flexible. Best of luck to you on your eBay journey!

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@fern*wood wrote: ... I get that about the ink, but it sounded to me like the OP thought label printers would alleviate the need to pay for the postage, so that is what I was trying to explain.   I didn't think they were talking about shipping supplies ....

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That was the impression that I got, too, from statements like, "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" and "I was told that purchasing shipping labels from Ebay is cheaper than if I bought a label printer".

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@richardwillardcollection 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.

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Then perhaps you should be selling on Etsy.

[mam98031]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@pwil-23 wrote:

 I was told that purchasing shipping labels from Ebay is cheaper than if I bought a label printer, so I have continued to purchase my labels from Ebay. 

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A label printer merely prints out the paper label that you purchase online.  It will not have any impact on the cost of that postage.    Buying labels online through ebay is much cheaper than buying postage at the post office.

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That is true, but if you get a Thermal label printer, you will no longer have the cost of ink.  This can be a real money saver on your shipping costs.

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I get that about the ink, but it sounded to me like the OP thought label printers would alleviate the need to pay for the postage, so that is what I was trying to explain.   I didn't think they were talking about shipping supplies, but maybe they were and I misunderstood what they were getting at.

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Oh no you are probably right.  By the OP's own admission they assume a lot and research little.  I just wanted to be clear that there is a savings having a Thermal label printer.

I've explain to this OP much earlier in this thread the costs associated with shipping and much more.  None of which they acknowledged or address.  This seems to be a seller that doesn't want to put in the work to learn and just wants to throw thing up on the site and hope for the best.  Why anyone would think that is a winning approach is beyond me.  Or how someone that has never sold here feels they can make important assumptions about important policies is likely a short term seller.  They will eventually get in trouble with Ebay and damage the health of their selling account.

[dbfolks166mt]

@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?

     Well I am located in the continental US and the seller is in the US so I would assume they sell domestically. This is what I see of one of the sellers listings. And it's not just this seller I am seeing these types of listings for. 

[coolections]

It looks like nobodysperfect does not have their shipping address on file or something. I am seeing $12.86 shipping and have never not seen a ship cost on any listing on Ebay.

[nobody*s_perfect]

If you click on the shipping and payments tab, does the shipping section show your correct ZIP Code?  I see a regular shipping cost for that listing:

[firesteel_surplus]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@ryanrobyn wrote:

sadly ebay increased the costs of the shipping supplies so one usually has to pay extra to use the coupon

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Yes, I've been fighting this for a long time with Ebay.  Since Ebay introduced this program they have not raise the amount of the coupons for each store level, not even by one penny.  Yet the provider of these branded supplies and more than double the rates since this program started.  It is hardly fair at all.

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I haven't been tracking the cost of the supplies versus the $25 coupon. But...ugh.... Do the higher level stores get $25 or a larger amount since they pay more?

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[nobody*s_perfect]

The higher-level store subscriptions get a larger coupon.  Anchor stores get  $150.

[firesteel_surplus]

For all the talk of the "high end thermal label printer" and ink and all of that. I am using a Rollo Thermal Label Printer. You can probably find them here but I think I bought mine on Amazon...I'm not sure.

$189. Not sure if that quantifies as "high end" but it works great for me. Mine is the USB "Commercial Grade." There is also a wireless. There are also other brands out there that I am sure that works great. But that is what I am using and it works for both USPS and UPS labels. I don't ship FedEx because we don't have a FedEx store in town.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[pwil-23]

Thank you for bringing to my attention the fact my shipping costs are relative to the cost of many of my items.  Will barely break even if I don't address this.  And thank you for posting all the links.  I will definitely access each one.

[mam98031]

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@firesteel_surplus wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@ryanrobyn wrote:

sadly ebay increased the costs of the shipping supplies so one usually has to pay extra to use the coupon

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Yes, I've been fighting this for a long time with Ebay.  Since Ebay introduced this program they have not raise the amount of the coupons for each store level, not even by one penny.  Yet the provider of these branded supplies and more than double the rates since this program started.  It is hardly fair at all.

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I haven't been tracking the cost of the supplies versus the $25 coupon. But...ugh.... Do the higher level stores get $25 or a larger amount since they pay more?

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

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It is $25 for Basic, $50 for Premium and $150 for Anchor.