Hey folks, about to dip my toes into selling on ebay and wondering a few things.

[twicearound58]

First of all, right now we are just doing a declutter of the house but plan too move into thrifting and maybe selling some liquidation items eventually. I have always loved trading cards and action figures so may get back into that as well. Very much looking at a hobby level starting out but want to keep scaling options there.

My first question.

I have a decent understanding of shipping costs. Absolutelyno expert, and I am sure experience has a lot to teach me. Does anyone any solid tips on predicting shipping fees of items prior to listing... such as being out in a thrift shop. 

Next, 

How does Ebay actually handle sales tax. I know when someone purchases items Ebay adds a tax when a buyer checks out. However, I read a post saying ebay makes sellers pay the sales tax. So just not clear on how much all that works.

Lastly,

Just so I have a good understanding of things. Let's use a 10 dollar sale as an example. If I sell an item for 10.00 dollars and the buyer pays shipping of say 5 dollars. So the overall collected was 15 dollars. How much should I expect of the sale to come to after all fees and taxes? Not looking for exact but close estimate.

Thanks ahead of time for any responses and also any tips you have I'll happily read. 

[hartungcards]

First thing you want to do is stop reading the posts here about how eBay makes sellers pay the sales tax.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Research shipping costs at usps.com. Input a size & weight and use the furthest zip code from you. Then, change the size and weights using roughly what you expect. Know that large items (over 22" have a $4 surcharge and over 30" has a $15 surcharge so you'll want to test that.

Sales Tax- ebay handles; nothing for you to think about

Fees: Final Value Fee is approx 13% and is on the total the buyer pays, so it included item plus shipping plus tax. Example; Item sells $20, ships for $10 and sales tax at 8% on the $30 (some states charge tax on both item and shipping, some just the item) figure $2.50. So, 13% of $32.50 will be the fee. Then they subtract the sales tax, you pay for the shipping, you subtract the item cost and what is left is profit.

[soh.maryl]

Will offer a few answers, but you really need to read all of the seller information BEFORE you begin listing and selling here.  Too much to deal with here.  After you've read that, feel free to return and ask about things you do not understand.

No one can predict the cost of shipping because it's based on the item size. weight, class of shipping and distance traveled.  Not sure what "being out in a thrift shop" has to do with it.

When a buyer pays for his purchase, he pays the item price, the shipping fee and the state sales tax, if any.  The state sales tax is determined by the buyer's address, not the seller's.  The state sales tax is then deducted from, the payment and remitted by eBay to the appropriate state treasury.  The seller's final value fee is based on the total the buyer pays to the seller.

In your example, keeping in mind that the FVF in most categories is 12.9%, and assuming no state sales tax, your fees for that sale would be about 1.95 plus 30 cents.

Some sellers have set for themelves pricing levels that they won't go below.  For instance, if I were selling now, I'd probably not list anything at all for less than about $40.  

But please do the recommended reading.  And keep in mind that you need to determine your tolerance for loss and not list any items that losing both the item and your money would cause a hardship.  

[12345jamesstamps]

Start out selling very inexpensive stuff to get the hang of it. And get some feedback added to your account.

As a new seller your funds will be on hold for 30+ days. Get that checking account and Social Security number in order first before selling. This is not a platform for quick money as a newbie. Shipping inexpensive stuff will get you how to understand shipping. Look at other sellers here to see the cost of their shipping stuff near you.  I tried selling action figures...shipping can be expensive..especially International.

Inexpensive trading cards sound good as a start. There is a lot of information to read up on in eBay before selling. I suggest reading some of the stuff.

[bearswatching]

Also confused, as is sol maryl. What does the term, .”out in a thrift shop” mean? That’s a new one on me.

[12345jamesstamps]

Sounds like they might have a second hand store...Like Goodwill...which they may to read up on having a business and selling from it as a business do to taxes and such.

[candd205]

Buy a small table top scale at walmart or anywhere that can weigh in ounces and pounds.

If you have bigger stuff that weighs more than a pound, make an account on USPS.gov and get free priority boxes and padded envelopes. For the stuff less than a pound, buy smaller non-USPS boxes or padded envelopes, whichever will work best for your stuff.

Weigh the item and the box or padded envelope.

Then enter that weight when you enter your listings, eBay will automatically calculate the shipping for you and charge the customer that amount, as long as you set all the settings correctly when you list the item.

Then as long as you print your own USPS labels, you will get a shipping discount from eBay and be able to use first class (non-priority) shipping for anything under a pound.

Don't worry about sales tax. EBay handles it completely. Just know the 12.9 fee eBay charges also gets charged on the sales tax, so that cuts in to your profits a little. (Some people come on here shocked about this.)

For your example, lets say the person also paid a dollar sales tax. So buyer paid $16. The dollar goes to sales tax, let's say your item cost $5 to ship it, then 12.9% will go to eBay fee which will be based on the entire $16, so $2.06.

16 - 1 - 5 - 2.06 = 7.94        You take home 7.94

But, if you print your postage through eBay, your shipping will actually cost you more like $4, so you would make a dollar more.

[duffy4444]

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@twicearound58 wrote:

First of all, right now we are just doing a declutter of the house but plan too move into thrifting and maybe selling some liquidation items eventually. I have always loved trading cards and action figures so may get back into that as well. Very much looking at a hobby level starting out but want to keep scaling options there...

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   Three things:

   First, know that wanting to be considered a "hobby seller" has IRS/State income tax consequences. If you sell over $600 here or on any other online site, you will be getting a 1099 at the end of the year, and will be required to declare the income. (Actually, for many decades, even an income of $1 or above has been the threshold, but the IRS is clamping down everywhere on tax evaders - especially online). Talk to your CPA or tax adviser about the wisdom of being a "hobby" seller as opposed to a Schedule C Sole Proprietor. As I understand it, being a hobby seller has very few, if any, expense deductions. So check into it.

   Second, being a new seller with very low feedback will automatically put a target on our back and make you a scam magnet. Start out slowly with less-expensive items to build up your feedback. Educate yourself on the many buyer and shipping scams out there, from those who want to steal your item for literally $0. Reading down a few hundred posts here and the shipping forums is a good pace to start, and read what eBay has to say on scams.

   Third, NEVER, EVER  sell, and especially ship, any item that you and your business model are not prepared to lose, along with the added insult of losing your payment for it on a forced refund by eBay or a credit card chargeback even many months down the road after you think the sale is over and your money is in the bag.

   Research and fully educate yourself as to what eBay says a new seller needs to know, and come here if you have any questions or if something about a transaction doesn't seem right. We're glad to help!

Good Luck!

Cheers, Duffy      

[coolections]

Figure approximately 15 % in fees. Don't worry about tax, buyers pay that. Don't worry too much about ship cost because buyers pay that too. Just use common sense and it is best to use calculated shipping when making your listing. If it is a heavy item think about skipping that for resell unless you buy it very cheap and know you can get 3x more for the item.

[maxine*j]

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@bearswatching wrote:

Also confused, as is sol maryl. What does the term, .”out in a thrift shop” mean? That’s a new one on me.

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I think OP means:  If s/he sees something in a thrift shop that s/he might buy to resell, is there a way to do a quick rough calculation of what it will cost to ship it.

I'd say in some cases, yes, with examples such as a book that could Media Mail, or a bit of ephemera that could be sandwiched in cardboard or foam core and shipped first-class in an envelope, or something that would fit into a flat-rate Priority box.  There's previous experience, too, of shipping a similar item and recalling the cost.

But a "formula" that can be generally applied, I'd say not.

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[twicearound58]

Like if I was considering purchasing an item at a thrift shop to resell. 

[twicearound58]

Thank you! That is what I had read and watched videos and understood. However, when I came reading in here saw a post or two about it and wanted to make sure I wasn't confused about. 

I get Ebay is going to get their share but wanted to get a feel for how much their share of the sale would be so I could better understand pricing.

[twicearound58]

Thank you. I have done a lot of that research but probably not enough into scam prevention.

[twicearound58]

Thank you!